Master of Nine Stars

Night fell, and the city lights began to glow.

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei appeared on a street at the night market. They were both wearing pure white puffer jackets, jeans, and pitch-black combat boots, looking quite the matching pair.

That afternoon, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei had gone shopping for new clothes. Rong Taotao’s family wasn’t poor. Although he rarely saw them, his father was always generous with money.

At Rong Taotao’s insistence, Gao Lingwei had no choice but to let him buy her a new jacket. Afterward, as if returning the favor, Gao Lingwei bought Rong Taotao a pair of pants and some shoes...

Finally, Rong Taotao had fulfilled one of his dreams!

You have to understand, back when Sun Xingyu and Li Ziyi were parading around in their matching puffer jackets, Rong Taotao had been grinding his teeth in envy...

Gao Lingwei’s mood had improved considerably. They had spent the afternoon wandering the streets and alleyways, soaking in the festive New Year’s atmosphere of the bustling town. She was already almost completely healed.

As night fell, the night market that Rong Taotao had been most looking forward to finally opened for business. The two of them were among the first to arrive, and as he inhaled the fragrant aroma of food, a blissful smile spread across Rong Taotao’s face.

"Grilled squid! Let’s start with five to whet our appetites~" Rong Taotao said, pulling Gao Lingwei to a small stall and peering at the vendor through the thick smoke.

"You got it! Five skewers of grilled squid!" the vendor hollered, grabbing the skewers while calling out to potential customers. It was just a small stall, but his booming voice made it sound like a five-star restaurant calling out an order.

SIZZLE... The small brush slicked oil over the grilling squid, and the hotplate hissed.

"Ah, this is heaven!" Rong Taotao’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared, transfixed, at the steaming grilled squid.

"Heh." A faint smile touched Gao Lingwei’s lips. She found Rong Taotao’s ravenous expression quite amusing.

’He already trains so hard and is so diligent. His strength is growing at a speed unattainable by ordinary people, and he’s the descendant of a famous general... His gluttony, in a way, just makes him feel more down-to-earth.’

"Here, here, we’ll divide these by appetite~ Eat up, don’t be polite." Rong Taotao took four skewers for himself and handed one to Gao Lingwei.

Gao Lingwei: "..."

They walked deeper into the bustling night market while eating. Rong Taotao’s eyes darted everywhere. The moment he finished the grilled squid, he was already standing in front of a fried chicken strip stall...

"Damn, I definitely have to bring Si Huan Nian here next time. This is a foodie’s paradise," Rong Taotao muttered.

Gao Lingwei was generally a magnanimous person, but she couldn’t help but feel a little put out when she heard that.

She was about to say something, but then she noticed the chili sauce smeared on the corner of his lips. In the end, she just took out a napkin and wiped his mouth.

In the crowded night market, not far behind the pair, Yang Chunxi was strolling happily with her arm linked through Rong Yang’s, her head resting on his shoulder.

As for Rong Yang... well, he was carrying two large bags. They contained not only the clothes he had bought for Yang Chunxi that afternoon, but also a bag with the old clothes Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei had changed out of...

’This is so frustrating.’

"It looks like that old man isn’t here," Gao Lingwei said, standing on her tiptoes to look into the distance, feeling a little disappointed.

The old man’s usual spot had been taken over by a stall selling roujiamo.

"There’s one over there, under the lantern," Rong Taotao said, pointing into the distance.

They saw a middle-aged man in a thick, padded cotton jacket standing next to a tricycle. Beside the tricycle was a large straw pole stuck full of tempting candied haws.

"What a coincidence. The dumpling restaurant on the street behind that candied haw vendor is where my family and I come every year," Gao Lingwei said, leading Rong Taotao, who was still holding his fried chicken, toward the stall.

Seeing customers approach, the middle-aged man adjusted his cotton hat and said with a cheerful laugh, "What can I get for you? Guaranteed to be sweet!"

"Heh." Gao Lingwei gave a noncommittal smile. Glistening under the streetlights and lanterns, the candied haws did look very tempting. She looked up at the selection and said, "Two of the hawthorn ones."

"You got it~" The man took down two skewers of candied haws and handed them to Gao Lingwei. "That’ll be six yuan."

"Mm..." Gao Lingwei reached out. But just as she was about to take the skewers, her body stiffened slightly.

The friendly smile on the middle-aged man’s face suddenly vanished, and his dark eyes turned incredibly sinister.

In an instant, it was as if someone had hit the "mute" button on the bustling, noisy night market in Gao Lingwei’s world.

Gao Lingwei’s expression changed drastically. She tried to recoil, but her body wouldn’t move an inch!

It was as if she were trapped in an intensely realistic nightmare, unable to even twitch a finger.

In her vision, the candied haws the man was handing her had transformed into a sharp dagger, its blade gleaming menacingly under the lantern light.

At that moment, Gao Lingwei understood completely. She had been caught in an Illusion Technique!

"I’ll give you one chance. Destroy your Soul Pet. I’m only counting to three," the middle-aged man said in a chilling voice, pressing the cold, sharp tip of the dagger against Gao Lingwei’s heart. "Three!"

