Chapter 2. Children's Games and the First Shadows
After the awakening ceremony concluded, Ning Rongrong wasted no time. She seized Ye Chen's hand and pulled him toward the farthest corner of the clan garden — the place beneath the ancient peach trees where fallen petals carpeted a small clearing. This spot had long been declared their secret refuge. Other children and servants rarely ventured here — too distant from the main pavilions, too quiet.
"Let's test what your hat can do!" Rongrong exclaimed, bouncing on her toes with excitement. Her eyes sparkled like twin suns. "And I'll show you how my pagoda works!"
Ye Chen nodded, concealing his inner turmoil. He could still feel a faint tingling at the crown of his head where the Nephrite Hat had rested moments earlier. Now it was concealed within his body, yet its presence lingered like a second mind, patiently awaiting its moment.
Rongrong summoned her martial soul first. A miniature Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda appeared above her palm — no larger than a fist. Its seven tiers glowed with soft, multicolored light, and from each tier extended a delicate thread of energy.
"Watch this!" She directed the first tier toward Ye Chen. "First enhancement: strength!"
A thin red thread touched his shoulder. Instantly, Ye Chen felt a surge of warmth — his muscles tensed slightly, as though he had just drunk a potent herbal tonic. The effect was faint, since Rongrong had yet to acquire any soul rings, but it was noticeable.
"Now your turn!" she demanded, hands on her hips.
Ye Chen drew a deep breath and mentally summoned his soul. The Nephrite Hat materialized above his head, rotating slowly. This time it appeared slightly brighter than during the ceremony — the edges of its brim shimmered as though dusted with fine emerald powder.
"And… what does it do?" Rongrong asked, tilting her head curiously.
Ye Chen himself was uncertain. He attempted to channel energy in the manner described in the cultivation novels he had read in his previous life. The hat responded: a gentle green breeze swept from its brim and enveloped both children.
For a moment, the world around them softened. The garden's colors dimmed, sounds muffled, and a peculiar sense of comfort and security settled in the air. Rongrong blinked.
"Oh… it feels warm. And calm," she said with a smile. "Like being wrapped in a blanket made of light."
Ye Chen said nothing. He sensed no threat. On the contrary — something warm stirred within him. The hat seemed to murmur: I protect. I conceal. I accept.
They continued playing.
First, Rongrong commanded her pagoda to release multicolored beams of light, while Ye Chen tried to "catch" them with his hat. Each time the green radiance touched a colored one, a small miracle occurred: the hues blended, forming new shades before gently dissipating like incense smoke.
Then they staged a "soul battle." Rongrong directed illusory enhancements from her pagoda toward Ye Chen, while he responded by enveloping her in the hat's green dome. She immediately began to giggle — the sensation beneath the emerald canopy was ticklish and joyful at once.
"Your hat is like a big umbrella!" she laughed. "Only beautiful!"
Ye Chen smiled in return, though the expression felt strained. He played along, genuinely enjoying the moment, yet in the depths of his mind the cold, mocking voice of the hat persisted:
This is merely the beginning. Soon you will understand that your power does not feed on joy. It feeds on pain. On jealousy. On the sight of foreign hands upon what you believe is yours.
The games lasted until the sun began to sink toward the horizon. At last, Rongrong rubbed her eyes tiredly and took Ye Chen's hand once more.
"Tomorrow we'll continue, alright? I'll ask Father to give us more time in the garden. We're both prodigies now!"
"Alright," he replied quietly.
She ran off toward the main pavilion, humming softly under her breath. Ye Chen remained standing alone beneath the peach tree. Pink petals drifted slowly around him, delicate and tender.
He returned to his room only after darkness had fully fallen.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan treated children with full innate soul power with exceptional care. Despite his humble origins, Ye Chen had been granted a private chamber in the wing reserved for young talents. The room was modest yet clean: a wooden bed with an insect net, a table, a chair, a wardrobe, and a small meditation altar. On the wall hung a scroll of calligraphy: "Strength is born in the heart."
Ye Chen closed the door, slid the bolt into place, and collapsed onto the bed without changing his clothes.
He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, and for the first time allowed himself to fully confront what had happened.
Green hat.
Cuckold.
He understood that in this world no one would grasp the implication. To them, the Nephrite Hat was simply an unusual, beautiful, possibly useful tool-type martial soul. But he knew the truth. He knew the meaning. He knew that in old memes and real life, a "green hat" was the brand of a betrayed husband — an object of mockery, a symbol of forfeited honor.
And his martial soul had taken that exact form.
He closed his eyes. Before his inner vision appeared a vision: himself, now grown, standing aside while a woman — beautiful, powerful, once loving him — surrendered to another man. She laughed in his embrace. Whispered words once meant only for Ye Chen. And he… felt not only pain. He felt power. Immense, all-consuming power pouring into his body with every thrust, every moan he heard from afar.
The hat's voice returned — clearer now:
You will become stronger than anyone. But the price is your women. They will betray you. They will belong to others. And each time you stand in the shadows watching, your soul will grow. Your rings will shine brighter. Your strength will become boundless.
Ye Chen clenched his fists until his nails bit into his palms.
I don't want this, he thought. I don't want to be a cuckold.
Yet deep within, he already understood: there was no choice. The soul had been chosen. The path was set. He could resist — and remain weak. Or accept — and ascend to the peak of the Douluo Continent at a cost no one else would pay.
He rolled onto his side and gazed toward the window. Somewhere in the main wing, Ning Rongrong was preparing for sleep. She thought of him as her best friend. Perhaps even as a future comrade-in-arms. And he…
He made his decision.
I will make her mine. From childhood itself. I will become her beloved — the first one she chooses, the one she loves most of all.
He did not yet know how it would happen. They were only six years old. But he knew one thing: if he did not lay the foundation now, it would be too late later. Later others would appear — strong, handsome, noble. Later Rongrong would grow into one of the most desirable maidens on the continent. And if he did not claim a place in her heart first…
…the hat would receive exactly what it craved.
Ye Chen closed his eyes. A faint, almost imperceptible smile curved his lips — a mixture of resolve and bitterness.
Tomorrow he would begin.
Tomorrow he would draw closer to Ning Rongrong than anyone else ever could.
And the green hat, hidden within his body, rotated quietly in the darkness, as though approving his choice.