Inducing Zhu Zhuyun to Join Spirit Hall

After giving Zhu Zhuyun ten minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation—pressing her heart at a steady rhythm to make it beat again and restore her pulse—

By the time Zhu Zhuyun slowly woke up, Xu Yu had already caught several fish from the sea and was roasting them.

Her chest felt stuffy. Zhu Zhuyun took a deep breath of fresh air, then was instantly overjoyed. She was not dead. She was still alive.

Fortunately, although she had lost her status as The Crown Princess, as long as she lived, she would sooner or later have the chance to take back what belonged to her.

She rubbed her faintly aching chest, then touched her flat stomach. Her belly rumbled. It seemed she had been hungry for many days. At that moment, the fragrant scent of grilled fish drifted over from beside her. Rather than pleased, Zhu Zhuyun became wary. Turning her head, she saw a young man fiddling with several bottles of seasoning. The aroma she had smelled came from the two-meter-long grilled fish in front of him.

On this barren little island, the two sat against the island's only large tree at an angle of sixty degrees from each other. The tree was over ten meters tall; among common folk, it could be called towering into the clouds.

Aside from that large tree, Zhu Zhuyun also saw a delicate blue blade of grass swaying by the young man's right hand, dancing happily in the sea breeze.

"You saved me? Who are you?"

After checking herself and finding that, aside from the gradually fading dull pain in her chest and lower abdomen, she was completely unharmed, Zhu Zhuyun frowned slightly and asked.

"Who am I? If you, Zhu Zhuyun, don't even know who I am, then I have to question whether you were worth risking my life to save."

Mocked and looked down upon, the proud Zhu Zhuyun felt somewhat displeased. Yet after hearing that, she could not help but study him carefully. Surprise appeared on her face as she asked suspiciously and curiously, "You're Xu Yu? Why would someone from Spirit Hall save me?"

Zhu Zhuyun naturally knew the information on every member of Spirit Hall's main team. At the same time, she recalled the ability that had been added to her at the shore. It was precisely with that support that she had been able to evade the Nether Great Hand's capture. That support ability was indeed Xu Yu's soul skill, but it had not taken this form in her memories. Had she remembered incorrectly, or had the intelligence network gotten the information wrong?

"Of course I had a purpose in saving you. Otherwise, did you think you could still sit here safe and sound?"

She would have long since been torn in half by that Spirit Douluo. As Xu Yu turned the two-meter-long fish before Zhu Zhuyun, he continued to leave her in suspense.

She touched her curvaceous, slender, straight body and found that it had not been violated at all. Although Xu Yu's words were crude and unpleasant, Zhu Zhuyun merely furrowed her brow and did not refute him. Were there any men in this world who could remain unfazed by her body? (Girl, what are you smoking?)

Since he had not taken advantage of the body laid out before him, he must have some other ulterior motive. She truly could not think of any other reason. Still, that was fine. It was better for him to have an objective than to save someone for no reason at all.

Fortunately, he did not know that she had absorbed two soul bones. At that thought, Zhu Zhuyun drew her legs in slightly. Xu Yu noticed the movement, rubbed the tip of his nose, and tossed one of his coats over to her. He had picked up her Storage Ring, along with her clothes. Awkward.

The clothes struck her shoulder and startled her. She had been thinking about the soul bones and had thought he was going to kill her and take them. Somewhat annoyed, Zhu Zhuyun glared at Xu Yu, then tugged the padded coat tighter around herself rather than throwing it away.

She was a little cold and did need the coat. When she woke, she had already checked her chest. Her Storage Ring was gone, and so was the Water Repelling Pearl treasured by her family. Otherwise, she could have used it for a trade now.

Moreover, she was still thinking about one question: how was she supposed to return to the mainland? Not only was she unfamiliar with water, but she also got seasick. Crossing this strait was basically an impossible task.

"You can tell me your purpose now!" Zhu Zhuyun decided to find an opening through Xu Yu. At the same time, her gaze darted about as she occasionally glanced at his huge fish and swallowed.

"When I saw someone being chased at the shore, those people's martial souls were Hell Spirit Cats. Your family has put out a warrant for you, hasn't it?"

Xu Yu turned the fish over, making its aroma even stronger. Night had fallen by then, and the bonfire roasting the fish gave off a gentle, warm glow. The atmosphere felt somewhat like a candlelit dinner.

"I have been wanted. So what do you want? Kill me and collect the reward in Star Luo City?" When those painful matters were brought up, Zhu Zhuyun's pretty face turned slightly cold.

Xu Yu did not mind. He glanced at her and said flatly, "Although the Star Luo Empire keeps a low profile, it has at least two Titled Douluo, perhaps even more. Otherwise, how could its two great families suppress the sects within the empire into seclusion and contend against the Heaven Dou Empire, which has the support of the Three Upper Sects?"

"In other words, even if you spent your entire life and barely reached the level of a Titled Douluo, your chances of opposing the Star Luo Empire would still be slim. Why not join Spirit Hall? At the very least, you would not have to live like a sewer rat, hiding everywhere."

"You think that's possible?" Zhu Zhuyun sneered. Even though she had betrayed her family, she could not accept joining outsiders to destroy the family that had raised her.

Xu Yu smiled, cut off the cooked fish head, and tossed it to her. He sighed. "I never expected you to be so righteous and moral!"

"What do you mean?" Zhu Zhuyun gripped the fish head tightly with both hands and glared furiously with her black eyes at the young man not far from her.

Family competition had always been cruel and bloody. What was wrong with eliminating her younger sister's threat in advance?

"You know exactly what I mean!" Xu Yu had watched the anime and greatly despised Zhu Zhuyun's actions and the like, though he did not think she had done anything wrong. From the moment their competitive relationship had been established, it had been either her death or theirs. There was nothing wrong with eliminating a competitor in advance; it could even be called an unspoken rule. The victor became king and the loser became a bandit. Once she became the ruler of the Star Luo Empire, who would care about her methods?

But being not wrong did not mean he did not despise it.

A Soul Ancestor in her forties spent all day devising ways to kill her own younger sister, who was also her competitor. There was no denying that it was truly shameless—and cowardly besides...

She was too cautious!

If the Shrek Seven Devils had not unexpectedly consumed Immortal Herbs and each gained six levels of Soul Power, they really would not have been able to defeat the Star Luo Team.

Facts were facts, but having them bluntly exposed to her face was still humiliating. Zhu Zhuyun flew into a rage from embarrassment, staring at Xu Yu with a cold expression as though he were already dead.

Under normal circumstances, that deathly glare of hers would have been quite intimidating. Unfortunately, Zhu Zhuyun was currently holding a fish head as large as her upper body in both hands. She looked as ridiculous as could be, and Xu Yu nearly burst out laughing.

Holding back his laughter was truly painful.

Zhu Zhuyun really wanted to slap the fish head onto his head, but she understood even better that without it, her chances of surviving would become even slimmer. Aside from her weakened strength and depleted Soul Power leaving her unable to snatch the fish body, if she killed Xu Yu, someone who got seasick like her would not be able to survive alone on this small island.

That was right. In Zhu Zhuyun's eyes, Xu Yu was merely a Support System Soul Master. Once she recovered, would he not be at her mercy? She simply could not bear the consequences of doing so.

Still, Xu Yu's proposal did tempt Zhu Zhuyun. At least one thing Xu Yu had said was correct: relying on herself alone, she could only hide for the rest of her life. Perhaps she would grow old alone, or perhaps she would marry into an ordinary family.