The strong were right, and the weak were wrong.
The eldest prince's residence.
After seeing Baers off following his failed attempt at persuasion, Xue Qinghe returned to his residence to rest.
"That idiot..."
Xue Qinghe removed his mask and shed his disguise, revealing a more delicate female face.
"Mud that can't be plastered onto a wall."
Dugu Yan had already begun to relent. All he had to do was keep his head lowered. Even if he took a vicious beating, even if he was crippled, a healing Soul Master could treat him afterward.
Once the younger generation had settled things among themselves, Dugu Bo would not interfere further even if he found out.
But that Baers really had a pig's brain!
He couldn't even read a situation like that!
All her efforts had been wasted!
He really deserved to die!
"Young master, should I intercept Dugu Bo outside the city? At least keep him from returning to Heaven Dou City for a while?"
A tall figure in a black robe emerged from the shadows.
"There's no need."
"Xue Qinghe" coldly regarded the gift Baers had left on the table. Golden flames gathered in her hand, and she burned it to ashes in one stroke.
"As long as that fellow doesn't die at Dugu Bo's hands."
"You mean..."
"The young prince of the Haagen-Dazs Kingdom is in Heaven Dou City as well. Baers is spoiled by nature. Clashes between young people are inevitable, and so are accidents."
"Understood."
The moment he finished speaking, the black-robed man vanished from the room.
"Xuan Ming, benevolence and righteousness... what an interesting little fellow."
"Xue Qinghe" let out a breath and resumed her earlier disguise.
"Someone."
"Look into that boy named Xuan Ming beside Dugu Yan. Find out exactly where he comes from."
Chapter 21: I'm Curious
"An orphan from Aolai City?"
Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Since his subordinates had no idea where to begin investigating, Xue Qinghe had no choice but to come in person and ask Dugu Yan about him.
"That's what he told me," Dugu Yan said.
"To think that was his background..." Xue Qinghe was quite surprised.
For the boy to say those things and see his own situation so clearly, he had assumed the child was from some great clan that had fallen on hard times, or perhaps the offspring of an old friend of Dugu Bo's.
He was actually just an orphan from a small border city?
"Eldest Prince, why are you asking about this?" Dugu Yan asked in puzzlement.
"He suffered such serious injuries because of Baers, and now, because of relations between the two kingdoms, he can only swallow his resentment. I truly feel bad about it and want to compensate him, but I don't know his circumstances, so naturally, I could only come to you to learn more," Xue Qinghe said.
"I see." Dugu Yan nodded.
"Lingling and I have to attend school. I wanted to bring him to the academy with us, but he refused. What happened before probably left a shadow over him."
"I wasn't very comfortable leaving him home alone, either, so I had him stay with Grandma Lan for now."
"Eldest Prince, if you're going to see him, whatever you do, don't bring that Baers along."
"Of course," Xue Qinghe said.
He had intended to have Baers die in an accident involving another kingdom's prince before Dugu Bo returned, at least shifting the conflict elsewhere so it would not affect relations between the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Balak Kingdom.
He had not expected those princes to avoid Baers like the plague after hearing about what he had done!
Forget arranging an accident-even meeting one of them was difficult!
All the princes currently in Heaven Dou Imperial City were staying in the palace's separate residences, leaving no opportunity to arrange an accident.
To prevent any trouble on Dugu Bo's side, he could only try his best to keep things steady here for now. Dugu Yan was no longer much of a problem, but that Xuan Ming remained something of a risk.
Dugu Bo was a loner who did not readily associate with others, much less a child.
Dugu Yan had still concealed quite a bit just now about how Xuan Ming and Dugu Bo had met.
When Prince Xue Xing sent word back that Dugu Bo had become a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, he had included another piece of news for the old emperor: that old poisoner had just been hunted by Spirit Hall's two Titled Douluo, Chrysanthemum and Ghost.
Right after something like that happened, Dugu Bo had brought back a child. There was very likely some other entanglement between the two.
If that entanglement caused Dugu Bo to disregard his status and attack Baers, things would become troublesome.
To be safe, he had better pacify this Xuan Ming first.
The Ye residence.
Not wanting to invite any more trouble, Xuan Ming had refused Dugu Yan's offer to take him to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
After all, his luck had always been bad. A place like Heaven Dou Royal Academy had a complicated mix of people. His appearance already drew attention, but even without his unusual looks, trouble could easily arise.
"What are you doing?"
Xue Qinghe had come to visit, and the moment he entered the rear courtyard, he saw Xuan Ming thrusting a blood spear into a large rock.
"I want to see whether I can stab this thing apart," Xuan Ming said.
"Stab it apart?" Xue Qinghe couldn't help laughing.
"You're not even a Soul Master. How could you possibly stab apart a rock that big?"
"How would I know without trying?" Xuan Ming drew a deep breath and circulated his Soul Power. His frail body seemed to grow increasingly muscular, and a faint layer of black dragon scales vaguely covered his originally human limbs. The twin dragons behind him radiated a savage presence.
