Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

The paint on the wooden door has peeled off, revealing the grayish-white wood underneath. A faded Spring Festival couplet is pasted on the door frame, with the first line reading "Peace and safety every year" and the second line reading "May all your wishes come true every year," and the horizontal scroll reading "May everything go well."

The door was open.

Cinderella stood at the door and saw an old man with gray hair sitting on a bamboo chair under the old locust tree in the yard, holding a rough pottery teacup in his hand, squinting in the sun.

Old Jack.

He looks much older than he did a few years ago.

His hair had turned completely white, the wrinkles on his face were deeper, and his figure was more hunched over than before.

But he was in good spirits. Although his back was bent, he sat up straight and held the teacup steadily in his hand.

Cinderella stood in the doorway, looking at old Jack. She didn't say a word, just stood there quietly.

Old Jack seemed to sense something, opened his eyes, and looked towards the door.

Then his body suddenly stiffened. The teacup in his hand wobbled, spilling a few drops of tea onto his knees, but he was completely unaware.

“Cindy…Cindy?” Old Jack’s voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, as if there was a wad of cotton stuck in his throat.

“Grandpa Jack.” Cinderella stepped into the yard, knelt down in front of Grandpa Jack, and looked up at him. “I’m back.”

Old Jack stared at her for a long time, then put down his teacup, reached out his calloused and wrinkled hands, and gently stroked Cinderella's hair.

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back." His voice was a little choked up, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips. "You've grown taller, but thinner. You must have suffered a lot out there, right?"

“No.” Cinderella shook her head. “The food was very good, and the accommodations were very good.”

"That's good, that's good."

Old Jack withdrew his hand, wiped it on his clothes, and took a sip of his tea to calm himself. He looked at her, his eyes filled with relief.

"You were just a little girl when you left, and now you've grown into a young woman. I heard from people in Notting City that you're very powerful now. How's your cultivation level?"

“Level 66,” Cinderella said.

Old Jack paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Level 66! Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! It seems our Holy Soul Village can be renamed Douluo Village from now on!"

Cinderella was amused by him.

Old Jack asked Cinderella many questions, such as where she had been all these years, what she had done, whether she had eaten well, whether she had lived well, and whether anyone had bullied her.

Cinderella said a few things she could say, but didn't elaborate further.

Old Jack didn't press for details; he just listened, occasionally nodding, occasionally sighing, and occasionally laughing.

As they were talking, old Jack suddenly frowned.

The wrinkles were so subtle that they were almost invisible unless you looked closely.

But his hand, which was holding the teacup, paused slightly, and his gaze drifted into the distance.

Cinderella noticed. "Grandpa Jack, is something the matter?"

Old Jack hesitated for a moment, put down his teacup, and sighed. "There is something I need to do."

He looked up at Cinderella, a hint of helplessness in his cloudy eyes.

“Cindy, as you know, the Spirit Hall and the Anti-Spirit Alliance are currently at war. The Spirit Hall branch in Notting City has been withdrawn, and the Spirit Hall's deacons are no longer coming.”

Nowadays, the children in nearby villages who have awakened their martial spirits are all thanks to the teachers at the Notting City Junior Soul Master Academy.

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"But the teachers in Nottingham City are also limited in number. They can't even take care of their own students, let alone the children in our village."

In the past two years, most of the children in Holy Soul Village haven't undergone Martial Soul Awakening. It's almost time for awakening again this year, and I'm really worried about it.

Cinderella smiled upon hearing this.

The smile was faint, just a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, but it eased the tension in Old Jack's brows.

"Grandpa Jack, don't worry about this. I can help."

Old Jack was taken aback. "You?"

“Mm.” Cinderella nodded.

“Back when Xiao San and I were still at Notting Academy, we helped the children of Holy Soul Village with their Martial Soul Awakening. Doing it again now won’t make any difference.”

Old Jack opened his mouth as if to say something, but he didn't.

He lowered his head, his rough fingers gently stroking the teacup, his fingertips brushing against the notch on the rim, making a soft rustling sound.

After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked at Cinderella with a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

"Cindy, isn't this too much trouble for you? You rarely come back, and I'm making you do chores..."

“No trouble at all,” Cinderella interrupted him, her tone as calm as if she were remarking on the nice weather.

"Awakening a martial soul is easy. It won't take long."

Old Jack stared at her for a long while, then smiled. His smile held a mixture of relief, emotion, and a sense of ease.

"Okay, okay." He nodded repeatedly, picked up the teacup, and drank the already cooled tea in one gulp.

Chapter 541 Border Mountains

“I’ll go and tell the villagers to bring the child. You sit down and rest for a while, have some water.”

As Old Jack was about to stand up, Cindre stretched out his hand and pressed down on his shoulder.

