Ning Rongrong had just tumbled down the steps when she received the letter from home.
Shielding her head, she rolled twice down the grassy slope before Oscar caught her. The knee of her long dress had torn open, exposing a patch of bright-red skin.
"Two more steps today," Oscar said.
"I lost my footing on the last one. It doesn't count."
Ning Rongrong took a bite of the Recovery Sausage. Only then did she notice the Soul Master from Seahorse City standing nearby, holding a sealed paper tube.
The seal bore the mark of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
She sprang to her feet, forgetting even the pain in her leg.
The letter had traveled by merchant ship to Purple Pearl Island before being forwarded to her. More than forty days had passed since the date Ning Fengzhi had written at the top.
Ning Rongrong turned straight to the end.
Her father's handwriting, a line of advice added by Grandpa Sword, and a few cramped lines from Grandpa Bone squeezed into the margin, complaining that the other two had taken up all the space.
She stared at them for a while. At last, her tense shoulders relaxed.
"They're all there."
Tang San stood beside her without rushing her.
When news of the Soul Hunting Operation had reached them at sea, the accounts had been a mess. One merchant said the Seven Treasure Mountain Gate had burned to the ground. A sailor claimed everyone in the Blue Lightning clan was dead. Even sending a letter home to check meant waiting for the next ship to make port.
Ning Rongrong had trained with particular ferocity those days.
No one dared tell her things surely weren't that bad.
The letter laid out the battle, the casualties, and the final agreement. Ning Fengzhi