Put Xun Er down, or we won't be polite!

Ye Hao was speechless. "..."

He had not expected that, after only a few words, Xun Er would directly summon Ling Ying over!

"Could you let me finish speaking?"

"You want to explain now? Too late!" Xun Er was furious and had no intention of listening to Ye Hao, who was disguised as Hao Shuai.

Ling Ying stepped forward, his hand seals swiftly forming as the shadows around him transformed into a sky-spanning black curtain!

"Myriad Shadow Bind!"

Within the black curtain, two terrifying streams of energy, one black and one white, coiled toward Ye Hao.

"So be it! I'll use this chance to see whether the Saint Grade Heaven Swallowing Art can truly let me activate a Heavenly Rank Dou Technique!"

Dou Qi surged wildly from Ye Hao's body.

A colossal finger several zhang long condensed before him.

"Great Desolate Prison Heaven Finger, One Finger Imprisons Heaven and Earth!"

As Ye Hao pointed forward.

The giant finger shot ahead, and the air itself let out a piercing sonic boom!

Bang!

The two Dou Techniques collided, unleashing a shocking blast wave that swept outward!

All the trees within several hundred meters were snapped in half!

Countless birds and beasts in the forest were killed or injured.

Ye Hao's legs plowed two trenches twenty to thirty meters long through the ground before he managed to steady himself. He immediately swallowed a pill to restore his Dou Qi!

The facts proved that the Saint Grade Heaven Swallowing Art had not deceived him. It truly allowed him, as a Dou Ling, to activate a Heavenly Rank Dou Technique without instantly draining all his Dou Qi.

With this, he had gained another trump card to save his life.

Although Ling Ying had only been forced back several dozen steps.

He was utterly dumbfounded at this moment!

He stared at Ye Hao in incomparable shock.

Was that really the power a Dou Ling could unleash?

If he had not been a Dou Emperor!

That finger would likely have turned him into a cloud of blood long ago!

The powerful shockwave from before had also blown the mask off Ye Hao's face!

Ling Ying felt that he had seen him somewhere before.

But he could not recall where for the moment.

"Good, good, good! In all my years roaming the Dou Qi Continent, this is the first time I've encountered a Dou Ling capable of taking one of my moves. Again!"

With that, Ling Ying charged at Ye Hao once more.

The moment the mask fell, Xun Er saw Ye Hao's true face as well.

The anger on her face was instantly replaced by delight.

She hurriedly shouted, "Elder Ling, quickly, quickly, quickly..."

"Rest assured, Miss. This old servant will capture him within three moves!"

"No! I'm telling you to stop right now!"

"Huh?!"

Ling Ying was dumbfounded!

Had she not just told him to capture the man?

Why had she changed her mind again?

Before Ling Ying could figure out what was happening.

He saw his young miss rush into Hao Shuai's arms like a swallow returning to its nest!

She threw her arms around him!

At that sight, a huge question mark appeared over Ling Ying's head!

"Hao Gege, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I-I-I-I didn't know Hao Shuai was you. Xun Er deserves to die. Hit me, scold me, anything. Just don't pretend not to know Xun Er like last time, don't ignore Xun Er, don't abandon Xun Er, okay..."

Tears welled in Xun Er's eyes as she grabbed Ye Hao's hand and forcefully struck herself with it.

As though only this could lessen the guilt in her heart.

Ye Hao was moved. He rubbed Xun Er's head.

"I won't. How could I ever ignore you?"

Ye Hao tapped Xun Er on the nose and smiled.

"Hehe."

Hearing Ye Hao say that, Xun Er instantly went from tears to laughter and hugged him tightly again.

At the same time, she became even more certain that the reason Ye Hao had not acknowledged her last time...

Was most likely Nalan Yanran's fault!

At this moment, she still did not know that the person who had asked her to meet was not actually Ye Hao!

After a while.

"By the way, Hao Gege, where have you been these past six months? Why couldn't I find you even after searching all of Wu Tan City?"

Xun Er looked up at Ye Hao, her eyes seeming to shine as a blissful curve appeared at the corners of her lips.

Ye Hao said, "Um... Xun Er, this isn't the place to talk. Shall we go somewhere else and talk slowly?"

"Mm-hmm, Xun Er will listen to Hao Gege."

Xun Er nodded obediently, then tightly wrapped her arms around Ye Hao's waist.

Ye Hao waved at Ling Ying. Then, with a grab of his hand, he retrieved the mask that had fallen to the ground before carrying Xun Er and swiftly vanishing into the forest.

Ling Ying stared at the two departing figures.

