An Unexpected Development

Who would have thought that the fodder Zhou You had prepared would end up in Xiao Wu's stomach before he could use it to lure in a low-level Soul Beast?

He had seen how downcast she was and wanted to see if he could use the stuff to cheer her up.

He hadn't expected it to work so well. With a few crunches, the little girl polished off all the fodder he had brought...

"That's all." Zhou You shook his backpack. Inside were only a few compressed biscuits as hard as bricks and a few bottles of water.

[Really?] Xiao Wu flicked out her pink tongue and blinked her eyes. If another girl had seen her, she probably would have squealed at how cute she was.

But Zhou You's face darkened a little. He stuffed the things he had emptied out back into his bag and widened his eyes slightly. "I said it's all gone, so it's all gone!"

[But Xiao Wu still hasn't had enough.]

"Not my problem." Zhou You rolled his eyes and slung the bag back over his shoulders. "Do you still want to find your mother or not?"

[You won't let Xiao Wu eat her fill. You're a bad person!]

"Then give me back everything you just ate."

[No! How could I possibly spit out something I've already eaten? Bleh~~] Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue.

"I shouldn't have bothered with you." Zhou You turned and took two steps before stopping. He turned his head and glanced down at her. "Are you coming?"

Xiao Wu hurriedly moved her short little legs and jumped... straight into the grass.

Yes, her whole body was still shorter than the grass beneath Zhou You's feet. It was an awkward reality.

Zhou You couldn't help thinking that after Soul Beasts passed the hundred-thousand-year mark, they generally chose to retain their beast forms because their bodies were stronger than human bodies. But Soft Bone Rabbits were a little different.

Out of curiosity, he had once looked into this kind of Soul Beast. When it came down to it, a Soft Bone Rabbit's innate attributes might even be somewhat worse than a human's.

Ten-year Soft Bone Rabbits had almost no special skills. They could only run a little faster than other Soul Beasts of their kind, and even ordinary hunters could occasionally catch them.

Hundred-year Soft Bone Rabbits awakened Charm, but its effect was mediocre. It could only restrain low-level Soul Masters for a short time, and they would soon break free.

Thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbits could awaken Teleportation, which finally gave them some ability to protect themselves, though they could only use it to run away.

Only at the Ten-Thousand-Year Rank did they finally awaken their first bug-level ability, Invincible Golden Body. It could be called a complete defense against anything below the god level, but it lasted only a very short time and had a long skill cooldown.

At the hundred-thousand-year level, they could awaken Void, which granted complete immunity to physical attacks and weakened energy attacks, but prevented them from taking the initiative to attack while the skill was active.

The types of skills above showed that Soft Bone Rabbits were Soul Beasts with little desire to attack. When they encountered danger, they were more inclined to defend themselves or flee.

Thus, even at the hundred-thousand-year level, their size wouldn't change much. As everyone knew, the smaller one was, the harder it was for an enemy to lock onto them, and the easier it was to escape.

But with a body that size, it was hard to gain a combat advantage against Soul Beasts of the same level. Maybe that was also why Xiao Wu's mother had chosen Human Form Transformation?

As a human Soul Master, she could at least follow the Agility Attack or Power Attack System. At the same level, her human body was better suited to fighting than her beast body. That made her a real oddity among Soul Beasts.

Thinking about it that way, Soft Bone Rabbits probably occupied the same ecological niche among Soul Beasts of their level as they did at lower levels: prey. And they were the weakest kind of prey, but also highly nutritious.

Even though Soul Beasts lived longer than humans, Soft Bone Rabbits in the wild still had to face the constant watch of their natural predators, and nearly every carnivorous Soul Beast counted as one.

Thus, whether to high-level Soul Masters or other hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit was excellent prey. The rewards for hunting one far exceeded those of hunting other Soul Beasts of the same level.

