Douluo: When the piano sounds, the hidden weapon returns to the factory

Dugu Bo walked slowly with his hands behind his back, the setting sun casting a long shadow. The old poison master, unusually devoid of his sarcastic tone, simply stood quietly beside Feng Yao, his cloudy eyes gazing into the distance: "What are your plans next?"

The sound was very soft, yet it instantly silenced the entire herb garden. The Blue Silver Grass stopped swaying, and even the mist in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well seemed to freeze for a moment.

Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan turned their heads simultaneously, their beautiful eyes shining brightly in the twilight. They had already packed their belongings. No words were needed; their determination to travel together at any moment was written in their eyes. Xiao Wu, nestled in Feng Yao's arms, gently twitched her ears in her sleep, seemingly also waiting for this answer.

Feng Yao gently stroked the sleeping Xiao Wu in his arms, a mysterious smile curving his lips. "Next, I plan to travel the continent with Lingling and Yanyan, and incidentally—" He paused, his spiritual energy flowing through his palm, "...to complete my soul rings."

"Spirit Rings?" Dugu Bo's cloudy pupils suddenly contracted. As a Soul Douluo, Feng Yao should already have all his Spirit Rings. Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan exchanged a glance, both seeing the same confusion in each other's eyes.

Just then, a dazzling blue-gold light suddenly burst forth from Feng Yao's palm. An ancient Bagua plate slowly appeared, with the trigrams Qian, Kun, Zhen, and Xun lighting up in turn. But what was most astonishing was that the plate was completely empty, without even a trace of a soul ring.

"This is..." Dugu Bo's withered fingers trembled slightly, "Your... Martial Soul? You've kept it well hidden, kid."

Feng Yao lightly traced the patterns on the Bagua plate with his fingertips, shaking his head and smiling wryly: "It's not that I'm deliberately hiding anything. Compared to these obscure hexagrams, my understanding of the Dao of the Qin is actually much deeper." The Bagua plate slowly rotated in his palm, reflecting ever-changing light and shadow. "Even I haven't yet deciphered the mysteries of this martial spirit."

"Even you..." Dugu Yan's red lips parted slightly, her eyes shining with surprise. She had never imagined that Feng Yao would be helpless at times.

Feng Yao lightly tapped his fingertip, and the Qian and Kun trigrams on the Bagua plate suddenly lit up: "You see, each of these eight trigrams has its own meaning." As he explained, the trigrams on the plate began to flow and combine, "and their intermingling can evolve into endless mysteries."

A sharp light flashed in Dugu Bo's turbid eyes: "Sixty-four variations?!" The old poisoner's voice even changed tone.

Feng Yao gazed into the distance and nodded slightly. The sixty-four variations are the most basic. In theory, within this small space, one can deduce all things in the universe.

Feng Yao lightly tapped the Bagua plate with his fingertips, and the Li trigram pattern suddenly burst into crimson light: "Currently, I have only figured out a few basic applications." He raised his palm upwards, and a ball of golden-red flame appeared out of thin air. Under Feng Yao's control, the flames flickered and revealed the form of a phoenix.

Dugu Bo's withered hand paused slightly. He could clearly sense that—with the Bagua compass as the center, all the spiritual energy within a ten-zhang radius had been transformed into pure fire element. This method of absolute control over energy completely overturned the old poison master's understanding of the Soul Master system.

"As for analysis and guidance, for example, analyzing the attributes of soul beasts or plants, or searching for certain strange energies." Feng Yao lightly turned his wrist.

Dugu Yan tilted her head, examining the Bagua compass: "Sounds like a slightly more advanced auxiliary tool?"

Dugu Bo's withered fingers gently caressed the object, a thoughtful glint in his cloudy eyes: "Yanyan, you're wrong." He looked up at the environment altered by the Bagua compass, his voice suddenly becoming weary, "The terrifying aspect of this martial spirit lies in its ability to rewrite the rules of the battlefield."

Dugu Yan frowned slightly, clearly finding this statement difficult to understand: "Grandpa, shouldn't a true strong person...?" She clenched her fist, sending up a trail of phosphorescent poisonous mist, "...speak based on their own strength?"

Dugu Bo sighed slowly, "You'll understand when you reach my level." His hunched back looked especially aged in the setting sun. "So what if you're a Title Douluo? Before the power of heaven and earth, we're nothing but a floating leaf."

Seeing the rare sight of her grandfather's exhaustion, Dugu Yan parted her lips slightly but couldn't utter a word. She subconsciously glanced at the Bagua compass in Feng Yao's hand, realizing for the first time that those seemingly simple hexagrams might truly contain the power to change the world.

Feng Yao lightly stroked the hexagrams on the Bagua plate with his fingertips, his voice flowing like a clear spring: "The so-called innate domain is essentially the manifestation of a martial soul's influence on the surrounding environment. If one can rewrite the rules of the environment at will..."

