Xiao Wu: I Just Like Third Brother. What's Wrong with That? Gu Yuena: Shameless Traitor to the Soul Beast Clan!

Xiao Wu spread her arms and resolutely shielded Tang San with her seemingly frail body, standing squarely before that figure who looked like a god or demon.

She didn't look at Gu Yuan.

The pressure Gu Yuan exuded was so terrifying that Xiao Wu didn't even have the courage to meet his gaze.

Her eyes passed over Gu Yuan to the silver-haired woman behind him, a woman so beautiful she seemed otherworldly, with a cool and noble bearing: Gu Yuena.

The plea in her eyes was plain to see.

She could sense an aura about the woman that made her feel both close to her and awed by her.

Kneeling on the ground, Tang San caught the familiar fragrance coming from in front of him. With difficulty, he raised his head and saw Xiao Wu's resolute back.

In an instant, the heart that had already sunk into the abyss seemed to be lit by a warm glow.

He had thought that after the Sky Screen revealed the cruel truth—that his father had regarded Xiao Wu as a spare Soul Ring and Soul Bone—she would resent him, hate him, and never speak to him again.

But now, she had thrown herself in front of him without hesitation.

Tang San's lips involuntarily curled upward. On his dusty, battered face, a weak yet utterly delighted smile bloomed.

She still can't let go of me... I'm still in her heart!

But that smile made someone else's gaze turn utterly cold.

Gu Yuena stood quietly behind Gu Yuan. Her gaze had held a trace of complicated feeling for Xiao Wu, as one Soul Beast looking upon another, and even a hint of a senior's scrutiny of a junior.

But when she saw Xiao Wu unhesitatingly defend the human who had put her in danger, and saw the kneeling human's face brighten with relief, the last remnants of Gu Yuena's goodwill and pity for Xiao Wu vanished in an instant.

That wasn't love. It was foolishness.

It was betrayal of her own kind!

"Heh..."

A quiet, icy scoff slipped from Gu Yuena's lips.

Xiao Wu trembled all over and stared at her in shock.

There wasn't a trace of emotion left in Gu Yuena's violet eyes, only endless indifference and disappointment. She spoke coldly, her voice carrying clearly to Xiao Wu:

"To think that little snake and little monkey asked me to come save you. I never imagined you'd completely sided with the humans!"

Little snake?

Little monkey?

Xiao Wu's mind went "buzz," and she immediately thought of Daming, the Sky Azure Bull Python, and Erming, the Titan Giant Ape, in the Star Dou Great Forest!

Did this woman... know Daming and Erming?!

And had they asked her to come save Xiao Wu?

But before Xiao Wu could make sense of their connection, the bone-chilling cold in the second half of Gu Yuena's words drenched her from head to toe like a bucket of ice water.

"Completely sided with the humans..."

The words struck Xiao Wu's heart like an invisible hammer.

Xiao Wu instinctively glanced back at Tang San, still kneeling behind her, then looked at Gu Yuena in confusion. For a moment, she didn't know how to defend herself.

She only wanted to protect Third Brother. Was... was that wrong?

The tearful question rang out with particular clarity in the silent street.

Xiao Wu's body trembled faintly, tears welling in her eyes.

She didn't understand why this silver-haired woman, whose aura had made her feel close to her, was looking at her so coldly and saying such hurtful things.

"I... I just like Third Brother. What's wrong with that?"

Xiao Wu gathered her courage and repeated herself, her voice full of hurt and confusion.

At her words, the disappointment in Gu Yuena's indifferent violet eyes deepened.

Gu Yuena took half a step forward and emerged from behind Gu Yuan. Her invisible aura made the air around them seem to freeze.

"Like him?"

Gu Yuena's voice was as cold as ice, without a trace of emotion.

"On the surface, there's nothing wrong with that."

Gu Yuena paused, her gaze stabbing into Xiao Wu like a blade before sweeping over Tang San, who stood behind her with a stunned expression.

"But don't forget. The Sky Screen laid it all out clearly.

It showed how his father, Tang Hao, drove your mother, the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, step by step toward sacrificing herself.

Ah Yin's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone became Tang Hao's capital to boast of his strength and make his name across the world!"

"And you."

Gu Yuena fixed her gaze once more on Xiao Wu's ashen face.

"You and Ah Yin are both Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beasts. Knowing full well that this father and son saw you as a second Ah Yin, as a 'spare' Soul Ring and Soul Bone, what did you do?"

"You didn't leave. You didn't seek justice for your kin, for your 'older sister.'

Instead, you kept shielding the human who saw you as prey, pleading for him and defending him!"

Gu Yuena's voice rose sharply, the pressure of her dragon might making even Xiao Wu's soul tremble.

"This isn't love. It's debasing yourself!

This isn't kindness. It's betrayal of the entire Soul Beast race!

By that reckoning, you're nothing but a traitor!"

The word "traitor" burst through Xiao Wu's mind like a thunderclap from the ninth heaven!

Xiao Wu froze completely. The color drained from her face in an instant, leaving it as pale as paper.

Xiao Wu opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Every one of Gu Yuena's words was like a blade, striking precisely at her most vulnerable places and tearing all her defenses and excuses to shreds.

After those words, the entire scene fell silent.

The surrounding Soul Masters didn't dare so much as breathe. The shocking revelations and the terrifying atmosphere had them gasping for air.

And Tang San, kneeling on the ground, felt as though he'd been struck by lightning.

Tang San activated his Purple Demon Eye with all his might, desperately trying to see through the pair before him.

Yet no matter how he drove his Soul Power, their figures remained blurred in his eyes, as if hidden behind a thick veil of mist. He couldn't make out a thing.

He felt even more helpless than he had facing a Titled Douluo!

That said, apart from Tang Hao, Tang San had never faced a Titled Douluo.

Combining Xiao Wu's exposed identity as a Soul Beast with the silver-haired woman's words, "little snake" and "little monkey,"

a terrifying thought rose in Tang San's heart.

Could it be... that these two weren't human at all?

Were they Soul Beasts too?!

Could they be transformed Soul Beasts?

But already cultivated to the Titled Douluo level?

Tang San had no idea that Ferocious Beasts could freely take human form.

The thought chilled him to the bone, and a despair deeper than what he'd felt facing Gu Yuan welled up inside him.

If they were Soul Beasts, then their purpose in appearing here today was obvious.

They were here for Xiao Wu!

Yet their attitude toward Xiao Wu was so cold...

Just as Tang San's thoughts were in turmoil, Gu Yuan finally spoke.

He ignored Tang San kneeling on the ground and didn't look at Xiao Wu, who seemed lost in a daze. Instead, he turned and gently took Gu Yuena's hand, speaking softly:

"Na'er, why get angry with someone so foolish? It isn't worth it."