Arbitrary River? From the Star Dou Great Forest to Mingdu!

"Splash—!"

With a sound of water, three figures scrambled ashore from the river.

It was Huo Yuhao, Huo Yu, and Huo Hao.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Huo Yuhao gasped for air, glancing back at the calm river behind them with lingering fear.

Too close!

If not for Huo Hao's decisive action, using that strange binding ability to buy them a fraction of a second, the three of them would have likely been captured by that furious old monster.

"That old guy shouldn't have followed us, right?"

Huo Yu patted the water off his body, cautiously surveying their surroundings.

Huo Hao, however, had a stern expression and remained silent. His gaze swept over the unfamiliar environment, his brow furrowed.

The vegetation here, the fluctuations of Soul Power in the air, were completely different from the Star Dou Great Forest they were familiar with.

Just as the three brothers began to relax slightly, a voice laced with amusement came from not far away.

"Oh? Where did the three of you pop out from? You look... rather disheveled."

The three of them startled and looked up sharply.

They saw a group of people standing not far ahead.

Leading them were two youths, a boy and a girl.

The boy had dazzling silver-white hair. His handsome face held a faint, almost imperceptible smile, and his eyes, one blue and one green, exuded a hint of arrogance and confidence. He was dressed in impeccably tailored noble attire, possessing an extraordinary aura.

The girl beside him was even more striking.

Her silver-white hair cascaded smoothly over her shoulders. Her skin was as white as snow, and her features were as delicate as a doll's. She bore a slight resemblance to the boy, but her eyes were a pure azure blue. Currently, they were filled with pure curiosity as she blinked and scanned Huo Yuhao and his two brothers.

Behind them followed a troop of soldiers in standard armor, their presence steady and imposing, clearly elite Soul Masters.

This display was far from ordinary.

The one who spoke was the boy.

He looked at the drenched trio with keen interest, his eyes gleaming with amusement, but without any overt malice.

"Tell me, who are you people? And why did you suddenly emerge from this river?"

The silver-haired girl beside him tilted her head, her large eyes sweeping back and forth across Huo Yuhao, Huo Yu, and Huo Hao.

They're... all so good-looking!

One was refined and gentle, another sunny and cheerful, and the last was cool and handsome. They were practically three different styles of top-tier handsome guys! Meng Hongchen couldn't help but feel a small ripple in her heart.

Faced with this sudden interrogation, the three brothers exchanged glances.

Huo Yu remained vigilant and silent. Huo Yuhao wanted to speak, but Huo Hao stopped him with a look.

As the eldest of the three brothers, Huo Hao stepped forward. He tidied his appearance and replied neither subserviently nor arrogantly, "I am Huo Hao. These two are my brothers, Huo Yu and Huo Yuhao."

He gestured to the two behind him.

Then, he roughly recounted what had happened: being pursued by Xuan Zi, impulsively jumping into a strange river in the Star Dou Great Forest, and then inexplicably appearing here.

After listening to Huo Yuhao's account, the golden-haired boy, Xiao Hongchen, became even more amused.

He couldn't help but chuckle, as if he had heard a fantastical tale. "Hahaha, how interesting."

"Jumped into a river in the Star Dou Great Forest and ended up here?"

He shrugged and smiled at his sister, Meng Hongchen. "Sister, did you hear that? They said they came from a river in the Star Dou Great Forest, but if I recall correctly, aren't we currently on the border of our Sun Moon Empire, just outside Mingdu?"

"The Star Dou Great Forest is tens of thousands of miles from Mingdu. To be able to get here just by jumping into a river... that's truly fascinating."

His tone was filled with undisguised sarcasm and disbelief.

"And... you said you escaped from Taotie Douluo?"

Xiao Hongchen scrutinized the three brothers from head to toe, sensing their faint Soul Power fluctuations, and the corners of his mouth widened. "As far as I know, Taotie Douluo Xuan Zi is a Super Douluo. Let alone the three of you, mere young Soul Masters, even an ordinary Titled Douluo wouldn't last a single move against him, would they?"

"If you're going to make up a story, at least make it believable."

If not for the pitiful weakness of these three, making them seem unlikely to be spies, Xiao Hongchen would have likely ordered his subordinates to arrest and interrogate them.

Faced with Xiao Hongchen's skepticism, Huo Yuhao felt a sense of helplessness.

The situation was indeed too bizarre. It wasn't just outsiders who wouldn't believe it; even he himself wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't experienced it firsthand.

Just then, Huo Yu, who had been silent, focused his gaze on the river behind them.

He carefully sensed it. This river felt exactly the same as the one in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Could it be...

"This river seems the same as the small river we jumped into. Perhaps... it has the same function."

"What function?"

Meng Hongchen looked at Huo Yu, who was at the exit.

"That river is very magical. If you jump in, one person will turn into three. That's how the three of us came to be," Huo Yuhao explained weakly.

"Pfft!"

Meng Hongchen beside him couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

She covered her mouth, looking at Huo Yuhao, finding this little guy truly amusing.

"O-one person turns into three? Are you taking us for three-year-olds?"

Meng Hongchen laughed until her body trembled.

"You clearly look like three very similar brothers. Why make up such an outrageous excuse?"

She felt that although these three people had strange origins, they didn't seem like bad people. On the contrary... they were quite interesting.

Seeing that they didn't believe him at all, Huo Hao spoke directly.

"You can try it."

"Have one person jump in and see if they turn into three. Then you'll know," Huo Yu suggested.

Huo Yu's words instantly quieted the scene.

The smile on Xiao Hongchen's face also subsided. His eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized the three brothers before him.

These three people had remained composed throughout, and they were unusually certain about the "one becomes three" claim. Could it be... true?

As soon as this thought emerged, he dismissed it himself.

How could that be possible!

It was simply preposterous!

"Alright!"

Xiao Hongchen was amused. He decided to play along with these ignorant youngsters.

He took a step forward and said in a tone with a hint of pressure.

"We'll do as you say!"

"If it's really like you say, that one person can turn into three by jumping in, then we'll let this matter go today. I'll spare you."

His tone shifted, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"But if... nothing happens, and you've been toying with this young master..."

"Then don't blame me for capturing all three of you and sending you to the imperial prison to taste some hardship!"

After speaking, he turned and commanded a soldier behind him without looking back.

"You, go down."

"Yes, Young Master!"

The soldier responded without hesitation, crisply and cleanly. He strode to the riverbank and, without the slightest hesitation, jumped into the river with a "plop."

Only a small ripple spread across the river's surface.

Just as Xiao Hongchen's lips curled into a cold smirk, thinking, Let's see how they'll get out of this, and prepared to mock the three brothers.

The calm river surface, without any warning, revealed another figure.

He was still holding a fishing rod, and his face still wore that lazy smile.

Lin Feng had reappeared.