ETR | Chapter 19

Qin Lou actually did have a vague impression of this person. The face in his memory had aged, but looking closely at the features, they matched up.

Back then, the leather merchant hadn’t treated him especially well—they were just in a straightforward business relationship. The man only had eyes for money, was stingy to the bone, and always tried to haggle down prices. But during transactions, he always paid upfront, never owed a coin, and even though Qin Lou had a bad reputation at the time, this guy had never tried to screw him over.

Remembering someone didn’t mean he wanted to waste time here, though.

The old leather merchant—now a prominent shop owner—had mustered up all his courage to stop Qin Lou. But the moment he got a clear look at the face beneath the cloak, any questions he might’ve had became meaningless.

It was him. Qin Lou. That face—he could never forget it.

“You…” he opened his mouth, then skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point, “You’re here looking for him, aren’t you? The other man I saw back then in the courtyard.”

He never knew that man’s name. Only remembered that too beautiful face.

That one sentence was enough to make Qin Lou—who had been about to leave—halt in his tracks.

“You’ve seen Xueman? Where is he?”

“I haven’t seen him,” the shopkeeper admitted honestly, “But I saw a kid… in Baixue City. Looked a lot like him.”

After that kid left, the shopkeeper couldn’t stop thinking about it. He regretted not finding a reason to keep the boy around longer and ask more. Even though he’d been torn up over it since, when he tried to investigate, he never found a single lead. Still obsessed with the incident, he eventually came back to this city to retrace his steps—and ended up running into someone he never expected to see.

Wang Tian Dijun.

Thankfully, age had granted him a bit of worldly experience, or else he might’ve screamed it out loud. Right now, at least, he was still managing to keep his wits.

Qin Lou asked when he’d seen the boy. It matched the timeline he’d found while investigating in the Seventeenth Heaven—it was likely when Xiao Wan had gone on that exchange program. After asking a few more questions, he confirmed something else: the fur cloak Xueman had worn had been bought by Xiao Wan from this very shopkeeper.

What a coincidence.

Back then, Qin Lou had sold who-knows-how-many hides to this guy. Now, their son had bought one of them—and it had become Qin Lou’s biggest lead in tracking Xueman down.

“Have you tried asking around about the kid?” Qin Lou asked.

“I did,” the shopkeeper said truthfully, “Not just in Baixue City, I asked around in nearby areas too, but no luck.”

Noticing that the Dijun didn’t have an untouchable aura, the old man dared to ask another question, “So… him, and you… what brings you two to a place like this?”

Qin Lou gave him a glance but didn’t answer. The shopkeeper shrank back, not daring to meet his gaze, pretending like he hadn’t asked—but in his heart, he already had some guesses.

Still, meeting this man gave Qin Lou a bit of renewed hope. He was getting closer to Xueman—there were more and more traces.

But finding someone in the Sixteenth Heaven was way harder than in the Seventeenth. Everyone here was a spirit practitioner or above, and plenty had heterochromatic eyes. During his search, misleading info came up constantly. The population here was more than double that of the Seventeenth Heaven, and the number of cities was bigger too. It was taking longer than expected.

Despite spending so much time, he still hadn’t combed through all the cities. Qin Lou couldn’t help but wonder—maybe Xueman wasn’t in the Sixteenth Heaven after all.

Just then, a sudden change occurred in the crystal orb he kept in his spatial storage.

The spiritual power here was a bit denser than in the Seventeenth Heaven, but not by much. For the most part, the orb had stayed grey and unresponsive. But now—it lit up.

When Qin Lou took it out, he saw the third message.

Xueman was holding someone in his arms. This time, he could see clearly—it was a child. But the child’s head was tucked into Xueman’s shoulder, face hidden. Still, Qin Lou had a hunch—that had to be Xiao Wan. Their son.

He saw Xueman standing there, face calm as always, even with a faint smile. But Qin Lou had been with him long enough—he could tell at a glance.

He was angry. Furious, actually.

And sure enough, the next line confirmed it:

“That feeling when your child gets bullied—it’s not just me. A lot of parents whose kids were bullied by Luo Yinyin probably felt the same heartache and helplessness.”

The message stopped there. The orb’s spiritual power was too weak—it wasn’t like the time in the First Heaven where he could replay it over and over. This was a one-time glimpse. After that, it faded back to grey.

Qin Lou was always extremely serious when it came to Xueman. He remembered every word of that sentence.

It sounded like Xiao Wan had been bullied?

No wonder Xueman was that angry. He was always possessive. Now that it was his own child, that protective instinct had clearly gone through the roof.

