The Fisherman's Headache

Li Hao felt as if his head had swollen to twice its size.

He clearly sensed two cold, hostile gazes cast from the dense forest not far away.

One was overbearing.

The other was sharp.

The alarm bells of his social anxiety, mixed with the warning of a fire in his own backyard, erupted into a shrill roar within his mind.

"Hey! You fisherman! I've decided!"

Ning Rongrong gripped his sleeve even tighter, a cunning, determined smile spreading across her face.

"From now on, I'm following you! Until I learn how you use a fishing rod to beat back a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!"

Li Hao: "..."

His mind went completely blank.

What on earth was this?

Did saving someone just land him with a massive headache?

"Let go."

Li Hao tried to pull his sleeve away, but Ning Rongrong held on tight, sticking to him like a piece of stubborn taffy.

"No!"

Ning Rongrong's willful streak flared up; instead of letting go, she stepped even closer, tilting her small face up to question him with righteous indignation.

"You haven't taught me yet! How can a grown man go back on his word?"

"When did I ever say I would teach you?" Li Hao felt his blood pressure skyrocketing.

"You saved me, so you're my person now! What's the harm in teaching me a few things?"

This brand of bandit logic left Li Hao utterly speechless.

He only wanted to be a lazy landlord, not some life mentor!

Especially when this student was such a colossal disaster.

"I don't have time."

Li Hao's reply was cold and direct, attempting to use indifference to discourage this little demoness.

"I'm going home."

"Going home? Perfect! I'll go with you! I want to see what kind of fisherman lives in a place like this!"

Ning Rongrong's curiosity was fully piqued; she even reached out to touch that magical fishing rod.

Just as her fingertips were about to brush against the rod:

Hum—

An invisible, bone-chilling, and terrifying pressure swept out from the depths of the forest without warning!

That aura wasn't aimed at anyone else; it locked onto Ning Rongrong with pinpoint precision.

The air seemed to freeze in that instant.

Ning Rongrong's body stiffened violently, the color draining from her pretty face.

She felt as if she were being stared down by a primordial beast from the ancient past—a trembling that originated from the depths of her soul, making even breathing a struggle.

"Young Miss!"

The Soul Emperor Gu Rong reacted with lightning speed, stepping in front of Ning Rongrong as his soul power erupted, instantly neutralizing the pressure.

Yet, a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on his own forehead.

What a terrifying aura!

Even though it lasted only a split second, the level of that power was far beyond his imagination!

Was it a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Or... something even more horrifying?

He looked at Li Hao with suspicion and uncertainty, then scanned the perilous forest.

However, to everyone's surprise:

After the initial shock, the fear in Ning Rongrong's wide eyes was replaced by a brilliant, unprecedented light!

She pushed past her guard and looked at Li Hao again, no longer with mere curiosity, but with the excitement of someone who had discovered a peerless treasure.

"I knew it! You really do have secrets!"

"What was that just now? Is it a pet you keep? So powerful! Take me to see it, quickly!"

She was even more energized than before.

Li Hao felt his temples throbbing.

How exactly was this little demoness's brain wired?

Shouldn't a normal person be running away in terror?

At the same time, he clearly felt the temperature of the air beside him drop a few degrees further.

Zhu Zhuqing's silent warning had already begun to turn into ice.

He could not drag this out any longer.

"I will say this one more time: let go."

There was not a shred of politeness left in Li Hao's tone.

"I am not your bodyguard, and I am certainly not your teacher. We are not going the same way."

"I won't! Unless you knock me out!"

Ning Rongrong began to act like a rogue, gripping his sleeve even tighter with her small hands.

"Uncle Gu, don't worry about me, you all go back first! I am following him no matter what!"

Gu Rong was sweating profusely, yet he was completely helpless against this little ancestor of his family.

Knock her out?

He didn't have the guts for that.

Li Hao was thoroughly annoyed by this endless entanglement.

His social anxiety was pushed to its absolute limit at this moment.

He took a deep breath, abandoned all thoughts of being tactful, and said, word by word, in a tone that was nearly heartless:

"My home does not welcome outsiders."

