Douluo Continent III Haotian Wulin

"Na'er?"

Tang Wulin repeated the name, finding it quite pleasant to hear.

"Your name is beautiful," he said, a smile involuntarily spreading across his face. "Your voice is beautiful too."

Na'er looked at him, a hint of lingering shock still glistening in her large purple eyes. But upon hearing those words, she pursed her lips slightly and remained silent.

Tang Wulin didn't care.

In his view, it was normal for her to be quiet after what she had just experienced. Besides, the little girl with silver hair and purple eyes was unlike any other child he had ever seen. She seemed very quiet and light, and when she stood there, she even had a sense that she didn't quite exist.

"Where are your parents?" Tang Wulin asked. "Where do you live? I'll take you home."

Na'er lowered her head and gently shook it.

Tang Wulin was stunned for a moment, and before he could ask any more questions, a very untimely voice suddenly rang out.

"Gurgle—"

Tang Wulin subconsciously looked down at his stomach.

It wasn't him.

When he looked up again, he saw that Na'er's face was slightly flushed. Although her face was still covered in dust, her embarrassment was clearly visible in her eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Tang Wulin immediately realized.

He was already hungry, and when he heard Na'er's stomach growling, he felt a sense of kinship, as if he had found a companion. In addition, he had just saved someone, and the young man was at the height of his sense of responsibility. Without thinking, he grabbed Na'er's hand.

"Come on, I'll take you home!" he said matter-of-factly. "My mom's a great cook. If you haven't found your family yet, come to my house and have something to eat first."

Na'er was slightly taken aback when he took her hand.

Her hands were cool and soft, and when they landed in Tang Wulin's palm, they slightly eased the faint burning sensation deep within his right hand. Tang Wulin himself didn't realize this, assuming it was because he had just been frightened, which was why his body was so cold.

"Don't be afraid." He smiled back at her as he walked away. "My house is just ahead, very close."

Na'er raised her head and looked at him quietly.

From her angle, she could only see the little boy's profile. His face was still covered in dust from when he fell, his forehead was slightly red, and his clothes were a bit disheveled, but his eyes were very bright, as if the image of him holding up the little black hammer to block the bad guys had not completely faded.

She looked at it for a while before softly humming in agreement.

Hearing her agree, Tang Wulin was even happier and pulled her along quickly towards home.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Before even entering the door, Tang Wulin had already started shouting at the top of his lungs.

The courtyard gate was quickly opened, and Lang Yue's voice carried a hint of helplessness: "You child, keep your voice down, don't disturb the neighbors... Huh?"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw what her son looked like.

Covered in dust and dirt, with stained cuffs and red marks on his face, he didn't look like someone who had just finished class. What stunned her even more was that her son was holding the hand of a little girl with silver hair and purple eyes.

"What happened?" Lang Yue frowned and quickly stepped forward. "Did you get into a fight at school?"

"No, no!" Tang Wulin quickly shook his head, explaining rapidly, "Mom, I encountered bad guys! They wanted to take Na'er away, but I stopped them. They even kicked me, but I'm fine. Later, I showed them my martial soul and said I was from the Soul Master class, and they didn't dare to touch me anymore..."

He spoke faster and faster, gesturing with his hands as he vividly described what had happened on the street.

The more Lang Yue listened, the paler her face became.

As soon as Tang Wulin finished speaking, she almost immediately pulled him into the house, bringing Na'er in with her, and then slammed the door shut.

"You child!" Her voice trembled slightly. "Do you know how dangerous that is? You're only six years old, how could you rush forward like that?"

Startled by his mother's words, Tang Wulin first shrank back, then raised his head again, somewhat defiantly.

"But they are bad people," he said earnestly. "Dad said that a real man should be brave and not just stand by and watch bad people bully others."

Looking into her son's bright, stubborn eyes, Lang Yue couldn't bring herself to say the scolding that was on the tip of her tongue.

Was he wrong?

of course not.

But it was precisely because he did nothing wrong that she, as a mother, felt even more terrified.

She took a deep breath, suppressing her panic, and crouched down to look at Na'er, who had been standing quietly beside her.

"Your name is Na'er, right?" Lang Yue asked softly. "Where are your parents? Where do you live?"

Na'er lowered her head, just like before, and gently shook her head without saying a word.

Lang Yue looked at her dusty, old clothes, and then at her equally dirty son beside her, and finally softened.

"Never mind," she sighed, "Let's clean you two up first."

She first had Tang Wulin wash his face and hands, then wiped the dust off Na'er's body and changed her into some of Tang Wulin's relatively clean childhood clothes. Once everything was ready, when they sat down at the dining table, Tang Wulin couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"Wow--"

"Na'er, you're so beautiful!"

This time, he was genuinely impressed.