Gripping the blood spear tightly and aiming at the small notch repeated impacts had left in the center of the rock, Xuan Ming unleashed all the strength in his body!
Bang!!!
Driven by tremendous force, the blood spear tore through it like rotten wood, shattering the rock that stood a head taller than Xuan Ming. Fragments scattered everywhere, damaging many of the flowers and plants in the courtyard.
Xue Qinghe's expression shifted slightly.
Was this the strength a rank-ten Soul Scholar without even a Soul Ring should possess?
Was this a joke?
"What's wrong?" Xue Qinghe looked in puzzlement at Xuan Ming, who stood motionless with his back to him.
"I think I've caused trouble." Xuan Ming looked guiltily at the flowers and plants smashed by the flying stones.
He had been stabbing at it all morning, getting a feel for it and testing where to apply his strength.
That had only been another attempt. Even he hadn't expected to actually stab the thing apart.
Ye Lan had gone out at noon to see a friend. How was he supposed to explain this courtyard full of wreckage when she returned?
Burglars broke in?
"You certainly have caused trouble. Senior Ye treasures these flowers and plants," Xue Qinghe said with considerable schadenfreude.
Ye Lan's temper was hardly good!
Strictly speaking, she was only a tiny bit better than Dugu Bo!
"What brings you here, Eldest Prince?" Xuan Ming put away the blood spear and went to pick up the scattered stones.
"Dugu Yan has gone to school, and Senior Ye is out too. If you're looking for them..."
"I came to see you," Xue Qinghe said.
"Me?" Xuan Ming paused, then continued picking up stones.
"What do you want with me? Surely you don't want me to apologize to His Highness the Prince?"
"What are you saying?" Xue Qinghe found that rather amusing.
"I nearly killed him," Xuan Ming said.
"Attacking royalty and nobility is a capital offense, isn't it?"
He knew what Baers refused to accept. He was merely a commoner without status. Even though Baers had started the incident, it was also true that he had nearly killed a kingdom's prince.
It was just that Ge Long had stopped him at the time, and no one thought a child who wasn't even a Soul Master could actually kill Baers. With his connection to Dugu Yan as well, no one had brought it up.
"Did you truly intend to kill Baers then?" Xue Qinghe asked.
Although Baers had the cultivation of a Soul Grandmaster, he had lived in pampered luxury since childhood and possessed practically no fighting ability. Judging by the strength of Xuan Ming's strike just now, if he had truly intended to kill him and Ge Long had not intervened in time, Baers would certainly have died!
"In that situation, if he didn't die, I would," Xuan Ming said.
Xue Qinghe considered this, then nodded. "In theory, that is indeed true. But I want to know: did you decide to kill him, or did Dugu Yan tell you to?"
Could a six-year-old child really make that judgment and possess that kind of resolve in such an urgent situation?
"Why are you asking?" Xuan Ming asked.
"I'm curious," Xue Qinghe said.
"In that situation, if you'd failed, you would have been dead. Even death might have been a luxury."
"If no third party had intervened, I... probably wouldn't have failed," Xuan Ming said.
"Why?" Xue Qinghe asked.
"I'm not even a Soul Master. The guards' attention was all on Dugu Yan at the time. No one was paying any attention to me, and Baers was completely unguarded, too. At that distance, I would definitely have struck first," Xuan Ming said.
"And that's exactly what happened. I was just a little short. If General Ge Long hadn't interfered, my spear would definitely have pierced that fellow's throat!"
Chapter 22: A Gift to Mark Our Acquaintance
"Could you... rein it in a little?"
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Xue Qinghe looked at the two black dragons on Xuan Ming's back, which radiated savage killing intent.
"My apologies." Xuan Ming took a deep breath and calmed himself.
After several breaths, the twin dragons on his back gradually settled down as well.
"This Martial Soul Mutation of yours certainly is interesting," Xue Qinghe said cryptically.
Before he came, Dugu Yan had told him that the two dragons on Xuan Ming's back seemed capable of reflecting his truest thoughts.
Xuan Ming could pretend and hold himself back, but the two dragons on his back could not.
"What are you trying to say, Eldest Prince?" Xuan Ming asked.
"I originally intended to persuade you to set this matter aside for now, but after seeing you just now, I won't waste my breath," Xue Qinghe said.
The savagery was a matter of his Martial Soul, but killing intent that intense came from the boy's own thoughts.
"Still, there are a few things I'd like to ask about." Xue Qinghe walked into the pavilion and sat down.
"Yanzi said you could originally have escaped alone, but you took her along anyway?"
"She misunderstood," Xuan Ming said.
"In that situation, if I'd run alone, I would have been their only target."
"I wasn't confident I could escape from three Soul Elders and a Soul Ancestor."
Xue Qinghe raised his eyebrows. "So you were dragging her into the water with you?"