Chapter 650: Collector of Pine Soul Master Teachers
CLIP-CLOP-CLIP-CLOP…
The clatter of hooves was swallowed by the howling, frigid wind.
The Snow Night Shock’s searchlight-like eyes couldn’t pierce very far, and the White Lantern Paper Cages drifting above their heads provided extremely limited light.
But the team of Pine Soul Soul Martial Teachers still charged forward recklessly, their speed completely unaffected by the poor visibility.
Why?
Because Gao Lingwei had a Snowball Cat perched on her head, and more importantly, a frosty mist was swirling in Xiao Ziru’s right eye.
Rong Taotao, seated on Hu Bugui, was positioned behind Gao Lingwei. From time to time, he’d tilt his head to glance at Xiao Ziru beside him.
Xiao Ziru seemed to notice Rong Taotao’s gaze but showed no reaction.
Although his condition had greatly improved, he was still reluctant to speak. According to the other teachers, Xiao Ziru had always been a quiet, somewhat introverted person…
‘I guess even after he fully recovers, he’ll still be a man of few words,’ Taotao thought.
“We’re here. The entrance to Songjiang Soul City,” Gao Lingwei said.
Hearing this, Yang Chunxi relaxed considerably. Traveling on a dark, blizzard-swept night was indeed very dangerous.
But when Rong Taotao heard this, he just shuffled his butt backward and rubbed the back of his head against Gao Lingwei’s shoulder.
‘Sigh… Good times never last,’ he thought.
Indeed, Rong Taotao was currently riding backward, using Gao Lingwei’s back as a sofa cushion. He rested his head on her shoulder like a king, happily munching on a Little Rascal. He was living the good life.
And where did he learn such a comfortable and indulgent posture? No need to ask, of course. He had learned it from Si Huan Nian…
This was the very position Si Huan Nian had used to make things difficult for Rong Taotao before.
‘It’s so hard to learn good things, but so easy to pick up bad habits…’
Gao Lingwei, however, didn’t feel like she was being given a hard time. She just tilted her head slightly and gently bumped it against Rong Taotao’s. “Get up. We have to go through an inspection soon. It won’t look good if people see you like this.”
“Oh…”
Behind them, Xia Fangran couldn’t help but smack his lips. He had a feeling Gao Lingwei’s “people” didn’t include him…
Xia Fangran had been watching Rong Taotao the entire way, and the more he watched, the angrier he got!
‘This kid is just too good at “digging up” treasures! I’ve been in the Snow Realm for over twenty years and never had it this good. This brat has only been here for two, and he has everything he could ever want…’
‘Gao Lingwei is beautiful, cool, and a great fighter. She’s cold-faced and cold-hearted to outsiders, but with this kid, she’s cold-faced but warm-hearted. It’s just… And it’s getting worse and worse! The kid practically lounged his way back to Songjiang Soul City!’
‘Everyone else is in economy, so how come you get to fly business class?’
‘Sigh, it’s madness!’
‘The heavens have gone mad!!!’
“Coach Xiao,” Rong Taotao’s voice suddenly came from the front.
Xiao Ziru didn’t answer, or even turn his head.
Rong Taotao was already used to Xiao Ziru’s lack of response and continued on his own, “When you light your cigarette later, you won’t need a lighter. Just get close to Coach Xia and it’ll ignite. Tsk… Look at him, he’s practically covered in the flames of jealousy…”
Li Lie: “AHAHAHAHAHA!”
Li Lie, the God of Fanning Flames!
“Rong Taotao!” Xia Fangran’s face darkened as he squeezed the words through his teeth.
Rong Taotao blinked. “Hm?”
Xia Fangran: “To help you get better results in the World Cup, I’m going to give you some special pre-tournament training!”
Rong Taotao shrank back, shuffled his butt around, and turned to face forward. “How about once every four days?”
Xia Fangran: “Why?”
Rong Taotao: “Every time I use a Lotus Petal, I have to sleep for three days. I only wake up on the fourth day.”
Xia Fangran: ???
‘You’re going to use a Lotus Petal in a sparring match?’
‘What’s that supposed to mean? You bloom for three seconds and then go back to sleep for three days?’