"You..." Gao Lingwei tried to speak, but she had been stripped of the ability. She couldn’t even manage a simple sound.

"That’s right. You can’t move for now, but that doesn’t stop you from destroying your Soul Pet. Two!"

"Wait..."

"One!" The middle-aged man showed no mercy. The dagger in his hand plunged directly into Gao Lingwei’s heart. SHUNK!

Gao Lingwei’s pupils contracted to pinpricks!

An agonizing pain shot from her heart and spread through her entire body as the blade pierced it.

WHOOSH...

The next moment, her vision blurred. The man was once again holding the dagger against her heart.

Her white puffer jacket wasn’t torn, and there was no blood on the dagger.

But the man spoke again. "Destroy your Soul Pet. Three... two..."

SHUNK!

Another swift, vicious stab pierced right through Gao Lingwei’s searing heart.

Gao Lingwei trembled all over. The heart-wrenching pain was terrifyingly real, a seemingly endless agony that ravaged her nerves.

WHOOSH...

The scene reset again. The man still held the dagger to her heart, repeating the same words over and over, bewitching Gao Lingwei’s Heart Soul: "Destroy your Soul Pet! Three... two... one!"

SHUNK!

"Destroy your Soul Pet! Three..."

SHUNK!

Stab after stab. If she hadn’t been immobilized, she would have collapsed to the ground long ago.

The piercing pain assaulted her again and again, destroying her spirit, while the endlessly repeated words shattered her will.

The torture felt like it would never end.

Behind her, the bustling night market was a lively scene of people coming and going, filled with laughter and cheerful voices.

Only she was trapped in this hellish torture chamber, caught in an endless loop of life-and-death torment.

No one knew how long Gao Lingwei had been in this Illusion Realm.

But in the real world, Rong Taotao sensed that something was wrong.

’Why is Gao Lingwei frozen like that?’

Two or three seconds wasn’t a long time, but it wasn’t short, either. What was she spacing out for?

"Da Wei?" Rong Taotao took a step forward and patted Gao Lingwei’s shoulder, only to see a layer of cold sweat on her forehead!?

Alarmed, Rong Taotao didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Gao Lingwei with one arm, pulling her back and shoving aside a group of people behind them, which drew a chorus of complaints.

BANG!

A muffled report!

Gao Lingwei shattered a Soul Pearl!

But she didn’t destroy her Soul Pet. She shattered the Snow Jade Soul Pearl on her forehead!

"Hiss..." At that exact moment, the candied haw vendor sucked in a sharp breath and took a step back.

"Ah..." Gao Lingwei let out a pained cry, clutching her head with both hands. Her once cool and captivating face was now twisted in agony.

"Da Wei..." As Rong Taotao retreated with Gao Lingwei in his arms, his arm suddenly shot out, punching a wrist that was reaching for them. The hand attached to that wrist was holding a dagger!

The crowd was dense, with people packed shoulder to shoulder.

Rong Taotao hadn’t spotted the killer hidden in the crowd, nor had he seen the dagger that came out of nowhere.

In other words, Rong Taotao hadn’t blocked the attack himself. The one who had controlled his arm was Rong Yang, who was far behind them in the crowd!

A cold sweat broke out on Rong Taotao’s back. He clutched Gao Lingwei and snapped his head up to look, but countless people were pushing past. How could he possibly find the assailant who had just struck?

Rong Taotao reacted instantly. Ignoring the angry shouts, he held Gao Lingwei with one arm and shoved through a group of pedestrians, rushing toward the side of the street.

"Hey, you kid..."

"What are you doing, running around like that? Can’t you see all these people?"

"Don’t push! It’s the New Year, don’t make me curse you out!" A wave of angry complaints and shouts erupted.

How could these civilians, enjoying the New Year’s atmosphere, the lights, and the food, possibly know that Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei were in the middle of a life-or-death assassination attempt?

CRASH...

Rong Taotao knocked over a fruit stand, sending piles of oranges, apples, and Frozen Pears scattering all over the ground.

"Hey, what the fuck!" the vendor yelled, falling back on his butt and getting half-buried in fruit.

But Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei tumbled onto the sidewalk. At that moment, everyone he looked at seemed like a potential killer!

The surrounding crowd stopped in their tracks, their faces alarmed, wondering what had gotten into this kid.

But Rong Taotao couldn’t care less about them. He picked up Gao Lingwei and charged directly into the storefront right across from them.

Suddenly, four or five people darted out from the crowd. All were dressed like civilians, but their eyes glinted with murderous intent as they rushed into the beef noodle shop.

"Ah!"

"Look out!"

Inside the small noodle shop, diners scrambled away in panic. Rong Taotao threw Gao Lingwei—her face contorted in pain as she clutched her head—toward the front counter!

Then, Rong Taotao spun around and snatched up the large iron pot of boiling noodles from the shop’s entrance!

As the shop owner watched in stunned disbelief, Rong Taotao faced the people charging in behind him and hurled the pot of scalding noodle soup at them. "Go to hell!"