Soft Bone Rabbit's Nightmare

The night was as dark as ink, and the wind at Shrek Academy carried a lingering smell of earth.

In the dilapidated boys' dormitory, candlelight flickered.

Tang San sat cross-legged on the hard wooden board bed, holding the dog-eared Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record in his hands. His bare upper body was wrapped in bandages, and the smell of medicinal herbs was pungent – it was the healing medicine he had concocted himself.

"Brother..."

Xiao Wu huddled in the corner of the opposite bed, which only had three legs. She hugged her knees, her eyes a little unfocused. She wasn't too badly injured, but her face looked worse than Tang San's, who was severely wounded.

"What's wrong?" Tang San didn't look up, his gaze still fixed on the "Hundred Forms of Hidden Weapons" chapter on the page.

He was reviewing.

The crushing defeat during the day felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat. He couldn't understand; his tactics were seamless, and his hidden weapons were at tricky angles, so why couldn't he even touch the hem of that woman's clothes?

"That Qian Mo..." Xiao Wu's voice trembled, like a startled little beast, "He has... an aura that makes me very scared, yet very drawn to."

Tang San finally closed the book.

His brow was tightly furrowed, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes. In his opinion, Xiao Wu was being swayed by the man's money and appearance, just like Ning Rongrong and Oscar.

"Xiao Wu." Tang San's tone was serious, with the authority of an older brother, "That's an illusion. That's the smell of money corrupting people's hearts. Qian Mo is a person of corrupt intentions and ruthless methods. His so-called 'aura' is merely an illusion built up with heavenly materials and earthly treasures."

"But..." Xiao Wu bit her lip, wanting to speak but hesitating.

It was a tremor from the depths of her soul. When Qian Mo passed by her, her Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Bloodline almost wanted to prostrate itself. It wasn't temptation; it was the call of a monarch to his subjects.

"No 'buts'." Tang San interrupted her and reopened the book, "Don't think about those unnecessary things. What we need to do now is cultivate. As long as my Mysterious Heaven Skill breaks through the third level, and as long as I create the Hidden Arrow, I will never lose the next time we meet."

"Go to sleep early. Although the environment here is poor, as the teacher said, it can temper one's character."

After speaking, Tang San blew out the candle.

Darkness descended.

Xiao Wu lay on the moldy bedding, her eyes wide open, staring at the leaky roof.

She couldn't sleep.

She simply couldn't sleep.

The buzzing of insects was irritating, but what frightened her more was that faint killing intent.

Ever since she entered Shrek Academy, ever since she entered this "Monster Territory" that Zhao Wuji called it, she always felt a pair of eyes watching her from the shadows. The gaze was cold and greedy, as if appraising a pig or sheep ready for slaughter.

That was the aura of a Titled Douluo.

As a transformed soul beast, her senses were far beyond those of ordinary people. She was certain that a Titled Douluo was hiding nearby!

As long as that strong person had a single thought, she would turn into a blood-red soul ring and a soul bone.

"Brother... I'm scared..." Xiao Wu whispered.

The only response was Tang San's even and steady breathing. He had already entered meditation.

An unprecedented loneliness surged in Xiao Wu's heart.

Just then.

"Weng--"

A strange fluctuation, like a warm spring breeze, silently seeped into the dilapidated wooden house.

That was pure auspicious qi.

It had no offensive power, yet it possessed an irresistible attraction. It was like a traveler in the desert smelling water, like a lost lamb hearing its mother's call.

Xiao Wu's pupils instantly turned pink.

Her body reacted faster than her brain. She threw off the quilt, barefoot, and like a sleepwalker, silently pushed open the door and walked out.

Cloud Top Heavenly Palace, back garden.

There were no insects here, only blooming exotic flowers and plants.

Giant glowing crystals simulated gentle moonlight, scattering on the path paved with white marble. The air was filled with a faint spirit concentrating incense, which was ambergris worth a hundred gold per inch burned.

Qian Mo sat on a rattan chair, holding a cup of wine as blood red as blood.

