Dagger

"What do you want, then?" Seeing that Wang Xiao refused both soft and hard tactics, the girl in the short red dress was out of options.

Was he really a six- or seven-year-old child? How could he withstand such a huge temptation from an older sister like her?

Wang Xiao pondered for a moment. Teaming up with her was impossible. She was only level ten and already wanted to join his team—she thought too highly of herself.

If teaming up was out of the question, what else did she have going for her?

Wang Xiao rested his chin on his hand and thought for a while, then looked her over again.

Her short red dress was top-notch, both in fabric and decoration.

It was not something an ordinary family could afford to buy or have made.

The five-pointed stars and lines along the edges of the dress were all inlaid with pearls, gemstones, and gorgeous jade.

He estimated that, based on the prices on Douluo Continent—

The girl's outfit was worth no less than a hundred Gold Soul Coins, perhaps even a thousand!

So she was rich. Perfect. He happened to be short on money right now, so he might as well fleece her.

After all, he had nearly spent all his savings.

He had the original owner to thank for that. The original owner had saved up some private funds.

He had swindled them all from his cousin Ning Rongrong. Otherwise, there was no way he could have had those five hundred Gold Soul Coins.

So, the original owner had some brains after all.

At least he understood the importance of money. Otherwise, he would not have tricked a wealthy young lady like Ning Rongrong out of her allowance.

He had to admit that the original owner had an incredibly thick skin—thick enough to make one's hair stand on end.

The original owner had prepared so much private money for only one reason: he wanted to leave the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as soon as possible and live his own life. He no longer wanted to depend on others, be bullied, or be abused by the sect's disciples.

He had merely wanted to leave himself a way out. It was not really a crime; it was understandable.

This had been the original owner's only hope of surviving.

Hope lay in the fields...

Thinking about it, Wang Xiao could only admit defeat. Otherwise, how could the original owner have survived in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect until the age of six?

Unfortunately, heaven envied genius. The original owner could not be beaten to death, cursed to death, or tortured to death in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. He was tougher than a rock and harder to kill than a cockroach.

But... he had been struck dead by lightning. There was not even anyone to take revenge on!

Even if Wang Xiao wanted to avenge the original owner, he could hardly punch a hole through the heavens. Besides, he did not have that ability.

So he could only torment the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, along with those lofty fake immortals in the God Realm who occupied the latrine without doing their business.

"Little girl, I can tell you're a person of passion, and we have some kind of affinity! Besides, I'm softhearted. I can't bear to refuse you, can I?" Wang Xiao suddenly put on a tender, sympathetic expression.

As he spoke, he began to sing, "My heart is always too soft, too soft, always staying with you until dawn alone, without regret..."

"Exactly!" The girl in the short red dress frowned upon hearing his singing, but when she heard what he said, she figured there was hope. She happily said, "Exactly! I also think we're deeply fated. If we teamed up, it would be absolutely perfect."

After saying that, she rubbed her head against Wang Xiao's shoulder, clearly intending to use her beauty to win him over as her lackey.

Heh, only you'd believe my nonsense!

Wang Xiao was not falling for that. He suddenly became serious. "Taking you along isn't impossible, but you need to show some sincerity too!"

"How about this? I don't want nine hundred ninety-nine, and I don't want eight hundred eighty-eight. I only want ninety-nine Gold Soul Coins."

"Ninety-nine Gold Soul Coins—no regrets, no scams! This opportunity won't come twice. Think it over carefully."

"Ninety-nine Gold Soul Coins?" The girl in the short red dress immediately blew up. "Y-you... why don't you just rob me? Look at me, do I seem like someone who has Gold Soul Coins on her?"

"Waaaah..."

After saying that, the girl in the short red dress plopped down onto the grass and refused to get back up.

She wiped her tears with one hand, and before long, she was crying like a drowned rat.

"Oh my! That pitiful little look is truly heart-wrenching!"

"Isn't it? Such a poor little girl."

"Ah, what kind of world is this? Even a little girl is so pitiful, abandoned by someone!"

"Exactly!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Even the passing Soul Masters cast sympathetic looks in her direction.

Every one of them chimed in, talking away, so moved that it was almost unbearable to watch.

"I... I'm so pitiful! So pitiful! There's no love in this world at all! Heavens, why did you let me come into this world?"

"Why make a pitiful and miserable person like me keep living? Why make me suffer every hardship in this world? Doesn't your heart hurt at all?"

"Rather than live all alone like this, I might as well die early!" After saying that, the girl in the short red dress suddenly widened her eyes and swept her gaze around. She spotted a large tree over a hundred yards behind her.

She immediately got to her feet. "I might as well smash my head against it and die."

"Don't stop me! There's no use stopping me. I've made up my mind. I'm going to smash my head against that tree. Yes, that tree right there. Handsome boy, after I die, help collect my body."

"I still have one Silver Spirit Coin on me. It'll be more than enough to buy a small coffin, dig a little hole, cover it with dirt, and place a few small stones on top."

"Remember, don't set up a gravestone, and don't carve any words. I don't want to take even a blade of grass from this world with me. Let me come naked and leave naked!"

Then she turned back and waved at Wang Xiao.

That pitiful little gaze of hers even stirred compassion in a steel-hearted straight man like Wang Xiao.

"Farewell, fated one!" After saying those final words to Wang Xiao, the girl in the short red dress blew him a kiss and ran toward that tree.

No one could stop her.

"Um... could you wait a moment?" Wang Xiao suddenly called out.

Hearing that, the girl in the short red dress immediately stopped several yards away. She turned back hopefully and asked, "You agree?"