‘So what am I supposed to do? Carry your unconscious body back to a hospital bed?’
‘This isn’t a sparring match, this is just me getting beaten up one-sidedly!’
Xia Fangran muttered under his breath, “He’s rebelling, completely rebelling. I can’t control this student anymore…”
Li Lie: “AHAHAHAHAHA!”
Beside them, however, Yang Chunxi spoke up, “If you use the Lotus Petal, you’ll just lose faster.”
Unexpectedly, Rong Taotao blurted out, “I don’t care about losing. The main thing is, the faster I fall asleep, the safer I am. Coach Xia is a renowned teacher. If a student passes out from exhaustion during a sparring match, how could he possibly keep attacking? He’d definitely take good care of me.”
Hearing this, Yang Chunxi shot Rong Taotao a smiling glare.
The reality was indeed just as he said. After Rong Taotao “bloomed,” he was basically useless.
No matter how large his Prison Lotus flower bloomed, it required his opponent’s cooperation. Would Xia Fangran be foolish enough to jump into the Lotus Petals?
At Rong Taotao’s current skill level, he couldn’t even catch up to Xia Fangran. Once the Prison Lotus could no longer be sustained, it would be Xia Fangran’s time to reap the rewards.
Even if Rong Taotao went all out and bloomed a Sinful Lotus, a single Great Blizzard from Xia Fangran could overturn all the flowers on the ground.
Back when the Ice Soul Guides invaded Pine Soul Soul Martial University, it wasn’t like Li Lie hadn’t overturned a Snow Carpet before. He had forcibly broken apart the Ice Soul Guide’s ultimate Sinful Lotus attack.
Therefore, when fighting Xia Fangran, the most logical method would be a contest of skill.
By using his incredibly powerful Heaven-piercing Halberd techniques, supplemented by the Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon Soul Skill, and using the Sinful Lotus as a hidden weapon for a surprise counterattack, he would have a chance of winning.
Of course, that was just a “chance.”
Xia Fangran hadn’t idly spent over twenty years in the Snow Realm for nothing. Take his Core Soul Skill: Snow Dance, for example. If Xia Fangran truly activated it, his speed would be something Rong Taotao couldn’t possibly handle.
Rong Taotao’s Heaven-piercing Halberd skills were indeed very strong. In fact, in the past Outer League and national competitions, no one had been able to break through his defense—but that was against students!
If he were to face Xia Fangran… let’s see if he could break through his defense!
He’d knock the Little Rascal right out of his mouth!
“By the way, Coach Xia,” Rong Taotao said, continuing after treating Xia Fangran as a hypothetical opponent and realizing many of his own shortcomings. “After we get back, I really do need to ask you for some pointers. My Snow Dance is about to reach the Master level, but I always feel like it’s missing something.”
Xia Fangran said grumpily, “There’s no trick to it. Just practice more.”
Rong Taotao: “…”
‘Man, we’ve been apart for so long, I forgot about your “Master” Attribute. You really expect me to just get it on my own and applaud when I figure it out?’
“I… will teach you.” Suddenly, a slightly raspy, smoky voice spoke up, nearly making Rong Taotao melt…
You could tell that over the past three months, Xiao Ziru had not been skimping on his cigarettes…
For a moment, everyone turned to look at Xiao Ziru.
The sudden words were a pleasant surprise to everyone. Even though Dr. Cheng Qing had already diagnosed Xiao Ziru as being in good condition, Coach Xiao had said so little.
For him to suddenly come out with a sentence like that, of course, they were delighted.
“Awesome! During this month or so of preparation, I’ll have to get some good lessons from Coach Xiao. Tsk, tsk…” Rong Taotao couldn’t help but click his tongue in admiration, his heart filled with emotion. “Isn’t this perfect? I’ve almost collected all of Pine Soul Soul Martial’s top-tier master teachers.”
As he spoke, Rong Taotao, who had already adjusted his posture, spread his arms and wrapped them around Gao Lingwei’s waist in front of him. “Coach Xia.”
Xia Fangran looked at Rong Taotao. “What now?”
