Only then did Xiao Wu remember that Su Mo had erased her aura. She had not felt anything at the time, though, and had not been sure whether it was real.
She had never expected him to have actually erased it.
Her brother really had not lied to her!
And from what Er Ming had said, her aura seemed to have been transferred to Tang San.
Although she did not understand why Su Mo had done that when he and Tang San seemed to get along quite well, since her brother had not told her, she would not ask.
On the contrary, she would keep this secret safe.
"Brother Su Mo transferred my soul beast aura to someone else. This concerns my safety, so I hope you'll keep it secret for me."
Since Da Ming and Er Ming already knew her soul beast aura was on Tang San, there was little point in hiding it. She might as well tell them the truth and ask them to keep it secret.
Seeing this, Su Mo gave Xiao Wu a surprised glance.
This little lass actually had some brains when it counted.
"Don't worry, Sister Xiao Wu. We definitely won't tell anyone," Da Ming and Er Ming promised, patting their chests. Only then did they look at Su Mo, a barely perceptible trace of scrutiny in their eyes.
"You're Su Mo?"
"Hey, Er Ming, long time no see. I almost didn't recognize you in human form," Su Mo said with a smile, sounding like an old friend of many years.
"And you are?"
Er Ming was baffled. He did not seem to know this person.
"I'm that frog. I'm the one who invited Xiao Wu to visit my home. Have you forgotten?"
Su Mo knew Da Ming and Er Ming were hostile and wary toward humans, so he simply borrowed Froglet's identity and pretended to be a soul beast who had taken human form.
"Huh? You're the toad who spirited Sister Xiao Wu away?"
"Ahem, a frog," Su Mo corrected.
Er Ming's face darkened. "You little brat, whether you're a frog or a toad, it's your fault Sister Xiao Wu was lured away! You made us search ourselves ragged!"
As he spoke, he was about to attack.
But Xiao Wu stepped in front of Su Mo, taking the initiative to cover for him.
"Er Ming, don't be like that. Brother Su Mo is actually a really good person. He's helped me a lot..."
Then Xiao Wu recounted her "experiences."
From being invited to Su Mo's home, to having her soul beast aura erased, then settling into a human village, and now even entering an academy...
After hearing her out, the two beasts let the matter of Su Mo luring Sister Xiao Wu away slide, considering how much he had helped her.
Still, they remained somewhat disgruntled.
We call her Sister Xiao Wu, but Sister Xiao Wu calls you Brother Su Mo. What does that make us?
"Oh, right, Sister Xiao Wu, whatever you do, don't go back to the Star Dou Great Forest lately. An incredibly terrifying old monster appeared there and turned the whole forest upside down, all to find an ice silkworm."
Da Ming suddenly gave her this warning.
An ice silkworm? Xiao Wu's heart lurched.
If she remembered correctly, that little silkworm she had seen in the separate space should be the ice silkworm the old monster was looking for.
But the little silkworm had already sacrificed himself to Su Mo...
Surely they could not make Su Mo spit him back out?
Fortunately, no one else knew. That old monster probably would not come looking for them.
Inside Su Mo's Sea of Consciousness, Tian Meng trembled in terror. "What do I do? What do I do? They still haven't given up! I'm done for!"
"Don't panic. You've already died once. They can't find you," Su Mo reassured him.
"But I'm not completely dead yet! What if they find you?"
"What's there to fear? I'm not going to the Star Dou Great Forest."
"But you made a huge fuss announcing my name earlier! They'll definitely come looking!"
Su Mo was speechless. "Calm down. They don't know your name is Tian Meng."
"Huh?" Tian Meng froze for a moment before realizing those fellows really did seem to have no way to find him. "Heh, all that worry for nothing."
Su Mo asked Da Ming, "Da Ming, what does this old monster you mentioned look like?"
Da Ming glared at Su Mo unhappily.
Who gave you the right to call me that?
But for Sister Xiao Wu's sake, I won't hold it against you.
"He's a Demoneye Tree, but his aura is much stronger than mine. His strength is unfathomable."
Understanding dawned on Su Mo. So it's the Myriad Demon King!
One of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, ranked fifth, with roughly five hundred thousand years of cultivation-the strongest plant-type soul beast in the Star Dou Great Forest.
He had never expected the Myriad Demon King to emerge so early.
It was most likely a chain reaction triggered by Froglet taking Tian Meng away.
"By the way, how did you find Holy Soul Village in the first place?" Su Mo asked curiously. Had he overlooked something?
Da Ming did not hide anything about that.
"That old monster suspected the ice silkworm's disappearance might have something to do with a man in a black robe, so he told us to track him in the direction he'd left."
"We followed the trail to a village. We didn't see the man in black or learn anything about the ice silkworm, but we happened to hear news of Sister Xiao Wu. Then we followed it all the way here."
Su Mo understood.
That man in black was probably Tang Hao.
I can only say, that's just like you.
His carelessness had once exposed Ah Yin's identity as a soul beast, bringing Spirit Hall down on them. In the end, his wife had become a soul ring, his father had died from anger, and the Clear Sky Sect had been forced to seal its mountain.
Even now, he had not learned his lesson.
His carelessness had caught the Myriad Demon King's attention yet again. Fortunately, Holy Soul Village was unharmed. Otherwise, Su Mo would absolutely have made Tang Hao wish he were dead.
Suddenly, a good idea occurred to him.
He asked Da Ming and Er Ming, "Were you fighting a man in a black robe earlier?"
Su Mo had withdrawn from the center of the battlefield early and did not know what had happened afterward.
But judging from the intensity of the battle and the two beasts' few remarks, he surmised that they had probably met Tang San and attacked him. Tang Hao could not possibly have stood by and watched his son fall into danger, and it had ultimately escalated into a battle that affected nearly half the Soul Hunting Forest.
"That's right." Da Ming did not deny it.
"Then will you report this information?"
"No." Da Ming shook his head.
Although they had found a man in black, they did not know whether he was the one the Myriad Demon King wanted. Besides, they had left their posts without permission, and Sister Xiao Wu was involved too, so it was best to report nothing.
After all, they truly had not found the man in black in the direction the Myriad Demon King had indicated.
But Su Mo waved a hand. "I think you could reveal a little."
"Hmm?" Da Ming was puzzled.
Su Mo suggested, "If you go back and say you found nothing, you'll definitely be punished."
"Why not say you found traces of the man in black and followed them all the way to the Soul Hunting Forest? You fought him and lost, but discovered that his martial soul was the Clear Sky Hammer, so you suspect he's from the Clear Sky Sect."
"That would not only spare you punishment, but also earn you credit. Most importantly, you wouldn't have to keep searching for the ice silkworm like headless flies."
Da Ming: "!!!"
Er Ming: "!!!"
The two beasts found this suggestion quite tempting.
They did not care about earning credit, but if they could avoid punishment and even stop searching for the bug, nothing could be better.
But Da Ming narrowed his eyes and looked at Su Mo suspiciously. "Do you have a grudge against that man?"