Hounded by the Little Demoness

Li Hao's sudden appearance plunged the bloody clearing into an eerie silence.

The black-clad Soul Masters who had been getting ready to watch the show and the three Shadow Demon Wolves closing in step by step all froze for a moment.

Ning Rongrong was stunned, too.

She raised her tear-streaked, dirt-smeared face and stared blankly at the man who had suddenly dropped from the sky and stood in front of her.

He wore plain cloth clothes, had an utterly ordinary face, and even held a... Fishing Rod?

What a strange combination.

But for some reason, looking at his not-so-broad back, Ning Rongrong felt a faint glimmer of light pierce the abyss of despair and fear inside her.

An inexplicable, utterly unreasonable sense of safety quietly took root.

"Little girl, are you all right?"

His calm question broke the deadlock.

"Roar!"

At last, the hungry Shadow Demon Wolves recovered from their surprise.

In their simple minds, this two-legged creature who had suddenly appeared was just another meal delivered to them.

The lead wolf let out a roar, turning into a black blur as it lunged through the stench of blood toward Ning Rongrong behind the rock!

Ning Rongrong's pupils shrank. The hope that had just begun to rise was about to be torn apart by those gaping jaws.

Yet the man standing in front of her didn't move at all.

He simply gave his wrist a leisurely flick.

Buzz!

The tip of the ordinary-looking Fishing Rod trembled slightly.

In Li Hao's mind, his bond with Zhu Zhuqing quietly connected.

[Ability Sharing: Hell Stab]

In an instant, the whole world seemed to slow down in his perception.

The Shadow Demon Wolf's lightning-fast lunge became riddled with openings.

He couldn't even be bothered to move his feet.

He merely extended the Fishing Rod in his hand, casually.

Smack!

A crisp, light sound rang out.

The seemingly flimsy rod struck the charging wolf right on the tip of its nose with pinpoint accuracy.

The force was slight.

You could even call it gentle.

But the cold, sharp Nether Power that traveled through the rod left the Shadow Demon Wolf rigid all over. It let out a pained howl, lost its balance in midair, and crashed heavily to the side.

The other two wolves didn't cower at the sight. Instead, their ferocity flared, and they attacked simultaneously from both sides!

Li Hao remained where he stood.

With a light flick of his left hand, the invisible fishing line traced a strange arc through the air, as if alive, and wrapped precisely around one wolf's hind leg.

He gave it a gentle tug.

The wolf stumbled and fell flat on its face.

At the same time, he swept the Fishing Rod back with his right hand. With a sharp whistle, its butt struck the last wolf squarely in the waist.

"Awooo!"

In less than three breaths, all three arrogant thousand-year Soul Beasts had been knocked to the ground.

There were no earth-shaking Soul Skills.

No dazzling displays of light.

The whole thing was as effortless as shooing away a few pesky flies.

The three Shadow Demon Wolves struggled back to their feet. At last, greed in their eyes gave way to bone-deep terror.

Whimpering, they tucked their tails between their legs and fled into the depths of the forest, not daring to linger another moment.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Ning Rongrong's mouth hung open. She was completely dumbfounded.

Those were three thousand-year Soul Beasts!

Ferocious Beasts that had even given the Soul King guards assigned to her by the sect a hard fight—and he'd driven them off with a Fishing Rod?

Nearby, the cruel smiles on the black-clad Soul Masters' faces had frozen solid, too.

They exchanged horrified glances.

Who was this man?

They hadn't seen him release his Martial Soul, nor had they seen a single Soul Ring light up!

Just then—

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

A flurry of footsteps came from the other side of the clearing.

More than a dozen Soul Masters in pale blue outfits, the emblem of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda embroidered over their chests, finally arrived.

At their head was a middle-aged Soul Master with the cultivation of a Soul Emperor. He spotted the bodies on the ground and Ning Rongrong unharmed, and first let out a breath of relief. Then his gaze immediately settled on the only stranger present—Li Hao.

"Eldest Young Miss!"

With a flash, he stepped in front of Ning Rongrong and fixed a wary stare on Li Hao.

"Who are you?"

The danger had passed.

Ning Rongrong's heart, which had been caught in her throat, finally settled back into her chest.

She pushed past the guard and ran up to Li Hao. Tilting up her tear-streaked face, she stared at him with wide eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Y-you... how did you do that just now? That was amazing!"

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Looking at the girl who acted like they'd known each other forever, Li Hao's social-anxiety radar began to buzz.

He'd only wanted to save someone, then hurry off.

How had this turned into a crowd gathering to gawk at him?

"Just passing by."

He was terse, sparing with words.

"I came here to fish."

With that, he turned around, ready to activate Space Jump and vanish from this social hell at once.

"Wait!"

Ning Rongrong grabbed his sleeve.

"Fishing? You're lying! There isn't even a stream here. What are you fishing for?"

She demanded this with righteous indignation. At the same time, the special perception of her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul let her keenly sense that something about Li Hao was off.

His Soul Power didn't feel... very strong.

At most, he seemed to be in the thirties.

Yet what he'd just done was beyond the ability of any Soul Elder!

And there was a strange aura about him, a mix of fragrant plants and a pure energy that made her feel very comfortable.

This man was full of secrets!

The curiosity in Ning Rongrong's heart had been thoroughly kindled.

She felt as if she'd stumbled upon a treasure far more entertaining than going to Shrek Academy!

In the shadowy depths of the forest,

Medusa peered through a gap in the leaves at the girl in pink clinging to Li Hao's sleeve. A cold glint flashed in her emerald, slit-pupiled eyes.

Another one?

And a human, at that?

How reckless.

Zhu Zhuqing stood silently beside her.

Her golden, slit-pupiled eyes were fixed just as intently on Ning Rongrong's hand clutching Li Hao.

Any trace of sympathy she'd felt for the girl earlier had vanished without a trace.

In its place was the instinctive rejection of an intruder trespassing on her territory.

In the clearing,

The Soul Emperor guard found himself at a loss when he saw what Ning Rongrong was doing.

He stepped forward and first cupped his hands toward Li Hao.

"Thank you for coming to our aid, sir. I am Gu Rong, a captain of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's guard team and a disciple under Sword Douluo. Our sect will surely reward you for your kindness."

As he spoke, he made a point of subtly emphasizing his connections, hoping to make Li Hao back down.

"Eldest Young Miss, this place is too dangerous. We must return to the sect at once!"

"I won't go back!"

Ning Rongrong rejected him without a second thought, tightening her little hand around Li Hao's sleeve.

"Uncle Gu, you can go back first! I'm very interested in how he fishes!"

She turned to Li Hao and announced in the haughty, imperious tone of a young miss who wouldn't take no for an answer:

"Hey, fisherman! I've decided!"

"From now on, I'm following you! Until I learn how you use a Fishing Rod to beat off Soul Beasts!"

Li Hao: "..."

His mind went blank.

What was all this supposed to mean?

He'd saved someone and ended up with trouble on his hands?

He could clearly feel two cold, unfriendly stares coming from the forest nearby.

One was overbearing, the other sharp.

The alarms of his social anxiety and the warning bells of trouble brewing at home blended into a shrill clamor in his mind.

His head began to throb.

He had a god-given talent for getting into trouble!

Li Hao looked at the spoiled little princess before him, whose face said she always got her way, and felt the two murderous auras behind him practically take physical form.

He opened his mouth, ready to refuse the ridiculous proposal as firmly as he could.

But Ning Rongrong seemed to read his mind. She tightened her grip on his sleeve and flashed a crafty smile, certain of victory.