Zhu Zhuqing was not here. She had just finished absorbing the "Water Lily Jade Muscle Bone" (the second immortal herb Qian Mo gave her) and was in the quiet room stabilizing her soaring soul power.

"You've come?"

Qian Mo didn't turn around, gently shaking his wine cup.

The grass rustled.

Xiao Wu stood barefoot at the garden entrance, her eyes bewildered yet vigilant. She looked at Qian Mo as if he were a great mystery.

"Who... who exactly are you?" Xiao Wu's voice was a little hoarse, "Why... why do I feel an urge to submit to you?"

Qian Mo turned around.

The auspicious beast skull on his brow flashed, and a majestic and sacred Qilin phantom flickered behind him before disappearing.

"Plop."

Xiao Wu's knees buckled, and she directly knelt on the ground. This was not a matter of etiquette, but biological instinct.

"I don't like looking up when I talk to people." Qian Mo took a sip of wine and pointed to the chair opposite him. "Sit."

Xiao Wu trembled as she stood up, but she didn't sit down. Instead, she tightly gripped the hem of her skirt, her face full of wariness. "You called me out just to humiliate me? If it's about what happened today, I'll apologize on behalf of Third Brother..."

"Third Brother?"

Qian Mo laughed.

He laughed so unrestrainedly that tears almost came to his eyes.

"Such touching sibling affection." Qian Mo put down his wine glass, leaned forward, his golden eyes staring directly into Xiao Wu's soul. "Little rabbit, do you really think he considers you a sister?"

Xiao Wu's face turned pale. "What do you mean? Third Brother and I swore an oath..."

"Swore an oath?" Qian Mo interrupted her, his tone turning icy. "Then do you know who stands behind your 'good Third Brother'?"

Xiao Wu froze.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Qian Mo pointed to the dark night sky above. "That gaze that's been fixed on you. That killing intent that makes you unable to eat or sleep, that makes you afraid to even close your eyes."

Xiao Wu's body trembled violently.

He had hit the nail on the head.

That was her deepest fear.

"That's Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao."

Qian Mo uttered the name casually.

The three words exploded in Xiao Wu's mind like thunderclap.

Clear Sky Douluo!

The Titled Douluo who had once killed the previous Pope of Martial Soul Hall, known as the strongest power on the continent!

"He... he's Third Brother's father?" Xiao Wu's voice trembled, and tears instantly welled up.

"It seems you're not stupid." Qian Mo stood up and walked towards Xiao Wu step by step. "A Titled Douluo, hiding in the shadows every day. He watches you eat, watches you sleep, watches you spend your days and nights with his son."

"Why do you think he hasn't killed you?"

Qian Mo walked in front of Xiao Wu, looking down at her, his voice like a devil's whisper.

"Is it because he's merciful? Is it because he likes rabbits?"

"No."

Qian Mo reached out and gently patted Xiao Wu's stiff cheek.

"It's because you're still too young."

"Right now, you're just a two to three thousand year soul ring. Killing you would be too wasteful."

"He's raising pigs."

Qian Mo's words struck like knives, brutally tearing away the veil of tender affection.

"He's waiting for you to reach maturity, waiting for you to become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. At that time, you'll be the ninth soul ring for his precious son, Tang San."

"No... impossible..." Xiao Wu shook her head frantically, tears flying. "Third Brother wouldn't! Third Brother promised to protect me! He said I was the most important person to him!"

"He will protect you, of course," Qian Mo sneered. "A farmer also protects the pigs in his sty from wolves, because they are his meat."

"As for whether Tang San knows..."

Qian Mo paused, his eyes filled with amusement.

"Someone who cultivated Purple Demon Eye from childhood, someone with a mind as cunning as a demon; a disciple of the Master who knows herbs and soul beasts like the back of his hand. Do you think he really can't tell you're not human?"

"He's just pretending to be stupid."

"He's enjoying your dependence, enjoying a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast as his thug, his reserve food."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Xiao Wu screamed, covering her ears, her mind on the verge of collapse.

She didn't want to believe it.

