Xiao Wu, You Wouldn't Want Tang San...

"Pop."

Her lips brushed against a trace of warmth,

"Mmm~ Mmm!"

Xiao Wu suddenly opened her eyes and found herself face-to-face with Shang An. Looking at the playful expression in his eyes, she suddenly felt like a toy, a plaything being wantonly toyed with by the man before her.

"Mmph! What are you doing!"

Xiao Wu pushed Shang An away with all her strength and stood up. Of course, this was also because Shang An had offered no resistance.

"Weren't you the one who asked me to come?"

Shang An showed not the slightest hint of embarrassment.

"I thought you wanted me to kiss you."

"You... I..."

Xiao Wu was so angry that she could barely speak. How could this handsome human be so shameless? What a waste of such a fine appearance.

After working hard to calm herself, Xiao Wu looked at Shang An with a resolute expression.

"Tell me, what exactly do you want?"

"Oh? What do I want?"

Shang An looked Xiao Wu up and down. People on the Douluo Continent matured relatively quickly. Nine-year-old Xiao Wu was already beginning to show the makings of long legs. Her jade-like legs were graceful, rounded, and slender.

Xiao Wu felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny and unconsciously pressed her legs together.

Shang An was definitely not paying attention to those slender, alluring legs. Little Rabbit was an important opportunity for Tang San to obtain two godhoods, and she was also a transformed Spirit Beast. He planned to study the differences between transformed Spirit Beasts and demons.

"How about becoming my pet?"

"A pet?!"

Xiao Wu was stunned. What was this man thinking? Not only did he refuse to kill her, he even wanted her to become his pet. Although she was a Spirit Beast, she would absolutely never become a human's pet, especially not the pet of this detestable man before her. Absolutely not.

"Impossible. Just kill me."

"Oh? Is that so? What about Tang San? You don't care about him?"

"What are you planning to do? Third Brother is a human too."

Hearing Shang An threaten her with Tang San, Xiao Wu immediately panicked. Although she had only known Tang San for three years, she could feel that he truly treated her like a younger sister, and she cherished their relationship.

"A human? Let's say he is one. Xiao Wu, you wouldn't want anything to happen to Tang San, would you?"

Shang An's tone was calm and unhurried, but it placed immense pressure on Xiao Wu.

"Y-you... what exactly are you trying to do?"

"I told you. I want you to become my pet."

Shang An calmly repeated himself.

"Impossible!"

Xiao Wu gritted her teeth.

"Sister Ni Huang, go kill Tang San now."

Shang An did not try to persuade her again. Instead, he spoke to Ni Huang, who was standing nearby. Ni Huang obediently nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Seeing how decisive Shang An was, Xiao Wu immediately grew anxious.

"Why do you insist on making me your pet?"

Shang An gave a scornful laugh.

"Why? Because I want to. Is that not allowed?"

"Forget it. Since you're unwilling, Sister Ni Huang..."

"Don't! I agree!"

When she said those words, Xiao Wu clenched her silver teeth, her face filled with inner conflict.

"I didn't force you. You agreed of your own free will."

Shang An lifted Xiao Wu's chin and spoke somewhat frivolously.

"Yes! Yes, I agreed willingly."

Xiao Wu had wanted to avoid Shang An's hand, but she was afraid of angering him and making him send that woman to kill Tang San. She could only force herself to remain still and grit her teeth as she echoed Shang An's shameless words.

Shang An pulled Xiao Wu into his arms again and played with her hair.

"Don't worry. As long as you behave, I won't do anything to Tang San for the time being."

"...Mm."

Xiao Wu's delicate body trembled slightly. She instinctively wanted to break free, but when she thought of Tang San, she ultimately nodded obediently.

The scent on this bad man is so nice, and his embrace is so warm.

But when she thought of her mother, who had died at the hands of Spirit Hall, she immediately gathered her thoughts.

No, I can't let this bad man fool me. He's also from Spirit Hall. He even used Third Brother to threaten me just now. He's a truly terrible person.

Three hours earlier,

Tang San sat in the carriage, still thinking about what fun things he could bring back for Xiao Wu after returning from the hunt. Xiao Wu was still angry from yesterday. Sigh, wasn't it just forgetting one date? No wonder my senior brothers in the Tang Sect used to say women were a huge nuisance.

"Little San, what's wrong?"

Yu Xiaogang, sitting beside him, immediately asked with concern when he saw his beloved disciple's troubled expression.

"I'm fine, Teacher."

Naturally, he would not tell his teacher about such trivial matters between a boy and a girl who were like siblings, so he instead asked,

"Teacher, what kind of Spirit Beast should I hunt for my second Spirit Ring?"

When Yu Xiaogang heard Tang San ask about Spirit Ring knowledge, the subject was naturally redirected. He cleared his throat and paused briefly before speaking.

"Little San, according to my research, the limit for a second Spirit Ring is seven hundred and sixty-four years... Your Blue Silver Grass lacks... Therefore, my requirement for your Spirit Ring is a Ghost Vine between six hundred and seven hundred years old."

When discussing his own theoretical knowledge, Yu Xiaogang was eloquent and confident. Tang San looked at Yu Xiaogang with admiration. This was his teacher, the foremost authority in the field of Martial Soul theory.

