After pursuing him for half an hour, they finally stopped. They had lost track of him.
The main reason was that Wan Hun's Martial Soul Avatar had run out of time, so he had decisively retreated.
There were no traces of battle left, and it was pitch-black at night, making it impossible to track him.
Though disappointed, Yang Hao didn't linger. He immediately returned to his previous hideout to rest, then activated the Golden Finger's Insight Boost. He studied the Phoenix Flame he had devoured, comparing it with the Ultimate Ice attribute he had obtained from the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone.
He continued until dawn. Just as Yang Hao was about to gnaw on some rations, a ball of fire flew past in the distance. Then, as if sensing his presence, it changed course and swooped toward him.
At the same time, the Phoenix Flame on Yang Hao's Spider Leg Soul Bone began to resonate with the newcomer.
Needless to say, it was Ma Xiaotao.
Before Yang Hao could react, Ma Xiaotao swooped down at great speed and knocked him to the ground. Her hot, red lips came down on his, trying to steal the first kiss he had treasured for two lifetimes.
"What's going on?"
Yang Hao was stunned. Acting on instinct, he turned his head aside, protecting his pure first kiss.
But what the hell was going on?
Then he met Ma Xiaotao's dazed eyes and felt the violent, sinister aura continuously erupting from her. He immediately understood.
Her Evil Fire had flared up, and she'd lost control.
Unlike Ma Hongjun ten thousand years ago, Ma Hongjun was a man and could go to certain places to vent his Evil Fire. But Ma Xiaotao was a woman, so she naturally couldn't do that and had chosen to suppress it instead.
But as the saying went, a blockage was worse than a release. Suppressing it seemed fine under normal circumstances, but once it erupted, it could be fatal and make someone lose control.
In the original story, Ma Xiaotao had lost control plenty of times because of this. Clearly, it had happened again—and perhaps Wan Hun had something to do with it.
So now the question was: should he resist fiercely, even unto death, or save a life and earn seven levels of merit?
"Goodness, I'm just too kind!"
After looking over Ma Xiaotao's looks, Yang Hao sighed and finally decided to sacrifice himself to save her from the demon.
What could he do? He had a Heart of Goodness.
With that thought, he brought his hand down like a knife on the back of Ma Xiaotao's neck.
The blow made Ma Xiaotao sway, but she continued acting on instinct.
"TV dramas really are all lies!"
After a moment's silence, Yang Hao took a wooden stick from his Storage Soul Tool and brought it down. At last, the girl went still.
Without wasting time, he controlled the fire-attributed Spider Leg to pierce Ma Xiaotao's shoulder and devoured the Soul Power in her body, along with the sinister aura.
He didn't have some bad habit of giving selflessly. He was willing to save her, but not for free. Her Phoenix Evil Fire was the best payment.
He'd felt that he hadn't absorbed enough before. Now that she'd delivered herself right to him, he naturally had to take a little more.
After all, this was Ultimate Fire—an extremely rare attribute.
As the Soul Power and sinister aura inside her were devoured, Ma Xiaotao's condition gradually stabilized. She stopped twisting and struggling.
Meanwhile, Dai Yueheng and the others were tracking them from behind. Unfortunately, they didn't know that Ma Xiaotao had changed course because of the Phoenix Flame on someone's body. They kept charging straight along their original route and could only miss her.
After devouring all the Soul Power in Ma Xiaotao's body, Yang Hao decisively slung her over his shoulder and moved elsewhere.
That was right. He wasn't going to let Ma Xiaotao go back. For one thing, he needed to devour more Phoenix Flame to evolve his fire-attributed Spider Leg. For another, Ma Xiaotao was a fine offering to win someone's favor.
In the original story, as the Fire Phoenix Saintess, she was greatly favored by Feng Ling, the Holy Spirit Cult's deputy leader. Feng Ling had even risked attacking Shrek Academy with her people to forcibly take Ma Xiaotao away, naming her the Holy Spirit Cult's Fire Phoenix Saintess and raising her as a disciple and successor.
This was an important bargaining chip for him to rise through the Holy Spirit Cult, earn more money, become the Holy Son and Holy Master, marry a beautiful rich woman, and reach the peak of his life.
Carrying Ma Xiaotao, he raced along. Whenever she woke up, he knocked her out again, then devoured the Soul Power her body had regenerated. During that time, he only gave her a little water to drink.
He ran out of the Mingdou Mountain Range and traveled hundreds of miles into the Sun Moon Empire before stopping. There, he found a secluded spot and continued devouring Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Flame.
Once she entered the Holy Spirit Cult, her status would be noble. It would certainly be difficult to devour her Phoenix Flame then, so he had to absorb as much as he could while he still had the chance.
When Ma Xiaotao woke again, she rubbed the back of her aching head. Feeling the large bump there, she grimaced in pain.
"Who are you?"
Once she had come to her senses, she glared at the boy through gritted teeth.
"My name is Yang Hao. You should recognize it."
Yang Hao was turning the roast meat over. He answered and gave his name.
"Yang Hao?"
Ma Xiaotao was puzzled, then suddenly understood. Her eyes widened.
"You're that Yang Hao—the Evil Soul Master who killed seven Shrek teachers and students half a year ago."
She knew the name well. It was the first mission she had failed after joining the Shrek Inspectorate.
Afterward, the academy and Dai Yueheng had contacted the three great empires to put up wanted notices. His identity had even been confirmed at the Strength Clan. He had apparently murdered the Strength Clan leader's son and grandson as well.