If Xiao Wu hadn't saved the Sky Azure Bull Python when she was young, she probably wouldn't have been able to win over such a top predator and turn him into her protector, much less become sworn siblings with him. The Sky Azure Bull Python was a dragon-blooded creature, yet he called a rabbit his sister.

It was simply absurd...

Zhou You shook his head. Some things had to be witnessed firsthand before their absurdity could be appreciated.

[Why did you stop?] Xiao Wu seemed to notice that he had stopped walking and asked in confusion.

"Come up here," Zhou You said. "I can't see you down there."

[Okay.] There was little hesitation in Xiao Wu's voice.

Zhou You deftly scooped her up from the ground, then casually stroked her head and smoothed her fur from head to tail, as if he were petting a cat.

He froze for a moment afterward. It had been a completely unconscious action, and he was a little worried that it might have been offensive.

But Xiao Wu narrowed her eyes in pleasure and gave both ears a gentle twitch. Not only did she not blame him, she even seemed to be faintly looking forward to another stroke.

Ah, well.

Zhou You noticed her anticipation and tentatively gave her another rub. She felt wonderful; her fur was even nicer to the touch than Feidian's.

The little rabbit hummed with pleasure, behaving almost exactly like Feidian. It nearly made Zhou You doubt himself. He thought he had never trained in the "massage of love."

He hurriedly stopped. This was no time to pet a cat.

Amid Xiao Wu's displeased whimpers, he placed her on his shoulder.

Their heads were close together, and each could clearly hear the other breathing.

Zhou You continued along the route he had corrected earlier, communicating with Xiao Wu telepathically as he went.

He was genuinely interested in the ecology of Soul Beasts. Now that he had the chance, he naturally turned into a question machine again, constantly throwing out all sorts of questions.

The living conditions of intelligent Soul Beasts ought to be very different from those of low-level Soul Beasts.

Xiao Wu had probably never met a human willing to talk to her before. As a result, she held almost nothing back when answering his questions. She talked a great deal, saying everything she should and shouldn't have.

She even told him about Da Ming and Er Ming, and didn't conceal the existence of the Lake of Life either.

Zhou You had no choice but to remind her.

"Xiao Wu, when you meet other humans in the future, don't blurt out all these important secrets at once."

[Why?]

For a moment, Zhou You wasn't sure how to answer. She was a Soul Beast, and that alone meant other Soul Masters could deceive and hurt her without the slightest burden on their consciences. But wouldn't saying that be condemning himself too?

He understood that the relationship between humans and Soul Beasts was both simple and complicated. As long as the way Soul Rings formed remained unchanged, the two could never truly coexist in peace.

But Xiao Wu might not understand that. Her world was like a child's, clear in black and white, with good and evil distinctly separated. Zhou You couldn't bear to destroy that innocence.

So he could only speak in the tone one used to coax a child. "Just like there are good and bad Soul Beasts, there are good and bad humans too... Until you're sure someone is a good person, you should hold some things back from them."

A thoughtful look flashed in Xiao Wu's eyes. [I think Mommy said that too.]

"Then listen to your mother," Zhou You said decisively.

[Okay.] Xiao Wu nodded her little head. She was a child who always listened to her mother.

Just then, Zhou You finally heard a familiar birdcall from the sky. He looked up and saw that it was indeed the Golden-Waisted Flying Swallow flying toward them.

A smile appeared on his face, and he breathed a small sigh of relief. The sky was already growing dim; a little later, and it would probably be completely dark. Finding the main group before then was a happy thing, any way he looked at it.

Suddenly, however, the ground trembled. A wind swept in from the northeast, making the surrounding branches sway and sending countless leaves falling like rain.

Flocks of birds sped southwest from the direction of the wind, nearly blotting out the sky. Their panic was visible to the naked eye as they flew.

Zhou You abruptly turned around and spread out his perception, detecting powerful fluctuations of Soul Power coming from the northeast.

Someone, or something, was fighting!