Qian Renxue brought Meng Bei to a stone forest situated behind the Spirit Hall.
The grounds were spacious and well-kept, filled with row upon row of enormous stone tablets, white as jade, each one carved with the image of a six-winged angel faintly emanating golden light.
Qian Renxue ran gleefully into the clearing, spread her wings, and flew freely among the towering tablets.
When she tired of flying, she pulled Meng Bei down to sit together beneath the largest tablet in the grove.
"Ah, it's been so long since I've been back!"
Qian Renxue sighed with feeling.
Meng Bei looked around at the stone forest, curiosity stirring in him.
"Xue'er, what are all these for?"
Qian Renxue gazed at the tablets surrounding them.
"These? They're my teachers and my friends."
"Teachers and friends?"
Meng Bei was puzzled.
Qian Renxue leaned her head against his shoulder and explained.
"When I was small, I had no playmates. No father, no mother — only Grandfather to keep me company, and even he had his own affairs to attend to. So my only task, day after day, was to cultivate. Just cultivate, and cultivate some more..."
"Eventually, Grandfather could see how bored I truly was, and he brought me here. These stone tablets are formed from the soul power of the Spirit Hall's popes throughout the ages after their deaths, each one imbued with their understanding of the martial soul."
"After that, I came here often to cultivate. Whenever I sensed the power within these tablets, I always felt as though they were my companions — so that's why I say they are both my teachers and my friends."
Meng Bei listened as Qian Renxue recounted all of this in her quiet, matter-of-fact tone, and found that his heart could not settle for a long while.
He could not help but feel a deep ache for what she had endured as a child.
He wrapped his arms gently around Qian Renxue and simply held her there.
Qian Renxue grinned.
"What's this? Being unusually well-behaved today — are you nervous? Or are you feeling sentimental?"
Meng Bei raised an eyebrow at that. He was not about to let that slide.
So he moved to scoop her up in his arms —
Only to have Qian Renxue say brightly: "Hehe, I should mention — that tablet right there is my great-grandfather!"
Meng Bei froze mid-motion.
Qian Renxue continued cheerfully: "And that one is my great-great-grandfather. Over there is my ancestor from three generations back. And that one, and that one... oh, and this one we're sitting under — the biggest one — that's my father. Grandfather always said that Father gave life to me and made the greatest contribution to the Angel Clan, so his is the largest tablet of all!"
Meng Bei's heart lurched. He immediately stepped away from the tablet, pulling Qian Renxue with him.
Qian Renxue dissolved into peals of laughter at his reaction.
Meng Bei could only shake his head. No matter how uninhibited he was in general, there were limits even for him — this was not the place.
Even if Qian Xunji himself wouldn't have minded, he certainly would.
Qian Renxue sidled up to him, pressing her advantage with a flurry of teasing.
"You were scared, weren't you? You were! Definitely scared!"
Meng Bei surrendered.
"Yes, yes, I was scared. Alright, Xue'er — let's head back."
Qian Renxue pouted playfully.
"No. You have to carry me."
Meng Bei had no choice but to comply. He stepped forward, gathered Qian Renxue into his arms, and carried her all the way back to her chambers.
Once inside, Qian Renxue remained just as unruly. She tugged at him and declared: "Give me a bath."
"Alright," Meng Bei said. "I'll bathe with you."
Qian Renxue shook her head. "No. Not with me. For me."
"What's the difference?" Meng Bei asked.
Qian Renxue huffed with mock indignance. "Of course there's a difference! I helped you enormously in front of Grandfather today. You owe me a proper act of service!"
Meng Bei laughed despite himself and agreed.
In the end, after her bath, Qian Renxue didn't bother to dry off at all. She lay down on her bed exactly as she was, still damp, using her soul power to roll the beads of the golden God-Granted Soul Ring lazily across her snow-white midriff.
"Come then, my dearest companion — come and catch..."
A night of unrestrained freedom followed.
By the next morning, Qian Renxue lay curled tightly around Meng Bei, bare and unwilling to let go, as though trying to meld herself into him entirely.
She hid it well — but Meng Bei still noticed that her mood had dipped.
"Xue'er, what's wrong?"
Qian Renxue's phoenix eyes drooped slightly.
"If only we could stay here forever. No more pretending. No more loneliness. No longer having to care what anyone else thinks — and you right here with me."
Meng Bei responded by giving her a light pat on the waist in mock punishment.
"Oh? Trying to keep me all to yourself, are you? That deserves a penalty!"
Qian Renxue looked up at him with an aggrieved expression. "No — I meant you could bring them all here too!"
Meng Bei acted even more outraged.
"So keeping me to yourself wasn't enough — now you want to monopolize them as well!"
Qian Renxue was even more aggrieved than before.
Fortunately, Meng Bei's tender words followed close behind.
"I can't grant you that wish just yet — but I can promise you this: whatever I do from here on, I'll bring you along. How does that sound?"
Qian Renxue's eyes lit up with delight.
"You had better not be lying!"
"I promise. I won't go back on my word."
Retribution, however, came swiftly — and Meng Bei had not anticipated how quickly he would break that promise.
The Continental Advanced Youth Soul Master Tournament began on schedule.
The Star Luo Empire's delegation arrived slightly later than the Heaven Dou Empire's, though only by a short while. Once all the competing teams had assembled, the elimination rounds of the Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament officially got underway.
The first round would pit the thirty qualifying teams from the two great empires against one another in paired matches, while the three seeded teams received a bye and would not compete in the opening round.
As the dean of Shrek Academy, Meng Bei naturally went up as its representative to draw lots.
The result: the Shrek team was matched against an ordinary team from the Star Luo Empire.
After a brief assessment, Meng Bei could see the opposing team posed absolutely no threat to Shrek, and so there was no need for him to intervene. The two teams took the stage and the match began.
Meng Bei watched from below.
It was then that two figures approached — a man and a woman — and sat down beside him.
"Brother Meng Bei — your reputation precedes you!"
The young man greeted him politely.
Meng Bei looked him over.
He was a blond-haired youth, visibly several years older than Meng Bei, dressed in a long blue-purple robe embroidered with white tiger gold trim that marked his status. If one looked carefully, there was a resemblance between his brow and eyes and those of Dai Mubai.
The young woman at his side was dressed in a combat leather suit and was strikingly beautiful. Meng Bei hardly needed to guess — she was almost certainly Zhu Zhuqing's older sister, Zhu Zhuyun.
The reason was simple enough: that particular style of leather suit was far too familiar to him. He had personally torn apart several such garments in his time. Compared to the one Zhu Zhuyun was wearing now, the ones he had ruined before had simply been a size smaller.
At that thought, Meng Bei offered a slight bow.
"You must be the First Prince of the Star Luo Empire — His Highness Davis?"
Davis responded with immediate, gracious modesty.
"Please, no need for 'Your Highness' — I'm a few years older than you at most. If you don't mind, just call me Brother Davis."
One doesn't strike a man who comes smiling. Seeing Davis's pleasant manner, Meng Bei saw no reason to make things difficult and replied:
"In that case I'll take the liberty of calling you Brother Davis. And please, no need for formality on your end either — just call me Xiao Bei. To be candid, that's exactly how your brother Dai Mubai and I address each other."
At that, Davis's expression stiffened — visibly, plainly, at a pace the naked eye could easily follow.
Meng Bei appeared not to notice.
Then, quite suddenly, Meng Bei said:
"Brother Davis, look — Brother Mubai is about to use a soul skill!"
(End of Chapter)
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