The streets in the western suburbs of Nuoding City.
The night breeze carried a hint of chill.
It swept away the musty stench of the Black Market clinging to them.
Xiao Wu walked with her hands behind her back.
Her steps lightly followed the cracks between the bricks in the bluestone road.
She suddenly stopped.
Turning around,
she walked backward.
Her big eyes fixed on Su Chen.
"Hey."
"Why did you give him those poisonous herbs just now?"
Xiao Wu tilted her head.
Her two rabbit ears swayed slightly in the night breeze.
"Didn't you say he was a petty man who liked to shoot cold arrows from behind? If you gave him the materials, he'd definitely use them against you."
Su Chen had both hands in the pockets of his fine clothes.
His pace remained steady.
"That's exactly the result I want."
"Why?"
Xiao Wu wrinkled her small nose.
"He has the blueprints. Even if he makes that Repeating Crossbow, it's still just a dead object."
Su Chen gazed calmly ahead.
"He was at the end of his rope in the Black Market, so I gave him a lifeline."
"I want him to think he still has a chance to turn things around."
"I want him to drag those ruined hands of his through endless nights, concocting the poisons he's most proud of."
A cold curve lifted the corner of Su Chen's mouth.
"The hope people clutch at in despair is often deadlier than despair itself."
"Three days from now,"
"when he's used every last trump card and discovers he can't even scratch me,"
"his pride and faith will finally crumble."
Xiao Wu stopped in her tracks as she listened.
She looked at the boy before her, who was only six years old
yet more scheming and domineering than any adult.
She couldn't help shivering.
"You're really devious."
Xiao Wu stepped closer,
moving to Su Chen's side.
"But a shameless fraud like that deserves this kind of treatment."
"I like it."
Xiao Wu lifted her chin,
her tone carrying the frankness and admiration for strength characteristic of the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Be ruthless to your enemies, generous and protective toward your own."
"I've decided. You're my boss."
Su Chen chuckled.
He reached out with his right hand
and gently flicked the rabbit ears atop Xiao Wu's head with his fingertips.
"Come on. Let's head back."
By the time they returned to Dorm Seven,
the dormitory had already been transformed.
Wang Sheng and the others had cleared away all the moldy, broken wooden beds
and replaced them with the finest cotton bedding in the city.
The air was filled with the faint fragrance of insect-repellent powder.
The Work-Study Students were all curled up beneath their blankets.
When they heard Su Chen come in,
they even quieted their breathing,
afraid of disturbing their all-powerful boss.
Su Chen's bed had been placed by the window,
right beside Xiao Wu's.
At that moment,
several beautifully wrapped boxes sat on Xiao Wu's bed.
The owner of the clothing shop had sent them over.
When Xiao Wu saw the boxes,
her eyes lit up at once.
She darted over like a lively rabbit
and tugged open the ribbon on the topmost one.
Inside was the pink-and-white Fairy Flowing Dress she'd admired that day.
"Wow."
Xiao Wu let out a soft gasp.
Her fingers carefully stroked the smooth Ice Silkworm Silk fabric.
She looked up at Su Chen,
her cheeks faintly flushed.
"I'm going to change and try it on."
Before Su Chen could answer,
Xiao Wu grabbed the dress
and slipped behind a makeshift curtain in the corner of the dormitory like a gust of wind.
The rustle of fabric came from behind the curtain.
Su Chen walked over and sat down beside his bed.
He picked up the teapot on the table
and poured himself a cup of warm water.
Before half an incense stick had burned,
a small, fair hand lifted the curtain.
"Su Chen."
Xiao Wu's voice held a rare hint of bashfulness.
Su Chen set down his cup
and looked up.
Xiao Wu kept her head lowered,
gently pinching the hem of the Fairy Flowing Dress between her hands
as she slowly stepped out.
The pink-and-white skirt rippled in waves with each step.
The Ice Silkworm Silk perfectly outlined her slender figure.
She looked less wild than before,
and radiantly delicate instead.
Xiao Wu stopped in front of Su Chen.
She lifted her head,
her big eyes glittering with anticipation.
Then she spun around once.
"Does it look good?"
Her skirt fluttered,
stirring a faint, sweet fragrance.
Su Chen let his gaze linger on her for a moment.
"It suits you."
His tone was gentle.
"But..."
He pointed at the top of Xiao Wu's head.
"Your hair's a mess."
Xiao Wu had undone her Scorpion Braid while changing into the complicated Fairy Flowing Dress.
Now her long black hair spilled over her shoulders,
looking rather untidy.
Xiao Wu grabbed a handful of her hair,
her brows furrowing in distress.
"The fabric was so slippery. I accidentally pulled my braid apart while changing."
"I usually just braid it myself, however I feel like. Now it's all messed up."