"Grandpa Jack, no rush. We can do it tomorrow. I just got back today and want to rest first."

Old Jack paused for a moment, then slapped his forehead.

"Look at me, I'm getting senile. You've traveled such a long way, you should rest. Okay, then tomorrow it is. I'll go and inform you first thing tomorrow morning."

Cinderella nodded and sat down on another bamboo chair in the yard.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the old locust tree's branches and leaves, falling warmly on her.

The sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking drifted from afar, mingling with the wind and echoing softly in her ears. She leaned back in her chair, squinting at the sky above, fragmented by the canopy of trees.

Cinderella closed her eyes, listening to the wind, the sound of old Jack rummaging through the house, and the faint sounds of children playing in the distance.

She had lunch at Old Jack's house.

Old Jack's cooking was the same as always. The rice was a little hard, and the vegetables were a bit salty, but it was hot. Cinderella ate a bowl, shoveling every last grain of rice out of the bowl.

Old Jack looked at her empty bowl and his eyes narrowed into slits with laughter. "Eat more, eat more. Look at you, you're so skinny."

Cinderella put down her chopsticks, took the hot tea that Old Jack handed her, held it in her hands, and took a sip.

In the afternoon, she took a walk around the village. The old locust tree at the village entrance, the threshing ground at the village end, the vegetable garden at the east end of the village, the pigsty at the west end of the village. Everything was the same, yet everything had changed.

The road is still the same road, but it's smoother than before. The houses are still the same houses, but some have been renovated.

The people were still the same, but some were older, some had left, and there were a few new faces she didn't recognize.

Cinderella stood under the old locust tree at the village entrance for a while, then turned and went back to Old Jack's house.

That night, she stayed at old Jack's house.

The room was the same one she had lived in before; the bed was the same bed, the bedding was the same bedding, washed until faded, and folded neatly.

On the windowsill sat a pot of unidentified flowers, in full bloom, their petals shimmering faintly in the moonlight.

Cinderella lay in bed, listening to the chirping of insects outside the window, the sounds of old Jack turning over in the next room, and the distant barking of dogs.

She thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, but she fell asleep shortly after closing her eyes.

I slept without any dreams.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Old Jack's courtyard came alive with activity.

The village children, led by their parents, entered the courtyard in twos and threes.

The oldest was seven or eight years old, and the youngest had just turned six. Some were still rubbing their eyes, some had half a steamed bun in their mouths, and some were being pulled forward by their parents' clothes, looking completely bewildered.

Old Jack stood in the middle of the yard, leaning on his well-worn cane, and greeted everyone with a smile.

"Come on, line up properly, don't push. Sister Cindy is waiting for you inside."

The children obediently lined up in a crooked queue, crowding at the entrance of the main room, peeking inside with curious eyes.

Cinderella is ready.

Six black awakening stones were arranged in a six-pointed star array on the ground in the center of the main room, with the edges fitting together perfectly and each stone placed neatly.

On the low table beside it sat a fist-sized blue crystal ball with swirling mist inside, gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the morning light.

"Come in one by one." Cinderella's voice came from inside the house, not loud, but clearly reaching the ears of every child.

The first child was a dark-skinned little boy, as thin as a bean sprout, wearing an old jacket several sizes too big, with the sleeves rolled up several times to reveal his little hands.

He was a little nervous, clutching the hem of his clothes, head down, not daring to look at Cinderella.

"Don't be afraid," Cinderella's voice was soft, like a breeze across water. "Just stand in the middle and close your eyes."

The little boy nodded, took small steps to the center of the six-pointed star array, closed his eyes, and clenched his hands tightly until his knuckles turned white.

Cinderella released a wisp of soul power and infused it into the Awakening Stone.

The six black stones lit up simultaneously, and golden light rose from the ground, like a thin curtain of light, enveloping the little boy.

The light surged into the little boy's body, causing him to tremble slightly and reveal a pained expression on his face.

“Extend your right hand,” Cinderella gently guided.

The little boy did as he was told and stretched out his right hand. Light surged forth, coalescing into a blurry shadow in his palm, and finally transforming into a foxtail grass.

Cinderella, with no expression on her face, handed the blue crystal ball to the little boy.

"Put your martial spirit away, then put your hand up here."

The little boy did as he was told. The crystal ball did not react at all, remaining as still as a stagnant pool.

"No soul power. Next."

The little boy walked out of the main room with his head down, and his parents' helpless sighs came from outside the courtyard.

The situation was similar for the next few children. They wielded sickles, brooms, plowshares, and unidentified wild grasses; the martial spirits they awakened were varied and diverse, but none of them possessed soul power.

Old Jack stood at the gate of the courtyard, leaning on his cane, his smile gradually fading.