Dugu Bo slightly raised his hand, releasing a wisp of poisonous mist that drifted towards the ball of flame in Feng Yao's hand. He continued, "Just like my poison, it evaporates too quickly under fire-attribute energy, and freezes and becomes ineffective in the extreme northern ice." His withered finger pointed to the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire beneath his feet, "It is precisely because of this wonder of nature that I can suppress the backlash of the deadly poison within my body."

The old poison master suddenly narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the aura of soul power flowing around Feng Yao: "No wonder you chose the purest soul power amplification for all your soul skills back then. The more abundant your soul power, the wider the range that your Eight Trigrams Plate can influence."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yao couldn't help but laugh and said, "As expected of Grandpa, old ginger is spicier."

Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo's gray beard twitched slightly, and he let out a satisfied snort. His withered fingers rubbed together, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes: "The idea is not bad, but..." His old eyes glanced at the floating Bagua plate, "...assigning soul rings to such a profound martial soul is probably harder than ascending to heaven."

Indeed, logically speaking, a pure soul power amplification soul ring is the safest option. But how could Feng Yao's innate Bagua Plate be an ordinary object? How could such a martial soul be compromised with a soul ring from an ordinary soul beast?

Upon hearing this, Feng Yao nodded in agreement. This was also the reason he planned to go to Seagod Island. Rather than searching for spirit rings and figuring out their combinations himself, he would rather use the divinely bestowed spirit rings obtained from the divine trial to fill his second martial soul. Divinely bestowed spirit rings were the only ones worthy of the Eight Trigrams Plate. They eliminated the need to worry about spirit beast attributes and perfectly matched the essence of the martial soul.

"Enough." Dugu Bo suddenly sighed, his withered hand slamming heavily on Feng Yao's shoulder. "Take this girl with you." His old eyes narrowed slightly, and he said with utmost seriousness, "Remember, return unharmed."

Feng Yao solemnly clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute: "This humble one will remember."

Dugu Bo's throat bobbed, finally settling into a soft "hmm." His eyes, clouded by years of exposure to poisonous fog, now clearly reflected his granddaughter's image. "Come back and visit if you miss home," he said, his voice hoarse.

Dugu Yan's eyes suddenly reddened. She threw herself into her grandfather's arms as she had when she was little, her pretty face glistening with tears. Dugu Bo's trembling hand gently stroked his granddaughter's shoulder-length blue-gold hair: "Silly girl, Grandpa won't run away again." "Mmm," a nasal reply nestled against her grandfather's chest. Ye Lingling quietly turned her face away.

As dusk settled, three figures embarked on their journey home. Feng Yao held the still-sleeping Xiao Wu in his arms, to his left was Dugu Yan, surrounded by a flowing blue-gold aura, and to his right was Ye Lingling, dressed in flowing white robes. As their garments billowed, the three cast long silhouettes along the path in the Sunset Forest.

Dugu Bo stood in front of the wooden house, his gaunt figure stretched long by the setting sun. He watched the fading blue-gold luster in his granddaughter's hair until the three of them completely disappeared at the edge of the forest.

The herb garden returned to silence, with only the mist still rising from the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire. As Dugu Bo turned around, the old poison master shook his head and slowly walked towards the wooden house, his figure appearing particularly lonely in the twilight.

Inside the carriage, the soft cushions swayed gently with the movement. Dugu Yan suddenly put on a sullen expression: "Shouldn't we finally meet that mysterious 'Big Sister' this time?" Her eyes shone slightly with her emotions, twinkling like stars in the dim carriage.

Feng Yao's fingertips unconsciously caressed Xiao Wu's ear, then he paused upon hearing this. An embarrassed look appeared on his face. "This..." He rarely showed such awkwardness, a faint blush rising on the back of his neck, "It really is time for a formal introduction."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yao scratched the back of his head, then smiled wryly, took the hands of the two beauties, and nodded somewhat awkwardly, saying, "Yan Yan, Ling Ling, I'm sorry for keeping this from you for so long."

Ye Lingling parted her lips slightly, wanting to defuse the situation, but was stopped by a glance from Dugu Yan. The blue-haired girl, her fingertips swirling with poisonous mist, said playfully, "You've been hiding from us for five whole years~" She suddenly leaned closer, her bright eyes sparkling, "When you want something, you use sweet words; when you don't, you disappear." She lightly tapped Feng Yao's chest with her jade-like finger, "And now, out of nowhere, a 'big sister' has appeared?"

A bead of sweat appeared on Feng Yao's forehead, and the word "danger" flashed through his mind. Of course, he remembered the way Dugu Yan's purple hair flew when they first met, much earlier than that "older sister." But back then, the Angelic Holy Sword of the Soul Saint level, Qian Renxue, was hovering above his head, and the blazing sword light still made his back burn when he thought about it—compared to being purified by holy flames, being a coward didn't seem so unacceptable?
Xiao Wu suddenly twitched her ears in her sleep, as if mocking his predicament.