But Rong Taotao just tightened his arms around her soft torso, tilted his head, and rubbed his cheek against Gao Lingwei’s back with a look of pure bliss. “Life… is truly perfect, isn’t it~”
Xia Fangran: “You little…”
Li Lie: “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The four of them chatted and laughed. Ever since entering the Songjiang Soul City area, everyone’s mood had lightened considerably.
Soon, the six people and five mounts arrived at the gate of Pine Soul Soul Martial University.
And here, not only were there student guards in the duty office, but there was also a person standing silently in front of the school gate, braving the cold wind.
Under the bright streetlights, the wind and snow swirled.
The man, dressed in a white lab coat and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, was covered in frost and snow. It looked like he had been standing there for a very long time.
Pine Soul Four Seasons: Winter, Dong Dongdong.
When the teachers saw Dong Dongdong, the smiles on their faces faded.
Rong Taotao also frowned slightly, recalling something serious.
‘Back then, after Xia Fangran and I were hunted by Xiao Ziru and the Frost Beauty, I absorbed the Frost Beauty’s Prison Lotus and fell into a coma for a full sixteen days. When I woke up, I was in the Pine Soul Soul Martial school hospital.’
‘At that time, Yang Chunxi was always by my side, and of course, I told her about being hunted by Xiao Ziru and the Frost Beauty.’
‘But when I mentioned the name “Xiao Ziru,” Yang Chunxi had quickly stopped me.’
‘Apparently, that name was forbidden on Dong Dongdong’s turf.’
‘My dear sister-in-law had briefly explained the reason back then. Both Xiao Ziru and Dong Dongdong were teachers sent out by the university, and they had gone to the Third Wall together. But the final result…’
‘Dong Dongdong returned with the university’s personnel, but Xiao Ziru went missing. Not even Yang Chunxi knew the specific details of the mission. Everyone who had participated remained tight-lipped, and after returning to Pine Soul Soul Martial University, Dong Dongdong was dispirited for a very, very long time.’
‘It seemed Xiao Ziru’s disappearance back then was directly related to Dong Dongdong.’
While he was lost in thought, the group had already reached the main gate.
“Coach Dong,” Yang Chunxi said first, also giving Dong Dongdong a bit of mental preparation. “Coach Xiao isn’t in a very good state. He’s very quiet and barely speaks at all.”
Dong Dongdong raised his head and looked at the mounted Xiao Ziru. A very complicated smile appeared on his fair, refined face. “You’re back.”
Xiao Ziru lowered his head, quietly looking at Dong Dongdong. Their gazes met and held, and amid the frigid wind and heavy snow, the seconds ticked by.
After a long moment, seeing that Xiao Ziru wasn’t going to respond, Yang Chunxi thoughtfully broke the silence. “Let’s talk when we get back. We can talk then.”
With that, she gently patted the back of the Snow Night Shock that Xiao Ziru was riding. The mount started walking toward the gate on its own. Xiao Ziru also turned his head to face forward, not saying a word to Dong Dongdong from beginning to end.
The rest of the group immediately followed.
“Let’s go, Coach Dong, let’s go…” Rong Taotao twisted his head around, only to find that Dong Dongdong hadn’t followed.
He was still in his white lab coat, standing outside the university gate, but now his head was lowered. Against the backdrop of the cold wind and heavy snow, his silhouette looked somewhat desolate…
‘So, that mission, that day… what exactly happened?’
Rong Taotao didn’t know the specifics, but the outcome was obvious.
After that, Xiao Ziru became a Puppet, a doll controlled and driven by the Frost Beauty, beginning a dark and incredibly long life in exile.
Xiao Ziru had been lost and adrift until now, only to be rescued by the Cyan Mountain Army and the Pine Soul Soul Martial teacher team thanks to Rong Taotao’s lucky discovery.
Stories, they were all just stories.
Of all the people stationed in the northern Snow Realm, who wasn’t carrying some kind of burden?
In this vast expanse of wind and snow, how many more stories were still hidden…?
…
The Qidian department finally fixed the extras. The “unread chapters” feature has also been removed, so you all don’t have to scroll every time anymore. If you want to re-read the extras, you can find them by opening the table of contents. If you find the issue with the extras still persists, you just need to update the app.
Also, please send Taotao some love, ღ(´･ᴗ･`)