Intercepting Wang Dong!

"Stupid!" God of Destruction scoffed.

"You can't just walk up and chat! If there's no opportunity, you create one! A hero saving a beauty—do you understand? Since ancient times, countless stories have proven that while this trope is old, it works! Especially on a little girl like her who is naive to the world and full of curiosity and fantasies about the 'outside world'!"

"A hero saving a beauty?" Zichuan raised an eyebrow. "Does she need me to save her? She possesses a twin top-tier martial soul and who knows how many life-saving measures Tang San left on her. If she really encountered danger, it's not certain who would be saving whom."

"That's why you have to 'create' the opportunity!" God of Destruction coaxed, looking every bit the instigator.

"Find a few guys who don't look like good people to 'rob' her. You don't need to be too strong; just force out a bit of her power and make her nervous.

Then, you make a flashy entrance at the critical moment, easily resolve the trouble, and show off your powerful strength and... well, your handsome face. While you're at it, inadvertently leak a trace of aura that makes her martial soul feel close to you.

The Heart of Life should also have some attraction to the Radiant Goddess Butterfly. Wouldn't that make getting to know her a logical progression? Once you start interacting, with your face and your cheats, are you really afraid you can't win over a little girl?"

Zichuan's mouth twitched as he listened. This plan... it sounded so unreliable, and it was filled with clichés and tropes.

But thinking about it carefully, it seemed... not entirely impossible? Since he was heading that way anyway, trying it wouldn't hurt, right? What if it actually worked?

Wouldn't that be the equivalent of stabbing Tang San in the heart while simultaneously poaching his cabbage? This image... thinking about it was actually kind of exciting.

"Fine, fine..." Zichuan was eventually swayed by God of Destruction's twisted logic, throwing caution to the wind.

"I'm already planning to snatch the biggest opportunity of his son-in-law-to-be, so 'contacting' his intended wife as well... well, that seems reasonable, right? It's mine, it's all mine!"

"That's the spirit!" God of Destruction cheered. "Bold! That's my child, God of Destruction! Go, find some 'actors' first!"

Action followed thought. Zichuan quickly packed away his half-roasted meat patty, identified the direction of Wang Dong's aura, and quietly slipped toward it.

His spiritual power, bolstered by the Aromatic Silk Beauty, was exceptionally sharp. Soon, in a forest clearing not far from Wang Dong's path, he found a "suitable" target.

It was a young man with a gloomy expression and short dark purple hair. Judging by the fluctuations of his soul power, he was roughly at the Soul King level. He carried an obvious air of malice and greed; at a glance, he was clearly no good, perfectly fitting the "doesn't look like a good person" criteria.

"This is the one." Zichuan observed from behind a tree and nodded.

He straightened his clothes, walked out swaggeringly, and went straight up to the man.

Facing the gloomy purple-haired youth, he spoke directly:

"Hey, let's discuss something."

The purple-haired youth—Raven—lifted his eyelids. A faint, mocking smile appeared on his slightly pale face, though a cold, predatory glint flashed deep in his eyes.

He licked his dry lips, his voice raspy: "Kid, what is it?"

"I'll give you a thousand Gold Soul Coins." Zichuan extended his index finger, his tone as flat as if he were buying groceries.

"In a while, a youth with short blue-pink hair, quite good-looking, who looks like a rich young master, will pass through this road. You pretend to rob him, make a scene, and scare him a bit; don't actually kill him. When I appear to 'save' him, you pretend to be outmatched and get lost. How about it? That's a good deal, right?"

He figured his terms were fair. A thousand Gold Soul Coins just to act in a play and scare someone—for these cutthroats who lived by the blade, this should be a windfall.

Raven was stunned. He looked at Zichuan as if he were looking at a silly sheep that had walked into a trap and even scrubbed itself clean.

Robbery? Pretending? Scaring? Saving someone?

The curve of Raven's mouth grew increasingly eerie. He stood up slowly, half a head taller than Zichuan, his dark purple hair looking somewhat demonic in the evening light.

He looked Zichuan up and down, his gaze lingering for a moment on the bulging food parcel, then said slowly:

"A thousand Gold Soul Coins? Just to scare someone? Sounds... quite worth it."

"Fine, I agree."

Raven felt quite pleased. He never expected that as an Evil Soul Master, he would one day be asked to do something like this.

Interesting.

As a reward for the amusement, he would make sure Zichuan died quickly later; this guy's blood also seemed quite delicious.

Zichuan felt a sense of relief, thinking the matter was settled. He knew it—money makes the world go round.

On a small forest path on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, a figure was walking at a leisurely pace.

It was a youth of about eleven or twelve, with a slender and upright build, wearing a crisp white outfit covered by a light blue short cape.

Most striking was his rare short blue-pink hair, the strands soft and shimmering with a strange luster under the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves.

His face was so exquisite it didn't seem mortal, his skin as white as jade, and his large powder-blue eyes were like the finest gems, sparkling with life. Yet, at this moment, those beautiful eyes held a sense of confusion and frustration that didn't match his age.

Wang Dong stopped, leaned against a tree trunk, and sighed softly.

Ever since leaving the Clear Sky Sect—or rather, since "waking up" and setting foot on this road to Shrek Academy—an inexplicable, lingering feeling had been haunting her.

She always felt that her life was being guided by an invisible thread, as if every step had been pre-arranged.

Going to Shrek Academy, meeting a certain person, experiencing certain things... this feeling of being "planned" made her feel very uncomfortable, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

It was as if deep within her memories, there was a thin mist obscuring something important.

"Fa... Father said that going to Shrek would give me the best training and help me meet true friends..." Wang Dong whispered to herself, a flash of confusion crossing her powder-blue eyes.

"But why do I always feel... it's not just that?"

She shook her head, as if trying to cast those distracting thoughts aside. Regardless, she would head to Shrek Academy first.

It was the number one academy on the continent; perhaps there, she could find the answer, or... find the power to break through this inexplicable restraint?

However, before she could take another step, a figure appeared silently in the middle of the path ahead.

It was a young man with a pale complexion and short, dark purple hair, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

His gaze clung to Wang Dong like maggots on rotting bone, raking over her body and lingering for a long time on her exquisite, androgynous face. A strange, deeply unsettling smile, a mixture of greed and lechery, curled the corners of his mouth.

It was Raven.

"Yo, where did this little young master come from? You look so... succulent."

Raven's voice carried a sticky, gravelly quality. He straightened up and took two steps toward Wang Dong, his gaze becoming even more unbridled.

"Out here in the middle of nowhere all by yourself, how dangerous. Come with big brother; I'll take you to a nice place, I guarantee I'll make you... nice and comfortable."

The implications in his words and that naked stare sent a wave of intense nausea and a chill through Wang Dong. She was not naive; she instantly understood his disgusting intentions!

The way this purple-haired man was looking at her was not how one would look at a "young boy" at all!

Hidden behind a thicket not far away, Zichuan was closely monitoring the situation. Seeing Raven's performance, he couldn't help but twitch his mouth, mentally giving this Evil Soul Master a "thumbs up":

Holy crap, professional! That look, that tone, that perverted aura... it's all so natural! I didn't even need to give him details, and he improvised this perfectly? It seems this thousand Gold Soul Coin was money well spent... wait, why do I get the feeling this guy actually has designs on Wang Dong?

The relief Zichuan felt at having "found the right actor" instantly turned into vigilance and speechlessness. Is this bastard playing for real, or did he just happen to hit the mark by accident?