Tang Hao didn't turn around.
He only gave a low, heavy hum.
"I'll explain everything about me to you later."
"For now, the most urgent thing is to take her back to the Star Dou Forest. That's the only place she'll be safe."
He suddenly lowered his head, his gaze boring into Tang San's eyes like a knife.
"But, Xiao San, let me ask you something first."
"You know now that this girl is a Soul Beast."
"Are you still willing to stay with her?"
For an instant, the wind seemed to stop.
Tang San spun around and clasped Xiao Wu's cold fingers in both hands, gripping them so tightly it was as if she'd be swept away by the wind the moment he let go.
He looked into her red-rimmed eyes and spoke, each word landing like a blow.
"Xiao Wu."
"I don't care what the Light Screen says."
"I don't care what you are."
"Whether you're a Soul Beast or a human."
"You'll always be my little sister, Tang San."
"I'll always stay by your side."
"I'll always protect you."
Every word seemed to have been wrenched from the deepest part of his chest, burning with the fervor of a boy ready to give everything.
Xiao Wu could no longer hold back her tears.
Great drops spilled down her cheeks.
They fell onto the back of his hand, hot and leaving a wet patch.
She parted her lips, but all that came out was broken sobbing. She couldn't get a single complete sentence out.
Watching them, Tang Hao's iron-cast face softened for a fleeting moment.
He spoke quietly, with a rare note of comfort in his voice.
"Good lad."
"You really are my son."
Then he raised his head and looked toward the vast forest, drawing ever nearer in the distance.
The wind howled, and the Light Screen still swirled overhead like a watchful eye.
"Enough. Let's get moving."
"And see what else this Light Screen has to spill."
"Maybe... we can catch a glimpse of our future."
The three had no choice but to keep watching the Light Screen.
On the Light Screen.
The specific Sharp Critique did indeed appear.
[Xiao Wu's brain is rotten to the core. There's no saving her.]
[From the moment she first bounced onto the scene to the moment she drew her last breath, stupidity seeped from every pore.]
[She was an old monster who'd lived for a full hundred thousand years, and she hadn't lost a bit of her memory after taking human form.]
[Yet she lived like a stupid rabbit that had just been weaned and kicked in the head.]
[I seriously suspect that lightning struck her on the crown of her head the day she took human form, roasting what little brain matter she had completely dry.]
[Or maybe rabbits are just born with brains the size of mung beans.]
[Would a million years be enough to grow her even an ounce of common sense?]
[First of all, I just can't understand it. You're a hundred-thousand-year-old Soul Beast. Wouldn't it be better to stay tucked away in the Star Dou Forest, meekly living out your days?]
[Instead, you had to strip off your hide and run straight into human territory to get yourself killed.]
[Do you think your life's too long, or that you're avenging your mother too quickly?]
[You keep saying you want to avenge your mother, but then you turn around and practically deliver yourself to Soul Hunters.]
[You call that revenge? That's food delivery!]
[Once you got to the human world, you didn't know how to keep your head down and your tail tucked between your legs. Instead, you strutted around with drums and gongs, making a huge show of yourself.]
[Were you afraid the whole continent wouldn't know you weren't human? Did you have to bang a gong and shout, "Come drain my Soul Ring!" before you were satisfied?]
[What, were you tired of living and wanted to personally experience the human misery of having your Soul Ring drained and your Soul Bone ripped out?]
[And then there were all the ridiculous things she did along the way. She could make a dead man sit up in his coffin and curse.]
[She'd lived a hundred thousand years. Even if she'd spent her whole life holed up in the Star Dou Forest, wouldn't she have seen at least thousands upon thousands of humans coming and going to hunt Soul Beasts?]
[Had she never seen a man? Never met a handsome guy?]
[So why, the moment she saw Tang San, did she act like a wild dog that hadn't eaten in eight lifetimes and had just spotted a bone? She practically wanted to weld herself to his belt.]
[The moment she entered Notting Academy, before her butt even touched a chair, she rolled up her sleeves and started a fight over who'd be boss.]
[She pinned the son of Notting City's lord to the ground and rubbed his face in the dirt. And after beating him, she still wasn't satisfied—she had to make him her lackey.]
[Did a donkey kick your head in? The guy was the lord's son. He had connections with all sorts of people, and a few twists and turns could put him in touch with a Soul Saint or a Soul Douluo.]
[You're a little rabbit with only ten or twenty levels of cultivation. If things got serious, you couldn't even run away. You'd die without knowing which way you were lying!]
[And the worst part—she'd just finished fighting someone, then turned around and got all lovey-dovey, calling him big brother. She changed her tune faster than someone flipping a page.]
[They'd known each other for only a year. He was a seven-year-old brat who hadn't even grown his first hair, yet he slicked his tongue and said he'd step over corpses to protect her.]
[And you, a hundred-thousand-year-old veteran, actually believed him and even got teary-eyed with emotion?]
[Are you stupid to the bone, or are you so good at pretending to be young that you've fooled even yourself? Did you really start thinking you were some innocent little six- or seven-year-old girl?]
[A hundred-thousand-year-old hag, pinching her voice to call him big brother. It'd give anyone goosebumps and make them throw up last night's dinner.]
[You were always chanting about revenge, but the moment Tang San showed up, you forgot how to write the word "revenge."]
[All you could think about was that little man. Were you there to avenge your mother or go on a honeymoon?]
[If your mother could see this, the lid of her coffin wouldn't stay shut!]
[Being stupid would be one thing, but you could even toss aside your own mother's bitter vendetta, then turn around and snuggle into a man's arms.]
[With a worthless act like that, how dare you say you want justice for your mother?]
[If your mother knew that the daughter she gave her life to save had turned into a man-chasing fool after taking human form, she'd probably be so furious she'd blow up her Soul Ring.]
[She'd probably go out of her way to avoid you when reincarnating, and never want to recognize you as her daughter in your next life!]
You had to admit, the farther along you got, the more obvious it became that these women were stupid.
Sure enough, it had been clear from the start that this woman called Xiao Wu was unbelievably stupid.
She kept going on about revenge, yet the moment she got to the human world, she went and fell in love?
She knew perfectly well she was a hundred-thousand-year-old Soul Beast, yet she had absolutely no guard up and made such a high-profile entrance from the outset?
She really was a genius among geniuses, an elite among elites!
[Bibi Dong of Douluo I]: "No wonder you're a little brat. I never thought you'd be this stupid!"
[Bibi Dong of Douluo I]: "Hahahaha! Someone like you thinks she can come after me for revenge?"
[Bibi Dong of Douluo I]: "Are you sure you didn't come to the human world just to get yourself killed?"
[Hu Liena of Douluo I]: "Exactly. She knew perfectly well she was a Soul Beast, yet she was so brazen around humans."
"She didn't even have the most basic sense of caution..."
[Bibi Dong of Douluo I]: "Good. The stupider my enemies are, the easier they'll be for me to harvest!"
[Bibi Dong of Douluo I]: "You little brat, just you wait. I'll come collect your Soul Ring and Soul Bone myself!"
[Xiao Wu of Douluo I]: "Bibi Dong, you crazy old hag! How dare you! I'll be the one to kill you first!!"
Before you continue