A few days later,
Dusk was painting the bluestone streets a warm gold as the carriage entered Heaven Dou City.
As one of the two great cities of the Douluo Continent, Heaven Dou City was far more prosperous than the small towns bordering the Star Dou Forest-buildings with flying eaves and upturned corners stretched to the horizon, shop banners snapped in the evening breeze, and carriages and pedestrians crowded shoulder to shoulder through the streets. Even the air carried a mingling of sweet pastries, the cold tang of iron, and faint ripples of Soul Masters' soul power.
The Heaven Dou City Spirit Hall Branch Hall stood on high ground in the east of the city, its gray-black stone walls exuding solemnity. The branch bishop had already gathered several Soul Masters at the entrance to wait. When Qian Daoliu's party stepped out of the carriage, he hurriedly bowed.
"Your Eminences, your rooms are ready. As instructed, we selected the quietest rear courtyard."
Qian Daoliu nodded and swept his gaze around—the Branch Hall's inner courtyard was planted with clusters of magnolias, and fallen blossoms fluttered onto the bluestone paving in the evening breeze.
He looked at Xiao Wu’s Mother, whom Bibi Dong was supporting. Her face was still pale, and faint blue seeped through the bandages on her shoulder. He told the bishop:
"Prepare some warm liquid food as well. No meat or fish."
"Yes!"
By the time they were settled, night had deepened.
Xiao Wu’s Mother rested against a cushioned couch for a while. Seeing the lights outside the window glittering like a river of stars, she suddenly said softly:
"Dong'er, would you take a walk with me?"
Bibi Dong looked at Qian Daoliu. When he nodded, she helped her to her feet.
Xiao Wu nestled in her mother's arms, her palm-sized, snow-white body curled into a ball of fur. Her ruby eyes surveyed their surroundings curiously.
Qian Daoliu followed behind them, pale golden soul power hovering almost imperceptibly around the three-both to conceal Xiao Wu's aura and to guard against anyone who might be watching from the shadows.
The night market was livelier than the streets had been during the day.
Vendors pushed wooden carts through streets and alleys, calling out their wares. A Sugar Painting artist's copper ladle swept across a bluestone slab, tracing a lifelike soul beast in the blink of an eye;
A storyteller sprayed spittle as he recounted unofficial tales of "Clear Sky Douluo and Angel Douluo," while the listeners around him pounded the tables and cheered;
Children chased and tumbled about with candied hawthorns held aloft, their silvery laughter startling night herons from beneath the eaves.
"Mom, that's a rabbit made of sugar!"
Xiao Wu poked her head out of her mother's arms and rubbed the tip of her nose against her mother's neck, her voice soft and sweet.
Xiao Wu’s Mother smiled and was about to speak when Bibi Dong returned with a sugar rabbit:
"Want a taste, Xiao Wu? The Sugar Painting artists in Heaven Dou City are especially good at these."
Xiao Wu glanced hesitantly at her mother. Only after she nodded did Xiao Wu carefully extend a paw and lick the translucent sugar coating, immediately narrowing her eyes in delight:
"It's sweeter than carrots!"
Qian Daoliu stood nearby, watching Bibi Dong clumsily wipe the sugar from the corner of Xiao Wu's mouth, then looking at the tender light in Xiao Wu’s Mother’s eyes as she gazed at her daughter. His expression softened.
Xiao Wu’s Mother spoke quietly, her gaze passing over a human mother and daughter walking hand in hand beside the street,
"Without soul beasts slaughtering one another, even the air feels warm."
"The human world has its conflicts too. They're simply hidden beneath the prosperity."
Qian Daoliu spoke evenly,
"But there will always be people who protect that warmth."
He looked at Bibi Dong. The girl was pointing at the lanterns hanging from a distant building, telling Xiao Wu about Spirit City's lantern festival.
The evening breeze stirred her purple skirt. A small silver ornament hung at her collarbone-the Space Soul Tool the Supreme Pontiff had given her when she became the Saintess.
When they reached an osmanthus cake stall on a street corner, its white-haired elderly owner noticed Xiao Wu’s Mother's poor complexion and made a point of offering her a warm cake:
"Try one, miss? Fresh from the steamer. It'll nourish you."
Bibi Dong was about to pay, but the old man waved her off:
"My granddaughter is just like this little girl, always tugging my beard and asking for cakes. I feel a kinship with you. It's a gift."
