"Are there beggars even in the Federation's capital?"
"She doesn't really look like one. Maybe the little girl got lost."
"I think she looks more like she's been abandoned."
She looked so pitiful, like an abandoned kitten.
But as Xu Qingjia looked at that curled-up silver bundle, he couldn't shake the feeling that she looked familiar.
Mother and son had almost reached home when Shen Xi, driving through the air, suddenly spotted a bedraggled figure near their front gates. It looked like a child, and her tenderhearted instincts prompted her to descend and take a look.
"Little girl." Shen Xi crouched down halfway, gazing at the curled-up silver bundle with a gentle smile. "Are you lost?"
"Wuh." Na'er raised her aggrieved little face and let out a pitiful whimper.
An unfamiliar human woman.
Couldn't she see that she was upset?
She didn't want to talk to anyone.
When she saw Na'er's face, a flash of amazement crossed Shen Xi's eyes.
Even with all her experience, she had never seen such a beautiful, adorable little girl.
Those aggrieved, watery eyes instantly softened Shen Xi's heart. Her darling son had been precocious and sensible from an early age, leaving her maternal affection without enough of an outlet. Now it came flooding forth.
The wealthy lady's fertile imagination instantly conjured up all sorts of possibilities: abandonment, abduction by criminals...
A "grrrumble~" rang out.
Shen Xi paused, her gaze dropping to Na'er's stomach.
Riiip~
A bag of tomato-flavored potato chips was torn open.
"Want some?" Xu Qingjia held the chips out to Na'er.
Silver hair and silver eyes.
That combination was rare across the entire continent.
Could she be that one?
The aroma of seasoning wafted over, and Na'er's eyes instantly lit up.
"Yes!"
A pair of little hands took the bag straight from him.
Na'er didn't care that she had never encountered this food in her memories. Her keen nose told her it had to be something delicious.
The fragrant crunch traveled from her mouth to her brain.
So yummy!
Is this human food?
A smile returned to her exquisite little face.
The moderately sized bag of chips soon disappeared into the girl's little stomach.
But how could so little food possibly satisfy Na'er, who had been hungry for hours?
Still craving more, the silver-haired bundle sucked the remaining seasoning off her fingers.
Xu Qingjia took another bag of chips from his Storage Soul Tool, opened it, and passed it over, voicing the question that had been weighing on his mind. "What's your name?"
Delighted to see there was more, Na'er answered without hesitation, "Na'er. My name is Na'er."
She looked at the kind person giving her food.
A pleasant-looking human cub.
Na'er?!
Ripples stirred in Xu Qingjia's heart.
The girl's answer completely erased the faint hope he had been clinging to.
Surely there couldn't be someone who coincidentally had the Silver Dragon King's silver hair and silver eyes and was also named Na'er.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand. The Silver Dragon King should have been in the Star Dou Great Forest. Setting aside why she had traveled a hundred and eight thousand miles to Aolai City by the East Sea and lost her memory in the original story, how had she ended up here with him now?
And why had she come here?
He didn't have the golden dragon king bloodline.
Xu Qingjia planned to look through the Book of Life and Death when he got back.
He would see whether he could open an entry for Na'er.
Also, was this Na'er the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, or the Na'er she had split off from herself?
Shen Xi took out some desserts she usually carried with her. "Na'er, are you lost?"
The soft, fragrant little cakes coaxed the girl into talking.
"N-no." Na'er shook her head, her cheeks stuffed full.
A touch of aggrieved hurt crept into the girl's soft, sweet voice.
"I used to live somewhere with lots of trees, all full of life. But a little while ago, my mama suddenly didn't want me anymore. She sent me somewhere pitch-black, and when I opened my eyes again, I was near here."
Mother and son pondered her words.
In Xu Qingjia's mind:
A place full of life: the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Mama: the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena.
A pitch-black place: possibly a spatial rift used for teleportation or something.
Conclusion: the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena sent Na'er out to do something.
In Shen Xi's mind:
A place with lots of trees: some remote countryside.
Mama didn't want her: selling a child.
A pitch-black place: an enclosed vehicle, to keep the child from remembering the route and escaping home.
Conclusion: a mother in some remote countryside, still clinging to the old preference for boys over girls, sold her child to a trafficking organization operating across regions, or even countries.
"Hmph."
Shen Xi straightened, her phoenix eyes sweeping her surroundings like sharp blades. Her terrifying spirit domain realm spiritual power erupted, stirring the winds and clouds high in the heavens as it spread outward, searching for any furtive figures who might be traffickers. "These rats in the gutter."
Xu Qingjia felt that his mother had misunderstood something.
If he hadn't known Na'er's identity beforehand, her account really would have sounded like that of a trafficked child.
Finding nothing, Shen Xi crouched down halfway again and gently stroked Na'er's little head, her tender voice filled with maternal affection. "Na'er, would you like to come home with me? We were just heading back to eat."
"Mom, shouldn't we leave this to the Enforcement Bureau?" Xu Qingjia suggested.
"Isn't the Mingdu Enforcement Bureau practically run by our family?" Shen Xi said.
