Mad Tiger's corpse twitched twice on the ground, then went completely still.
A deep purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring slowly emerged from the corpse, glowing faintly in the night.
Xiao Chenyu glanced at the Soul Ring, making sure Mad Tiger was well and truly dead.
He dispelled Blood Rage.
The crimson markings on his body quickly faded.
The Destruction Demon Wolf King's wolf-like features receded like the tide.
He transformed from a wolf-headed monster wreathed in three layers of glowing patterns back into a handsome, black-haired boy.
He briefly assessed his condition. Releasing Blood Rage early had only left him slightly dizzy.
It felt like the lightheadedness you got from standing up too quickly after squatting for a long time. He shook his head, and it passed.
Compared to the first time he'd tested Blood Rage, when he'd collapsed on the ground and stayed there for half an hour,
his control had improved by more than a single level.
"A year ago, I needed Dad's Soul Hunting Group and Soul Guidance bombs just to kill a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear. Now I can solo a four-thousand-year Mad Tiger like it's a little kid."
Xiao Chenyu mused to himself.
Then he opened the Chat Group.
[Xiao Chenyu]: @Douluo Star Will, I have a question.
[Xiao Chenyu]: How did Xiao Wu end up getting attacked by Mad Tiger?
In the original story, she should have made it to Nuoding Academy completely unharmed.
Could it be that I'd taken too many things from Tang San, and the world had changed?
[Goddess of Life]: Perhaps some of your actions have affected the course of the world.
[Goddess of Life]: You tricked Tang San out of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, dug up Ah Yin's seedling, and fused with the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone that should have belonged to Tang San.
Taken separately, none of these events were all that significant.
But together, they may have already set off a chain reaction in the river of time.
A butterfly flapping its wings can bring a storm thousands of miles away.
[God of Destruction]: The timeline has its own inertia, but enough variables piling up can change the course of the future.
Every time you take something from Tang San, fate veers a little further off course.
But the Will of Douluo Planet's reaction took everyone by surprise.
[Douluo Star Will]: Hahahaha! You all guessed wrong! (≧▽≦)ﾉ
[Douluo Star Will]: I'll tell you: I did all of this!
I stirred up the distribution of Soul Beasts on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, making sure that Mad Tiger happened to appear on Xiao Wu's only route.
Then I put her in mortal danger so the Avenger could swoop in from the sky and save the beauty!
The group fell silent for two whole seconds.
[Goddess of Life]: This...
[Xiao Chenyu]: ...You did this?
[Douluo Star Will]: That's right!
The classic hero-saves-the-beauty scene is the best way to bring a man and woman closer!
Just think about it. When Xiao Wu is chased until she's cornered by Mad Tiger and thinks she's about to die,
you suddenly swoop down from the sky and save her.
Wouldn't her affection for you shoot right up?
[Douluo Star Will]: This design of mine was a stroke of genius!
[Douluo Star Will]: No need to thank me for my good intentions. It's the least I could do! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
[God of Destruction]: ...
[Goddess of Life]: ...
[Titan Giant Ape]: Hang on, I don't get it.
Weren't we supposed to save Sister Xiao Wu and keep her away from Tang San's living hell?
Why would you put Sister Xiao Wu in danger? Why would you deliberately set her up?
What if the Avenger didn't get there in time and Mad Tiger hurt Sister Xiao Wu?
That's a four-thousand-year Mad Tiger!
Sister Xiao Wu just transformed. She can't even beat a Hundred-Year Soul Beast!
[Douluo Star Will]: Er Ming, you don't understand. It's all part of my painstaking plan.
Would a simple "Hello, I'm here to help you" move a newly transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?
No!
Xiao Wu lived in the Star Dou Great Forest for a hundred thousand years. Her wariness of humans was thicker than a city wall.
Did you think you could just wave a God Blood Bead at her and she'd follow you?
Naive!
Only a hero-saves-the-beauty scene could make her let down her guard!
[Douluo Star Will]: These are the ultimate secrets of flirting that I've gleaned from observing Douluo Continent for tens of thousands of years.
[Douluo Star Will]: Hero saves the beauty: corny, but it works. (ᗜ˰ᗜ)
[Titan Giant Ape]: ...I'm starting to think you lot aren't any more reliable than Tang San.
Xiao Chenyu stared at the chaos in the group, speechless.
So the Will of Douluo Planet was behind all this.
She claimed to have lived for who knew how many tens of thousands of years, yet her head was full of cheesy hero-saves-the-beauty scenes. Who knew who'd taught her such nonsense?
But he didn't have time to argue with her now.
Xiao Wu had already recovered behind him and was watching him with a pair of wary, wide eyes.
"Um... excuse me, who are you?"
Six-year-old Xiao Wu rose to her feet, her little hands clutching the hem of her clothes.
Her gaze darted between Xiao Chenyu and Mad Tiger's corpse.
She had just survived her first brush with death since transforming, and her heartbeat had yet to settle.
Two streaks of dirt from when Mad Tiger had chased her were still smeared across her little face.
But a Soul Beast's instincts helped her regain her composure in the shortest time possible.
This boy had slapped a four-thousand-year Mad Tiger away with a single claw. He clearly wasn't ordinary.
And someone like that just happened to appear on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, just happened to swoop down and save her when she was in danger... It was all far too much of a coincidence.
She wasn't a fool.
Being saved once wouldn't make her trust a stranger completely.