But aside from the emotion, Qin Lou had also picked out two crucial pieces of info:

“Same school student.”
“Luo Yinyin.”

That meant Xiao Wan was enrolled in school somewhere, and he’d been bullied by a girl named Luo Yinyin. This confirmed that his method of checking schools in every new city was the right move. And now, he had a name—Luo Yinyin.

That was huge.

Qin Lou thought it over, then went back to the shopkeeper he’d spoken with earlier. He didn’t expect much—just figured, with the guy having been around a long time and knowing lots of people, maybe he’d heard the name before.

He did have a reaction.

“Luo Yinyin?” The old man blinked. “That… sounds kind of familiar?”

Old age messed with memory. Every time he was on the verge of remembering something important, his brain would stall. He always needed a nudge.

Qin Lou noticed his reaction and couldn’t hide the excitement in his heart, though he kept his tone steady. “She’s probably quite young—maybe seven or eight. Just a little girl. If you’ve heard her name, it must’ve been within the past few years.”

After all, she was Xiao Wan’s classmate—couldn’t be too old.

The shopkeeper was fuzzy on the details, but the name definitely rang a bell.

“Maybe not in the Sixteenth Heaven…” Qin Lou thought back over his search. “Then she must be—”

“In the Fifteenth Heaven! Right, Frostwind City!” The shopkeeper suddenly smacked his thigh. “A year ago, I met her! She’s the daughter of someone called President Luo—Luo Yinyin!”

His business was mostly in the Sixteenth Heaven, but as his trade expanded, he got to know people from higher realms. The Chamber of Commerce often had cross-Heaven exchanges. Two years ago, there was one in Frostwind City, Fifteenth Heaven. Someone he knew invited him along to see the world.

Going higher meant more pressure to behave. The shopkeeper had been very cautious, trying not to offend anyone. But during a banquet, a little girl ran up and bumped into him. Not only did she not apologize, she arrogantly twisted the story, claiming he’d done it on purpose. She demanded an apology and told him, right to his face, that a lowly guy like him should get out immediately.

He’d met all kinds of people in his life, but never a brat with such a nasty temper. Luckily, the person who brought him and the banquet host helped smooth things over.

Afterward, they told him: That was Luo Yinyin, the only daughter of Frostwind City’s Mercenary Guild President. Her temper had always been like that—not someone you could afford to mess with.

The message from the crystal orb was real-time. Which meant… that whole thing had just happened.

Xueman was in Frostwind City, Fifteenth Heaven. His son was at the same school as the Mercenary Guild President’s daughter. The school should be easy enough to find.

The moment Qin Lou learned that, he didn’t waste a second. He headed straight for the Fifteenth Heaven.

The power cap there was around Spirit Knight Tier 6. Qin Lou, suppressed by his cloak, was at Tier 9. That was still a bit higher, but the gap wasn’t massive. The pain from realm suppression was now barely noticeable—more of a discomfort than anything else. Compared to the joy of finally closing in on Xueman, it meant nothing.

Frostwind City’s location was easy to ask about. Unlike Xueman, Qin Lou didn’t need school paperwork to get Xiao Wan enrolled, and he didn’t bother using the city gate. No time to wait in line. With his Tier 9 strength, climbing over the wall unnoticed was child’s play.

Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, it was already late. School had ended. The gates were shut tight, and the students and teachers had all gone home.

The academy looked huge. Even if he broke in now and searched through student records all night, he might not find what he was looking for. Plus, school defenses were strong—that was just a fact. Breaking in would trigger alarms. If he caused a ruckus and Xueman sensed something and didn’t show up, then he’d have nowhere to cry.

As anxious as he was, Qin Lou still had enough sense. He could wait for Xueman.

Tomorrow—once the school opened—he’d find him.

With hope in his heart, he still went around asking people near the school gate. But folks were all impatient. A guy in a full black cloak asking about a little girl? Yeah, no one wanted to deal with that. They waved him off before he could finish asking. “Never heard of her. Move along, move along.”

He ended up walking near an inn not far from the school. For some reason, he looked up.

On the third floor, through a paper-screened window, he saw a faint red glow flicker… then turn green… and then vanish, returning to normal.

Qin Lou didn’t know why, but that small scene caught his eye. He stood there for a long moment, staring.

Until the inn’s waiter came up with a polite smile and asked, “Need a room, sir? Our inn—”

Before he could finish his pitch, Qin Lou nodded and said, “I’ll take one.”

This inn was very close to the school.