Stalker

Zhou You took a deep breath, gradually reining in his hostility, though he kept the sword Qi in his hand.

This move most likely couldn't break through her "Invincible Golden Body," but it was some comfort, at least.

Faced with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, there was very little Zhou You could do right now.

Fortunately, this Xiao Wu still seemed very young, and she didn't appear to realize just how powerful she was.

Zhou You chose not to point that out. Keeping his voice as calm as possible, he said, "I know you can understand me. I'll stop now, but you can't take the chance to ambush me. Agreed?"

Hearing this, the rabbit blinked in a remarkably human way. Her little body drew back and curled into a ball of fur.

"I'll take that as a yes." With that, Zhou You slowly drew back the Umbrella Sword and returned it to its sheath.

Nothing happened throughout the process. Both sides exercised the utmost restraint, and a fragile foundation of trust was established.

"You don't look like the kind of Soul Beast that should be here," Zhou You said dryly.

The rabbit didn't respond. She remained curled up, her red eyes fixed on him.

Zhou You had a bad feeling. If this little fellow realized the truth, would he still be able to leave? And then there were Da Ming and Er Ming...

Retreat was the best course for now.

"If this is your territory, I'll leave now. There's no need for us to be enemies, right?"

The rabbit still didn't respond, but Zhou You could see that she seemed thoughtful.

She was actually thinking?

I can't drag this out any longer!

Zhou You slowly backed away. The rabbit remained rooted to the spot. He lengthened his stride, and when she still didn't move, he turned around, dismantled the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella, and reclaimed his Qi.

He then used a movement technique to lighten his body and propel himself forward, racing away as the scenery flashed past. But he still couldn't put his mind at ease. He remained on guard the entire time, leaving himself no time to stop and recalibrate his direction.

After racing along like that for about a quarter of an hour, he estimated that he had covered five or six kilometers, but his expression remained grave.

At last, he stopped. He had been moving so fast that his powerful momentum carried him several meters farther before he came to a halt.

He looked around, gradually steadying his breathing. The forest was silent; not a single birdcall or insect chirp could be heard.

The Soul Hunting Forest was rich in resources and teeming with life. Otherwise, they wouldn't have encountered Soul Beasts as soon as they entered. Under normal circumstances, there was no way the surroundings could be so quiet.

Unless a being with a more powerful presence had appeared, suppressing the other, lower-level species and making it difficult for them to make a sound.

This had begun when he encountered the rabbit, and it continued even now.

Clearly, he hadn't shaken off the Soft Bone Rabbit. He didn't know why, but she had been following him in secret without showing herself.

But Zhou You could sense her presence, somewhere in the bushes around here.

What is she trying to do?

Zhou You looked around and waited for quite a while, but saw no movement from her.

The rabbit didn't seem intent on attacking him, but she didn't plan to show herself either. What was she trying to do by silently stalking him like this?

He couldn't make sense of it, but as long as he was sure she meant no harm, it didn't seem to matter much, though it felt a little like having thorns in his back and was rather uncomfortable.

But from another perspective, wasn't this the equivalent of having a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast escort him and keep him safe?

He settled his mind and stopped worrying about things he couldn't change. Then he found another tall tree and climbed it to get his bearings again.

Sure enough, he had drifted off course again.

There were no straight paths in the forest—in fact, there were no paths at all. He could only travel a stretch, check his bearings, and keep adjusting his route to make sure he was heading in the right direction.

I was careless. I should have brought a compass.

Zhou You saw the sun sinking and thought it would be dark before long. He was a little worried about whether he could rejoin the others before nightfall.

With that worry on his mind, he jumped down from the canopy again.

The moment he landed, a flash of insight crossed his mind.

Wait, that rabbit...

Could she be lost too, just like me?

If that was the case, what good would following him do her? Zhou You frowned slightly.

Unless she believed that following a person would lead her home, or help her find a "person" who could take her home.

Da Ming and Er Ming?

He shook his head. If those two Soul Beasts were really in the Soul Hunting Forest, it was unlikely there would have been no sign of them. Given their size, even a casual stroll through the place would have caused noticeable tremors several kilometers away.

Wei Lin wasn't so incompetent that he couldn't sense danger like that.

Wait. Zhou You's eyes flashed. It suddenly occurred to him: was it possible that Xiao Wu was living with her mother at this point in time?

It was hard to say. The original novel had left too many gaps, but one thing was certain: by the start of the story, around the time Tang San awakened his Martial Soul, Xiao Wu's mother had already been killed by Bibi Dong in a Soul Hunt.

Thanks to the original author's astonishing mathematical ability, Zhou You found it difficult to calculate Tang San's current age. Only one thing was clear: Hu Liena was much older than Tang San, with an age gap of at least five years.

Seen that way, Tang San was currently either not yet born or a nursing baby who could only babble.

So at this point in time, Xiao Wu's mother was quite possibly still alive, which might also explain why Xiao Wu still seemed so innocent of the world.

While her mother was alive, she must have been well protected. With Da Ming and Er Ming guarding her as well, Xiao Wu had probably never faced the cruel trials of nature.

A Soul Beast's cultivation years couldn't be equated directly with its age, especially in the case of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's offspring. Its talent could well far surpass that of others of its kind, perhaps greatly shortening the time needed to improve its cultivation.

Although the original novel said little about Xiao Wu's mother and didn't even give her a name, it did indirectly describe her temperament: she was friendly toward humans, but always kept her distance.

That was evident from her transformation into a human. Zhou You vaguely recalled that, according to the setting, after Soul Beast Transformation into human form, a Soul Beast had to take on a "human presence," or its cultivation would stagnate.

If she had been extremely hostile toward humans, presumably she would never have chosen that path.

But Xiao Wu's mother also knew how dangerous Soul Masters were, so she had very likely exaggerated the threat humans posed to keep her daughter from encountering high-level Soul Masters.

Perhaps that was why Xiao Wu had looked so frightened when she first saw Zhou You?

If Xiao Wu and her mother had been separated by accident, perhaps she was hoping Zhou You could help her find her mother, who might be living among humans?

If that was the case, perhaps he could take a gamble.

Zhou You spoke toward the bushes. "I know you've been following me. Why don't we have an open and honest talk?"

Now it was time to gamble on whether his guess was right.

Even if he was wrong, he had nothing to lose except a little dignity.

"Are you lost?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhou You keenly detected a slight movement in the bushes. He had his answer.

So he continued, "Then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, because I'm lost too. There isn't much point in following me, but I have a proposal."

"How about we work together?"