Targeting Xiao Wu

"What is it?"

Xiao Wu had decided to just give up; since she couldn't resist Shang An anyway, she might as well comply for now.

"You don't need to do anything, just take a nap."

As Shang An spoke, his power of the mind quietly activated.

"You are sleepy, you need to sleep."

Having just experienced a massive emotional rollercoaster, Xiao Wu's mental fortitude was not particularly strong, and she had no power to resist at all.

"So sleepy..."

"Then sleep."

"Sleep, good girl."

Xiao Wu let out a yawn and drifted into a deep slumber.

Shang An smiled slightly, his power of the mind probing into Xiao Wu's heart. He didn't have the patience to slowly break her in, so he had no choice but to plant a Seed of Heart directly.

The process was longer than Shang An had imagined; Xiao Wu's defenses against him were too strong, making it difficult for his power of the mind to break through. However, once he breached the first layer of her mental defenses, Shang An's progress accelerated significantly.

He searched Xiao Wu's inner heart for the image of her mother and mimicked her mother's aura. Feeling that familiar presence, a smile appeared on Xiao Wu's lips; she seemed to be having a sweet dream and unconsciously lowered her mental defenses.

Suddenly, a tyrannical aura erupted from the direction of Nuoding Academy, and a powerful mental force swept toward them. Shang An calmly activated the Taiyi Dharma Domain, shrouding himself and Xiao Wu within it, while Ni Huang stepped forward to meet the intruder.

"Unknown Title Douluo, are you provoking my Spirit Hall?"

Tang Hao remained draped in his black robe, staring at Ni Huang for a long time. Seeing no change in her expression, he finally spoke slowly:

"Apologies, an elder like me had a junior abducted in Nuoding City, and I was desperate to find them."

After returning to Nuoding Academy and seeing the miserable state of Tang San and Yu Xiaogang, Tang Hao had been furious. He questioned Yu Xiaogang and learned that Xiao Wu had been taken away by her fiancé.

What a joke. If that good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang didn't know, did he, the mighty Haotian Douluo, not know? Xiao Wu was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form; where would she get a fiancé?

He suspected that Spirit Hall had discovered Xiao Wu's identity as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast and taken her. But if it were Spirit Hall, there would be no need to stage this "fiancé" act in front of Tang San. Given Spirit Hall's arrogance and dominance, they would have just snatched her away; why hide it?

There was another possibility: she had been taken by another transformed soul beast. Thinking about it carefully, it wasn't impossible. Could it be that another soul beast had taken Xiao Wu, and Xiao Wu had staged this act so Tang San wouldn't worry?

Tang Hao's imagination ran wild, and he felt as if he had grasped the truth.

However, he still chose to come here to investigate. After all, the timing was too coincidental—just as he was in a standoff with Ling Yuan, his son was humiliated by a "fiancé." It made him unsure if this had anything to do with Spirit Hall.

Now, seeing Ni Huang's expression, which didn't seem faked, and detecting no aura of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast with his mental scan—one had to know that the aura of an underage hundred-thousand-year soul beast was like a torch to a Title Douluo and could not be hidden—he was certain of his other theory. She must have been taken by another soul beast. Two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts! At the thought of this, Tang Hao felt a surge of greed.

"Are you suspecting that my Spirit Hall abducted your junior?"

Ni Huang naturally knew why Tang Hao was so anxious, but she still feigned anger; if one was going to act, one had to commit to the role.

"My apologies, I was just acting in haste."

Since he was certain Xiao Wu wasn't there, Tang Hao naturally didn't want to tangle with Ni Huang any further. After offering an apology, he prepared to continue searching in other directions. Two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were a treasure beyond measure; he had to at least find Xiao Wu.

Unfortunately, he was destined to come up empty-handed this time, because Xiao Wu was currently in a private room less than a hundred meters away from him, yet he remained completely oblivious.

Are you awake?

Shang An looked at the little girl in his arms whose eyes were slightly open.

"Where am I?"

Xiao Wu's clear, watery eyes scanned the world and the man before her, as innocent as when she had first transformed.

"In my arms, of course!"

The man's voice reached her, and Xiao Wu instantly became much more alert, remembering her situation.

"Shang An."

"Hmm?"

Hearing Xiao Wu address him by name, Shang An frowned, appearing somewhat displeased.

"Master."

Xiao Wu quickly corrected herself. She didn't know why, but she felt much less resistance to calling Shang An "Master" than before. She even felt that his scent was pleasant; staying by his side felt like resting in her mother's embrace.

