The Douluo Era.
The outskirts of Star Dou Forest.
Tang Hao looked at the forest before him, and at last his heart eased.
"We should be about there. Girl, wasn't the King of the Forest supposed to come meet you? Why hasn't it shown up yet?"
Xiao Wu was listless now. The Light Screen had affected her far too much.
Hearing Tang Hao's question, Xiao Wu could only weakly sense her surroundings. She murmured:
"From the heart of Star Dou Forest to the outskirts, it's quite a distance. It takes time..."
"I can feel Er Ming getting closer."
"Wait a little. I'll summon it over!"
"Good!" Tang Hao nodded.
Only Tang San noticed Xiao Wu's mood, and he kept comforting her at her side:
"Xiao Wu, it's okay."
"Don't let the Light Screen affect you. Everything she said is false."
"Even if—even if you really do summon the Titan Giant Ape to take you away in the future, I won't blame you!"
"Xiao Wu!"
Tang San called out anxiously, but hearing him only made Xiao Wu feel worse.
Xiao Wu covered her face and said in anguish:
"But it's right!"
"Xiao San, if I really cared about you, could I really summon Er Ming so easily and have it take me away?"
"Can't I spare a thought for how you feel?"
"Everything the Light Screen said is right. This is my problem!"
"Whether it's my plan to avenge my mother or just getting a Soul Ring, it all shows how foolish I am!"
"Xiao San, I'm sorry. I..."
"I'm afraid I really will hurt you..."
"No, you won't!" Tang San contradicted her again. "Xiao Wu, even if you hurt me, you're still my little sister!"
"Xiao Wu, as long as I'm here, no one can hurt you!"
But by now, Xiao Wu had lost her fighting spirit.
No matter how much Tang San said, she couldn't be brought back.
Xiao Wu could only look at the Light Screen with a bitter smile. Who knew how many more foolish things she would do in the future?
On the Light Screen.
[That part about obtaining a Soul Ring was simply a milestone in reaching the pinnacle of idiocy, so stupid it could make every Soul Master on the continent laugh themselves silly.]
[The pile of garbage plotlines that followed was even more earth-shatteringly awful, so stinking even dung beetles gave it a wide berth.]
[Xiao Wu dressed up like a little girl and played house with street thug Bu Le. It was so beneath her that I couldn't even be bothered to bring it up.]
[The later Continental Advanced Spirit Master Elite Tournament was an utterly stupid spectacle, with a brain that was out of service from beginning to end, plummeting all the way down.]
[The first stupid move was a fighter jet among brain-dead decisions—what the hell was wrong with you that you had to enter the tournament?]
[Did you sneak into the human world to go on vacation? Or walk the red carpet?]
[Weren't you always shouting that you'd avenge your own mother's blood debt? Weren't you supposed to cultivate desperately and grow stronger? Weren't you supposed to keep your head down like a beast?]
[And yet your genius self-preservation strategy was to step right into the spotlight, in case Bibi Dong's telescope didn't have high enough resolution?]
[Don't give me that nonsense about Lovesick Heartbreak Red being a protective charm. Sure, that lousy flower can cover up some of your beastly smell.]
[But have you ever tested how well it works? Can it hold up for three seconds or five? Does it cover an area bigger than your palm? Can it withstand a Titled Douluo scanning you with a single glance?]
[You don't know a damn thing, haven't figured anything out, and still dare to swagger onto the stage. Your courage is ten thousand times bigger than your brain.]
[You knew perfectly well that you hadn't fully matured yet, and that the moment you set foot on Spirit Hall's turf, you'd have to queue just to qualify as a Soul Ring.]
[You knew full well that this choice was a headlong charge toward certain death, yet you still floored the gas pedal.]
[Did this do a single damn thing for your teammates, or for your precious Tang San?]
[Once your identity was exposed, the whole academy would be dragged down with you, and your wonderful big brother San would get caught up in it too.]
[Only a dimwit who drank water instead of using their brains could pull off this kind of move that hurts everyone and helps no one.]
[If your head had held anything besides a bag of bean curd dregs, if you'd had even a little bit of brain matter, you wouldn't have been so eager to hand Spirit Hall a free kill.]
[And then the apologists jump in and say: Xiao Wu was toughing it out for the team. She could've slipped away on her own.]
[Oh, go to hell! What, did the tournament make everyone sign a death pact? Would you drop dead on the spot if you didn't compete?]
[Couldn't she have turned around and withdrawn right there? Would she have been struck by lightning for quitting?]
[If you're stupid, own it. Don't keep using the team as a fig leaf. The team isn't taking the fall for you.]
[And then, during the tournament, Tang San wanted to absorb his fourth Soul Ring and dared to go after a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast right off the bat.]
[Because she was a Soul Beast herself, Xiao Wu pretended to scare him, claiming that a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring caused Soul Shock that could turn someone into a vegetable.]
[She even thumped her chest and swore: if Tang San died, she'd follow him to the grave without a second thought.]
[Fine, fine, fine!]
[When your own mother died horribly, why didn't you follow her without a second thought?]
[Your mother dies, and you don't say a damn thing; your man dies, and you wail to high heaven, ready to throw your life away?]
[You really are the wonderful daughter your mother raised. She fed you from the cradle, and what she got in return was a top-grade ingrate.]
[My mother died. I shouted about revenge, but in reality I went sightseeing in the human world, flirting and attracting admirers.]
[If my man dies, I'll throw myself after him to prove my devotion. I absolutely won't let my dear big brother San die in vain.]
[They say a man forgets his mother after he marries, but you aren't even married yet, and you've already tossed your own mother onto the garbage heap?]
[No, it wasn't only then that you tossed her aside—you never left even the tiniest place for your own mother in your heart, from beginning to end!]
[Later, the tournament went on as usual, and somehow they even won.]
[Then, by sheer accident, Lovesick Heartbreak Red fell. Her underwear was pulled down in full view, and her identity was exposed completely.]
[If Tang Hao hadn't dropped in from the sky at just the right moment, you'd already have become a wronged soul trapped in Bibi Dong's Soul Ring.]
[So just how many times had this girl's brain been caught in a door? If her luck had been even a tiny bit worse, nine lives wouldn't have been enough to survive her own suicidal stupidity.]
[After that, Tang Hao dragged Tang San and Xiao Wu away to escape, and Xiao Wu went back to hide in Star Dou Forest.]
[A few years later, Tang San went looking for her after finishing his cultivation, and what do you know, he just happened to run into a large force from Spirit Hall on its way to capture her.]
[Let's set aside how Tang San managed to be stupid. Let's talk about Xiao Wu, the greatest genius of all time.]
[I've racked my brains for eight lifetimes and still can't figure it out—you stupid girl knew Spirit Hall's hunting dogs had already blocked the entrance, so why did you still jump right out?]
[That's right, you showed yourself of your own accord and charged straight in to fight them head-on.]
[Good grief, was your brain caught in elevator doors and then kicked by a donkey doing a full loop?]
[You knew perfectly well they'd come to capture you, so why were you charging out like you'd been pumped full of stimulants?]
Before you continue