Su Chen patted the empty spot beside him on the bed.
"Come over and sit down."
Xiao Wu froze for a moment.
"What for?"
"I'll comb your hair."
Su Chen took an exquisite wooden comb from his Void Ring.
He'd bought it on the shopping street earlier that day.
Xiao Wu's eyes widened.
"You know how to comb hair?"
"Less talk. Come here."
Su Chen's tone held a hint of domineering finality.
Xiao Wu bit her lip,
the blush on her cheeks spreading to her ears.
She obediently walked over,
sat down on the bed,
and turned her back to Su Chen.
Su Chen held the wooden comb
and gently gathered a lock of Xiao Wu's long hair in his left hand.
Her hair was cool and silky,
with a pleasant scent of carrots.
The comb slid slowly downward,
following the strands.
Su Chen's movements were incredibly gentle.
He didn't pull a single hair.
Xiao Wu sat on the edge of the bed,
her body a little stiff.
She could clearly feel Su Chen's fingertips occasionally brush the back of her neck.
That faint warmth
seemed to carry an electric current,
making her heart beat faster despite herself.
"You..."
Xiao Wu tried to make conversation,
hoping to ease the ambiguous atmosphere that left her so flustered.
"Do you often comb other people's hair? You're so good at it."
"No."
Su Chen used his fingertips to separate a tangled strand.
His voice came from above her head.
"You're the first."
Xiao Wu's heart skipped a beat.
She lowered her head.
Her hands twisted the pink-and-white hem of her skirt.
"Then..."
"Then, from now on, will you only braid my hair for me?"
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Even Xiao Wu herself was startled.
As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast,
she didn't understand the twists and turns of the human world.
She only followed her instincts, reaching for whatever felt warm to her.
Su Chen's hand paused slightly.
Then he continued braiding.
"Okay."
Just one word.
Yet it felt like a weighty promise.
It landed in Xiao Wu's heart.
The corners of Xiao Wu's mouth lifted uncontrollably.
Her rabbit ears gave two cheerful twitches.
In less than a quarter of an hour,
a sleek, elegant Scorpion Braid was finished.
Su Chen picked up the Carrot Wooden Hairpin.
He slid it precisely through the bun,
securing it firmly in place.
"Done."
Su Chen set down the wooden comb.
Xiao Wu turned around.
Her big eyes sparkled as she looked at Su Chen.
"Thank you."
She suddenly leaned in
and gave Su Chen's cheek a quick peck.
Then, like a startled rabbit,
she lifted her skirt and ran back to her bed.
She yanked up the covers and hid her head beneath them.
Su Chen touched the cheek she'd kissed,
and chuckled softly.
The scene from the original story where Tang San won Xiao Wu's affection by combing her hair
had been completely stolen by him.
The heart of this Soft Bone Rabbit
had already turned entirely toward him.
At the same time,
outside Nuoding City,
inside a dilapidated temple open to the wind on all sides,
the air reeked of something rank and pungent.
A feeble fire flickered in the wind.
Tang San knelt beside the fire.
Several battered clay pots sat before him.
All ten of his fingers had been broken,
and were wrapped in thick bandages.
By now,
blood and black medicinal liquid had stained the bandages a deep red and black.
"Hiss."
Tang San let out a pained gasp.
He could only grip a wooden stick with the edge of his palm,
struggling to grind the Black-Tailed Snake's venom glands and Rotten Bone Grass in a clay pot.
Every time he exerted himself,
his fractured finger bones sent stabbing, excruciating pain through him.
Beads of cold sweat rolled off the tip of his nose,
spattering onto the dusty ground.
"Su Chen."
Tang San's eyes were bloodshot.
His eyeballs were webbed with savage red veins.
Like a furious beast, he glared at the dancing flames.
"The grudge for my broken fingers."
"The hatred for my destroyed diagram."
Tang San gritted his teeth
and poured the ground Datura Pollen into the clay pot.
Sizzle.
A plume of black smoke rose from the pot.
A deadly poison.
Blood-Sorrow.
At last, it was ready.
Tang San used his wrist to pick up the only Silent Sleeve Arrow he had left.
Carefully, he dipped the arrowhead into the pot.
A ghostly blue sheen of poison instantly coated the arrowhead.
Just a tiny scratch from this poison
would kill an elephant within three breaths.
This was the trump card he'd bought with half his life.
"Think you're so arrogant?"
Tang San stared at the Sleeve Arrow coated in poison.
His face twisted violently with pain and hatred.
"Three days from now,"
"I'll drive this poisoned arrow into your throat with my own hands."
"I'll make you kneel at my feet and pay for your arrogance."
The cold wind blew into the ruined temple
and snuffed out the fire.
In the darkness,
only Tang San's eyes remained, brimming with murderous fury.
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