"Zhuqing's" Question

Good times were always short-lived. Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Zu Zong had become thoroughly familiar with this girl "Zhuqing." Every day, he either used the Nine Yang Manual to treat her damaged meridians, made her something delicious to eat, or told her strange and interesting tales from his past life on Blue Star. He teased "Zhuqing" so much that she could no longer maintain her cold persona, completely turning into a little loli who loved eating, craved tasty food, and enjoyed listening to stories.

At first, "Zhuqing" refused.

Mm! Zu Zong did not force her. He merely mentioned that it might leave scars afterward—something he made up—and the little loli immediately behaved.

According to "Zhuqing," he had already seen it anyway. If scars remained, she would be suffering a huge loss. But do not misunderstand—it was only the injured spot on her abdomen that had been exposed.

Taking a bite of a freshly picked wild fruit, Zu Zong said, "Zhuqing, how is your injury healing?"

"Mm! I'm almost completely better," Zhu Zhuqing said with a nod.

When Zu Zong first used his special Soul Power to treat her injuries, Zhu Zhuqing had thought he was deliberately taking advantage of her. But as time passed, the injuries on her body healed at an astonishing rate.

Even with the high-grade healing medicine Zu Zong had provided, without treatment from a healing-type Soul Master, it should have taken at least ten days or half a month to recover. Yet in only two or three days, she was already mostly healed.

This also made her increasingly curious about this exceptionally handsome boy.

As they gradually got to know each other, she came to understand him somewhat. Setting aside bizarre words like "nani" and "yamete," she learned one important piece of information: he was an orphan, and he had come to the Star Dou Great Forest this time to hunt a Soul Ring.

This could not help but make her think of herself.

Compared to him, was she fortunate or unfortunate? No matter how cold-blooded the Zhu Family was, at least she still had a mother who loved her.

What did he have?

Why could he view everything so optimistically?

With these doubts in mind, Zhu Zhuqing sank into thought, even forgetting about the half-eaten wild fruit in her hand.

"Finish eating. Later, I'll take you out of the Star Dou Great Forest and see if you can contact any of your other 'elders.'"

As he spoke, Zu Zong set up a grill. Today's main course was steak—thanks to the selfless contribution of that ten-year soul beast, Green Bull.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing's body trembled. The half-eaten wild fruit slipped from her hand and rolled onto the ground. "Are you leaving?"

These past three days could be called the happiest days of Zhu Zhuqing's life. She did not have to worry about being assassinated by her Older Sister, did not have the troubles of cultivation, and did not have to think about that self-indulgent Fiancé. She had already begun to like life here. Only when Zu Zong said he would send her back did Zhu Zhuqing realize just how reluctant she was to leave.

"Mm, I still haven't found my third Soul Ring. My target is a thousand-year Cave Demon Spider. I'm planning to try my luck in the Sunset Forest."

Zhu Zhuqing was no longer surprised that Zu Zong wanted to obtain his third Soul Ring. After all, he was someone capable of instantly killing a Soul Elder with a casual move.

Zhu Zhuqing said lightly, "Then be careful."

Once she left this place, she would have to return to that life of constant fear and anxiety!

With strange emotions in her heart, Zhu Zhuqing asked the question that had troubled her for years. "Zu Zong, do you think fate truly cannot be changed?"

Fate...?

Zu Zong froze upon hearing that.

Whoosh— He casually threw the leftover fruit pit using Shuriken-throwing techniques, embedding it into the wall of the Mountain Cave.

It seemed that although this girl had been born into a noble family, her fate was full of twists and turns.

As long as I tell her the answer she wants to hear, she'll definitely work hard to change this so-called fate, right?

Zu Zong thought so.

But unfortunately, he would not do that. Casually affirming or denying another person's efforts was arrogance.

Picking up a dry branch and stirring the fire, Zu Zong said seriously, "In truth, ordinary people often cannot change their fate. Just like this firewood, its strength is weak. It can only helplessly be moved around by others, going wherever it is pushed until it burns out. At times like this, I think that while being controlled, you should also look for ways to change things. If you truly can't change them, then forget it. Just keep moving and see where you can be pushed to, see how far you can go. Even if the outcome is terrible, at least you'll have enjoyed the scenery along the riverbank."

At this point, Zu Zong could not help but think.

If he had not activated the Stealing System on the eve of awakening his Martial Soul, or if his luck had been too bad and, after activating the system, he had immediately stolen Gu He's Transformation Pill, then he would probably either be living as a salted fish now or already be dead.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing fell silent.

From the moment she was born, she had borne a cruel fate—to fight her biological Older Sister to the death. Even if she had never wanted to harm her sister, her sister would harm her out of self-preservation. This was everything they, as children of the Zhu Family of the Star Luo Empire, had to bear.

—In order to survive.

No one knew how many generations this kind of struggle had continued for.

"However, I'm not an ordinary person." Changing the subject, Soul Power gathered in Zu Zong's hand. The Blue Silver Emperor transformed into its Extreme Flame State and spread outward, wrapping around the bonfire. Zu Zong picked up a dry branch with his left hand and moved it toward the fire, but before it could even touch the flames, it was burned to ash by the scorching aura of the Blue Silver Emperor.

"This is?" A dazzling light flashed in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. "Your Martial Soul? A fire-attributed plant-type Martial Soul."

Zu Zong withdrew the Blue Silver Emperor. He first nodded, then shook his head, answering with a question instead. "Do you still think people can change their fate now?"

"I think I understand what path I should take from now on."

Zu Zong was dumbfounded: What did you understand? I was just trying to look cool, hey, hey.

As she spoke, Zhu Zhuqing walked to the bonfire and took the grill from beside Zu Zong.

"Hey, hey, seriously? You know how to grill meat too?" Zu Zong's eyes widened in disbelief. Wasn't she supposed to be a Miss from a wealthy family? The sort who never touched household chores!

Zhu Zhuqing glared at him and pouted. "Even if I've never eaten pork, haven't I seen pigs run? I've watched you grill every day these past few days. I learned just by watching. Since we're about to part ways, and who knows when we'll meet again, I'll let you taste this lady's cooking."

That was what she said, but Zhu Zhuqing was actually not confident at all. She already felt she did not have enough time to cultivate at home, so how could she have learned to cook? As for grilling meat, she knew absolutely nothing. She simply assumed that putting the meat near the fire for a while and sprinkling on seasoning would be enough.

Ten minutes later, the Mountain Cave was filled with the scent of steak. Scent, my ass—it was burnt.

Taking the steak Zhu Zhuqing handed over, Zu Zong found that it had turned into dried jerky. Swallowing hard, he took a bite under Zhu Zhuqing's expectant gaze.

"Pah—"

It was awful. Absolutely awful. The outside was completely charred, while the inside was still half raw and oozing bloody juices. Do not start talking to him about myoglobin—ask again and he would give you a chestnut.

But who was Zu Zong? Even if it tasted terrible, he could not crush "Zhuqing's" confidence! So he ate with apparent relish and urged her to eat more as well.

In Zu Zong's words: it might be burnt, but it was crunchy when you ate it. Very crisp!

Zhuqing did not suspect a thing and naturally took a bite.

As the steak entered her mouth, Zhu Zhuqing's face turned green. "Pah!"

"Hahaha!" Seeing "Zhuqing" in such a miserable state, Zu Zong could not help bursting into laughter.

P.S.: Thank you to "Guang Da Gu Ao Cheng Tang" for the 1,500 Qidian Coins reward; thank you to "Waning Moon, Uppercut" for the 100 Qidian Coins reward; thank you to "Dream of Starlight" for the 100 Qidian Coins reward.