Chapter 394: Come Over, Good Child

Outside the rearmost large tent of the Liè Nation's Main Camp.

Lu Qi held Tuan Tuan's small hand, standing on a slightly elevated earthen slope.

Tuan Tuan tiptoed, straining to gaze toward the battlefield.

There, flames shot skyward, and the sounds of killing, explosions, and clashing metal merged into a muffled rolling thunder; even from this distance, a faint tremor could be felt beneath the feet.

Tuan Tuan's face full of worry: "Uncle Lu," she tugged Lu Qi's sleeve, "When will Father and the others return?"

Lu Qi lowered his head, watching the little one's tightly pressed lips, feeling a tightening in his heart.

Lu Qi crouched, trying to soften his voice: "Miss, don't worry. Prince commands troops like a deity; surely he can drive those Da Xia people away. Shall we go inside and wait?"

Even so, inside Lu Qi's mind was a swirl of anxiety; this wasn't a duel between two, and on the battlefield, no one could claim absolute safety.

Tuan Tuan shook her head, stubbornly staring at the flames: "I'll wait here for Father to come back."

The night wind blew gently; Lu Qi feared she might catch a chill, or be struck by stray arrows or other mishaps: "Miss, it's windy outside. National Preceptor is still inside; may I escort you in to keep him company?"

"Don't worry, I'll wait here; if Prince returns victorious, I'll surely call you out to see."

Tuan Tuan hesitated a moment; National Preceptor had even turned white‑haired from helping her.

She nodded, obediently letting Lu Qi hold her hand as they returned to the tent.

Chu Yuan saw her, a gentle smile appearing on his face, and waved: "Come, Tuan Tuan, over here."

Tuan Tuan walked to his side, snuggling down, her small hand clutching her own robe edge, eyes fixed outward, clearly still thinking of the battlefield.

Sigh, this child worries herself to extremes.

Perhaps I should take her to do something, so she won't be so single‑minded.

Chu Yuan looked at the desk, where brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone lay uncollected.

"When we were in Jingcheng, I didn't have time to teach you how to draw Formation talismans," Chu Yuan stood, taking her to the desk.

"Today I happen to be free; come, I'll teach you to draw the simplest Tranquil Spirit Talisman."

"Once you master it, if your mind becomes chaotic, just draw it; it will calm and steady your spirit."

He spoke while pouring a little clear water onto the inkstone, picking up an ink stick and grinding it slowly.

Chu Yuan spread a sheet of yellow talisman paper, lifted his brush, dipped it in ink: "Tuan Tuan, look, this first stroke, its intention lies in the tip of the brush…"

His voice abruptly halted.

Sitting beside him, Tuan Tuan sat primly, her small face turned toward him, but those ever‑bright, flickering eyes now lacked luster, appearing utterly hollow and vacant.

Chu Yuan's heart tightened; he called softly, "Tuan Tuan?"

No response.

The little one's eyelashes didn't flutter at all, and her breath became extremely faint and slow, like a delicate porcelain doll.

Chu Yuan's complexion changed sharply, and the brush in his hand "Snap!" fell onto the talisman paper.

He pressed three fingers together, gently placing them on Tuan Tuan's forehead, probing into her spiritual meridian.

"Soul Separation Technique?"

What a powerful art! Not something ordinary cultivators could wield!

Wu Luo? It's you!

Chu Yuan shouted loudly, "Lu Qi! Come in!"

Lu Qi hurried inside: "National Preceptor, what instructions—"

His words stuck in his throat as his eyes fell upon Tuan Tuan, rigidly seated like a doll.

He lunged forward, trembling hands brushing Tuan Tuan's hair: "Miss, what's wrong with you?"

Chu Yuan's expression grew solemn: "Tuan Tuan fell victim to the Soul Separation Technique; her soul was forcibly taken away!"

He spoke while pulling from his chest a plain, unadorned bell of neither metal nor jade.

The bell was small and exquisite, its surface etched with fine cloud patterns, a tiny copper bead hanging at its center.

Chu Yuan thrust the bell into Lu Qi's hand: "The practitioner's Dao cultivation is extremely high and even employed hostile energy; I must cast a spell on myself and set out to find her quickly!"

"This is a Soul-Calling Bell. If after one hour we still cannot awaken, try shaking this bell; if it rings, it will guide you to the direction of our souls!"

He paused, then swiftly drew from his sleeve a triangular talisman drawn in cinnabar, slipping it into the front of Tuan Tuan's robe: "This is a Soul‑Guard Talisman; it can keep her body from disintegrating."

He gave Tuan Tuan a deep look, sat cross‑legged beside her, hand forming the sealing gesture, closed his eyes, and muttered endlessly.

"Soul out of the hidden pass, spirit follow the command! Break!"

As the words fell, his surrounding aura instantly fell silent, and like Tuan Tuan beside him, his body stiffened slightly, making no sound, as if fallen into deep sleep.

Inside the tent, only Lu Qi remained, standing dazed, his left hand clutching the Soul-Calling Bell, his right hand instinctively gripping the hilt of the knife at his waist.

From afar, faint shouts of battle drifted in; before him, two pale, silent faces, Lu Qi's heart sank inch by inch to the bottom of a gorge.

Huh? Isn't this the Taoist temple where I lived as a child?

Tuan Tuan looked up, gazing at the familiar dilapidated gate before her.

How did I come back? No! I still have to go back and wait for Father!

She turned to run, but as if she slammed into an invisible wall, she fell flat on her bottom onto the ground.

Ouch, that hurts!

What's happening?

She rubbed her little bottom, got up, and stretched out her small hand to feel forward.

There really is a wall! But why can't I see it?

Fine, let's find another way.

She shouted, "Taoist Priest Grandfather!" and turned to run toward the temple, but just as she reached the doorway, she was knocked down again.

Ugh!

She got up again, this time not running, but slowly walking toward another direction, extending her little arms to feel forward: Could there also be an invisible wall here?

It really exists.

Tuan Tuan felt around, and only then realized that she was as if covered by an invisible veil, completely trapped.

She furrowed her little brows, pondered for a moment, lowered her head and opened the Embroidered pouch at her waist, took out a small stone, and muttered, "Let me get out of here!"

She relaxed her small hand, and the stone didn't fall down; instead it floated up to her eyes.

"Why isn't it working again?"

Try again!

She tried them one by one, emptied all the treasures from the Embroidered pouch, yet each behaved the same.

What kind of place is this? My treasures can't be used here!

Why won't it let me out?

Tuan Tuan pounded the invisible wall and shouted loudly, "I want to get out! I want to go find Father!"

"Little girl, don't waste your effort."

A hoarse voice suddenly sounded above Tuan Tuan's head.

She jerked her head up and saw, in a chaotic void, mist churning, slowly coalescing into a huge, blurry face—Wu Luo!

"Do you know what this is?" Wu Luo said with a smug expression, "It's called a Soul-locking Veil, designed specifically to trap souls."

"Not even you— even if the primordial spirit of a Great Luo Golden Immortal were sealed inside, it couldn't exert any power! Hahaha!"

Amid the cackling, a massive hand, as large as half Tuan Tuan's body and formed from dense black mist, suddenly pierced the Soul-locking Veil and lunged toward her head!

"Come over obediently!"