Three years later.
Su Qing stepped into the Star Dou Great Forest once more. This time, he had come to hunt for his third Soul Ring. As for why he had cultivated so quickly, he owed it all to a trip back to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well not long ago. The moment he entered, Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass pinned him down and made Youyou stuff Primordial Immortal Grass into his mouth. He absorbed nearly all of its surging Soul Power, and rose six levels in one fell swoop.
As a result, less than two years after obtaining his Second Soul Ring, he broke through to level thirty.
His Second Soul Ring had come from a Light-Dark Illusion Butterfly, a Soul Beast with both light and dark attributes. Although it wasn't very strong offensively, a single flap of its wings could easily create an illusion. After absorbing the Soul Ring of a five-thousand-year-old Light-Dark Illusion Butterfly, he had gained a domain-type Soul Skill: Light-Dark Intertwining.
Just as its name suggested, it used light and dark attributes to weave an illusory domain. Anyone who stepped into it would suffer a twenty percent drop in their perceptive abilities. If the gap in strength was great enough, he could even control their senses—their sight, hearing, and touch—and even capture their thoughts. But so far, he hadn't encountered anyone whose thoughts he could capture.
As for his third Soul Skill, he really hadn't decided what he wanted. He'd leveled up so quickly this time that he hadn't even had time to plan properly.
Still, as the saying went, since he was already here, he might as well go find the Three-Eyed Golden Lion first. He'd been in such a hurry when he came for his Second Soul Ring that he'd barely stayed. That little girl was probably still grumbling about him in secret.
"But did Gu Yuena really go to sleep? Why hasn't there been a peep from her? I remember she was just as restless as I was back then. How could she sleep?"
Sensing the familiar spiritual power, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion opened her eyes. She had been sprawled lazily on a rock, basking in the sun, but now she looked toward the direction from which Su Qing's spiritual power came and shot off like an arrow.
At the same time, Su Qing was ambling along elsewhere when he faintly heard someone crying.
"Hm? What's that? Don't tell me the Star Dou Great Forest is haunted."
Puzzled, he spread his spiritual power out again and discovered a little girl crying. She looked like she'd gotten separated from her family. In that case, let the kindhearted Lord Su Qing come to your rescue!
At the same time, a green-haired little girl with twin ponytails was bawling helplessly where she stood. She had gotten separated from her family after they'd unfortunately encountered a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
"Hey, little girl! Daring to run into the forest all by yourself? I'm gonna eat you!"
Su Qing's sleazy voice came from all around her. The little girl had never experienced anything like this. She'd been sobbing her heart out, but now she let out a piercing scream.
"Ah! I haven't bathed in three years! I'm not tasty at all, so go eat someone else!"
"What? You haven't bathed in three years? You're filthy! I'm not eating you."
Su Qing pretended to look disgusted.
"I'm not filthy!"
Realizing she'd been insulted, the girl spun around angrily. What met her eyes was an almost perfect face, and she stared in a daze for a moment. But she quickly realized that this was the guy who'd just tried to scare her. Her cheeks puffed up.
"Hmph! Why'd you scare me, you meanie? Apologize right now!"
Looking at the little girl before him, Su Qing suddenly thought she was rather cute. But he realized that scaring her had been pretty unkind, so he decided to apologize first.
"Sorry, little girl. But why did you come into the forest by yourself?"
Seeing that he was sincerely apologizing—and that he was so handsome—Xiao Xiao decided to forgive him. After doing her best to calm down, she began telling him what had happened.
"My name is Xiao Xiao. My parents were going to take me out to get my Second Soul Ring, but just now we ran into a really, really big tiger. My parents led it away so I got separated from them. I was a little scared by myself, so..."
Thinking of how loudly she'd cried in front of Su Qing, she felt embarrassed.
"I see. My name is Su Qing, and I'm here to hunt for a Soul Ring too. I came alone, though. Since we ran into each other, let's go together. Once we find your parents, we can go our separate ways."
Su Qing smiled and pulled Xiao Xiao up from where she'd been sitting on the ground. He thought to himself, So this is Xiao Xiao. But the original story never mentioned her running into danger in the Star Dou Great Forest. That means her parents will probably come back if she cries a little longer, or she'll run into someone else who'll help her find them. Most likely, it'll be the first.
Feeling the warmth of his hand, Xiao Xiao's fear slowly faded. She hadn't actually encountered any danger in the forest; she'd just been frightened by the helplessness of being alone.
"Okay!"
Looking at the handsome face before her, wearing a gentle smile, Xiao Xiao's heart raced. So her face-blind—no, her looks-obsessed—nature had already begun to show.
The two walked hand in hand along the trail of battle in the forest. It wasn't that Su Qing wanted to hold her hand. The girl had gripped his so tightly when he pulled her up that she wouldn't let go. Su Qing was a little baffled. Surely the outer reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest weren't that scary?
Still, her holding his hand didn't affect him, so he couldn't be bothered to pull away. Besides, the little girl's hand was soft and warm, and holding it felt pretty nice. As he thought this, he gave it a couple of squeezes. To his surprise, she squeezed his hand twice in return.
"Hey!"
Su Qing's competitive streak flared up at once, and Xiao Xiao naturally refused to back down. They spent the whole way squeezing each other's hands, though neither of them used much force. But Su Qing was puzzled by one thing: why was the little girl's face so red?
"Stop!"
The moment his extended spiritual power detected intense fluctuations in Soul Power not far ahead, he immediately stopped with Xiao Xiao.
Judging by the fluctuations released in the battle, there were at least seven or eight people, including the Soul Beast. A few of the auras were extremely weak, as if their owners had been badly injured. It seemed these weren't Xiao Xiao's parents. He was about to leave, but then he remembered a crucial point in the original story.
Inner Court Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan and the others had gone out to hunt for Soul Rings under Xuan Zi's leadership. In the end, they encountered a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Xuan Zi had neglected his duties, and Zhang Lexuan had been the only disciple to survive...
"Xiao Xiao, do you dare come with me a little farther? As long as you stay close to me, you won't be in any danger."
After thinking it over, Su Qing decided to go see what was happening. But he didn't know if Xiao Xiao would be willing to come along. If she wasn't, he wouldn't go. After all, bringing her here had most likely already changed the original story. If he left her behind and she got into trouble, it would be all his fault.
"Mm-hm."
Xiao Xiao tightened her grip on Su Qing's hand. It was clear she was scared, but she could tell that Su Qing really wanted to go take a look. And since he'd promised she'd be safe as long as she stayed close, she decided to agree.
"Good. Don't worry, I'll protect you!"