He could not help wiping the sweat from his forehead. Fortunately, Ye Hao had been strong enough just now, or he would have been in trouble.

Moreover, he found it strange—how had Ye Hao concealed himself from his six searches?

"No wonder Miss is so utterly devoted to him. Ye Hao's talent is truly absurd."

Still, he found it odd. When had his young lady met Ye Hao?

He had not known a thing about it.

Several miles away from there.

At a small hill.

Several figures darting swiftly through the forest abruptly stopped!

They stared in alarm at the dust-filled valley ahead, already thinking of retreating.

One tall, burly man cried out in shock, "What happened up ahead? That explosion was terrifying!"

Another person looked at the girl in a moon-white dress behind them. "Heavens! Miss, you didn't trick us into going there to die, did you?"

"With that kind of commotion... how could it have been caused by a girl with only Dou Qi strength?" the tall man asked suspiciously.

The girl in the moon-white dress said, "Don't panic. Perhaps some powerful expert happened to pass by."

"Fine. We brothers will trust you one more time."

The few of them crouched down and waited for a while. Once they confirmed there was no further movement.

Only then did they continue forward.

Upon arriving at the valley.

The girl in the moon-white dress was completely dumbfounded.

The tree they had agreed upon...

Was gone!

And the girl she was supposed to meet...

Was nowhere to be seen either!

The girl in the moon-white dress frowned in thought.

"Miss, where should we hide?"

the tall man asked.

"How about we disguise ourselves as tree stumps? The moment she appears, we'll tie her up and take her away!"

another balding man suggested.

However, the girl in the moon-white dress said nothing, so they could only wait.

After remaining silent for a moment, the girl in the moon-white dress finally waved her hand. "Let's withdraw. She was probably killed by the aftershock of that explosion just now."

"Is that so? Then... Miss, as for the gold coins we agreed on earlier... we won't return them. Also, you still need to give us five hundred gold coins for our trouble."

"Right, right. We agreed on that beforehand."

The three men looked at the girl in the moon-white dress.

The girl waved her hand. "It's only a few hundred gold coins. Don't worry, this young lady won't shortchange you."

Just as they were preparing to leave.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four figures shot over at high speed from the direction of Wu Tan City!

"Stop!"

"Where do you think you're going?!"

"Let Xun Er go at once, or we won't be so polite!"

"You dare lay hands on someone from the Xiao Family in Wu Tan City? You're tired of living!!"

The tall man and the others turned around.

Their faces went green.

"Not good! Da Dou Shi—run!"

"There are four of them!"

"Damn it, you bitch, was this your doing?!"

The girl in the moon-white dress was also stunned by the sudden appearance of the four men.

"No, I... I didn't..." the girl in white hurriedly explained.

But the others refused to believe her.

They turned and ran.

"Niece Nalan, were you captured too?"

One of them recognized the identity of the girl in the moon-white dress from afar.

Nalan Yanran's expression stiffened.

"Uncle Xiao..."

"Don't be afraid. With Uncle Xiao here, I'll definitely save you!"

Xiao Zhan moved, appearing before the three men, including the tall one.

Bang!

With one punch, he sent the tall man flying. The man slammed viciously into a tree stump and died on the spot.

"You..."

Seeing their boss knocked unconscious, the other two were just about to say something.

But the two Xiao Family elders following close behind promptly struck them down.

The three men:?

"Phew..."

Nalan Yanran let out a breath of relief.

She had almost been exposed.

Xiao Zhan looked around, but did not find any trace of Xun Er.

"Niece Nalan, were there any other women captured along with you?"

"Huh? No... I didn't see any."

Nalan Yanran was panicking so badly that both her tone and expression were extremely unnatural.

Xiao Zhan merely assumed she had been frightened.

He did not think much of it.

Then he continued chasing ahead.

Meanwhile.

Elsewhere.

Ye Hao brought Xun Er to the second floor across from the Blacksmith Shop.

"Um... we're here."

Ye Hao gently patted Xun Er, who was still clinging tightly to him.

"Hao Gege, have you been living here all this past half year?"

Xun Er raised her head and looked around the room.

Yet her hands still clutched Ye Hao tightly, refusing to let go.

Ye Hao felt helpless.

"Don't worry. This time, I'm not running away."

Xun Er looked at Ye Hao, then rested against his chest.

"No, I haven't hugged you enough yet. Let Xun Er hug you a little longer, okay... Hao Gege?"

Ye Hao: "..."

Fine, hug away.

PS: Posting first, revising later. Thanks to all the bosses for pointing out typos.