In the Star Dou Great Forest, what fell from the sky wasn't always a rescuer. It could be an even more powerful human hunter.
Xiao Chenyu composed himself and repeated what Er Ming had told him to say. "My name is Xiao Chenyu."
"Your name is Xiao Wu, right?"
"Er Ming sent me to meet you and escort you to the human world."
"He knew it would be dangerous for you to leave the Star Dou Great Forest alone, so he asked me to meet you on the outskirts."
"Er Ming!"
Xiao Wu's gaze suddenly sharpened.
This person knew she wasn't human, and he knew Er Ming!
No outsider could possibly know those two things.
Unless he really had been in contact with Er Ming.
But Er Ming never interacted with humans.
The overlord of the Star Dou Great Forest's core region was more hostile to humans than any other Soul Beast.
In Er Ming's eyes, there were only two kinds of humans: the ones he'd already killed and the ones he hadn't killed yet.
How could he possibly entrust a human with coming to meet her?
Xiao Chenyu saw the doubt in her eyes and immediately took out the Titan God Blood Bead.
Dark golden light flowed through it in the night.
A mighty Titan aura radiated from the bead.
"This is a token Er Ming gave me."
"You lived with him for so many years, so you should recognize his aura."
Xiao Wu studied the blood bead.
The aura really was Er Ming's.
Her eyelashes trembled, and a flicker of hesitation crossed her eyes.
But she quickly raised her head and said in a firm tone, "Er Ming never interacts with humans."
"If he really asked you to come and meet me, then come back to the Lake of Life with me. We'll ask him face-to-face."
"If Er Ming confirms it himself, I'll believe you."
"..."
Xiao Chenyu was at a loss.
This little girl wasn't easy to fool.
He immediately opened the Chat Group and started complaining.
[Xiao Chenyu]: @Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming, your method isn't working at all.
[Xiao Chenyu]: Xiao Wu doesn't believe me. She says she'll take me to the Lake of Life to confront you in person.
Can I even go there?
If a human Soul Master stepped into the core region, wouldn't Da Ming strike him down on the spot?
[Titan Giant Ape]: Huh? That's not right. I thought Sister Xiao Wu would believe me if she recognized my aura on the token.
[Xiao Chenyu]: Recognizing your aura isn't the same as believing me. She's not stupid. She says you never interact with humans, so you couldn't have asked a human to come get her.
[Titan Giant Ape]: Well... I guess that does sound fishy.
[Titan Giant Ape]: I didn't think of that before. I figured the token would be enough. So what do we do now?
[Douluo Star Will]: Uh-oh~ Plan A failed~ (◕ᴗ◕✿)
[Xiao Chenyu]: This is all because of your hero-saves-the-beauty stunt.
In the original story, she'd have made it to Nuoding Academy safe and sound.
I could have met her there and built her trust bit by bit. We wouldn't have to go through all this trouble.
[Douluo Star Will]: I was only trying to help~ So, Avenger, what are you going to do now?
Xiao Chenyu glanced at Xiao Wu, who was staring at him warily, and sighed.
Her big eyes plainly said, "Let's see what other nonsense you come up with."
[Xiao Chenyu]: What else can I do?
[Xiao Chenyu]: Since talking things out won't work, we'll just have to carry out Plan B.
[Titan Giant Ape]: What's Plan B?
[Xiao Chenyu]: Knock her out and take her home. Then I can slowly train her... Ahem, I mean explain things to her.
[Titan Giant Ape]: No! You can't lay a hand on Sister Xiao Wu!!!
[Douluo Star Will]: Oh, Er Ming, don't worry. Knocking her out isn't the same as hurting her!
[Douluo Star Will]: Once Sister Xiao Wu is brought back and given good food, drink, and a place to stay, she'll understand the Avenger's painstaking good intentions. Humans call this "act first, explain later"! (≧▽≦)ﾉ
[Human-Faced Demon Spider]: Knock her out! Take her away! Bring her home! Keep her!
Tsk, this wasn't up to Er Ming anymore.
Xiao Chenyu closed the Chat Screen and walked toward Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu sensed something was wrong and instinctively took a step back, raising her little hands into a defensive stance.
"What are you going to do?"
"I warn you, even though I'm a transformed Soul Beast, I'm not someone you can mess with—"
"Sorry about this, Xiao Wu. I'll explain once you wake up."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Chenyu blurred forward. With Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, he closed in on her in an instant.
Though Xiao Wu had lost her cultivation, her battle instincts remained. She instinctively raised both arms to block.
Unfortunately, she was only a six-year-old girl. Against Xiao Chenyu, any resistance was futile.
"Smack!"
Xiao Chenyu struck the back of her neck with a precise hand chop.
He controlled the force perfectly.
It wouldn't injure her spine, but it was enough to make her lose consciousness instantly.
Xiao Wu only managed to let out a brief "You—" before her body went limp.
Xiao Chenyu caught her and lifted the little girl into his arms.
Six-year-old Xiao Wu was so light she felt almost weightless.
Her head rested against his shoulder, her breathing as steady as a sleeping little rabbit's.
Xiao Chenyu looked down at her and couldn't help muttering, "I save the beauty, then knock her out and carry her off. Why do I feel more and more like a villain?"
He sighed, then added, "Whatever. A villain's a villain."
"Besides, Tang San did far more outrageous things in the original story, and he still thought he was righteous."
He held Xiao Wu securely in his arms.
The flight Soul Bone Skill of the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone activated. He shot into the air and became a streak of blue light in the night.