She hadn't expected to run into that damned Evil Soul Master again.
Chapter 16: Holy Spirit's Deputy Leader
"How dare you ruin my innocence!"
Feeling a stinging, cool sensation below, and recalling some fragmented images from when she'd lost control, Ma Xiaotao ground her teeth in hatred. An Evil Soul Master had ruined her innocence!
"You can't just say whatever you like."
Yang Hao was stunned for a moment, then retorted irritably.
"I only knocked you unconscious and devoured the Phoenix Evil Fire in your body. I didn't do anything else."
"Still trying to deny it? I could feel it, and you took off one of my long stockings and boots."
Ma Xiaotao wanted to burn him to ashes.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a trace of Soul Power left in her body, and her hands and feet were cuffed. She couldn't fight back even if she wanted to.
"Pretty face, empty head."
Yang Hao shook his head in exasperation and pointed to the golden catheter inserted into the thigh-high stocking on Ma Xiaotao's leg.
"That's a catheter I made out of a Gold Soul Coin. I was carrying you while sprinting, and you were bouncing around so much that you wet yourself. I had to find a way to help you relieve yourself. It was my first time making one, so I wasn't very skilled. It might have caused a little damage, but at most it would have stung a bit. I've already applied medicine through the catheter, so you won't get inflamed or infected.
"You wet one of your stockings, so I had to take it off and burn it. I didn't want to run around smelling like you."
Even a beauty had to eat, drink, and relieve herself. It was a basic bodily function and hard to avoid—unless one became a god.
"A catheter?"
Ma Xiaotao looked down in a daze at the thin golden tube. Her mind immediately conjured up a few indecent images. Her fair cheeks flushed red, and she clenched her teeth even harder.
"I'll kill you!"
That bastard was too hateful. He had to die!
"Your Shrek Academy is full of people who don't use their brains. No wonder you get used by others without even realizing it. How pitiful. How tragic."
Yang Hao took a bite of roast meat, voicing his disdain for Shrek, along with a suppressed hatred.
The highest level of acting was to throw oneself into a role completely and merge with the character. Fortunately, this hatred was real, so he only needed to act as himself.
"Don't insult Shrek!"
Ma Xiaotao was furious. He could insult her all he wanted, but insulting Shrek was absolutely unacceptable.
"I'm not insulting them. I'm stating facts."
Yang Hao set down the roast meat and made a grief-stricken accusation. "Four and a half years ago, a clan was wiped out over a Soul Bone. Only one person escaped with the Soul Bone, but he was too badly injured and eventually died on the road.
"My parents came across his corpse and obtained the Soul Bone. They gave it to my older brother to assimilate.
"Although they erased every trace at the time, someone still found out. That person was Tai Wuji, the son of Tai Jingang, the Strength Clan leader. He had been my parents' comrade-in-arms and had shared a life-and-death bond with them.
"My parents served in the army. He framed them, triggering the evil attribute in one of my mother's Soul Rings and turning her into an Evil Soul Master. He even arranged for her to kill many people.
"Then he reported them to the White Tiger Duke, who was stationed with the border army. The duke stripped my parents of their military posts and ordered them hunted down.
"My parents fought their way out back then. In the end, they came to see me and my brother, then left. They never came back.
"Only afterward did I learn that your Shrek Inspectorate had taken part, killing and beheading my parents and taking their heads back as proof. Their bodies must have been abandoned in the wilderness and devoured by beasts.
"The Strength Clan later plotted against my older brother and stole his Soul Bone. They shattered my Martial Soul, too, then took me to their clan under the pretense of adopting and caring for me. I didn't find a chance to take revenge and escape until half a year ago.
"After that, I ran into people from Shrek who wanted to take me back.
"The Strength Clan originated from the Tang Sect. They're followers of the Sea God and have close ties with Shrek. Some of their disciples even study at Shrek. Tai Jingang and Tai Wuji, father and son, both came from Shrek Academy.
"I knew I couldn't let Shrek take me back, or I'd be killed. Nobody would believe me, either. So I killed them. After that, I kept hiding and fleeing until I reached the Sun Moon Empire.
"Heaven must have taken pity on me. It let me meet you here, a genius of Shrek Academy."
After pouring out all this, Yang Hao gave the girl a cold look, then continued eating his roast meat.
"Impossible. You're lying. You're an Evil Soul Master."
Ma Xiaotao was stunned for a long while before coming to her senses. She immediately denied it. She would never believe an Evil Soul Master's words.
"Do you see this? It's called Metal Control. It's a skill from that Soul Bone. I shaped your catheter out of a Gold Soul Coin."
Yang Hao controlled the small knife he'd been using to cut the meat, making it circle beside him to show that this was the Soul Bone's power.
"Don't think you can fool me."
Ma Xiaotao didn't believe him for a second. An Evil Soul Master's words could never be trusted, and she didn't believe that Shrek would be used like that, let alone manipulated into killing someone by another's hand.
"Why would I lie to someone who's about to die?"
Yang Hao sneered. He had told her all this mainly to plant a new idea in her mind.
After all, they'd be colleagues soon. It would be a hassle if they ended up at odds.
As a member of the Holy Spirit Cult—and its future Holy Son and Holy Master—he had to work hard for the unity of the cult. He couldn't afford even the slightest carelessness.
"Wait, I think I've heard your voice somewhere before."
Ma Xiaotao noticed something and thought about it for a long while before remembering, though she wasn't sure.
"Are you the Number Nine from the Starlight Auction House?"
Before you continue