Even the Nuoding Academy's dean, sitting nearby, wore a reverent expression. He had initially been won over by Yu Xiaogang's theories and believed that Yu Xiaogang was merely an unrecognized talent who would eventually have his day. Otherwise, he would never have allowed Yu Xiaogang to eat and live at Nuoding Academy for more than a decade.

One had to admit, Grandmaster truly was Grandmaster. His talent for deception had reached perfection. Once he presented some basic theories together with his own guesses, they immediately sounded profound and impressive.

The carriage arrived at the entrance of the Soul Hunting Forest amid Yu Xiaogang's little lecture. Yu Xiaogang got out and stood with his hands behind his back. The Nuoding Academy dean handed a token to the guards, and after it was inspected, the three of them were allowed through.

After Tang San and the others entered the Soul Hunting Forest, a black-clad figure also followed them inside. She did not travel with them, instead scattering specially prepared incense around the Soul Hunting Forest, taking particular care to cover Tang San's retreat route.

Before long, the Spirit Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest became frenzied.

"Damn it, what's wrong with these Spirit Beasts today?"

A Spirit Grandmaster desperately fought off the Silver Moon Wolf before him, but before he could catch his breath, another Silver Moon Wolf that had crept up behind him pounced, biting his entire head off.

"Third Brother!"

"Third Brother!"

"Damn it, these wretched Spirit Beasts! Liu Zi, get Xiao Ba and the others out of here. I'll hold them off."

The Soul Elder leading the group wore a resolute expression. His three Spirit Rings flashed as he charged toward the pack of Silver Moon Wolves.

"Big Brother!"

"Go, don't worry about me!"

"Go!"

Liu Zi and the others took one last look at their big brother before turning and running. No one knew how long they ran, but several of them were ambushed by Spirit Beasts along the way and were buried forever in the Soul Hunting Forest.

The entire group now consisted of only Liu Zi and Xiao Ba.

"Brother Liu, go on without me. I... I really can't walk anymore."

Xiao Ba's leg suddenly gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground. An Shadow Fox had bitten through the artery in his right leg. He had only given it a simple bandage, and being able to hold on until now was already an incredible feat of willpower.

"Xiao Ba, what are you saying? If you die, how am I supposed to explain it to your family? How could I face Big Brother after he fought to the death to protect us?"

Liu Zi berated him.

"I'll help you. We'll leave together!"

As he spoke, he stepped forward to help Xiao Ba up, but Xiao An broke free of him and pointed shakily behind him.

"Behind you... behind you..."

Liu Zi suddenly turned around. The sight nearly scared him to death. A bloody maw dripping with saliva was pressed right behind him, its pale fangs gleaming with a chilly light. Eight crimson eyes stared fixedly at the two of them, as if considering where to bite first.

"King of the Earth! How could there be a King of the Earth here?"

Liu Zi tripped in his panic and fell onto the ground. His face turned as pale as its fangs, without a trace of color.

The King of the Earth was bloodthirsty and possessed tremendous attack power. Although it was not as poisonous as the Man Faced Demon Spider, it was still one of the Spirit Beasts these adventurers least wanted to encounter.

This King of the Earth was roughly eight hundred years old. Even at their team's peak, they would not have dared provoke it lightly, much less now, when only two battered survivors remained.

Perhaps this was fate. Over the years, their adventuring group had accepted countless commissions to make money and hunted countless Spirit Beasts. Now it was their turn to die in the mouths of Spirit Beasts.

In despair, the two could only close their eyes and await death. Yet after a long while, death still did not come. Liu Zi opened his eyes and saw that the top of the King of the Earth's head had been pierced. It had clearly been killed in a single blow.

He immediately realized that someone had saved him and dragged his broken body to kneel and bow toward the empty space.

"Thank you for saving us, senior."

What he would never know was that the senior he thanked was also the mastermind who had incited the Spirit Beast rampage.

"Xiao Ba, Xiao Ba."

After bowing, Liu Zi saw that Xiao Ba was still unmoving and hurried over to check on him. Only after discovering that he had merely fainted did he let out a sigh of relief. He carried Xiao Ba on his back and walked toward the edge of the Soul Hunting Forest.

A figure remained concealed in the darkness. After seeing the two leave, she also turned away. She still needed to get more people to spread the news of the Spirit Beast rampage in the Soul Hunting Forest.

There were naturally more than one or two adventurers like Liu Zi and Xiao Ba. Before long, news that something had happened in the Soul Hunting Forest spread throughout Nuoding City.

The mercenaries who had been lucky enough to survive further fueled the discussion.

"Have you heard? The Spirit Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest have gone berserk."

"I heard that even several Soul Ancestors were trapped in there."

"Heh, your news is already outdated. I heard a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast entered the Soul Hunting Forest to take revenge on humanity and is preparing to unleash a beast tide."

"What? A beast tide? What are we supposed to do?"

"What else? Pack up and leave."

"Hmph, who cares what kind of beast tide it is? If the sky falls, someone tall will hold it up."

"Stop talking nonsense. How could a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast be in the Soul Hunting Forest?"

"Who's talking nonsense? My cousin's aunt's nephew is a guard at the Soul Hunting Forest. Let me tell you..."

At that moment, a scruffy, utterly dejected middle-aged man dressed like a blacksmith suddenly sprang to his feet. The muscles throughout his body tensed, and the wine bottle in his hand was crushed to pieces.

"What did you say!"