Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

Fairy Tale Empire, Moonlit City.

As evening light slowly spread across the western horizon, it bathed the renamed city in a warm, golden-red glow.

The newly replaced deep purple flags on the city wall swayed gently in the wind, their edges gilded by the setting sun.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School found a temporary base in Bright Moon City, a three-courtyard house located in the east of the city.

The courtyard wasn't large, but it was well-organized. A moon gate separated the front hall from the back courtyard, with two neatly trimmed holly bushes planted on either side of the gate.

Beyond the screen wall lies a small courtyard, paved with blue bricks, with fine moss growing in the cracks, gleaming moistly in the twilight.

Ning Fengzhi sat behind a desk in the front hall, with several newly compiled files spread out on the table in front of him.

He held a pen in his hand and was signing his name at the end of one of the files.

His movements were unhurried and deliberate, each stroke clear and steady, as if he were confirming a certain established order in this way.

On the chair beside him, Bone Douluo Gu Rong was leaning back, his posture much more casual than Ning Fengzhi's.

His rough, dark hands were folded over his abdomen, his gaze fixed on the twilight-tinged sky outside the window, as if waiting for Ning Fengzhi to finish what he was doing.

“Fengzhi, you’ve been sitting here all afternoon.” Gu Rong finally spoke, his voice hoarse but with a familiar ease. “Those things can wait until tomorrow.”

Ning Fengzhi didn't look up. The pen moved steadily across the paper. He put it down after writing the last word: "If today's problems are postponed to tomorrow, tomorrow's problems will be postponed to the day after tomorrow. We've just arrived here, and everything needs to be sorted out as soon as possible."

He closed the signed file, placed it on one side of the table, then looked up and scanned the room with his eyes.

The furnishings in this front hall were much more organized than their temporary command post at Iron Gate Pass; the tables and chairs were all newly placed and carried a faint, fresh scent of wood.

"Where is Rongrong?" Ning Fengzhi asked.

Gu Rong raised her chin towards the courtyard: "She's sitting in the courtyard. She said she wanted to get some fresh air, but I think she feels stuffy staying in this room."

Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly upon hearing this, without saying anything more.

He knew Gu Rong was right; Ning Rongrong really needed some fresh air.

The period after the Comprehensive Alliance withdrew and settled in Brightmoon City was not easy for her.

In the courtyard, Ning Rongrong was sitting on a stone bench next to the moon gate.

She wore a light blue dress today, much more casual than her formal attire in the Comprehensive League.

Her long hair was not styled into a neat bun as usual, but simply tied back, with a few stray strands falling around her ears and swaying gently in the evening breeze.

Ning Rongrong wasn't holding a book or doing anything; she just sat there quietly, watching the sky above the courtyard gradually darken with twilight.

This feeling was somewhat unfamiliar to her.

During her time in the Comprehensive Alliance, she had things to deal with every day. Even without urgent matters, she habitually maintained a sense of tension, always ready to handle various situations.

But now, sitting in this unfamiliar courtyard, she suddenly realized that she didn't know what to do.

It wasn't that there was nothing to do, but rather that none of the things seemed to require her immediate attention.

Ning Rongrong lowered her head, looked at her hands, and then raised her head again to look at the darkening sky.

She sat there in the twilight for a long time, so long that the light in the courtyard changed from golden-red to gray-blue, so long that the footsteps of soldiers changing guard could be heard from the distant city walls.

She stood up, patted off non-existent dust from her skirt, and then walked out through a small door on the side of the courtyard.

The streets of Brightmoon City were quieter than she had imagined.

As dusk deepened, most of the shops along the street had already closed their doors, with only a few still having their lights on.

There weren't many pedestrians; occasionally, a few people carrying things would brush past her without giving her a second glance.

Ning Rongrong walked along the main street for a while and stopped at the corner of a fork in the road.

Not far ahead, there was a small clinic with a lamp hanging in front of it. The warm yellow light stood out in the twilight.

The door to the clinic was open, and people could be seen moving around inside.

Ning Rongrong didn't go inside; she just stood on the street corner looking in that direction.

She paused slightly when that familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the clinic.

Rapunzel was standing on the steps in front of the clinic, holding an empty medicine bowl in her hand, her long golden hair loosely tied back with a plain ribbon.

She was turning her head to talk to someone in the room, a faint smile on her lips. The smile wasn't obvious, but it carried a kind of everyday ease, as if it had been repeated many times before.

Ning Rongrong remained silent.

She stood there in the twilight at the street corner, watching Rapunzel finish speaking, turn around and put the medicine bowl back on the tray inside the house, then come out again, stand on the steps and stretch.

Just then, Rapunzel's gaze casually swept across the street corner and then stopped. She saw Ning Rongrong.

The two gazed at each other for a moment across the twilight. The lanterns at the street corner cast a warm yellow glow on the stone pavement between them, enveloping their figures in a soft light and shadow.

"Rongrong?" Rapunzel's voice carried a hint of uncertainty; she hadn't expected to see her here at this time.

Ning Rongrong stepped out of the shadows at the street corner and walked to where the lantern could shine: "Rapunzel."

Rapunzel descended the steps, her pace quickening slightly. "What are you doing here? When did you arrive in Brightmoon City?"

"I just arrived this afternoon," Ning Rongrong said. "My father asked me to come and handle some things."

Rapunzel nodded, her gaze lingering on Rapunzel's face for a moment, as if to confirm her condition: "You came out alone?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to go for a walk."

