Suddenly, Su Mo thought of Xiao Wu. Could Er Ming have come for her?
This guy really was persistent.
He had actually chased her all the way here.
With Su Mo holding her hand, Xiao Wu heard his earlier cry of surprise and could not help looking back toward the battlefield.
After a moment's hesitation, she still decided not to go and reveal herself.
She gripped Su Mo's hand tightly and followed him as he ran farther away, whether out of fear of the One-Day Death Powder or for some other reason.
"Roar!"
At the center of the battlefield.
Er Ming let out a furious roar, and the blast of air sent Yu Xiaogang and the other two flying.
Over the past few days, they had followed the direction indicated by the Myriad Demon King and reached a village, but they had neither found the black-robed man nor learned anything about the bugs.
They had, however, unexpectedly learned that Sister Xiao Wu had lived in that village for a while.
After learning that Sister Xiao Wu had gone to Nuoding City, they raced there without stopping.
But when they asked around, they learned that Sister Xiao Wu had gone to the Soul Hunting Forest. Frustrated as they were, they had no choice but to sneak inside.
The two beasts split up after entering the forest and searched for several days without finding any trace of her. Er Ming happened to sense a battle nearby and discovered a close relative being surrounded and attacked by human Soul Masters, so he immediately rushed over.
Seeing that he had scared off the human Soul Masters, Er Ming prepared to leave.
Only then did he sense Sister Xiao Wu's presence nearby. Looking in that direction, he discovered that it was actually coming from a human boy.
He froze at first, then his eyes instantly reddened.
Could Sister Xiao Wu have met with disaster, and her soul bone now be on this boy?
"Roooaaar!"
His grief-stricken roar rang through the entire Soul Hunting Forest.
Er Ming swung both arms and hammered his chest madly. Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes, mingling with the rain as they fell to the earth.
His lantern-sized eyes were filled with regret and hatred.
Regret for his carelessness back then.
Hatred for that wretched boy.
The fury in his eyes took tangible form. Without any warning, he swung his boulder-like fist and smashed it straight at the boy.
Tang San, the target of that blow, had eyes filled with despair.
Yu Xiaogang and Director Su, who were caught in its path, were no better off.
Clang!
Just then, a black-robed man appeared in front of Tang San. An enormous iron hammer materialized in his hand, and he blocked the giant ape's fist as solidly as a wall of copper and iron, without taking so much as half a step back.
Tang San stared blankly at the figure before him, who seemed incomparably towering.
He noticed that the hammer in the black-robed man's hand was almost identical to the hammer he had once possessed, only vastly larger.
Could it be... Dad?
Tang San did not call out to him. If the black-robed man really was his father, he surely had his reasons for concealing his identity.
At the sight of that hammer, Yu Xiaogang could not help trembling slightly.
The Clear Sky Hammer, such formidable strength, and, most importantly, an appearance at precisely the right moment to save Tang San-this man had to be Tang Hao.
Remembering that he had taken the man's son's martial soul, he could not help feeling uneasy.
Director Su noticed the hammer and stole a glance at the Grandmaster. He guessed that the newcomer was probably connected to the Grandmaster, likely having learned somewhere that the Grandmaster possessed the Clear Sky Hammer and intending to take him back to acknowledge his ancestors and return to his clan.
At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever the case, the newcomer was a friend rather than a foe, so the three of them were assured of survival.
"Roar!"
A creature with a bull's head and a serpent's body suddenly appeared.
Da Ming had been on the other side of the forest. Hearing Er Ming's mournful cry, he thought Er Ming was in danger and hurried over at full speed.
But upon arriving, he discovered that Er Ming was fine.
Instead, he spotted a black-robed man.
Although he did not know whether this was the black-robed man the Myriad Demon King was seeking, it was at least a lead. This was clearly a good thing, so he could not understand why Er Ming had cried out so heart-rendingly.
"Hm?"
Soon, he too sensed Sister Xiao Wu's presence. Yet its source was not Sister Xiao Wu. A possibility instantly occurred to him, and fury surged in his eyes as the pressure emanating from him climbed higher and higher.
"ROAR!!!"
At the sight of this, Tang Hao felt his scalp prickle.
Why had this one suddenly flown into a rage too?
Was it rabies? Biting everyone they saw?
He could handle one hundred-thousand-year soul beast, but two would be a little troublesome.
"Get out of here!" Seeing the two beasts launch their attacks, Tang Hao only had time to shout that to Tang San and the others before charging forward to meet them.
The three quickly fled into the distance.
Behind them, shock waves from a battle that threatened to destroy heaven and earth cracked the ground inch by inch, toppled entire swathes of trees, and mercilessly blasted away the raindrops.
Even the aftershocks stirred up vast clouds of dust. Flying rubble struck the three in the back, leaving them with searing pain.
The disturbances in the Soul Hunting Forest finally alerted the soldiers stationed outside.
They immediately put up a "No entry" sign at the entrance.
At the same time, they requested reinforcements from their superiors.
The Soul Masters in the marketplace, unaware of what was happening, immediately voiced their displeasure.
"What's going on? Why aren't we allowed in all of a sudden?"
"I've already put my team together. Can't you make an exception?"
"When will it reopen? Does anyone know what happened?"
As imperial soldiers, however, they were under no obligation to answer. But as the shopkeepers in the marketplace began packing up their stalls and fleeing one after another, the Soul Masters gradually realized that something was wrong.
"Could something have happened in the Soul Hunting Forest?"
"Very likely. I've never seen anything on this scale before..."
"Idiots! Forget hunting souls! Hurry up and run!"
"I heard from my brother-in-law's second uncle-in-law that two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts got in there. One of them is the king of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Titan Giant Ape, and apparently both the empire and Spirit Hall have sent people over!"
"Yikes! What are we waiting for? Run!"
Deep within the Soul Hunting Forest.
Su Mo and Xiao Wu had run a long way, yet they could still feel the aftershocks of the battle behind them.
"Phew... That was close!"
"We nearly got dragged into a Titled Douluo-level battle." Su Mo let out a long breath. His Spiritual Detection covered the surrounding woods, revealing no danger. "We should be safe after running this far, right?"
Yet perhaps he had unwittingly activated his knack for jinxing things.
Rumble!
Another eardrum-shattering explosion erupted from the center of the battle.
The shock wave spread outward. Even at his current location, he felt powerful tremors, and wide fissures opened in the ground.
Instinctively sensing trouble, Su Mo poured more soul power into Spiritual Detection and extended it underground.
He discovered that there was actually a hollow space directly beneath them.
"Shit!"
Since Spiritual Detection weakened when penetrating solid matter, increasing its penetrating power required expending more soul power. Under normal circumstances, he therefore only scanned two or three meters beneath the ground.
He had never imagined that such a danger lay hidden beyond those three meters.
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Mo grabbed Xiao Wu and tried to run.
But by then, it was already too late.
The ground collapsed in an instant, and the two of them fell with it.
"Aaaah... Help!"
The instant she felt herself go weightless, Xiao Wu instinctively screamed, wrapping all four limbs tightly around Su Mo like an octopus.
She certainly lived up to her expertise in flexibility techniques.
"You little brat, let go! Are you trying to strangle me?"
As Su Mo plummeted underground, he also had to endure Xiao Wu's grip around his neck.
He felt like he was about to die.