Master of Nine Stars

In the afternoon, Rong Taotao was woken by hunger.

Although he had just been through a life-or-death battle that morning—a fight he experienced while severely wounded and in extremely poor physical condition—strictly speaking, the one who was injured was Rong Yang, not Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao had only forcibly controlled his brother Rong Yang's body, which had left him mentally exhausted. After a good sleep, he felt much more clear-headed.

It was afternoon, and the sky had not yet darkened.

Sitting up in bed, Rong Taotao found himself in his dorm room. On the sofa in the distance, Yang Chunxi was sitting silently, lost in a daze.

"Chunxi?" Rong Taotao called out tentatively.

"You're awake?" Yang Chunxi's head snapped toward him. She quickly walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and asked with concern, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. I wasn't really hurt myself. But my brother..." As he spoke, Rong Taotao's voice trailed off.

"It's okay. Captain Fu already reported to me that he's safe. Your brother is fine, he's fine," Yang Chunxi said, but her hushed, fragmented words seemed more intended to comfort herself.

Yang Chunxi took out her phone and quickly dialed a number. "Captain Fu said you should call him the moment you woke up."

"Okay. Good, I can ask how my brother is doing," Rong Taotao said, nodding repeatedly as he took Yang Chunxi's phone.

Hearing this, Yang Chunxi was touched and gently patted Rong Taotao's arm.

"Chunxi?" A familiar male voice came through as the call connected.

Rong Taotao said, "Captain Fu."

"So you're awake, kid?" Fu Tiance said, his tone heavy. He got straight to the point. "Tell me everything you saw. Don't leave out a single detail."

"Mm..." Rong Taotao paused for a moment, recalling the events as he reported what he had seen and heard after taking control of Rong Yang's body.

A few minutes later, Rong Taotao finished speaking. Beside him, Yang Chunxi was shocked and her heart ached with anxiety.

'What did I just hear?'

'Wo Xue Mian? Gao Lingshi!?'

"Sigh..." A heavy sigh came from Fu Tiance on the other end of the line.

Rong Taotao didn't know what kind of internal turmoil Fu Tiance was going through. He only heard the sigh, not an explosion of rage or a loud shout.

After a few seconds, Fu Tiance asked, "Gao Lingshi told you that the night is coming?"

"Yes, she did..." Rong Taotao thought for a moment before saying, "She repeated it twice. And she told me to protect my Lotus Petal."

Fu Tiance: "Do you mean an Extreme Night? The kind brought by a blizzard? Like the one you experienced for several months when you first enrolled?"

"I'm not sure." Rong Taotao's mind stirred. He said, "That blizzard was a once-in-16-years event. It's only been a year and a half. Is that possible?"

Fu Tiance was silent for a while before changing the subject. "No one can say for sure. Let's set that aside for now. Describe the giant who was carrying Rat."

Rong Taotao thought for a moment. "He must have been over two meters tall. I was in bad shape at the time, so I'm not certain. He was wearing a hood, and only the lower half of his face was visible, so I couldn't see him clearly."

At this, a thought struck Rong Taotao. He started, "Rat... he..."

Fu Tiance said flatly, "Ugly Ox recovered Rat's body."

Rong Taotao: "..."

He had already prepared himself for this.

After all, back when he was controlling Rong Yang's body, desperately trying to heal the injuries and cover the wounds with Shuangxue, he had seen Rat, motionless in the giant's grasp.

At that moment, Rong Taotao seemed to understand something that had happened in the Snowfield during the new year last year.

Back then, Fu Tiance had invited Rong Taotao to join the Twelfth Squad. The captain had explained that two key members had retired, so the positions of 'Dog' and 'Pig' were vacant, and Rong Taotao could choose either one.

When Fu Tiance said that, the smile on his face was so sincere, and it seemed to be filled with relief.

For these Warriors who constantly walked the line between life and death on the battlefield, being able to retire safely was indeed a stroke of luck—one might even call it an extravagant hope.

While he was lost in thought, Fu Tiance continued, "Your brother is out of danger, but his injuries are severe. Very severe. He'll need a long time to rest. You saved his life."

Rong Taotao bit his lip and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Captain Fu. I couldn't save Ra—"

"Don't blame yourself. You did your best. You already saved one of our Warriors from the Ghost Gate. Get some rest, Taotao. Stay in touch." Fu Tiance cut Rong Taotao off and hung up the phone.

Rong Taotao handed the phone back to Yang Chunxi, a bitter taste in his mouth.

Although he had only met Rat once—and had only seen his mask, never his real face—he was still a Warrior of the Twelfth Squad, his brother's teammate.

But... Rong Taotao truly wanted to help but lacked the strength. At the time, he couldn't even guarantee his own survival.

Yang Chunxi had overheard the entire call with Fu Tiance. Seeing Rong Taotao's downcast expression, she advised him softly, "Get some sleep, Taotao. Rest a little more."

"I'm hungry, Chunxi." Rong Taotao didn't want to say something like this at a time like this, but he wasn't being petulant; his body genuinely needed it.

"Oh, right." Yang Chunxi quickly turned, rummaged through the things on her desk, and pulled out a box of savory crackers and a pouch of milk.

