Two days passed.
The Southern Suburbs ambush sent enormous waves through Heaven Dou City's upper circles.
Everyone knew Meng Chen belonged to the Crown Prince's camp. Yet someone had secretly ambushed him just after the empire had granted him the title of viscount.
This was nothing less than a vicious slap across the Crown Prince's face.
In her fury, the Crown Prince swept through virtually every black market inside and outside Heaven Dou City, thoroughly purging them along with certain figures lurking in the shadows.
The nobles with shady businesses shut themselves indoors, terrified of being caught in the fallout.
But compared with the currents churning beneath Heaven Dou City's surface...
Life in the ivory tower of the Heaven Dou Royal Junior Soul Master Academy continued along its usual course.
A carriage from the Crown Prince's Residence stopped at the academy gates.
Lifting the curtain, Meng Chen nimbly hopped out of the carriage, a pair of golden rabbit ears atop his head.
After two days of recuperation at the Crown Prince's Residence, the soul power within him had not weakened. Instead, that desperate battle had made it a little more solid.
Meng Chen wore a brand-new Heaven Dou Royal special-grade student uniform beneath a blue-and-white soft satin robe, looking bright and vigorous.
But he had barely entered the teaching building's lobby and had yet to reach the stairs.
A figure came rushing around the bend in the staircase.
"Meng Chen, you're here!"
Before Meng Chen could make out who it was, she had already thrown herself into his arms.
It was Ning Rongrong, whom he had not seen for two days.
Her little hands clutched his collar, her entire face buried against his chest.
Warmth spread across his chest. Meng Chen looked down at the small figure in his arms, tenderness flickering in his eyes.
Two days earlier, Qian Renxue had told him that Sword Douluo had brought Ning Rongrong to visit him.
But because the situation was still unclear at the time, Qian Renxue had put them off with the excuse that he needed quiet rest.
"It's all right now. It's all right."
Meng Chen patted her back and gently comforted her.
Ning Rongrong refused to let go and continued hugging him.
She had been worried sick these past two days, unable to eat or sleep properly. Every time she closed her eyes, she imagined Meng Chen covered in blood.
Seeing that Ning Rongrong would not lift her head, Meng Chen could only speak helplessly.
"All right, all right, young lady Ning. Everyone's watching, you know. You're getting snot all over my new clothes."
Sure enough, the moment those words left his mouth, Ning Rongrong released him and looked up to glare at him like a kitten with its fur bristling.
"You're still worrying about your clothes!"
"Do you have any idea how worried I've been these past two days!"
"Come on, let me see where you're hurt."
As she spoke, Ning Rongrong completely ignored the students passing nearby and began feeling him over with her little hands.
The eyes of several passing noble students twitched at the sight, but none dared say anything. They wisely slipped past along the wall.
Her searching hands made Meng Chen squirm. He quickly caught her hands and explained, "I wasn't hurt. All the blood on me that day belonged to the assassins."
"Besides, my second soul skill is teleportation. Even if I couldn't beat them, couldn't I run?"
Hearing this, Ning Rongrong sniffled and looked Meng Chen up and down several times. Only after confirming that he was fine did she finally let out a full breath of relief.
The little girl bit her lower lip and gave the flesh at his waist a vicious twist.
"That's what you get for running all over the place. From now on, you have to report to me before you go out. Do you hear me?"
Meng Chen grimaced and begged for mercy. "I know, I know."
As the two tussled, steady footsteps sounded from the stairs.
Meng Chen and Ning Rongrong instinctively turned their heads.
Gu Yuena slowly descended around the bend in the staircase, holding two thick books on martial soul theory.
The moment their eyes met, Gu Yuena's steps paused ever so slightly.
Meng Chen knew that, without Gu Yuena's help in the snowy Southern Suburbs the day before yesterday, he probably could not have dealt with that burly man so quickly.
And his secret would have been exposed for all to see.
Although he did not know what her motives were, the fact remained that she had saved him.
Meng Chen freed himself from Ning Rongrong's grip, took two steps forward, and stopped half a meter in front of Gu Yuena.
Facing the girl's clear, tranquil purple eyes, he lowered his voice.
"Thank you for helping me the day before yesterday, classmate Gu. I, Meng Chen, won't forget this favor."
Gu Yuena looked at the earnest boy before her without the slightest ripple of expression on her small face.
"There's no need to thank me. I was just passing by."
With that, the girl walked past Meng Chen, her books in her arms.
Meng Chen turned to watch her retreating figure and could not help laughing inwardly.
The way this woman acted so haughty and coy was worlds apart from the image of the world-destroying Silver Dragon King in those tales told by the ferocious beasts.
But Ning Rongrong, standing behind him, froze.
The little girl's eyes widened. She looked from Meng Chen to Gu Yuena, who had already reached the doorway, unable to make sense of it for a moment.
She had heard him perfectly clearly. Meng Chen had actually thanked Gu Yuena.
"Meng Chen, stop right there."
Ning Rongrong hurried over and tugged at the hem of his clothes, asking with a face full of confusion, "What did you mean just now? Was Gu Yuena there too when you were attacked in the Southern Suburbs the day before yesterday?"
Meng Chen knew he had let something slip, but the words were already out. Keeping it from her would only send Ning Rongrong's imagination running even wilder.
Meng Chen scratched his head and offered a half-truth. "Things were pretty dangerous back then, and Gu Yuena happened to be nearby. If she hadn't helped distract them, I really wouldn't have been able to escape."
Ning Rongrong was stunned.
After all, ever since their first day at the academy, there had always been friction between her and Gu Yuena.
Ning Rongrong had even secretly regarded Gu Yuena as her greatest rival and imagined enemy.
Yet this very woman, whom she guarded against at every turn, had stepped in to save Meng Chen when his life hung by a thread.
Those had been two Soul Ancestors. If Gu Yuena had not helped distract them, wouldn't Meng Chen already have...
The thought of that outcome sent a chill down Ning Rongrong's back.
Watching Gu Yuena's slender figure from afar as she was about to disappear around the corner, Ning Rongrong clenched the hem of her pleated skirt in both hands, bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth, and muttered under her breath.
"Tch. Why act so cold and aloof?"
Though her tongue still showed no mercy, Meng Chen could clearly sense that more than half of young lady Ning's usual hostility toward Gu Yuena had melted away.
He was more than happy to see the two of them put their differences behind them.
He reached out and tugged gently at Ning Rongrong's little hand. "All right, young lady. Class is about to start."
"I know, I know. What's the rush!"
Ning Rongrong swatted his hand away. Although she still held her chin high, she obediently followed behind Meng Chen. Only those beautiful, wide eyes kept darting toward the window, with no telling what she was plotting.
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