Only after confirming that she posed no threat did Su Mo carefully examine the little girl who had suddenly appeared.
Judging by her appearance, she looked rather familiar.
So he asked tentatively, "Who are you, and why are you in my home?"
The little girl, who had been wriggling around, froze at the question. "This is your home?"
"You haven't answered my question." Su Mo rapped her on the head.
The little girl puffed out her cheeks in pain and answered reluctantly, "My name is Xiao Wu, Wu as in dance. The frog invited me."
Sure enough, she's Little Scumbag's old flame, that hundred-thousand-year-old hooligan rabbit.
Nice work this time, little froggy!
The two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones he had originally planned to scheme for had, after all those twists and turns, ended up in his hands thanks to his little frog.
Seeing that Su Mo had not answered her, Xiao Wu asked again, "Who are you, then? Why do you say this is your home?"
Su Mo gave Xiao Wu a sidelong glance and said calmly, "The frog you mentioned is my Martial Soul. This space is my soul skill."
After that offhand explanation, Su Mo ignored her and turned his attention to how he should deal with Xiao Wu.
Should I just kill the rabbit and take her bones?
Or keep her until later and take both her ring and her bones?
Or raise her as a child bride first, then trick her into sacrificing herself later?
Actually, spicy rabbit head would be pretty good too.
Slurp...
Wouldn't that be a little too mouthwatering... no, wait... too cruel?
It's so hard to choose.
Is this what they call the troubles of happiness?
Unable to decide for the moment, Su Mo remembered that his little frog might run into danger after abducting Xiao Wu and decided to check on his travels first.
[After absorbing the Soul Ring, Froggy felt a little stronger and mastered the soul skill Frog Home. His eyes gleamed as he turned toward the second Soul Ring, which was about to dissipate, and reached out to poke it. Yet nothing happened for a long while, leaving him deeply disappointed...]
Su Mo breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. Without reaching the corresponding level, one could not absorb a Soul Ring.
At least he would not have to worry about Froggy messing around in the short term.
[After sending the glasslike bone back to Frog Home, Froggy prepared to leave, only for a little-girl beast to suddenly jump out and block his path, demanding to know why he could absorb Soul Rings...]
A little-girl beast...
Does that mean Xiao Wu?
Understanding dawned on Su Mo. He guessed Xiao Wu had spotted Froggy absorbing the Soul Ring.
[Froggy sneered inwardly. Hah, this frog would never tell you, because this frog has no idea what a Soul Ring even is...]
Su Mo: "..."
Hah, quite the inner monologue you've got there.
If you had even a scrap of common sense, you wouldn't have absolutely none.
[Froggy put on a cold, aloof act and refused to answer. The little-girl beast guessed that his unusual traits might have something to do with taking human form, so she invited him to visit the Lake of Life. When Froggy saw her summon a big monkey as her ride, he was green with envy...]
The corner of Su Mo's mouth twitched. Are you envious that Xiao Wu has a ride like that, or envious of the big monkey's size?
Speaking of which-
That big monkey should be Er Ming, right?
[Froggy hopped onto the little-girl beast's shoulder, and she hopped onto the big monkey's shoulder. Before long, the three beasts reached the Lake of Life. A frog, a monkey, and a little girl sat on the ground, chatting merrily...]
Su Mo was rather curious about how Froggy communicated with Soul Beasts.
With sign language?
[After getting acquainted with his new friends, Froggy wanted to invite them to his home. The little-girl beast readily agreed, so Froggy used his soul skill and gave her a light pat. She vanished instantly...]
At this point, Su Mo finally understood how Xiao Wu had arrived.
So he continued reading.
[After Froggy sent the little-girl beast away, the big monkey furiously demanded answers and unleashed his full aura, blowing Froggy into the Lake of Life. Froggy took the opportunity to swim toward the lake bottom. Seeing this, the big monkey cursed him for being crafty and jumped into the lake to chase him...]
