Luo Sanpao Wasn't a Dog

The night was deep, and the moon hung dead center in the heavens, round and bright.

Gu Qingshan leaned against a stone pillar by the street, watching Yu Xiaogang walk away in a daze. For a moment, his mind went blank.

He lowered his head and glanced at the fair, slender hand resting on his arm. Liu Erlong's fingers had curled slightly, and she showed no sign of letting go.

Her body was still pressed against his. Her warmth seeped through her thin dress, and he could feel the supple muscles beneath it.

Was it normal for Liu Erlong to put her arm around him in front of Gangzi just now?

He glanced at Liu Erlong's flushed, slightly tipsy face.

They'd only met for the first time today. They'd had a meal, shared a few drinks, and said fewer than ten sentences between them.

She had no reason to cling to the arm of a man she barely knew on the street—let alone in front of another man.

He thought of the three men who'd been stomped into eunuchs: Bu Le and his two companions.

They weren't good people. They were fond of using all sorts of underhanded tricks.

Could Liu Erlong have fallen into one of their traps?

Gu Qingshan chewed the Blue Silver Leaf in his mouth. He had to admit, this was pretty thrilling.

With Liu Erlong clinging to him in front of Gangzi, he'd watched Gangzi's face turn from red to white, then green to gray, before he walked away in a daze.

It felt great. No wonder so many down-and-out authors and readers who looked like Takeshi Kaneshiro loved tormenting Gangzi!

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. It was a perfect night for a late-night snack.

So he slipped an arm around Liu Erlong's waist and smiled at her. "It's a lovely night. Come on, I'll take you for a walk around Spirit City."

Liu Erlong stiffened slightly, as if she hadn't expected him to put his arm around her first. But he really did look handsome when he smiled.

She didn't refuse. Her cheeks flushed, and she instinctively held him a little tighter.

Gu Qingshan's arm felt the pressure. She was quite a handful.

Gangzi looked back from a distance and saw only the swaying great grinding stone leaving him behind. His heart felt hollow.

No...

This couldn't be real!

Erlong had once loved him so much that she'd been willing to fall out with the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

None of that had been false.

Over the years, he'd never heard that Liu Erlong had gotten close to another man. She hadn't found anyone else. She must have been waiting for him.

Getting close to Gu Qingshan in front of him just now—Erlong must have done it on purpose to make him jealous.

But Gu Qingshan was no good man.

The Martial Soul Hall Holy Son, Bibi Dong's disciple, a monster who killed without batting an eye.

He'd never heard that Gu Qingshan was lecherous, but maybe he was just good at hiding it.

Besides, Erlong was so beautiful. She'd drunk so much tonight, her eyes were hazy, her cheeks flushed, and her red lips glistened.

Could a young, virile man keep his hands to himself when faced with a Liu Erlong like that?

If that brat took advantage of her while she was drunk, the consequences would be unthinkable.

At that thought, Gangzi's face changed completely.

"Erlong!" His anxious voice echoed down the street.

Liu Erlong and Gu Qingshan were already nowhere to be seen.

Gangzi's heart sank.

No. He had to find Erlong right away. Whatever happened, he was taking her away tonight.

Suddenly, he thought of something. A pale golden glow lit his palm, and Luo Sanpao separated from his Martial Soul.

A round creature covered in pale purple fur, resembling both a pig and a dog, landed on the ground. It sniffed the pavement, then looked up at Gangzi, its golden eyes full of anticipation.

Luo Sanpao was unique. It was the only detached Martial Soul on the continent with an independent consciousness.

It wouldn't be wrong to think of him as a Soul Beast. He could even eat.

Gangzi fed Luo Sanpao a carrot, patting his head as he did.

"Sanpao, help me find Erlong. You still remember her scent, right?"

Luo Sanpao swallowed the last bite of carrot, blinked his blue eyes, then lowered his head and began sniffing the ground.

His nose pressed against the flagstones as he sniffed left, then right.

Then he lifted his head and ran in one direction. Gangzi followed close behind, his steps hurried.

Yu Xiaogang followed him, walking and stopping along the way, until they came to a stop outside an upscale hotel.

Yu Xiaogang's heart sank to rock bottom. Had Liu Erlong and Gu Qingshan gone to the hotel?

A man and a woman alone together at a hotel in the middle of the night—how could that possibly be a good thing?

Gangzi panicked. Quite a while had already passed.

He was just about to rush inside and search when Luo Sanpao left the hotel entrance and went to look somewhere else.

He let out a sigh of relief. Not the hotel. Thank goodness it wasn't the hotel.

Luo Sanpao wasn't a dog, after all. He wasn't very good at tracking people by scent, and the strong night wind had scattered much of the smell.

He couldn't tell the difference between a place someone had merely passed through and one where they'd stopped. Just like that, Luo Sanpao led Gangzi astray, taking him farther and farther away.

Meanwhile, in a luxurious room at that very hotel, Liu Erlong and Gu Qingshan stood by the window, watching Gangzi leave.

Liu Erlong gazed in that direction for a long while before finally turning around.

The room was spacious, with a thick wool carpet covering the floor and a huge heart-shaped bed in the center.

Bright rose petals were scattered across the sheets.

Was this some kind of couples' hotel?

Liu Erlong's cheeks burned. She'd never been anywhere like this in her life.

Gu Qingshan looked at Liu Erlong, bathed in the moonlight streaming through the window. Her skin glowed white beneath its radiance.

The backless dress looked even more alluring in the moonlight. Her shoulder blades were like a pair of butterfly wings spread wide, and her spine formed a shallow furrow dividing her back in two.

Her outrageously sexy figure made his breath catch.

His throat felt dry. He chewed a couple of bites of Blue Silver Leaf, its sweet, fresh flavor unfurling on his tongue, but this time it couldn't smother the fire in his heart.

She was testing his weakness!

For some reason, Liu Erlong found Gu Qingshan more and more appealing. He was young and handsome, tall, and brimming with masculine vigor.

Her gaze gradually grew hazy, and the thin veil of moisture in her eyes grew thicker.

An hour later, Luo Sanpao led Gangzi through all the nearby streets, but they found nothing.

They couldn't find Liu Erlong—or even a single strand of her hair.

Yu Xiaogang looked at Luo Sanpao's innocent, bewildered face. A nameless fury surged up from his chest.

He grabbed Luo Sanpao and gave him a thorough beating. Smack, smack, smack! Luo Sanpao's eyes welled with tears, and all four stubby legs kicked wildly in the air.

Sanpao had been wronged! He wasn't really a dog!

Gangzi was desperate. He couldn't find Liu Erlong.

Where was she tonight? Was she still with that bastard?

What were they doing right now?

He didn't dare imagine.

In the end, Gangzi could only return helplessly to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's outpost in Spirit City.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw his second uncle, Yu Luomian, leisurely drinking tea. He didn't look drunk at all.

Yu Luomian saw Gangzi's miserable expression and smiled knowingly, without saying a word.

He knew Gangzi had gone looking for Erlong.

He'd pretended to be drunk earlier on purpose, to give Erlong and Gu Qingshan a chance.

It was obvious Gangzi hadn't found them. Good thing that good-for-nothing hadn't ruined things.