Master of Nine Stars

The cave wasn’t large, but the terrain inside was somewhat uneven.

Inside the small cave, there was only a single path leading north. However, the middle of the tunnel sloped upwards, and from the top, you could see the innermost part of the cave as long as you had a light.

Gao Lingwei stood at the highest point in the middle of the tunnel with her Snow Night Shock. The creature’s deep blue eyes shone into the cave’s interior.

Weiwei frowned. ’Something isn’t right.’

’What was amiss? The inside of the cave was perfectly still, unnaturally calm.’

’Was the Cloud Dog just playing a prank on Rong Taotao?’

Gao Lingwei held the Snow Night Shock’s jaw with one hand, adjusting its angle. Using its eyes as a flashlight, she advanced, scanning the dark corners of the cave.

After a long and thorough inspection, Gao Lingwei breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up one of the packs on the ground, grabbed a few bags of Little Rascal candy from another, and finally turned to leave.

But just as she and the Snow Night Shock disappeared over the highest point of the tunnel, deep within the cave, an eye lit up once more from a crack in the wall.

It was a vertical pupil, like a cat’s or a snake’s.

The cerulean eye was as beautiful as the sky—limpid and bright, a breathtaking sight...

Back at the cave entrance, Gao Lingwei returned and said, "The Cloud Dog is still too young. It only knows how to play. It probably doesn’t understand most of what we say. It must have been a misunderstanding."

"Mm..." Rong Taotao nodded. He had checked the cave when they first entered, and Gao Lingwei had just checked it again. With this double-check, nothing should go wrong...

Rong Taotao pulled a short military field knife from his side, crouched down, and started splitting kindling, saying, "This wood is saturated with Shuangxue. I’m afraid it’ll be hard to light."

Gao Lingwei also opened a supply pack. "Yeah, let’s use what’s inside first."

"WOOF!" The Cloud Dog, perched on Rong Taotao’s head, barked toward the inside of the cave again.

Gao Lingwei couldn’t help but smile. She casually tore open a pack of Little Rascals, unwrapped a candy with her fingers, and walked over to where Rong Taotao was crouching and splitting wood.

She reached out, popped a Cubed Sugar into the Cloud Dog’s mouth, and, while she was at it, popped one into Rong Taotao’s mouth too.

Rong Taotao: "..."

...

A small campfire was finally lit, at last bringing some light and heat to the dark, cold cave.

Fire was truly a remarkable thing. It felt as if it had transported Rong Taotao to another world.

Although he was still in a dangerous place, his heart at least felt much more at ease.

Gao Lingwei, for her part, took out a small pot, scooped up a potful of snow from outside the cave, and placed it by the fire before sitting down.

The cave was silent. The two of them hadn’t spoken since they got the fire going.

Gao Lingwei sat on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring into the campfire, lost in thought.

The flickering flames danced across Gao Lingwei’s face, her dark eyes a mixture of light and shadow.

"What are you thinking about?" Rong Taotao asked.

Gao Lingwei: "I’m thinking about how much time the Snowflake Wolf Pack will give us to rest, and how the three of us should divide up watch duty."

Rong Taotao: "Three of us?"

Gao Lingwei nodded lightly. "Yes. Hu Bugui can be trusted. Your Cloud Dog is still a pup, but my Snow Night Shock is basically an adult. It’s been with me for a long time and can understand most of the Chinese language. It’s capable of standing watch."

Rong Taotao lifted the Cloud Dog off his head. ’When it comes to being a watchdog, this little guy should be the expert. He is a dog, after all...’

’I hope he grows up fast. Making a little puppy stand watch is a bit much to ask of a dog.’

Rong Taotao unzipped his military jacket, placed the Cloud Dog inside his coat, and slowly zipped it back up, leaving the little dog’s head peeking out. He then said, "Our last conversation was interrupted by the Snowflake Wolf Pack. You still haven’t told me why it’s named Hu Bugui."

Gao Lingwei shook her head without speaking.

Rong Taotao pouted, not wanting to press the issue and be snubbed, so he didn’t ask again.

Unexpectedly, Gao Lingwei seemed to realize something. She lifted her gaze and looked at Rong Taotao across the campfire...

Gao Lingwei was clearly hesitant. She opened her mouth, paused for a long moment, but finally spoke. "It was a gift from a family member."

"Oh?" Rong Taotao popped a Little Rascal into his mouth, looking curiously at Gao Lingwei’s complicated expression.

The girl who was always so poised in daily life and so decisive in battle had rarely shown such a side of herself.

Gao Lingwei: "Actually, like you, I’m not an only child."

"Hm?" Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up. "I’ve seen your file. You have a forehead Soul Slot. Why... why don’t you have a Soul Pearl embedded in your forehead?"

The deeper meaning behind Rong Taotao’s question was why she wasn’t mentally linked to her sibling.

Gao Lingwei poked at the campfire absently with a stick. "The reward for being the Outer Region champion was indeed a Soul Pearl to be embedded in the forehead. I... I had one once, but it was shattered later."

Rong Taotao was completely baffled. "Huh???"

Gao Lingwei: "Yes. Because of her, I shattered that precious Soul Pearl."

