Wang Dong'er tilted her head back to look at Wang Xiaoming. The light from outside the window shone in her two purple eyes, making them sparkle.
"Big brother, Grandpa Meng is such a nice man."
The corners of Wang Xiaoming's mouth curved upward.
"Yeah, he's a good steward. He's just a little old... not very durable when you step on him."
Wang Dong'er: "???"
Did a good steward have to be durable enough to be stepped on?
It seemed some strange knowledge had entered her head.
In the Crown Prince's study, the lamp was still burning.
Xue Qinghe sat behind the desk, holding an unopened document. His gaze rested on the thin layer of night mist against the window paper, as though he could not quite see through the darkness tonight.
Across from her, Pufferfish stood with his head lowered, his face clouded.
"Vanished into thin air? Right under the senses of a Titled Douluo like you..."
Xue Qinghe's voice was quiet, revealing neither anger nor pleasure.
Pufferfish really had brought her a surprising piece of news.
Yue Guan had left Wang Xiaoming's residence on his own and probably hadn't continued trying to recruit him, but soon afterward, Wang Xiaoming had disappeared from his own room?
Pufferfish was certain Yue Guan hadn't used some method to take Wang Xiaoming away in secret.
That left only the boy's own ability...
Pufferfish's hand paused. "I have failed you."
"I'm not blaming you."
Xue Qinghe set the document back on the desk. "If even you couldn't detect anything, then the other party is at least on your level and skilled at concealing themselves."
Xue Qinghe frowned slightly. As he pondered who else could have done such a thing, a dark figure suddenly swept in through the window.
Snake Lance had hurried back, night dew clinging to his cloak, and knelt on one knee.
"Your Highness, the boy is back."
Xue Qinghe's brow twitched.
"Where did he come back from?"
"I don't know... By the time I arrived, he had appeared in the room out of thin air, and..."
Snake Lance hesitated for a moment before continuing, "He also brought back a little girl from who knows where. She looks about four or five, and she's already staying at his house."
The room fell silent for two breaths.
Xue Qinghe's fingers tapped lightly twice on the tabletop, and a low chuckle escaped his throat.
"A little girl?... He was gone for such a short time, and he picked someone up and brought her back?"
Snake Lance nodded. "I saw it with my own eyes."
Xue Qinghe rose, walked to the window, and pushed one side open.
The night breeze rushed in, sending the papers on the desk rustling.
She looked toward the Wang residence, a glimmer of interest in her eyes.
"In that case, it means he has a hidden spatial ability too...
"He keeps his thoughts so well hidden. As his big brother, I'm truly hurt. I wonder how many more surprises this little fellow has that I don't know about."
She turned and looked at Pufferfish.
"You don't need to stay at the Crown Prince's residence permanently anymore. Find a place near the Wang residence and keep a close eye on him, but don't interfere... unless his life is in danger, though that doesn't seem very likely now."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The lamp in the guest room of the Wang residence had already gone out.
Wrapped in a new quilt, Wang Dong'er lay curled up on the bed, fast asleep.
Wang Xiaoming sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, sinking his consciousness into his Sea of Spirit.
He was still rather crude in his use of the Dimensional Wall. Moving, traveling between worlds, and redirecting attacks were no problem, but he couldn't always rely on intuition for precise positioning and traversing.
He needed a more refined means of control.
That meant Spiritual Power.
He tried pushing a thread of Spiritual Power out from between his brows, extending it slowly and delicately like a probe.
As he used his Spiritual Power, it would grow continuously stronger, making it a kind of cultivation in another form.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a cultivation technique like Tang San's. He could only let it grow wild through unorthodox methods, or find a Spiritual Power Soul Bone.
For now, he could only keep using his Spiritual Power, draining it dry and releasing its potential.
Since he had retained the memories of his previous life, aside from the possibility that his head was big, his Spiritual Power also had to be stronger than a normal person's.
Starting with the room, he used his Spiritual Power to observe the world.
His Spiritual Power spread steadily outward. He could see the teapot at the corner of the table, the decorative painting on the wall, and the branches and leaves of the locust tree outside the window.
Then the probe continued outward, over the courtyard wall and past a wild cat dozing on the roof, spreading farther and farther.
It was too spread out. What he could see now was like a world in 480p, a blurry mess.
He frowned, drew back some of his Spiritual Power, and condensed it into a thinner beam.
Only then could he see more clearly. Though he could observe fewer things, the detail was much sharper.
When his Spiritual Power swept over the mirror, a faint ripple flashed across its surface, but Wang Xiaoming didn't pay it any mind, assuming the mirror was simply unusual.
Next, Wang Xiaoming's Spiritual Power extended all the way to Ning Rongrong's room.
The room was empty at the moment, containing only Ning Rongrong's various little belongings.
Ning Rongrong's clothes were in the wardrobe, neatly folded, and still carried a faint, milky fragrance.
He used the clothes as an anchor, fixed the location of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in his memory, and sent his Spiritual Power following after it, like tracing the end of a thread back to the ball.
With the help of the Dimensional Wall, his Spiritual Power could probe the entire world. The thread stretched longer and thinner, passing through streets and alleys, over city walls, and across fields and hills.
Suddenly, the thread touched a clear, bright halo of Soul Power. It was Ning Rongrong's presence, luminous and gentle, like a glazed lamp warmed by the night.
Found her...
Ning Rongrong's room in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
A pot of Star Spirit Grass, which aided sleep, sat on the windowsill. Several hair ribbons she hadn't gotten around to putting away were scattered across the dressing table.
The young lady herself was lying on the bed in an extremely unladylike position.
Her legs were spread apart, one draped outside the quilt and the other pinned beneath it. Her arms were flung wide, her body forming a giant X, and her head lolled at the edge of the pillow, a glistening trail of drool at the corner of her mouth.
Once Wang Xiaoming had locked onto the location, a gray curtain of light unfolded silently before him. He stepped through, and his foot came down on a soft carpet.
The night lamp in Ning Rongrong's room was still burning, its orange-yellow light falling over the mess on the bed.
He walked to the bedside and glanced down at her.
Sleeping like a little pig.
At your age, with your talent and your family background, how can you sleep?
Get up and work hard!!
He crouched at the head of the bed, picked up a long hair she had shed on the dressing table, then leaned close to her face and gently tickled her nostrils with it.
Ning Rongrong wrinkled her nose and gave a muffled grunt. She raised a hand to swat at the air, then rolled over and kept sleeping.
Wang Xiaoming tickled her again.
She buried her whole face in the pillow and mumbled, her voice muffled, "Stop it... I can still sleep..."
"You can still sleep?"
The corners of Wang Xiaoming's mouth twitched twice.
"Anyone who didn't know better would think Yue Guan had ambushed you too. Get up and party!!"