But her reason told her that every word Qian Mo spoke was terrifyingly logical.

If they didn't want to kill her, why would a Titled Douluo follow her all the time?

If Tang San truly loved her, why had he never mentioned his father's existence?

"Don't believe me?"

A cruel arc formed on Qian Mo's lips.

"Then I'll let you see."

Qian Mo suddenly looked up, gazing towards the dark forest outside Shrek Academy.

The Qilin pattern on his brow suddenly erupted with brilliant golden light, a challenging will belonging to a Divine Beast Emperor, unreservedly blasting towards that direction.

"Tang Hao! Have you watched enough?!"

Qian Mo's voice, amplified by soul power, boomed like rolling thunder, shattering the tranquility of the night sky.

"Get out!"

Silence.

Deathly silence.

The next second.

"BOOM--!!!"

A terrifying, suffocating black qi wave erupted from the depths of the forest.

The sky turned black.

The night sky, which had a few stars moments ago, was instantly obscured by a mountain-like pressure.

A colossal black hammer phantom slowly materialized in the night sky, as if intending to crush the entire land.

The pressure of a Titled Douluo!

And it was the Clear Sky Pressure, filled with ferocity and killing intent!

"Crack!"

The defensive barrier outside Cloud Top Heavenly Palace emitted a crisp sound, its light flickering unstably.

Under this pressure, Xiao Wu's entire body felt as if her bones had been removed, collapsing to the ground, trembling. It was a fear from the depths of her soul, the despair of prey facing a top predator.

"It really is... a Titled Douluo..."

Xiao Wu's face was ashen.

That aura had locked onto this place. More accurately, it had locked onto her.

It was a greedy, scrutinizing gaze, tinged with a possessive desire. Like a butcher appraising a pig he had raised for years, checking how much fat it had gained.

"Hmph."

Just as Xiao Wu thought she was about to be crushed by this pressure.

A warm hand was placed on her head.

Qian Mo stood before her, his platinum robe fluttering in the wind, his slender figure appearing incredibly tall at this moment.

"Making a scene on my turf?"

Qian Mo snorted coldly.

He didn't use his soul power to resist.

He merely activated a trace of the primordial aura within him, belonging to the "Auspicious God King."

"Weng!"

A Seven-Colored Light Pillar shot up into the sky.

The Cloud Top Heavenly Palace seemed to come alive, countless illusory figures of Ancient Divine Beasts swirling and roaring within the light pillar.

That supremely arrogant Clear Sky Hammer phantom, in the face of this sacred and grand Aura, was like ice and snow encountering the scorching sun, rapidly melting and retreating.

The pressure dissipated.

Deep within the forest, a muffled groan could be faintly heard, and then that Aura rapidly fled, disappearing Without a Trace.

Tang Hao retreated.

He dared not gamble. He could not see through the power behind Qian Mo, nor did he dare to completely expose his whereabouts on Martial Soul Hall territory.

The wind and waves calmed.

Only Xiao Wu was covered in cold sweat, as if she had just been fished out of water.

"Did you see clearly?"

Qian Mo withdrew his hand, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and Disdainfully Wiped the hand that had just touched Xiao Wu's head.

"This is your guardian god."

"If I had withdrawn my defense just now, you would have already been smashed into a pulp by that hammer and turned into a soul ring."

Xiao Wu stared blankly at Qian Mo.

In that instant, the back that stood in front of her, and Tang San in her mind who only knew how to say "I will protect you" but couldn't even protect himself, formed an extremely tragic Contrast.

One protected with words.

One used divine power to force back a Titled Douluo.

One treated her as a food reserve.

One...

"Why did you save me?" Xiao Wu's voice was hoarse, her eyes complex.

"Because you are a soul beast."

Qian Mo turned around, sat back down in the Rattan Chair, his tone as indifferent as if he were discussing the weather.

"I am the Lord of Soul Beasts."

"Under the heavens, all soul beasts are my Citizens."

"I allow you to be hunted; that is the natural law of survival of the fittest. But I will never allow..."