Rapunzel turned to the side and gestured towards the clinic: "I've finished my work here. Would you like to sit over there? There's an osmanthus tree in the courtyard. Although it's not in bloom now, it's still a nice place to sit and chat."

Ning Rongrong didn't hesitate for long before following Le Pei through the small door on the side of the clinic.

The clinic's courtyard was small and much quieter than the street where they had just been standing.

There was indeed an osmanthus tree in the corner, its branches and leaves showing a deep green outline in the night. Under the tree was a stone table and two chairs, and on the table was a teacup that had not been taken away.

Rapunzel walked over, picked up the teacup and put it aside. She then took another clean cup from inside the house and poured Ning Rongrong a cup of warm tea.

The two sat down on the stone bench under the osmanthus tree.

Ning Rongrong took the teacup, held it in her hands, and felt the warmth emanating from the cup: "You've been living in the clinic all this time?"

“Yes,” Rapunzel said. “I built the clinic after I arrived in Brightmoon City. There are a few rooms in the back that can be used for living, so it’s convenient to take care of the wounded who need to be observed.”

She paused, then added, "Teacher Geduo occasionally comes over to deliver some newly prepared medicines. However, she usually lives in the west of the city, which is quite a distance from here, so she doesn't come often."

Chapter 574 Adventures in My Girlhood

Speaking of Godot...

Ning Rongrong had indeed not seen her for a long time.

She knew Godot much earlier than Rapunzel.

That was when Ge Duo was still making a name for herself in Tian Dou City.

As Ge Duo's elixir began to circulate among the various forces, the magical potion that could help Soul Masters absorb Soul Rings beyond their level was like a stone thrown into a still lake, stirring up ripples on the originally calm surface.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was one of the first forces to establish a cooperative relationship with Gedo.

At that time, Ning Fengzhi was studying the information about Ge Duo repeatedly in his study, drawing on the map many times with his finger. In the end, he decided to personally visit the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye with generous gifts.

Ning Rongrong still has a very clear memory of that period.

Before each trip to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, she would prepare a change of clothes and provisions for the journey a day in advance, although those preparations would become unnecessary after Sword Douluo or Bone Douluo escorted her there.

But Ning Rongrong would still do those things seriously, as if using that sense of ritual to confirm that she was about to embark on a real adventure.

For Ge Duo, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eyes were indeed like a secluded fairyland at that time.

The red and blue spring waters flowed distinctly from the springhead, and the misty fog enveloped the entire valley in a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere.

The fairy herbs carefully cultivated by Geduo shimmered with a delicate luster in the mist. Some leaves had a pale golden halo around their edges, while others had dewdrops deep within their stamens that looked like solidified starlight.

Ning Rongrong often sat on the warm jade platform by the spring, watching Ge Duo move among the immortal herbs.

She watched as Ge Duo gently touched the leaves of the plants with her pale, slender fingers, and watched those exotic flowers and plants that might wither instantly in the hands of ordinary people unfold as if being caressed by a spring breeze under her touch.

Ge Duo always wore a deep purple dress, exuding a calm and aloof aura. However, when she examined the immortal herbs, her posture would become exceptionally focused, as if she were reading some kind of text that only she could understand.

At that time, Ning Rongrong thought she would continue like this forever.

Every now and then, she would go to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, sit on the warm jade platform, and watch Ge Duo concoct potions that she couldn't understand. Occasionally, Ge Duo would call her over to release her martial spirit to assist in the research.

She thought that the wondrous adventure would last a long time, long enough for her to grow from a girl into a young woman, long enough for the research on martial soul breakthroughs to advance little by little, long enough for her to witness firsthand the evolution that countless generations of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School had dreamed of being fully realized in her.

But she didn't expect it would all end so quickly.

Gedo's research is progressing much faster than anyone expected.

The evolution from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to the Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and then later, after a routine cooperation, Ning Rongrong was told by Ge Duo that "it's okay".

Her martial soul has stabilized in the form of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and no longer requires further intervention or adjustment.

The moment those words fell, Ning Rongrong clearly remembered standing by the spring of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, looking at the radiant nine-story pagoda in her palm, and suddenly not knowing what to do next.

The adventure that had enveloped her entire childhood and adolescence came to an end.

After that, she never went to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye again. It was as if the connection between her and Ge Duo had been quietly severed by something, leaving only a past that was repeatedly recalled but could never be touched again.

"Rongrong?"

Rapunzel's voice pulled Ning Rongrong back from that memory.

She looked up and found Rapunzel looking at her, her amber eyes filled with concern: "What's wrong? You suddenly stopped talking when we were talking about Teacher Godot."

Ning Rongrong snapped out of her reverie and looked down at the slightly cooled cup of tea in her hand. The steam on the rim of the cup dissipated quickly in the night breeze.

"It's nothing, it's just... I haven't heard from her in a long time. You just said she comes to the clinic occasionally?"

“Yes,” Rapunzel said.

“She has made progress in her cultivation recently and is working hard to break through, so she comes less often than before. But as long as she refines a new batch of medicine, or if there are any special cases among the injured, she will still come to see them in person.”

Ning Rongrong's eyes brightened slightly: "Your cultivation has progressed... has it been a breakthrough?"

Rapunzel shook her head, then nodded: "I wouldn't say it's quite accurate either. She said she's at a crucial juncture and needs to stay focused. But when she came to the clinic, she was in great spirits, much more relaxed than before when she was always frowning."

She paused, then looked at Ning Rongrong: "What, you want to see her?"

Ning Rongrong did not answer immediately.

She held the cup of tea, which was no longer warm, and her gaze fell on the tea soup that was swirling slightly in the cup.