Feng Yao wasn't foolish enough to tell the truth. He simply looked at Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling with a fawning expression, his eyes crinkling into a smile: "It's all my fault, Yan Yan and Lingling can do whatever they want with me~"

Dugu Yan scoffed, a dangerous glint in her eyes: "Don't give me that." She condensed poisonous mist into a small snake at her fingertips, dangling it in front of Feng Yao's nose. "You have quite a few romantic entanglements—" she suddenly whispered in his ear, "That little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, you're planning to take her all too, aren't you?"

Ye Lingling couldn't hide the smile on her lips. Feng Yao was speechless for a moment, and could only laugh awkwardly and touch the tip of his nose. Even Xiao Wu turned over in her sleep, turning her back to him.

Seeing Feng Yao's ears turn red with embarrassment, Ye Lingling's heart softened. She gently stroked Feng Yao's hair and said softly, "It's alright, Yan Yan." Her hand landed on Dugu Yan's hair. "Xiao Feng had no choice."

Feng Yao, feeling as if granted a pardon, nodded repeatedly. Dugu Yan immediately protested, snuggling into Ye Lingling's arms like a cat, trembling with discontent: "Lingling, you're biased!" She poked Ye Lingling's chest with her fingertips, "If you were a man, I would have married you long ago. Who would want to pay attention to this heartless little thing?"

The smile in Feng Yao's eyes gradually faded, turning into a deep sense of shame. His slender fingers unconsciously rubbed together. The distance he had deliberately maintained over the years showed that his concern for Qian Renxue far exceeded that for the two of them, and there was no way to refute any of it.

The carriage suddenly fell silent, save for the rustling of a gentle breeze. Dugu Yan looked at the silent Feng Yao, her eyes softening. Ye Lingling gently stroked her back, breaking the silence softly: "Little Feng, Yan Yan was just..."

“She’s right.” Feng Yao suddenly looked up, reached out and gently touched their fingertips, his voice as soft as a sigh: “I’ve wronged you so much over the years. I’ve neglected your feelings, and I’m so sorry.” The shadows of the trees passing by the window cast dappled darkness on his face, but they couldn’t hide the sincere remorse in his eyes.

Dugu Yan gazed at Feng Yao for a moment, then suddenly sat up from Ye Lingling's embrace. Her eyes rippled like water, and her arms wrapped around Feng Yao's waist like vines, pressing her cheek against his heart: "No need to apologize." Her voice was as soft as a whisper in the breeze, "Since we chose you, Lingling and I have already staked the rest of our lives on you."

Feng Yao's Adam's apple bobbed, and his arms tightened unconsciously. His eyes reflected the stars twinkling in Dugu Yan's eyes. For a moment, only the sound of their heartbeats remained in the carriage; even the noisy wind outside seemed to have wisely quieted down.

After an unknown amount of time, Dugu Yan suddenly winked mischievously at Ye Lingling, her blue-silver, grass-like hair swaying playfully at her temples: "Lingling, don't you want to feel the temperature?"

Ye Lingling glared at Dugu Yan with a mixture of embarrassment and anger, but couldn't hide her flushed ears. She then saw Feng Yao extend his other arm towards her. At this moment, Xiao Wu had already been thrown into a corner of the carriage by Feng Yao.

The moment the three embraced, time seemed to stand still in the carriage. Feng Yao's left arm encircled Dugu Yan's slender waist, while his right hand gently rested on Ye Lingling's fragrant shoulder. The medicinal scent from Dugu Yan's hair mingled with the floral fragrance from Ye Lingling's arms, scattering starlight into the dimly lit carriage.

Dugu Yan playfully nuzzled Feng Yao's neck and teased softly, "Are you satisfied now?" She gestured towards Ye Lingling, making the white-clad girl's ears turn even redder.

Though shy, Ye Lingling gently rested her head on Feng Yao's shoulder. The fragrance of flowers lingered on their overlapping garments, each piece reflecting the shifting moonlight outside the window. Feng Yao felt the two distinctly different temperatures in his arms—Dugu Yan's warmth was like the heat of midsummer, while Ye Lingling's was like the coolness of early autumn, yet both equally made his heart burn.

A gentle breeze carried a sweet scent of grass and trees, softly enveloping the three figures.

The carriage slowly came to a stop on the bustling street of Tiandou City, the afterglow of the setting sun casting a golden glow on the bluestone pavement. Feng Yao was the first to leap down from the carriage, then turned and gentlemanly helped Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling down. Dugu Yan's long, blue-gold hair shone brightly in the setting sun, while the fragrance of crabapple blossoms wafted from Ye Lingling's body as she swayed gently in the breeze.

Just then, a clear, bell-like voice came from the street corner: "Feng Yao!"

Ning Rongrong, dressed in a light pink dress, stood gracefully a short distance away. Her glassy eyes swept over the three of them, a hint of disappointment flashing in them, but a mischievous smile played on her lips: "Looks like I've come at the wrong time~"

(End of this chapter)