Notting City.
Crowded streets bustled beneath sunlight, hawkers' calls mixing with clattering wagons. Su Bei and Xiao Wu walked side by side, hand in hand, while Liu Erlong followed protectively.
It was impossible to hide Su Bei's beauty.
"Look at that boy—!"
"What a beautiful child!"
"If my daughter could marry him, I'd wake up laughing every morning!"
"When he grows up, he'll outshine the stars. Dragons and phoenixes among men."
The crowd's chatter swirled around them, eyes wide as if struck by lightning at Su Bei's face.
Liu Erlong walked with steady steps, but her heart vibrated. Each whisper of admiration, each envious gaze satisfied something deep inside her, some maternal void long left empty.
"Thank you," she answered politely to one kindly passerby.
Her gaze flicked to Su Bei, standing proud and steady despite the stares. For a fleeting moment, she felt a serenity she hadn't known since girlhood. This child… is my pride.
Meanwhile, Xiao Wu gnawed delicately on a tanghulu skewer, the sugar gloss painting her lips a cherry red, glistening against her pale cheeks like lipstick. She licked gently, tipping her head with a mischievous smile.
"Brother Bei, it's so sweet…" she whispered against his ear, the faint brush of breath enough to make his skin tickle.
Su Bei's eye twitched. Little rabbit, do you have any idea how dangerous those words sound?
Still, watching her lively expression, he softened. "Remember this in the human world," he warned gently. "Don't say sensitive things aloud. Strong ears are everywhere—you'll expose yourself without meaning to."
Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue but nodded obediently. "I'll listen to my brother."
Her lips, glossy red with syrup, shimmered temptingly. Su Bei could only avert his gaze with heroic restraint.
"Ice candy gourds, toys, food—she just buys everything," Su Bei mused, watching Liu Erlong trade coin after coin. Indeed, she spent lavishly as she walked, keeping them stuffed and spoiled.
Xiao Wu muttered pouting words under her breath, "I haven't agreed to be her daughter yet…" but her tone was already softer, less hostile.
Because over these days, she had felt it: Erlong meant no harm. Fierce as fire, yes, but she was sheltering them, providing for them, treating them like treasures.
Jealousy simmered still—but it no longer burned.
Su Bei smiled wryly. Even Gu Yuena wanted to marry me out of pure sovereignty—afraid of someone else stealing me. Liu Erlong too… There's no end to this "war of ownership." Nana, Zi Ji… What am I, a walking dragon tripod?
Finally, in the city's west, a tall archway loomed. Built of stone and steel, letters carved deep across the arch read: Notting College.
Su Bei's chest swelled with conflicting emotions. "...The place where the dream began," he murmured.
But dreams were meant to be broken.
Would the petty, mocking porter still be there? Would Tang San the hero start his destined path here?
The iron gates creaked as they entered. Su Bei, Xiao Wu, and Erlong passed through without resistance—after all, beauty was justice. And with a Soul Saint standing behind them, even the most arrogant porter dared not cough.
But Su Bei, turning his head, caught sight of an old village head and a boy—plain, unremarkable, eyes small but simmering with restrained rage. Tang San.
Sure enough.
As expected, the porter's sneer rose like a bad theater replay.
"Hah! A golden phoenix born in a grass nest? Trash villagers dare claim soul power? Don't bluff—fake trash!"
Su Bei nearly laughed on the spot. Still the same script. Even the NPC lines don't change.
Tang San's eyes narrowed, shadows of murder firing behind them.
But Su Bei paid him little heed. Because trailing behind was a man, scholarly robes loose, shoulders hunched with age. His face—ordinary. His gaze—hesitant yet sharp.
Yu Xiaogang.
The "Grandmaster." Proclaimed genius, in truth the peak of mediocrity; father of Tang San's god complex.
Su Bei smirked and gently tugged Liu Erlong's sleeve, tilting her gaze.
Her body froze.
There. In flesh. The man who had once filled her heart, the man who abandoned her in cowardly shame—Yu Xiaogang.
A storm of emotions surged in her eyes: love, hate, regret, longing.
But in the end, fire burned brightest.
Hatred.
Sure enough, as Ghost Hall's stories had said, Yu Xiaogang took Tang San's hand, pulling him past security, sneering faintly as he waved his Spirit Hall certificate.
And there they collided.
Face to face outside Notting College's arch.
Erlong's eyes sharpened like blades.
Yu Xiaogang stilled, face paling like wax. For a moment, twenty years fell away.
"…E-Erlong." His voice cracked as though scraped by glass. Instinct turned his heel—flight!
The coward would flee again.
Erlong's voice boomed like fire. "Yu Xiaogang! Want to run again?! Is cowardice your only martial spirit?!"
Her aura surged. Fire lashed in her eyes.
Yu Xiaogang trembled, but bitterness laced his words. "...I didn't expect you… to find me here."
"I didn't find you." Erlong's laugh was icy. "If not for my children wanting to visit Notting, I would never lower myself to cross paths with you again."
"...Children?" His head whipped toward Su Bei and Xiao Wu, shock painting his stiff face.
"You? You already—"
"Yes." Erlong slipped an arm around Su Bei's shoulder proudly. "These are my two children, Xiao Bei and Xiao Wu. They are mine. Unlike you, I am capable of protecting my family. Tell me, Yu Xiaogang—are they not more beautiful than anything you could ever claim? Unlike you, who has no son, no daughter. Nothing."
Her chin lifted high, fire dancing pridefully in her eyes.
Tang San's lips pursed, confusion flickering.
Su Bei, meanwhile, grinned wolfishly.
He leaned closer, speaking sweetly for her but loudly enough for Yu Xiaogang's ears: "Mother Erlong, don't waste words on this man. You don't see it? With his withered face, how could he birth children as outstanding as us? A scum man can't compare to your Xiaobei and Xiao Wu."
"Hah—!"
For a moment Erlong forgot the scene, forgot her rage. She burst into laughter, genuine and proud. "Yes. You speak the truth, Xiaobei!" She turned, glare locking onto Yu Xiaogang. "How dare you scorn my child. The audacity!"
Yu Xiaogang flushed crimson. The boy's words pierced more than blades. This youth—arrogant, shameless, yet glowing with irresistible beauty—had cut his facade apart with a sentence.
"You… brat… You understand nothing," he snapped hoarsely. "You're still a child! What nonsense you drivel—"
Su Bei jabbed his finger straight at him, smiling slightly.
"There. Look. Urgent."
"W-what?!" Yu Xiaogang barked, voice rising a pitch. "W-Why would you say I'm urgent?!"
Liu Erlong's fire burned enflamed. "Yu Xiaogang! How dare you raise your voice at my Xiao Bei!"
Yu Xiaogang recoiled, retreating a step.
Erlong's next words were ice and venom. "He is my son. He speaks truth. You? You're the liar. Always were. Always will be."
Yu Xiaogang's hands shook. "Erlong… You've changed. You used to be gentle with me…!"
Her hands curled into fists. "I see you clearly now."
Her voice shook Notting's gates.
And for the first time in twenty years, Yu Xiaogang understood—
There would be no forgiveness.