Chapter 373: Swallowed Spotless

Tuan Tuan screamed awake from the dream, gasping heavily, drenched in cold sweat.

"Tuan Tuan? What's wrong?"

Xiao Ningxun jolted awake, swung his legs off the bed and rushed to his sister's bedside: "Did you have a nightmare?"

He lit the candle, walked back to the bedside, and saw his sister's appearance clearly.

Tuan Tuan's face was pale, the bangs on her forehead soaked with sweat and sticking to her face.

She stared with wide eyes, her small chest heaving violently.

Xiao Ningxun hurriedly sat on the bed, gathered her fully into his arms, and gently patted her back: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's just a dream."

"Did you ride too much today? Are you dreaming of falling off a horse..."

"Third Brother!" Tuan Tuan shook her head to interrupt him, her voice trembling with tears, her small hands gripping Xiao Ningxun's clothes tightly.

"Father! Father was hit by an arrow!"

Xiao Ningxun's heart jolted: "How could that be? You forgot? Father is the war god of Fierce Kingdom—how could he be struck by an arrow?"

"It's true!" Tuan Tuan wriggled free from his arms, lifted her little face, eyes wide open.

"I saw it! Nine arrows! They flashed with blue‑purple light! Father knocked down seven, but two remained and pierced him here!" She pointed at her own chest.

Nine? Blue‑purple arrows? A Nine‑Star Repeating Crossbow?

Xiao Ningxun's brows furrowed.

His sister was no ordinary child; her dream was certainly not simple.

Xiao Ningxun got up, poured a cup of warm water, and brought it to her lips: "Drink some water first, speak slowly, and tell me everything you saw in the dream."

Tuan Tuan gulped down several big mouthfuls before she calmed a little.

She recalled the dream scene and related everything she had seen in detail.

Every detail, she remembered crystal clear.

Xiao Ningxun's complexion changed little by little as she spoke.

"Third Brother?" Seeing him dazed, Tuan Tuan tugged at his sleeve: "What's wrong with you?"

Xiao Ningxun sighed, pulled her into his embrace: "Tuan Tuan, listen to Third Brother, but first promise me you won't panic."

Tuan Tuan nodded obediently.

"The letter sent the other day by Meiwei Jiayao said that Da Xia has repeatedly provoked the border, and Father has already led the troops into battle."

Tuan Tuan shot her head up.

Xiao Ningxun hastily rubbed her small back to comfort her: "Da Xia is merely a defeated vassal of Father; rest assured, he'll be fine."

Tuan Tuan fixed her gaze on his face: "Father, is he really at war? Right, Third Brother?"

Xiao Ningxun looked at her clear, big eyes, wanted to comfort her but could find no words, so he merely nodded.

Tuan Tuan murmured: "So the battlefield I dreamed of is real?"

"Are there really villains who want to use a Nine‑Star Repeating Crossbow to harm Father?"

Her eye rims reddened instantly; she broke free from Xiao Ningxun's arms, jumped off the bed, and reached for her own small clothes: "I'm going to find Father! Right now!"

Xiao Ningxun hastily grabbed her: "Tuan Tuan, the road is too far; on the battlefield swords have no eyes—this is no place for you..."

"I'm not afraid!" Tuan Tuan stood barefoot on the ground, turned her head to him: "Third Brother, someone wants to harm Father! If I don't go, Father will be killed by them!"

"Sniffle, I want to go save him!"

As she spoke, large tears rolled down from her eye sockets.

Xiao Ningxun's heart clenched tightly.

If Tuan Tuan's dream is true……

He shivered, afraid to think further.

"Third Brother," Tuan Tuan tugged at his sleeve, "will you take me to find Father, okay?"

Xiao Ningxun looked at her; perhaps he should take her?

Tuan Tuan was never the sort of ordinary child who needed shelter under wings.

If Father truly might be in mortal danger, then perhaps Tuan Tuan is actually the only one who could save him.

He drew a deep breath, lifted his sister back onto the bed: "All right! Third Brother will take you."

Tuan Tuan sniffed, and her eyes lit up instantly.

"However," Xiao Ningxun helped her lie down and tucked the blanket in: "You must promise me that once you reach the border, you will heed my words and be careful in all things."

"Mm! I promise!" Tuan Tuan nodded.

Xiao Ningxun sat beside her bed: "Sleep now; we'll set off at dawn tomorrow, I'll keep you company—rest well so we can travel."

"Mm‑mm." Tuan Tuan held her brother's hand and closed her eyes.

Xiao Ningxun, however, could no longer sleep; he leaned against the bed, endlessly thinking of Tuan Tuan's dream.

If Jifeng failed to block those crossbows, then they must indeed have fallen into Gongsun Chi's hands.

Father, how are you now? Please be careful!

The next morning, Xiao Ningxun told everyone what had happened the night before.

Xiao Er, hearing this, immediately grew anxious: "The Prince could be struck by an arrow? Miss's words are surely correct! Third Young Master, let's hurry!"

Xiao Ningxun tossed and turned all night, the more he thought the more urgent he felt: "All right! Let's depart at once!"

Xiao Ran rubbed Tuan Tuan's head: "Don't rush, little one, Ninth Brother hasn't been to a battlefield yet—I'll go with you to help Prince Ning."

"Mm‑mm! We're all going! Ninth Brother, you're so kind!"

The party turned the cart's head and headed straight for the border between Fierce Kingdom and Da Xia.

At the same moment, in Da Xia, within the Guoshi Residence's secret chamber…

The candles in the wall sconces burned silently, casting the underground stone chamber in a dim, eerie light.

Wu Luo stood before a bronze mirror.

He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing upward.

Only a fine golden thread, thinner than a hair, was winding and wandering in his palm, flashing and disappearing.

"Ugh..."

Wu Luo let out a muffled groan; a flush rose on his ashen face, but was immediately covered by a deeper bluish-gray.

He stared at the copper mirror, where several wrinkles had suddenly appeared on himself, and a towering hatred surged in his heart.

"Good, good, a little brat blessed by heaven."

"You drained my lifelong cultivation, forcing me to use thirty years of my yang lifespan to repair!"

"Immortal Envoy of Lie Kingdom, Holy Maiden of the Grasslands?" He gave a low laugh, the sound echoing in the sealed stone chamber, especially eerie.

"Your weakness has never been outside, but in the father you hold dear."

"Last time, I was careless, I glanced at you. This time, I won't."

"Now the flourishing of your destiny rivals the auspicious signs of the mortal world—come, hurry and come."

His gaze suddenly became incredibly fervent, greedy, resentful...

"Return your blessings, your destiny, and everything you took from me—give it all back!"

"The border battlefield, where killing intent shoots to the heavens, is the perfect place to conceal heavenly secrets and seize your destiny!"

"I will devour everything of yours, clean and clean!"