Xiao Wu’s Mother accepted the cake, her fingertips touching the warm waxed paper, and said:
"Thank you."
On the way back, Xiao Wu was already fast asleep in her mother's arms, her little pink tongue still licking the sugar at the corner of her mouth.
Xiao Wu’s Mother gently stroked her daughter's fur and said to Qian Daoliu:
"Great Enshrined, thank you."
Qian Daoliu gazed at the soldiers patrolling the distant city wall, the cold gleam of their armor flickering in the moonlight:
"Once your injuries improve, you can start learning human writing and knowledge with Xiao Wu."
"Human cities... are even brighter than Mom said."
Xiao Wu's voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum, filled with curiosity about this unfamiliar world.
Xiao Wu’s Mother gently stroked her fur, a trace of complicated emotion passing through her eyes:
"Once I'm better, we'll ask Dong'er to show us more."
By the time Qian Daoliu and the others returned to the Branch Hall, a bonfire was already crackling in the rear courtyard.
Jiang Mo, Spirit Hall's finest barbecue cook, was turning a Pipi Pig over the fire as its fat sizzled. Golden Crocodile and Guang Ling brought over stone stools, and the savory, charred aroma of barbecue filled the air.
Xiao Wu’s Mother was helped into a seat. Watching Bibi Dong deftly use a silver knife to cut the roasted vegetables and place them on Xiao Wu's jade plate, she suddenly said softly:
"Thank you all."
Qian Daoliu was stirring the coals with a branch. At her words, he looked up:
"We already had an agreement. There's no need for thanks."
He paused, shifting the subject to soul beasts beginning their cultivation anew and condensing Soul Rings,
"After a soul beast transforms into a human, does it use the power of its original form to condense Soul Rings?"
Xiao Wu’s Mother looked down at Xiao Wu nibbling sugar in her arms, her voice gentle and unhurried:
"After beginning cultivation anew, we're no different from human Soul Masters. But the first six Soul Rings are condensed using our original power. After the seventh ring, we need to hunt soul beasts. Moreover, a hundred-thousand-year soul beast's core power merges into its bloodline, allowing it to withstand older Soul Rings than ordinary Soul Masters can when breaking through."
The firelight at Qian Daoliu's fingertips flickered slightly. "I see."
"So, Great Enshrined, you want to condense..."
A coughing fit interrupted her before she could finish, and the dark blue energy on her shoulder began to writhe again.
Qian Daoliu immediately raised his hand, covering her wound with golden soul power. Only after the pale golden power surged into it did that sinister aura fall dormant once more.
As the night deepened, their conversation slowed amid the crackling of the bonfire.
Xiao Wu slept soundly, curled in her mother's arms. Bibi Dong cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, while Golden Crocodile and Jiang Mo leaned against tree trunks, resting with their eyes closed.
Qian Daoliu watched the dancing flames, gathering a thread of Holy Soul Power at his fingertips—he could sense the little angel trembling faintly in the depths of his Spiritual World, unusually sensitive to the Evil-Effect Energy within Xiao Wu’s Mother.
Early the next morning, the first ray of sunlight pierced the foliage,
Qian Daoliu and Xiao Wu’s Mother were in the sitting room, treating her injuries.
Pale golden soul power flowed into her wound like water, repeatedly wrestling with the dark blue evil power. Under the cleansing of Divine Power, the writhing energy grew ever thinner, yet remained as stubborn as an abscess clinging to bone.
Qian Daoliu withdrew his hand, a thin sheen of sweat gathering on his palm,
"This evil power is truly troublesome. Forcibly stripping it away would damage her heart meridians."
Xiao Wu’s Mother had a little more color in her face than the day before. "The soul power you've expended, Great Enshrined..."
"It's nothing."
Qian Daoliu rose and pushed open the window. Heaven Dou City's morning mist was slowly dispersing,
"If you fall, what will Xiao Wu do?"
Laughter drifted through the window as Guang Ling taught Bibi Dong and Xiao Wu how to cultivate. The Soft Bone Rabbit bounded around the courtyard, the Chaos Bell's aura enveloping her like a thin veil and perfectly concealing every trace of her soul beast nature.
Qian Daoliu gazed at that flash of snow-white fur, Holy Soul Power quietly circulating at his fingertips—in a few days, perhaps it would be time to visit the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
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