Hearing her change her address, Shang An nodded in satisfaction.

"Since you're awake, it's time for us to go."

"Ah, go where?"

Hearing that they were leaving, Xiao Wu felt a bit lost—a sense of bewilderment regarding the future.

"Naturally, you go wherever I go. Remember, you are my pet now."

"Oh, I know."

Xiao Wu didn't know why she had answered so naturally, even though she should have hated this person.

"How much longer do you intend to stay in my arms?"

"Ah!"

Xiao Wu suddenly felt a bit shy, quickly escaping from Shang An's embrace, though in her heart, there was an inexplicable sense of reluctance.

"Let's go."

Xiao Wu followed Shang An outside and discovered that the horizon was only just beginning to turn a pale white, with the surroundings shrouded in a hazy mist. Wait, did he hold me for the entire night? Xiao Wu snuck a glance at Shang An walking ahead, and to her surprise, a sense of being moved welled up in her heart.

This bad master might like to bully people occasionally, but he is actually quite a gentle person after all.

After leaving Nuoding City, Ni Huang had already prepared a carriage.

Once inside, Shang An took out a handkerchief, which still had specks of blood on it.

Shang An closed his eyes, holding the handkerchief in his left hand while his right hand performed calculations. He could now barely utilize the predictive abilities of the Taiyi Divine Calculation, but to pinpoint the specific location of a person or object, he still required an item associated with them.

Xiao Wu, sitting in the carriage, couldn't understand what Shang An was doing, but she didn't dare make a sound to disturb him.

After a moment, Shang An opened his eyes, a look of exhaustion on his face, and stopped his movements.

Found it.

"Sister Ni Huang, head in this direction for about one hundred kilometers. There is something I need there."

Shang An pointed his finger toward the east.

Ni Huang, who was driving the carriage outside, acknowledged the order and turned to head in the direction Shang An had specified.

Because there was no urgent rush, Shang An did not have Ni Huang fly them there; sitting in the carriage was a good chance to rest. Shang An lay directly across Xiao Wu's jade-like legs and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

Watching Shang An look so defenseless against her, a look of struggle appeared in Xiao Wu's eyes. If she made a move now, she might have a chance... No, that wouldn't work. It was other people from Spirit Hall who killed her mother, not him, and he is actually a good person. I can't do this.

Right, Spirit Hall is Spirit Hall, and Shang An is Shang An.

Thinking this way, Xiao Wu felt much better inside. She did not know that Lingyuan Douluo outside was watching her closely with her spiritual power; if she dared to show even the slightest intention of attacking, she would be blasted into dust.

Looking at Shang An again after letting go of her killing intent, the feeling was different.

A dazed look flashed in Xiao Wu's eyes. Why is this bad master so good-looking? And the scent on him is so similar to Mother's.

Xiao Wu shifted her body slightly to make Shang An more comfortable as he lay there.

The carriage traveled for about five hours, going all the way from Nuoding City to the back mountain of a small village. Beyond that was a valley where the carriage could not pass.

Shang An was woken up from his sleep and stretched his back.

"Let's go. We're looking for a cave with a waterfall."

It had to be said that Tang Hao was very good at hiding, but he never expected that someone would know how to perform divination.

This valley was not large, and under the coverage of Ni Huang's spiritual power, they quickly found the cave with the waterfall.

Ni Huang used her spirit power to hold back the flow of the waterfall and walked in first, followed by Shang An and the curious Xiao Wu.

"This is... Blue Silver Grass?"

Xiao Wu looked curiously at the only plant in the cave, that somewhat withered Blue Silver Grass. Isn't this just a common plant found everywhere? Wait, San... Tang San's spirit is also this.

The cave was very small and barren inside; the only thing there was this Blue Silver Grass that looked like it had been planted by someone.

"Why would someone plant Blue Silver Grass here? Although Blue Silver Grass has tenacious vitality, the environment here is too poor."

"This is no ordinary Blue Silver Grass, but the emperor among them, the Blue Silver Emperor."

"Blue Silver Emperor?"

Lingyuan Douluo was lost in thought. The only known Blue Silver Emperor in this world was the one that had once transformed into human form.

"Could it be that spirit beast from nine years ago?"

"That's right."

Shang An nodded.

"This is Tang Hao's former wife, a one-hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor—A Yin."

"A one-hundred-thousand-year spirit beast?!"

Xiao Wu was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected that besides her mother and herself, another one-hundred-thousand-year spirit beast had chosen to transform into human form.