"..."
"It doesn't matter," Shen Xi said. She thought she had probably guessed what her darling son was thinking. "They're nothing but a pack of petty vermin."
There were indeed quite a few suspicious things about Na'er.
She sensed no soul power fluctuations from her. Either she hadn't awakened her martial soul, or her awakened martial soul had no soul power. A little girl without the strength to truss a chicken couldn't possibly have escaped a traffickers' den alone.
Normally, abducted children were kept under close watch by traffickers. With looks as exceptional as Na'er's, even if she had some incurable illness, they shouldn't have casually discarded her, much less conveniently left her near their
home.
But so what? They were nothing but a pack of petty vermin.
The Shen and Xu families were among the very highest-ranking families in the entire Federation.
As for the possibility that another family had sent this little girl as an undercover agent...
What genius would do that?
Sending such a tiny little girl.
Weren't they afraid she would go out and never return?
As for any higher level, gods lay outside the scope of Shen Xi's considerations.
After all, conquering the entire Douluo Continent would be easy for a True God. Why bother with schemes, tricks, or plotting?
"Eat?!"
At that, Na'er's gemstone-like eyes seemed to light up.
"Yes, yes!" Na'er agreed without hesitation.
As for her mission and all that, eating was the most important thing right now.
She wasn't afraid of encountering bad people, either. As an avatar of the Silver Dragon King, she naturally had ways to save her life.
"Let's go, then." Xu Qingjia was resigned.
The three arrived at his Bedchamber.
Xu Qingjia took out some snacks for Na'er to tide her over.
Whether it was Gu Yuena or Na'er, both had "an appetite to shock the world." They were true dragons, after all.
Shen Xi called the Mingdu Enforcement Bureau headquarters and sent them Na'er's photo, telling them to check her identity. She also ordered them to mobilize as much manpower as they could and crack down on traffickers right this very instant.
A wealthy lady with connections reaching all the way to heaven called the bureau chief's home directly, and every Enforcement Bureau in Mingdu instantly mobilized, launching a furious crackdown on criminal forces. After all, orders had come from above; they had to provide an accounting.
Xu Qingjia returned to his bedroom.
His consciousness entered his Sea of Consciousness.
After glancing at his Sea of Consciousness, which had grown a little larger again, he began consulting the Book of Life and Death.
[Na'er] [Avatar of the Silver Dragon King of the Star Dou Great Forest] [The Silver Dragon King detected something seemingly bearing the aura of the Netherworld. Suspecting a change in the Netherworld, she sent her to investigate.] [Equipped with one Silver Dragon Reverse Scale, allowing real-time communication with Gu Yue. A seal left by the Silver Dragon King within her body can automatically protect her at a critical moment and teleport her to Gu Yue's side.]
"Not Gu Yuena, but Na'er."
The Book of Life and Death listed Na'er and Gu Yue as two separate individuals. Although it only recorded Na'er's life after she had separated from the Silver Dragon King, that was enough for him to understand the cause and course of events.
"She detected something seemingly bearing the Netherworld's aura?"
"Was it because of my martial soul awakening that day?"
Xu Qingjia pondered.
At least he now knew Na'er carried nothing dangerous, and no Ferocious Beast from the Star Dou Great Forest was following her.
If one of the latter came, it would simply add a top-quality Soul Bone to the collections of Mingdu's powerhouses, further enriching their families' reserves.
His earlier concerns had mainly been about the former. The Silver Dragon King seemed down and out now, and she truly was. But she had once been a God King-level powerhouse, after all. What he had read in the novel might not correspond perfectly to present reality. What if she still had some hidden tricks?
The other one, the Golden Dragon King, had foreseen the time-space turbulence and laid plans early to break his seal. He had bewitched the God of Destruction and beaten the Asura God Tang San until he howled. Despite bearing so many negative emotions, he had retained both wisdom and strength, earning the name Little Dragon God. He simply hadn't escaped being killed off by the plot.
How should I handle this little one?
Xu Qingjia withdrew his consciousness from his Sea of Consciousness.
In the hall.
Maidservants brimming with youthful vitality carried steaming dishes to the dining table.
Overflowing with maternal affection, Shen Xi served Na'er food. Watching her accept every kind of dish and eat in great mouthfuls as though she hadn't had a meal in ages, Shen Xi's face was full of heartache and tenderness.
"Just look at how hungry this poor child is."
Having finished his day's work, Xu Ye came to have dinner with his wife and son. Finding an unfamiliar little girl in the house, he listened as Shen Xi recounted how they had met Na'er.
At that moment, Na'er felt she could die of happiness.
So many yummy things!
Nothing like these had ever appeared even in the Silver Dragon King's memories.
That was because the Silver Dragon King hadn't eaten much of anything, either. Shortly after her birth, she had been gravely wounded by the First-generation Asura God, then spent all her time holed up in the Star Dou Great Forest recovering. With her strength, however, she had long been able to replace food with energy.
A heartfelt, happy smile spread across Na'er's exquisite cheeks, and a little tuft of silver hair gently swayed with its owner's delight.