"My friends don't have very good tempers, either."

"Especially toward a noisy and willful young lady of humanity like you."

These few sentences were like a basin of ice water, finally cooling down Ning Rongrong's excitement just a little.

She stared blankly at Li Hao.

This was the first time anyone had dared to speak to her with such an attitude.

Noisy?

Willful?

As the dignified little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, when had she ever been evaluated like this?

A trace of grievance welled up in her heart instantly.

"You..." Her eyes turned red, and she was just about to retort.

But Li Hao didn't give her the chance.

He glanced at the group of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect guards who were caught in a dilemma, then looked at the little princess who was on the verge of tears from his rebuke. He felt not a shred of chivalry, only a sense of utter exhaustion.

The price of being forced into the spotlight was too high.

He just wanted to go home, back to that tranquil Paradise that only belonged to his own people and his Soul Beast Girl.

"Captain Gu, is it?"

Li Hao turned to the Soul Emperor.

"Keep your young lady in check. The Star Dou Forest is not a playground. She was lucky today, but next time, that might not be the case."

Having said that, he ignored everyone else.

He reached back and grabbed Ning Rongrong's small hand that was clutching his sleeve, prying her fingers open one by one without a hint of emotion.

His movements were firm and brooked no resistance.

Ning Rongrong was completely stunned.

She felt the cold, emotionless strength on her wrist and watched the man's resolute back.

An unprecedented sense of defeat washed over her.

"Let's go."

Li Hao said softly toward the depths of the dense forest.

He didn't even look at Ning Rongrong again, turning and walking into the woods.

His figure was quickly swallowed by the overlapping shadows of the trees, as if he had never appeared at all.

Silence.

The clearing in the forest returned to silence once more.

Only the group from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect remained, along with the girl in the pink dress who was still standing there in a daze.

"Young Miss... we should head back," Gu Rong persuaded cautiously. "The Sect Master and Sword Douluo will be worried."

Ning Rongrong did not answer.

She simply stared blankly in the direction where Li Hao had disappeared.

"My home does not welcome outsiders..."

"My friends don't have the best temper, either..."

The fisherman's words echoed incessantly in her mind.

A home?

Friends?

What kind of home required such secrecy?

And what kind of friends possessed such terrifying auras?

The curiosity in her heart was not extinguished; instead, it was like a flame doused in oil, burning even brighter.

"Hmph!"

Ning Rongrong suddenly stomped her foot, wiping away the tear that was about to fall from the corner of her eye.

"Fine, I'll leave! It's not like you're that special!"

She turned around and stomped off in the direction she had come, muttering under her breath.

"Stinky fisherman! Rotten fisherman! You just wait! I will definitely find you!"

"There has never been anything I, Ning Rongrong, set my sights on that I couldn't get!"

Although her words were sharp, she still obediently followed the guards as they departed.

Before leaving, she took one last look at the deep, dense forest. Beyond the unwillingness in her eyes, there was a intense glimmer of determination.

On the other side.

Li Hao brought Medusa and Zhu Zhuqing through several consecutive spatial jumps, finally returning to the familiar valley of the Soul Beast Paradise.

The moment his feet touched the land of the paradise, the clamor and irritation were instantly washed away.

He let out a long, weary breath, his entire body relaxing until he practically collapsed onto the grass by the lake.

He was exhausted.

Dealing with people was truly more tiring than fighting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

The figures of Medusa and Zhu Zhuqing materialized beside him.

Medusa looked at his lifeless expression, the corners of her mouth curling as a flicker of imperceptible satisfaction flashed through her emerald snake eyes.

Zhu Zhuqing walked silently to his side and stood quietly, like the most loyal shadow guard.

The valley was peaceful and serene.

Li Hao felt as though he had finally come back to life.

However, none of them noticed.

In the distant forest clearing where the battle had just taken place.

Hidden in the grass where Li Hao had once stood, a white jade pendant, accidentally torn off by Ning Rongrong and carved with an exquisite seven-story pagoda, lay quietly, half-covered by a fallen leaf.

On the jade pendant, the unique mark of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was emitting a faint, almost undetectable ripple of soul power.