"Mm." Wang Xiao nodded. "I agree to collect your body. I'll buy you a coffin too, but you have to give me that Silver Spirit Coin first."

"Otherwise, if I go collect your body after you smash yourself to death, anyone who sees me will think I'm a murderer who doesn't even spare the dead, right?"

"Ah—"

The girl in the short red dress had never expected that, despite how convincingly she acted, he was not moved in the slightest. Instead, he even...

Was this man really so hard-hearted?

Cold-blooded and merciless—those words were made for people like him!

"Fine, keep going!" Wang Xiao could not even be bothered to complain. He had long grown tired of women's little tricks of crying, making scenes, and threatening suicide from web dramas, short videos, livestream apps, novels, and real life. And now she wanted to act it out in front of him? Sorry, but no.

He planned to check out the other stalls to see whether there were any good swords. A dagger would work too. He needed to buy one for hunting Soul Beasts.

After all, after killing a Soul Beast, one had to deliver the final blow. A sword or dagger was essential.

Wang Xiao did not know why the final strike had to be delivered with a blade. Perhaps it was merely a sense of ritual that made Soul Masters do it.

After all, only if one personally killed a Soul Beast with the final blow could one absorb its soul ring. That was the crucial part.

But no matter what, preparing a sword first could not be wrong.

Otherwise, if he had no blade in hand when the time came and could not kill the Soul Beasts or absorb their soul rings, then his trip to the Soul Hunting Forest would have been for nothing.

After walking a short distance, Wang Xiao quickly saw several stalls ahead that sold Soul Tools.

They had knives, spears, swords, staves, daggers—everything.

Wang Xiao walked up to one stall and took a look. He decided that buying a dagger would be enough, and it would be convenient to carry.

"Hey, little brother, are you looking for a sword, a staff, or maybe a knife?"

The stall owner was a chubby, enormous man over six feet tall. Bare-chested and boisterous, his eyes were narrowed into thin slits. Seeing Wang Xiao looking over the goods in his display case, he immediately greeted him. "I've got all kinds of blades and swords. Pick whatever you like."

Wang Xiao merely glanced at the stall owner and immediately lost interest.

But he was drooling over the dagger in the display case. "How many Soul Coins for this dagger?"

"Oh, this one!" The fat stall owner came to his senses and reached out to take it.

He drew it in one swift motion, producing the crisp sound of metal.

With a humming buzz that pleased the ears, he said, "Little brother, you've got a good eye!"

"You should know that this dagger of mine was forged from pure black iron. It's indestructible. You can tell just from the sound—it cuts with a dragon's roar, as you heard yourself."

"And it slices through iron like mud, working every time. It was originally a family heirloom, and I had no plans to sell it!"

"But one thing is one thing. With so many fine items here, you chose this one in particular. What does that mean?"

"What does it mean?" Wang Xiao asked.

The fat stall owner immediately grinned. "It means you have taste. You recognize quality. That means you and it are fated, and that makes all the difference."

"So I can only reluctantly part with it and sell it to you."

"Come on," Wang Xiao said weakly. "That nonsense nearly had me convinced!"

"No, no, no..." The fat stall owner hurriedly waved his hands, his face as thick as hide and utterly shameless. "Little brother, you're judging a gentleman's heart with a petty man's mind."

Wang Xiao smiled bitterly. "At most, you're a crooked merchant. How are you anything like a gentleman? Could you stop insulting gentlemen?"

The fat stall owner did not get angry and continued boasting. "No, no, I truly am an upright gentleman. I, Old Ma, have run a stall here for over thirty years and have never deceived a single person!"

As he spoke, he pointed toward the stalls on either side. "These stall owners all know me. If you don't believe me, ask any one of them. If I've told even half a lie, may I be struck by lightning and die a miserable death."

"What a claim—die a miserable death! It's all just talk. I have no proof anyway, so whatever you say goes, right?" Wang Xiao increasingly felt that this fat stall owner was unreliable. If not for the dagger being somewhat pleasing to the eye, he would have left long ago.

"And you said you've had a stall here for more than thirty years, but you look only around thirty yourself. Did you start running this stall before you were even conceived?"

"Don't tell me you ran a stall here as a ghost before reincarnating? Then after reincarnating, you could set up a stall as soon as you were born? Were you already selling things while wrapped in swaddling clothes?"

"Come on, don't scare me like that, okay? I'm timid, and my heart isn't good. I can't handle that kind of bad joke."

"I..." The fat stall owner helplessly scratched his bald head and was left speechless for a moment...

After a while, he finally squeezed out, "Can't I just have matured early?"

Wang Xiao immediately gave the fat man a thumbs-up. "Mm, you matured pretty fast! Mature before even being conceived. By the time you were conceived and born, you could already drive a carriage."

The fat man suddenly tossed his head back and said proudly, "I'm proud of it!"

"Here's the thing, little brother. I'll tell you a little secret, but don't tell anyone else!"

"My real age is actually fifty-one. I only look more than twenty years younger because I take good care of myself."

"So when I say I've been running a stall here for over thirty years, it's absolutely true. The sun and moon bear witness; heaven itself can testify."

"Amazing, amazing, big brother!" Wang Xiao pretended to believe him.

Better to see through it without exposing it, leave him a little dignity, and keep things cordial for the future.

That left the fat stall owner extremely satisfied.

Heh, this kid may be young, but he's remarkable!

In all my life, this is the first time I've met such a seasoned kid!

Heroes truly emerge from the young!

"Oh, little brother, what are you buying?"

Hearing that, Wang Xiao immediately looked over. It was that girl in the short red dress again. She really was like a lingering ghost.