The Fisherman Had a Headache

Li Hao felt like his head had doubled in size.

He could clearly feel two cold, hostile gazes fixed on him from the dense forest not far away.

One was domineering.

The other was sharp.

The alarm bells of his social anxiety, mixed with the warning of a fire breaking out in his backyard, blared deafeningly through his mind.

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

Ning Rongrong tightened her little hand around his sleeve, a sly, triumphant smile spreading across her face.

"From now on, I'm going to follow you! Until I learn how you use a fishing rod to drive off Soul Beasts!"

Li Hao: "..."

His mind went completely blank.

What was this supposed to be?

He'd saved someone and ended up with a headache?

"Let go."

Li Hao tried to pull his sleeve free, but Ning Rongrong held on tight, like a piece of sticky toffee.

"No!"

Ning Rongrong's stubborn streak kicked in. Instead of letting go, she stepped closer, lifted her little face, and demanded, as if she were entirely in the right, "You haven't taught me yet! How can a grown man go back on his word?"

"When did I ever say I'd teach you?" Li Hao felt his blood pressure rising.

"You saved me, so now you're mine! What's wrong with teaching me a little something?"

That bandit's logic left Li Hao utterly speechless.

He only wanted to be a laid-back landlord, not some life coach!

Especially not to a student who was nothing but trouble.

"I'm busy."

Li Hao's reply was cold and direct. He tried to drive the Little Demoness off with indifference.

"I'm going home."

"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 had been thoroughly piqued. She even reached out to touch his extraordinary fishing rod.

Just as her fingertips were about to brush the rod—

Buzz—

A terrifying, freezing pressure swept out of the depths of the forest without warning!

The aura wasn't aimed at anyone else. It had locked precisely onto Ning Rongrong.

The air seemed to freeze in an instant.

Ning Rongrong's body stiffened, and the color drained from her pretty face.

She felt as if an ancient, primordial beast had fixed its gaze on her. A shudder that came from the depths of her soul made it hard to breathe.

"Miss!"

Soul Emperor Gu Rong reacted in a flash, stepping in front of Ning Rongrong and unleashing his Soul Power to dispel the pressure.

But fine beads of cold sweat had appeared on his own brow.

What a terrifying aura!

It had lasted only an instant, but the level of that power was far beyond anything he could have imagined!

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

He stared at Li Hao in alarm, then searched the perilous forest with his eyes.

Yet what happened next surprised everyone.

After her initial shock, Ning Rongrong showed no fear. Instead, her wide eyes blazed with a brilliance brighter than ever before!

She brushed past her guard and looked at Li Hao again. This time, it wasn't mere curiosity in her gaze, but the excitement of someone who'd discovered a peerless treasure.

"I knew it! You really are hiding something!"

"What was that just now? Is it a pet you raised? It's amazing! Take me to see it!"

She was even more fired up now.

Li Hao felt his temples throb.

How did this Little Demoness's mind work?

Wouldn't a normal person have run away in terror?

At the same time, he could clearly feel the air beside him growing several degrees colder.

Zhu Zhuqing's silent warning was practically freezing solid.

He couldn't drag this out any longer.

"I'll say it again. Let go."

There wasn't a trace of politeness left in Li Hao's voice.

"I'm not your guard, much less your teacher. We're not going the same way."

"No! You'll have to knock me out first!"

Ning Rongrong turned shameless, tightening her grip on his sleeve.

"Uncle Gu, don't mind me. You can go back first! I'm sticking with him!"

Gu Rong was sweating profusely, yet there was nothing he could do about the young lady he served.

Knock her out?

He wouldn't dare.

Li Hao had been worn down by her endless pestering.

At that moment, his social anxiety had reached its limit.

He took a deep breath, abandoned all attempts at tact, and spoke each word with near-cruel indifference:

"My home doesn't welcome outsiders."

"My friends aren't very nice, either."

"Especially to noisy, willful human young ladies like you."

Those words were like a bucket of ice water, finally cooling Ning Rongrong's excitement a little.

She stared blankly at Li Hao.

This was the first time anyone had ever dared to speak to her like that.

Noisy?

Willful?

When had the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect ever been described that way?

A rush of grievance welled up inside her.

"You..." Her eyes reddened, 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 caught in a dilemma, then at the little princess he'd nearly reduced to tears. He felt no tenderness toward her at all, only bone-deep exhaustion.

The price of unintentionally showing off was too high.

He only wanted to go home, back to that peaceful Paradise of his, with his own people and the Soul Beast Girls.

"You're Captain Gu, right?"

Li Hao turned to the Soul Emperor.

"Keep your young lady in line. Star Dou Forest isn't a playground. She got lucky today. Next time, she might not be so fortunate."

With that, he paid no one else any mind.

He reached back, took Ning Rongrong's little hand where it gripped his sleeve, and pried her fingers off one by one, without a hint of emotion.

His movements were firm and unyielding.

Ning Rongrong was completely stunned.

She felt the utterly unfeeling force around her wrist, then watched the man's resolute back.

A sense of defeat unlike anything she'd ever known swallowed her whole.

"Let's go."

Li Hao spoke softly toward the depths of the forest.

He didn't even look at Ning Rongrong again. He turned and walked into the woods.

Soon, layers of tree shadows swallowed him up, as if he'd never been there at all.

Silence.

The forest clearing fell silent once more.

Only the people of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect remained, along with the pink-dressed girl still rooted to the spot.

"Miss... We should head back," Gu Rong urged cautiously. "The Sect Master and Sword Douluo must be worried."

Ning Rongrong didn't answer.

She only stared blankly in the direction Li Hao had disappeared.

"My home doesn't welcome outsiders..."

"My friends aren't very nice..."

The fisherman's words kept echoing through her mind.

Home?

Friends?

What kind of home had to be kept so secret?

And what kind of friends could possess such a terrifying aura?

Her curiosity hadn't been doused. It had only been fanned into a roaring blaze.

"Hmph!"

Ning Rongrong suddenly stamped her foot and wiped away the tear about to fall from the corner of her eye.

"Fine! Go, then! It's not like you're anything special!"

She turned and headed back the way she'd come, huffing with indignation and muttering under her breath.

"Stupid fisherman! Rotten fisherman! Just you wait! I'll find you!"

"Nothing I, Ning Rongrong, set my sights on has ever been out of my reach!"

She still talked tough, but she obediently left with the guards.

Before going, she looked back one last time at the dark, secluded forest. There was indignation in her eyes, but an even stronger light of determination to claim what she wanted.

Elsewhere.

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

The moment he stepped onto the Paradise's soil, the noise and agitation washed away.

He let out a long breath and relaxed all over, practically collapsing onto the grass by the lake.

He was exhausted.

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

Medusa and Zhu Zhuqing appeared beside him.

Medusa looked at his utterly defeated expression and curled her lips. A trace of satisfaction flickered in her emerald snake eyes, though it was barely noticeable.

Zhu Zhuqing quietly walked over and stood beside him, like the most loyal shadow guard.

The valley was peaceful and serene.

Li Hao finally felt alive again.

However, none of them noticed—

Far away, in the forest clearing where the battle had just taken place,

in the grass where Li Hao had once stood, a White Jade Pendant carved with an exquisite seven-tiered pagoda lay quietly, half-hidden beneath a fallen leaf. Ning Rongrong had accidentally pulled it loose.

The special mark of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect on the pendant gave off an almost imperceptible ripple of Soul Power.