He pushed open the door, and the aroma of home cooking filled the room.
Lang Yue came out of the kitchen carrying soup. Seeing her two sons, a gentle smile immediately rose on her face. "Wash your hands and come eat. It was your first day at school today. How was Red Mountain Academy? Did you get along with the other children?"
Tang Ziran also looked up from his newspaper, watching them gently.
Tang Wulin sat down on a stool, still clutching the ice cream his brother had bought him. He lowered his head somewhat glumly and muttered, "The kids at school who have soul power won't play with Blue Silver Grass. But my brother took me out for something tasty, and he taught a bad guy a lesson."
"Taught a bad guy a lesson?!"
The moment Lang Yue heard this, she panicked. She set her bowl down on the table and hurried over to the brothers at almost a run, pulling Tang Qingye and Tang Wulin to her and frantically feeling them over and looking them up and down.
"What happened? What kind of bad guy did you run into? Qingye, hurry and let Mom look. Are you hurt anywhere? Little Lin, you didn't get into a fight, did you?" Her eyes reddened with anxiety, her voice trembling beyond concealment.
To her, it did not matter how ordinary their martial souls were or how hard and impoverished their lives might be. Nothing mattered more than the safety of her two precious sons.
Tang Ziran stood up as well, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Mom, we're fine. Just a little dirt on our hems." Tang Qingye let Lang Yue anxiously check him all over.
"You child, always making wisecracks." Seeing no wounds or bruises on either of her precious boys, Lang Yue finally relaxed.
"Dad, Mom, I have something to tell you." Tang Qingye's tone was solemn, his gaze as resolute as if he were about to join the Party.
Seeing their eldest son strike this pose, the couple both felt a sense of déjà vu. Even Tang Wulin, who was sucking on his ice cream beside them, stopped.
Satisfied to see the whole family's attention turn his way, Tang Qingye nodded and told them how he had skipped school that day and been taken in at the Spirit Pagoda as the final disciple of its vice pagoda master, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu.
"Straying into heaven's court, urged to let go of the sand in my hand..."
Where had that song come from?
"Dear, are we still dreaming?"
"I know all those words-Spirit Pagoda vice pagoda master, Limit Douluo, taking a disciple-but put them together, and I don't think I understand anymore."
But Lang Yue's attention was not on that at all. All she knew was that her fears seemed to have come true. Her eyes instantly reddened, and she hugged Tang Qingye tightly.
"Qingye... then, then are you leaving? That important person is taking you away, isn't she?" Lang Yue's voice trembled slightly.
"Mom, don't cry, don't cry. We're all going together." Tang Qingye gently stroked Lang Yue's back, soothing her.
"Together?" Lang Yue froze, tears still hanging on her cheeks. The separation from her own flesh and blood that she feared most was gone, replaced by a flustered sense of unreality. "But, but what could we do over there...?"
"No, that wouldn't be appropriate." Tang Ziran's honest, steady face was creased with a deep frown. "Qingye, that place is the heart of the entire continent. But your mother and I have spent our whole lives tending this mecha repair shop. We have nothing to offer. If we went there, we'd only become burdens to you and make you lose face in front of your master."
"That's right, big brother. If I went, I'd embarrass you." Although Tang Wulin did not understand any of the talk about Limit Douluos or taking disciples, he simply did not want to affect his brother's future.
"What are you all thinking?" Tang Qingye shook his head helplessly.
"Dad, Mom, how could you be burdens? My teacher is the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, second to one and above ten thousand, at least on the surface. If you don't go enjoy a comfortable life, wouldn't I have become her disciple for nothing?"
"And it's for Little Lin, too. Even though Little Lin awakened Blue Silver Grass, since he has soul power, he shouldn't be left buried in obscurity. Aolai City's resources are far too scarce. Only if we move to Shrek City, under the Spirit Pagoda's protection, can he receive the best foundational training. Even just for Little Lin's future, we should venture out."
"As for any gossip, the light of my Heaven-Slaying Sword won't be joking around with whoever says it."
At that moment, far away on the horizon, Qiangu Zhangting's sphincter clenched. Frightened into thinking his father or grandfather was going to beat him again, he instinctively activated Martial Soul Possession.
"Little bastard, what the hell are you doing? Did you jerk off too much last night?!" Qiangu Dongfeng's face was dark, and when he felt the strange looks from the important figures around him, he wished he could take a Septwolves belt and whip his backside hard.
"You child, you're only six... Why are you thinking so much about us? As long as you're happy, we're happy. We've never thought about enjoying any luxuries."
Tang Ziran's eyes reddened a little too. Turning to Lang Yue, he spoke in a much lighter tone. "All right, stop wiping away tears. Since our son has even paved the road for us, we won't cling to this shabby little shop in Aolai City anymore.
"Pack our bags.
"We're moving."
"All right, all right. I'll go pack right away."
Lang Yue finally smiled through her tears. Beside her, although Tang Wulin had not understood much, he could read the adults' expressions.
Hearing that not only would the whole family not have to separate, but his brother would also take him to a big city to defy heaven and change his fate, the little boy excitedly threw his arms around Tang Qingye's waist, rubbing his head against his brother's back again and again.