Rong Taotao ripped open the packaging and shoved the food into his mouth haphazardly. He felt sticky all over, probably from all the sweat he'd worked up in the classroom that morning.

While Rong Taotao was wolfing down the food, Yang Chunxi quickly gathered more snacks and said softly, "Let's put the matter of Gao Lingshi aside for now. Everyone's emotions are very unstable right now. We'll tell Ling Wei when the time is right..."

"Mm... Mmm." Rong Taotao tore open the corner of a milk pouch with his teeth and gulped it down. After finishing several boxes of crackers and a few pouches of milk, he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, forgetting to even put on his slippers.

Rong Taotao's thoughts were a mess, and his emotions were a tangled knot.

Seeing his preoccupied expression, Yang Chunxi didn't disturb him further. She watched as he walked into the bathroom, and a moment later, she heard the sound of the shower running.

After throwing the trash into the wastebasket, Rong Taotao stepped under the shower. As the warm water streamed down over his head, he let out a deep sigh.

Although a glorious death on the battlefield was considered a Warrior's honor, Rong Taotao discovered that when it actually happened right before his eyes, he wasn't as stoic as he'd imagined...

He thought that because he had frequently faced life-or-death battles, he could face such things calmly, but that wasn't the case at all.

Only when the shower water started to turn cold did Rong Taotao finally turn it off and hastily dry himself with a towel.

From outside the door came Yang Chunxi's voice: "There's a basket of clothes by the door."

Rong Taotao hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and picked up the basket of clothes. Yang Chunxi was standing by the window, gazing out at the snowy landscape.

'After today's incident, her thoughts must be a mess, too.'

After changing into the clean clothes, Rong Taotao came out. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't know how to comfort her.

But Yang Chunxi turned around and beckoned to him.

Rong Taotao walked over. Yang Chunxi placed a hand on his head and gently pushed it down.

Her lips softly pressed against his damp, naturally curly hair. "Thank you, Taotao. Thank you for saving his life."

Rong Taotao: "..."

'We're family, there's no need for thanks. He's my brother, after all.'

It's just that no one had expected this. Originally, Rong Yang had embedded this Soul Pearl to protect his younger brother. But now, it was Rong Taotao who had rescued his older brother.

"Rest well. Don't be too hard on yourself. Just rest. We all need some time to be quiet." With that, Yang Chunxi turned and walked toward the door.

CLICK. The door closed softly. Rong Taotao propped his elbows on the windowsill and looked out at the silent cedar forest to the north.

An unknown amount of time passed before the door to his dorm opened again, and the faint aroma of food drifted in.

As footsteps approached, Rong Taotao came to his senses and glanced to his side, only to be slightly startled. He even felt a bit dazed...

Gao Lingwei was standing right beside him. She said softly, "I heard from your sister-in-law that you're recovering well, and that Yang is out of danger."

As she spoke, Gao Lingwei noticed that the way Rong Taotao was looking at her was... well, a little strange.

"I brought you some food." Gao Lingwei tilted her head slightly, gesturing toward the coffee table behind her, but she found Rong Taotao was still staring at her blankly.

Gao Lingwei turned to face him directly, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. "Are you okay?"

But Rong Taotao suddenly raised his hand, his finger touching her eyebrow and gently tracing it toward the outer edge.

Gao Lingwei was surprised but didn't move.

Rong Taotao's fingertip brushed past the edge of her eyebrow, traced across her fair cheek, and finally came to rest at the corner of her lips.

His expression was so intent, as if he were using his finger to sketch the contours of her face.

Finally, Gao Lingwei couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed the hand in front of her face and said, "Taotao?"

Snapping out of his daze slightly, Rong Taotao reached over her shoulder, wrapped his arm around her neck, and gently pulled her into an embrace.

"You..."

Rong Taotao buried his face in her shoulder, inhaling deeply, taking in her familiar scent.

Gao Lingwei's body stiffened. After hesitating for two or three seconds, she raised her hand and began to pat his back gently. "It's all over now."

'Maybe it's because this morning's battle was too brutal.'

'Or maybe it's the aftershock of fear.'

Gao Lingwei understood that feeling. Back in the Snowfield, in the dead of night, when Cold Flower of the Eight Great Coins had told her that her parents had already survived several assassination attempts by Poachers, she, too, had lost control.

Gao Lingwei could hardly imagine how she could go on living if her parents were to die.

The aftershock of fear is a truly awful feeling.

And Gao Lingwei had reason to believe that what Rong Taotao had experienced this morning was a far greater shock than what Cold Flower had told her back then.

After all, judging by Rong Taotao's performance in the examination hall this morning, combined with what Yang Chunxi had just told her, Gao Lingwei knew that Rong Yang had been through an extremely dangerous battle. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his life had been hanging by a thread.

She was just a little curious about who could have pushed Rong Yang into such a desperate situation.

However, given Yang Chunxi's instructions, Gao Lingwei suppressed her curiosity and didn't ask. 'I should at least wait until Rong Taotao's emotions have stabilized and he's had some time to calm down,' she thought.

With this in mind, her patting hand changed to a gentle, soothing stroke down his back.

"Da Wei."

"Hm?"

"We're not growing fast enough. Not nearly fast enough..."