Master of Nine Stars

A thought flickered in Rong Taotao’s mind, and he asked, ”You said your Lotus Petal was a gift from the heavens?”

”Yes.” Si Huan Nian nodded lightly, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes. ”I was being hunted by a Soul Beast and fleeing for my life. A sudden blizzard completely disoriented me.

As the temperature plummeted, even my Soul Technique couldn’t withstand the cold. I dug a hole right where I was and hid inside, but I knew I was only delaying the inevitable. That blizzard... it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.

I thought I was going to freeze to death in that hole.

Maybe after ten-odd days, when the skies finally cleared, someone would find my body.

Or maybe after the blizzard, my body, along with the hole, would be buried forever beneath the vast white snow, never to be found...”

Rong Taotao: ”...”

Si Huan Nian: ”Then, he appeared.”

Rong Taotao: ”He?”

Si Huan Nian was silent for a moment before saying, ”A single Lotus Petal danced on the raging blizzard, drifted through a crack in the rocks, and fell into my hole. And just like that, I survived.

After I received that Lotus Petal, the low temperatures never bothered me again.”

Rong Taotao asked cautiously, ”Who was the ’he’ you just mentioned?”

But Si Huan Nian just sighed deeply and asked in return, ”What do you think the odds are of me encountering a Lotus Petal in the middle of a vast blizzard, right when I was on the brink of death?”

Rong Taotao nodded slowly. This couldn’t be compared to winning a lottery or some prize; it was a miracle.

A miracle that happened to Si Huan Nian.

As she said, it truly was a gift from the heavens.

Si Huan Nian said quietly, ”I believe my father’s spirit was watching over me from the heavens, and he sent that Lotus Petal to me.”

Rong Taotao’s mood grew heavy. It was true. He had never seen Si Huan Nian take leave to go home. Even during holidays, he’d never heard of her having any relatives, nor had anyone ever come to visit her.

Si Huan Nian glanced up at the nutrient solution on the IV stand and saw there was still a little left, so she didn’t get up. A faint smile actually appeared on her face, as if she were the one comforting Rong Taotao. ”Don’t be like that. It’s all in the past.”

’If she’s willing to talk, I’m of course willing to listen.’

’Beneath that tough-as-nails exterior, she’s hiding so many stories. I wonder if she’s had anyone to talk to all these years.’

’Would it be better for her to talk about it? Or would she rather not bring it up?’

Rong Taotao pondered for a moment, then broached a subject, leaving the decision to talk up to her.

”Your father...”

Rong Taotao only said those two words, and Si Huan Nian fell silent as well.

In the dim dorm room, the moonlight outlined Si Huan Nian’s figure. Her elbow rested on the chair’s armrest, her hand balled into a fist, propping up her cheek. She was perfectly still.

The room was quiet, with only the DRIP... DRIP... DRIP... of the nutrient solution.

After an unknown amount of time, Si Huan Nian lifted her gaze to Rong Taotao. ”Last year, you experienced an Extreme Night, an especially massive blizzard.”

Rong Taotao nodded slightly.

Si Huan Nian: ”It was called a once-in-16-years event, which means there was another one 16 years ago.”

Rong Taotao’s heart clenched. He felt like he already knew what was coming.

Si Huan Nian: ”My father died in that last blizzard, during the assault of the Snow Realm Army. He died at the Third Wall.

They say when the soldiers were clearing the battlefield, they found his remains two or three meters east of the city gate.”

Si Huan Nian’s quiet words hung in the air, yet her face was devoid of expression, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her.

Si Huan Nian: ”I was eleven that year.

To be honest... I didn’t know what happened. My home was in Baishan, and he was stationed at the Third Wall, so he rarely came home. My childhood was filled with my mother, but my father’s presence was rare.”

”Heh.” Si Huan Nian let out a small, bitter laugh, the first change of expression on her stoic face. ”My perception of it all was faint. And my mother... although she deliberately tried to hide it from me, her actions told me everything.

Two years later, the year I started middle school, my mother, who had been overcome with grief, finally passed away. That morning, I woke up early for school as usual, but I noticed she wasn’t up. I went to her room, but I couldn’t wake her, no matter how much I called out to her.”

A film of moisture welled up in Si Huan Nian’s eyes, but she still wore that same smile on her face. It was a heartbreaking sight.

”After that, I was adopted by someone—a comrade of my father’s. He brought me here, to the Snow Realm, and settled me in Songbai Town. That’s when my life of boarding at school began.”

Si Huan Nian lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers as she spoke softly, ”I don’t like it here. I don’t like the Snow Realm. I hate the cold, and I hate a place where it snows all four seasons.

So, you can imagine how rebellious I was as a student.”

”I caused so much trouble, Rong Taotao, more than you can count. Someone like me should have been expelled from school countless times. But every time, the man who adopted me would come to the school to plead for me, to clean up my messes, to beg the principal...

But I didn’t appreciate it. I just wanted to grow up quickly. I wanted to leave this place, leave that so-called comrade of my father’s, and I just wanted to leave the Snow Realm.

And so, I stumbled my way through those three years. It wasn’t until I graduated from middle school, during the graduation ceremony, that I awakened and opened my first Soul Slot.”

”Heh...” Si Huan Nian heaved a deep sigh and said softly, ”That night, the man showed me a letter. It was a letter from my father.”