After washing up, Na'er looked like a completely different person. Her short silver hair softly framed her face, her skin was as white as a freshly peeled lychee, and her features were as delicate as a porcelain doll. Tang Wulin's clothes were a bit too big on her, with the sleeves extending too far out, but this only made her look even smaller, quiet, and endearing.

Na'er looked up at him, then quickly lowered her head again, her ear tips slightly red.

Langyue brought over two plates of cookies and two cups of hot milk, and placed them in front of them.

"Let's grab something to eat first," she said. "Dinner will have to wait a while."

Tang Wulin was already quite hungry, but this time, he was clearly more curious about Na'er, eating cookies while secretly glancing at her.

But Na'er eats very quickly.

Unlike Tang Wulin, who ate and talked at the same time, she kept her head down and ate quietly. But in a short while, her biscuits and milk were all gone.

Then, her gaze involuntarily fell on Tang Wulin's plate.

Tang Wulin was taken aback at first, then pushed his plate toward her.

"for you."

Na'er looked at him but didn't immediately take it.

"It's alright, you eat," Tang Wulin said with a smile. "I ate a lot at noon. Besides, I'm a boy, it's okay if I'm hungry for a while."

Na'er hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist the temptation of the cookies and whispered, "Thank you."

The two words were spoken very softly, but Tang Wulin still heard them immediately.

"You can talk!" His eyes lit up, as if he had discovered something particularly exciting.

Na'er looked at him without answering, but the corner of her mouth seemed to twitch very slightly.

Lang Yue sat down at this moment, trying to soften her voice as she asked, "Na'er, do you know where your home is? Or do you remember your parents' names?"

Na'er shook her head.

Do you remember your home contact information? Even just a phone number will do.

He still shook his head.

Lang Yue frowned slightly, then asked, "How old are you?"

This time, Na'er finally spoke.

Five and a half years old.

"Wow!" Tang Wulin immediately straightened his back and announced proudly, "Then I'm the older brother! I'm six years old now!"

Lang Yue glared at him irritably, but didn't interrupt.

She hesitated for a moment, but finally made a decision.

"Alright then," she stood up, "I'll take Na'er to the administrator's office first to see if we can find any records of her family. If we can, that would be great; if not, we'll figure something out."

At this point, she turned to look at her son.

"You stay home and don't run around, do you hear me?"

"Oh..." Tang Wulin originally wanted to go with her, but seeing his mother's uncompromising expression, he had no choice but to obediently nod.

As he watched Na'er stand up and follow her mother out, he felt a strange, faint sense of reluctance.

It's as if once she leaves, she might not come back.

The courtyard gate closed, and the house fell silent.

Tang Wulin stood there for a while before slowly returning to his small room.

He had originally intended to wait for his mother to return before hearing the results. However, after sitting down, he couldn't help but think about what the teacher had taught that afternoon.

meditation.

Feel the power of the soul.

Feel the martial spirit.

Then, slowly get closer to them.

Tang Wulin thought for a moment, then simply sat cross-legged on the bed.

Since we have nothing else to do right now, we might as well give it a try.

He closed his eyes and slowly calmed himself down.

Unlike in the academy that afternoon, this time the room was quiet. There were no students talking outside, nor the sound of teachers walking back and forth. The only sound in the room was his own breathing, one breath at a time, gradually becoming steady.

Before long, that familiar feeling returned.

First, it felt slightly warm.

Next came a feeling of heaviness that slowly rose from deep within the body.

Tang Wulin didn't rush to "grab" anything like he had in the afternoon. Instead, he followed Lin Ximeng's instructions and first focused on feeling his own breathing and the rhythm of his body.

Slowly, his consciousness seemed to sink into darkness.

In that darkness, he "saw" his own martial spirit.

The small black hammer hung there silently, still short, blunt, and black, without any striking brilliance. Yet, in the realm of consciousness, it was even more impossible to ignore than in reality.

Because it's too heavy.

It wasn't just about weight; it was like a small mountain compressed to its limit, or a meteorite that had fallen from the sky and been forcibly held in place. It hung there quietly, yet a faint golden heat flowed around it, and deeper still, a faint blue-gold pattern slowly disappeared.

Tang Wulin couldn't understand any of this.

But he instinctively felt that he would calm down as soon as he got close to that hammer.

So he tried to bring his consciousness closer little by little.

The next moment, countless tiny points of light seemed to silently gather around him.

The points of light were few and faint, far from the magnificent displays of power seen in the stories of strong cultivators. Yet they were very stable, gradually merging into his body and finally settling around the black hammer, causing the already weak soul power within him to slowly begin to circulate.

Everything is so slow.

But it is very clear.

And so, Tang Wulin truly immersed himself in his own meditation for the first time.