Rong Taotao looked at Gao Lingwei, confused. Who was the "her" she was talking about?

Gao Lingwei suddenly raised her head, her gaze cutting across the dancing flames to look directly into Rong Taotao’s eyes. "I have a sister. She’s seven years older than me."

"Woof~" The Cloud Dog whimpered and quickly lowered its head. ’The pretty big sister suddenly got so serious, she’s a little scary...’

Rong Taotao covered the Cloud Dog’s little head at his collar with one hand, nodded slightly, and said, "And then?"

Gao Lingwei tilted her head, gesturing toward the Snow Night Shock by her side. "After my third-year middle school graduation ceremony, I successfully awakened. That night, she gave me this Snow Night Shock."

Rong Taotao said thoughtfully, "She’s very busy? You never get to see her, so you named the Snow Night Shock ’Hu Bugui’?"

’Oh, boy. This plot sounds familiar.’

"Something like that." Gao Lingwei hummed softly in agreement and continued, "She was my role model, and in my heart, the most perfect Snow Realm Soul Martial Artist."

Rong Taotao seized on the key word. One word: was.

Rong Taotao: "What happened later?"

Gao Lingwei: "Later, in my third year of high school, a few Soul Police officers came to our door. That was when my family and I learned that she, who was never home, wasn’t part of some special Huaxia unit. She was a Poacher."

Rong Taotao: ???

The sudden story left Rong Taotao stunned for a long moment...

Gao Lingwei said quietly, "Maybe... I should have told you this when you invited me to team up."

Rong Taotao immediately waved his hand dismissively. "Why tell me? There’s no need. I’m with you, not anyone else."

Gao Lingwei: "Mm..."

Rong Taotao: "Besides, you teamed up with me, even transferring from being a freshman to the Junior Class. That personnel change was made by Principal Mei herself.

Whatever you’re thinking, let’s stick to the facts. Your worries, your apologies, even your guilt—it’s all nonsense.

You are you, an individual. The Outer Region champion, the national third-place winner. You’re my partner, my comrade-in-arms."

Gao Lingwei bit her lip, watching Rong Taotao quietly.

After a moment, a smile suddenly appeared on her face. In the flickering firelight, her eyes, which should have been shifting between light and shadow, seemed exceptionally bright.

Rong Taotao continued, "Did her forehead have a Soul Slot too? After you embedded the Soul Pearl, were you mentally linked with her?"

Gao Lingwei: "Yes."

Rong Taotao was a bit dumbfounded. There was a huge variety of forehead Soul Pearls. Soul Pearls from different Soul Beasts couldn’t possibly create a mental link, not even between twin siblings. Was it really such a coincidence?

Or, had Gao Lingwei’s sister known exactly what the reward for the Outer Region championship was and deliberately embedded the same type of Soul Pearl?

Gao Lingwei: "That one time, I heard her voice. And that one time, I finally understood that compared to the physical aspects of a Soul Martial Artist, the tempering of the spirit and the cultivation of the mind are on a higher level and deserve far more attention."

Rong Taotao’s expression grew complicated, as if he had guessed something. "You..."

Gao Lingwei: "I was like a kitten she toyed with in the palm of her hand. Whatever information she wanted, whatever goal she wanted to achieve... In short, I was completely at her mercy.

During that time, she was no longer my family, but a demon who manipulated minds. Compared to her, I was just an ignorant and foolish child. Fragile, pitiful, and emotional.

Finally, at the direction of the Soul Police, I shattered the Soul Pearl in my forehead and escaped her prison."

As she spoke, Gao Lingwei tore open a military ration pack, picked up the small pot from beside the fire, and poured the melted snow into the heating pouch.

While sealing the ration pack, Gao Lingwei said softly, "You know, I will surpass her. Surpass the one who was once the most perfect Snow Realm Soul Martial Artist in my heart.

All the pain she gave me... I will return it."

Rong Taotao said, "So that’s why you came to Pine Soul Soul Martial."

Gao Lingwei nodded lightly and handed the self-heating ration pack to Rong Taotao. "Yes."

Rong Taotao: "Last time, at the school hospital, I asked you why you came to Pine Soul Soul Martial, and you didn’t tell me. Why are you telling me now?"

Gao Lingwei thought for a moment before replying, "I don’t know. The topic came up, so I just said it. Maybe my feelings toward you have changed a bit. I felt you should know, and I wanted to tell you."

Hearing this, Rong Taotao nodded silently.

Gao Lingwei, however, leaned forward. Her arm, coated in Shuangxue, reached across the campfire, and she gently tapped the Cloud Dog’s little head, an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry, little guy. I scared you."

The Cloud Dog whimpered, "Ngh~"

Outside the cave, darkness reigned, and the snowstorm raged.

Inside the cave, the firelight danced, offering a little brightness, a little warmth.

But no one noticed—not even the Cloud Dog—that deep within the cave, a petite figure was lying low behind the small slope in the middle of the tunnel. Its large, cerulean eyes were fixed on the cave entrance from afar.

Gao Lingwei affectionately tapped the Cloud Dog’s little head with her finger. The scene was so heartwarming...