From her earliest years, Nalan Yanran had been the pampered young lady of her clan. Wherever she went, people lowered their voices and bowed their heads.
A girl raised like that rarely gets the chance to be bad. So when she finally did something forbidden, she felt no fear at all. What rose in her chest was a bright, dizzy thrill, the rush of a bird slipping out of a gilded cage. Perhaps that was why so many well-behaved girls lost their hearts to the wild boys beyond the garden wall.
"Rest first," Xiao Yan said with a cold laugh. "Let your strength return. Then the hunt begins."
He had never been the kind of man who ran from a chase and swallowed his anger in silence. Before she could answer, he took a healing pill from his sleeve and pressed it gently between her lips. The medicine melted into a stream of warmth, and the Dou Qi she had drained so completely began to well up inside her again, slowly, like water returning to a dry riverbed.
"And then what do we do?" she asked, her voice steadier now.
"This mountain range is vast. They can't search it together. They'll have to split up to find us."
Her eyes lit up. "So we ambush them?" She clenched her fists, barely able to hold still.
Xiao Yan shook his head slowly, a knowing smile curving his lips. "No. Ambushing is waiting. We won't wait. We'll strike first."
Nalan Yanran laughed softly and tightened her fists. "Good. Let them taste what it feels like to be hunted by the ones they hunt."
"First, though, we have to stay clear of that old man." Xiao Yan scratched his head with a rueful grimace. "Every time he sees me, he goes mad. All he wants is to tear me apart, whatever it costs him."
"He had a son late in life, and that son died by your hand," Nalan Yanran said, rolling her eyes. "It would be stranger if he *didn't* go mad."
"They brought it on themselves." The smile on Xiao Yan's lips turned cold, and his voice dropped to a chill. "Who told them to harbor ill intentions toward you? If anything, I think they died too quickly."
He let the silence settle for a moment, then went on in a lighter tone.
"Besides, Master says that because I possess the Three Thousand Lightning Movement, I'm destined to clash with Wind and Thunder Pavilion sooner or later. That suits me fine. I've long had my eye on their greatest treasure, the Three Thousand Lightning Illusory Body. Who knows? They may even deliver it to my door themselves."
His thoughts drifted back to what Yao Lao had once told him. The Three Thousand Lightning Illusory Body was a high-grade Earth-rank Dou Technique. Once mastered, it condensed a phantom of living lightning, a second body with strength close to the caster's own. In battle, it would be like fighting two against one, a fine way to teach opponents of the same rank a lesson they would never forget.
"Why are you smiling so wickedly?" Nalan Yanran narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not plotting something improper, are you? This is not the place for it..."
She pushed his wandering hand away, slipped out of his reach, and sat cross-legged on the ground to resume her recovery.
"Do I look like that kind of person?" Xiao Yan spread his hands, wearing an expression of perfect, wounded innocence.
"Oh? Then tell me, who was to blame for that incident last time?" She rolled her eyes at him again.
Her cheeks warmed at the memory. Not long after they had set out on their travels, Xiao Yan's relentless coaxing had worn down her defenses, and she had actually agreed to his scheme in the forest.
Xiao Yan coughed lightly, twice, and chuckled as he thought of a certain book that Xiao Tian had given him. The once naive and innocent youth had been thoroughly enlightened by it. The simple Xiao Yan of old was gone, and in his place stood Xiao "Veteran Rogue" Yan, ready for action.
And with Xiao Tian's help, this Xiao Yan had been spared many of the hardships and the heartbreaking partings between life and death that he might otherwise have known. His life now was rich and full, and he was free to enjoy such a beautiful existence.
"We're almost there. Tianhuang City is just ahead," Liu Fei said, pointing toward the horizon.
Xiao Tian had been lying back at his ease. He sat up and followed her gesture. Slowly, an enormous city rose into view, sprawled across the earth like a colossal beast at rest, its edges lost in the haze of distance.
He called up what he knew of the place.
Tianhuang City was far larger than Tianbei City. A spatial wormhole there led directly to the Pill Region, so travelers poured through it in an endless stream, far more than Tianbei City had ever seen.
The city was one of many held by Burning Flame Valley, and the wormhole itself had been built by the Valley's own people. The two most powerful families in the city, the Liu Family and the Cheng Family, held only the right to manage it. In truth, both were mere vassals of the Valley.
Every city under Burning Flame Valley followed the same pattern as Tianhuang City: two families set against each other in careful balance. It was the Valley's way of keeping its subordinate forces in check and its own authority secure.
In this southwestern region, the only power that could rival Burning Flame Valley was the mysterious Sound Valley. But Sound Valley had always lived in seclusion, which left Burning Flame Valley as the strongest force for miles around.
At the thought of Sound Valley, Xiao Tian's eyes flickered.
Halfway through the journey, he had brought the Shadow Eagle Emperor down to land. He had generously given it a Body Transformation Pill and then set it free. To him now, such a pill no longer held much value.
The group reached the city gate. Beneath the towering archway, a ceaseless stream of people flowed in and out, and the air hummed with noise and bustle.
Past the gate lay a very broad avenue, with shops lining both sides as far as the eye could see. Nearly every shop was crowded with customers, and clamor rose from every direction.
In Xuan Yi's arms, Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng craned their necks to look left and right, now and then whispering something into her ear. Their joy was contagious. Xuan Yi felt a lightness she had never known before, a freedom she had never allowed herself, and for once she did not hold her feelings back.
Liu Fei, standing nearby, gazed at the two little girls with open affection and could hardly keep from hugging them. Who could resist such soft, sweet-smelling children, as delicate as porcelain dolls?
"It's not the busiest hour yet," she whispered to Xuan Yi and the others. "Tonight there will be performances and lanterns everywhere. The city will be even livelier."
Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng's eyes shone. "Aunt Xuan, can we go out and play tonight?"
Xuan Yi stole a glance at Xiao Tian, then smiled at the two little ones. "All right!"
Led by Liu Qing, the group threaded through several streets and came at last to a grand, magnificent manor in the west of the city.
"Your Liu Family's seat is quite imposing," Xiao Tian said, teasing Liu Qing as he studied the manor. "No wonder you wouldn't join me."
"There you go again." Liu Qing shook his head with a rueful smile. He had visited Xiao Tian's Primordial Heaven Realm, and next to it, his own family's estate looked like a slum. "Compared to your place, mine is nothing."
"Come, let's go in. This time I mean to host you properly, and I won't hear any refusal."
He led Xiao Tian and the others through the gates, under the respectful gaze of the guards.
At the very moment Xiao Tian and his companions entered the Liu Family estate, in the east of Tianhuang City, inside a manor every bit as impressive as the Liu Family's...