Hah, Er Ming is a real goofball too.
As Su Mo silently mocked him, he suddenly remembered that Da Ming had apparently never appeared.
Was he away from home?
But even if Da Ming were there, it'd be fine. With Frog Home, that godlike getaway skill, catching Froggy wouldn't be so easy.
[Froggy had no idea how long he had been diving. The light grew dimmer and dimmer until he could not see his hand in front of his face. With a pop, he seemed to break through something that felt like a barrier, or perhaps a membrane...]
Huh?
A barrier?
Could it be a separate space?
A separate space beneath the Lake of Life... could that be where the Ferocious Beasts and the Silver Dragon King slumbered?
Su Mo's heart leaped into his throat, and he cautiously read on.
[Froggy suddenly felt the water pressure at the lake bottom vanish completely, as though he had switched from water to air in an instant. Then he plunged headfirst, landing on a soft cushion that was squishy and rather springy...]
It really is their slumbering place!
Su Mo felt that Froggy truly had a knack for courting death. He had actually wandered into the Ferocious Beasts' den.
With his travel aura and Frog Home, Froggy should come out alive... right?
This time, even Su Mo was unsure.
If this fool provokes a Ferocious Beast and doesn't use his soul skill in time, he'll probably be blasted into crumbs in an instant...
[Froggy shook his head and looked around, discovering an immensely vast space. Enormous creatures lay asleep nearby: a big bear, a dumb dog, a dopey dragon, a granny tree demon, and a Swan so green she practically glowed...]
Good grief!
Even at a time like this, the log still has to crack jokes.
[The moment Froggy saw the Swan, he could not tear his eyes away. Why did he suddenly feel like eating her? He wasn't a toad yearning for swan meat...]
Su Mo: "..."
All right, all right, you two really are cut from the same cloth.
Having fun being cheeky?
[Froggy suddenly felt the ground moving. Looking closely, he discovered that beneath him was an enormous baby silkworm. The silkworm turned his head and stared unblinkingly at Froggy...]
Huh? The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm?
Surprise appeared on Su Mo's face as he reviewed the original story's plot.
If he remembered correctly, Tian Meng had been hunted by the Ice Empress at thirteen and fallen into a cavern of ten-thousand-year profound ice. Then he had eaten and slept, slept and eaten, until he reached nine hundred thousand years of cultivation. He had burrowed out through the bottom of the cavern into the sea, then eventually made his way to the Star Dou Great Forest.
In an effort to protect himself, he had triggered an extraordinarily devastating beast tide.
In the end, he had still failed to escape being hunted down by the Ferocious Beasts and had spent ten thousand years as their power bank.
Tian Meng had once said that he witnessed the first Shrek Seven Devils ascend to godhood in the Star Dou Great Forest, which inspired him to create a god...
Yet no large-scale beast tide had occurred in the Star Dou Great Forest during Douluo I.
From that, Su Mo could deduce that Tian Meng had been captured before the story began.
So it was no surprise that Froggy could encounter Tian Meng in the slumbering place.
[Froggy waved hello to the baby silkworm. Curious about how Froggy had gotten in, the baby silkworm asked whether he could take him out. Froggy thought it over and said he could invite the baby silkworm to visit his home...]
Gasp!
No way, no way!
Su Mo's eyes widened, his breathing quickened, and anticipation mingled with unease.
If he could recruit Tian Meng, that would certainly be a tremendous help. But snatching food from a tiger's jaws carried an obvious risk.
The reason Tian Meng's escape during Douluo II had produced loud thunder but little rain was that he had already been drained dry. Once he escaped, that was that.
But now this power bank was practically fully charged. How could the Ferocious Beasts possibly let the matter rest?
Abducting Xiao Wu had already offended two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. If he abducted Tian Meng too, wouldn't that set the entire Star Dou Great Forest ablaze?
With those tangled thoughts weighing on him, Su Mo anxiously turned to the next entries in the log.