Golden light flashed in Qian Mo's eyes, his dominance overflowing.

"Someone to pen my citizens, brainwash them, and make them willingly sacrifice themselves!"

"That is an insult to the Soul Beast race."

Xiao Wu trembled.

Lord of Soul Beasts...

If anyone else had said this title, she would have laughed her head off. But coming from Qian Mo's mouth, coupled with the divine might that had just repelled Clear Sky Douluo, she believed him.

"Then... what should I do?" Xiao Wu was lost.

Return to Shrek? That was like returning to a pigsty.

Follow Tang San? That was following a hypocrite ready to devour her at any moment.

"You have two choices."

Qian Mo held up two fingers.

"First, go back to that broken wooden house, continue being your naive, sweet sister, and wait for the day Tang San needs a soul ring, then tearfully sacrifice yourself, move yourself, and fulfill others."

Xiao Wu's face turned pale, and she shook her head desperately.

"Second."

Qian Mo pointed to the ground beneath his feet.

"Stay here."

"Be my maid."

"I will protect you until you become a God. I will show you that the Soul Beast race does not need to depend on humans to stand at the peak of this world."

"Of course, as the price..."

A wicked smile curved the corner of Qian Mo's mouth.

"You must break ties with Tang San, completely."

Xiao Wu fell silent.

She lowered her head, looking at her own bare feet.

The indifferent back of Tang San just now flashed in her mind, followed by the Clear Sky Hammer hanging above her head, and then Qian Mo's figure shielding her.

Survival, or death?

Dignity, or being caged?

This wasn't a choice at all.

A few minutes later.

Xiao Wu took a deep breath and slowly raised her head. The innocence and playfulness that had once filled her pink eyes had vanished, replaced by a never-before-seen determination and hatred.

She didn't want to die.

She even less wanted to be deceived into dying.

Xiao Wu knelt on both knees. This time, it was a willing submission.

She bowed deeply to Qian Mo.

"Soft Bone Charm Rabbit Xiao Wu, greets... Lord."

Qian Mo smiled.

He casually tossed out a soul bone radiating a crystalline glow—it was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone he had prepared long ago, extremely suitable for agility-type attackers.

"Take it."

"Put it on, and go move your things out of that shabby dormitory."

"Remember, since you're following me, don't look at people with that pitiful gaze anymore."

"Tomorrow morning, I want to see a completely new you."

Xiao Wu took the soul bone, feeling the surging power within it, her eyes turning slightly red.

"Yes, Lord."

She stood up and turned towards the darkness, towards the place she had once considered "home."

Except this time, she was going to say goodbye.

And to seek revenge.

Qian Mo watched her retreating back, gently swirling his wine glass, his eyes deep.

"The third one."

"Tang San, oh Tang San, when you wake up and find that your sister, your brother, your cheat all belong to me..."

"What kind of expression will you show?"

"This is... really something to look forward to."

The next morning.

Shrek Academy's assembly bell rang again.

Tang San, with dark circles under his eyes, rushed to the sports field immediately.

After a night of cultivation, his Mysterious Heaven Skill finally showed signs of a breakthrough. He couldn't wait to share this good news with Xiao Wu, and by the way, brainwash her a bit more to solidify her resolve to stay.

"Xiao Wu!"

Tang San saw the figure walking from the girls' dormitory and greeted her with a gentle smile.

"Did you sleep well last night? I've thought it through, although Qian Mo is strong, as long as we..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

Tang San froze.

The Xiao Wu standing before him was no longer the little girl in a pink old dress with a scorpion braid.

She had changed into a gorgeous long dress woven with gold thread, wore flowing light soul tool boots, and around her neck hung a gem necklace valuable enough to buy the entire Suotuo City.

Most importantly.

She stood behind Qian Mo.

And was looking at him with a cold gaze, as if he were a stranger, or even... an enemy.

"Xiao Wu... you..." Tang San reached out, wanting to pull her.

"Don't touch me."

Xiao Wu took half a step back, her voice as cold as ice shards.

"Tang San, we... are not familiar."