Outside the window, the cold, briny sea wind swept past, carrying the night with it.
The cruel fate that should have led to their family falling apart, to returning to an old trade and disappearing, was brought back onto the right track at that moment by the warmth of their home and the protection of the Heavenly Phoenix Token.
The tiny harbor of Aolai City could not, in the end, contain these two true dragons about to take flight.
Aolai City's seaside was not particularly beautiful.
It lacked the fine white sand of the big cities. What met the eye was mostly scattered rubble and dead seashells, along with muddy yellow waves beating against the shore.
The air held a cold, briny dampness. Several glaring behemoths stood on this stretch of rocky beach.
Four pitch-black black-grade mechas stood on either side, with a scarlet Heavenly Phoenix mecha whose wings streamed with fire in the center. Dressed in snow-white robes, Leng Yaozhu stood quietly beside a reef rock.
Hearing the crunch of stones, she turned. The chill faded from her phoenix eyes as she watched the approaching family of four with a smile.
Tang Qingye walked at the front.
He glanced at the coast, inwardly wistful. According to the original script, this should have been where Na'er and Tang Wulin parted.
Now, he had completely overwritten the cause and effect of this rocky beach.
Tang Qingye walked up to her. "Teacher."
"Arriving right on the dot?" Leng Yaozhu raised an eyebrow and casually poked Tang Qingye's forehead, neither hard nor lightly. Then she looked at the uneasy Tang Ziran and Lang Yue, her tone easygoing. "No need to be so reserved. Qingye is an endearing child. Aolai City is too small; its skies cannot contain his talent. Since he has accepted me as his teacher, from now on, the Heavenly Phoenix Family will be your whole family's backing in Shrek City."
Tang Ziran and his wife exchanged a glance. Some of the bewildered uncertainty in their eyes faded, replaced by a grounded sense of reassurance.
Leng Yaozhu pointed at the steel beasts.
"Under the regulations, black-grade mechas can only carry two people at full capacity. Take your luggage and split up among the three in the back. The pilots will take you straight to your residence in Shrek City. As for Qingye-" She tilted her head and tugged her eldest disciple's ear with a half-smile. "Naturally, he's coming aboard the Heavenly Phoenix with me."
Tang Qingye looked nonchalant, a smile tugging at his lips. "Teacher, let's go."
"Heh, you've got some nerve."
Leng Yaozhu chuckled. Her slender, jade-like hand closed around the back of Tang Qingye's neck, lifting him like a kitten. Her white robes left a long rainbow through the air, and in a flash, she carried Tang Qingye into the Heavenly Phoenix mecha's cockpit.
On the rocky beach, Tang Ziran, Lang Yue, and Tang Wulin remained where they were, watching Leng Yaozhu carry their eldest son through the hatch. Only after the thick armor blocked their view did they follow the black-grade mecha pilots' guidance, take their luggage, and climb into the rear copilot seats.
Inside the Heavenly Phoenix mecha's metal cockpit.
The heavy alloy hatch slammed shut, cutting off outside eyes and the roar of the wind. The moment it closed, Leng Yaozhu, who had just carried herself like an exemplary master, dropped the act.
With a casual lift, she kept Tang Qingye from touching the floor and swept him into her warm, fragrant, soft embrace.
Leng Yaozhu sat in the main pilot's seat, one hand clasped around his waist, holding him firmly on her lap.
"You did a fine job of acting well-behaved with your teacher out there, little fellow." Leng Yaozhu expertly pulled the main control lever, lighting up the densely packed soul guidance screens around them, then lowered her head and rested her chin on Tang Qingye's shoulder.
Her orchid-scented breath brushed his ear as her jade-like fingers mischievously pinched his collagen-plump little cheek. Her tone brimmed with teasing amusement. "Back outside, you didn't even look at your teacher's personal mecha. Were you really not afraid, or were you putting on a brave face for me? Hmm?"
Tang Qingye was pinned firmly in her arms, his back pressed against her soft body, her warm breath and mature, smiling voice beside his ear. He shifted, only to find that Leng Yaozhu's arms were like an octopus's; there was no breaking free. He simply gave up struggling and leaned lazily into her embrace, tilting his head up to meet her amused phoenix eyes.
"With my teacher personally piloting the mecha, what's there to be afraid of? But does the Spirit Pagoda know you tease your disciple while piloting, Teacher?"
"You little slickster, you even dare make fun of your teacher."
Leng Yaozhu was so amused that she giggled, her chest rising and falling as her arm tightened around him. She reached out and brushed a finger over the tip of Tang Qingye's nose, her phoenix eyes slanting toward the brightly lit large screen ahead.
"Sit tight. Let your teacher see whether your bones are as tough as your mouth."
Boom!!
Flowing fire spread its wings, escorted by a black tide. Enormous scarlet phoenix wings tore a shrill sonic boom across the sea, and the Heavenly Phoenix mecha became a streak of light, sweeping the four black-grade mechas along as it thundered toward the azure skies of the continent's heart.
One day, the great roc rose with the wind, soaring ninety thousand li straight into the heavens.
From then on, the sea was vast enough for fish to leap, the sky high enough for birds to fly.
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