Xiao Wu: I Really Didn't Start Trouble, Tang San Followed the Scent Here

"Suotuo City?" Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head and softly repeated the name before continuing, "All right. Let's go take a look."

"Only..." She paused, then looked at Zhao Linchuan and Xiao Wu again, her gaze carrying a trace of complicated emotion. "Don't you regret getting tangled up with a huge troublemaker like me?"

"What's there to regret?" Zhao Linchuan said gently, a faint smile curling at his lips. "My sister and I are just two people. As long as the two of us are fed, that's enough."

"At worst, we'll hide away in some remote mountain forest where no one can find us and never see another person for the rest of our lives."

He wiped his lips, stabbed the dagger in his hand into the ground beside the campfire, then rose to his feet and stretched lazily.

"Besides, this is still the Heaven Dou Empire."

"No matter how long the Star Luo Empire's reach is, once they get here, they'll have to tuck their tails between their legs."

"All right, that's enough talk."

"You haven't eaten in a long time either. Hurry and eat something to restore your strength. We still have a long road ahead of us."

"Thank you..."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly, her eyes growing a little moist.

She blinked hard, forcing back the warmth surging into her eyes. Then she lowered her head and began taking large bites of meat.

Xiao Wu watched from the side, holding up a lamb leg with shreds of meat still hanging from her mouth, yet her movement suddenly froze.

Her brows slowly furrowed. For some reason, she suddenly felt uneasy.

Was her dear brother's purposefulness a little too obvious?

From the moment he met Zhu Zhuqing, every action he took and every word he said seemed meticulously planned.

The timing of his appearance, his reason for intervening, the way he took her in—everything had been just right. Even his suggestion to go see Dai Mubai was the same.

Could it be... he had been eyeing this "little chubby cat" from the very beginning?

With that thought in mind, Xiao Wu's gaze drifted over Zhu Zhuqing's body.

Mm... she really was quite "chubby."

But when it came to looks, her Light Goddess Butterfly did not seem inferior to Zhu Zhuqing's big buns.

Seven days later, Suotuo City.

The streets teemed with people, and shops lined both sides of the road.

At a street corner outside the Rose Hotel.

"...See that, Zhuqing?"

Xiao Wu's finger slipped through a gap in the crowd, pointing at the figure flirting with the receptionist at the hotel entrance. Her tone was filled with disgust.

"Since we got here, in just three days, he's already gone through more than a dozen rounds."

"And that lecherous tiger isn't picky about meat or vegetables either. He'll eat anything, and he's not even afraid of catching a disease."

"I'm really not trying to stir things up. You went through so much trouble..." Xiao Wu continued chattering away.

Zhu Zhuqing stood beside Xiao Wu without moving.

Her gaze pierced through the crowd as she stared fixedly at the youth walking into the hotel with two seductive women in his arms, one on each side.

Her teeth were clenched tight, the muscles of her cheeks drawn into a stubborn curve.

Her fists hanging at her sides were clenched so tightly that they nearly bled, her nails digging into her palms. Waves of pain came and went, but they could not compare to the suffocating ache in her chest, as though someone were squeezing it viciously.

Zhu Zhuqing watched with disappointment as the youth entered the hotel stairs with the two women in his arms, his figure vanishing into the shadows around the corner. Her lips trembled slightly.

"Stop it, Sister Xiao Wu," she said coldly. "Let's go. It's my fault for being so cheap as to think about coming to find a man like that."

"Zhuqing..."

Xiao Wu looked at Zhu Zhuqing's face as she forced herself not to cry, and her heart softened.

She reached out and gently took Zhu Zhuqing's wrist, speaking softly.

"Zhuqing, there are still good men in this world. For example, my brother."

"I was an orphan when I was little, drifting from place to place and never knowing when my next full meal would be."

"By chance, I met him. He was the one who raised me without sparing any effort."

"Whenever there was something delicious, I was the first person he thought of. Whenever there was danger, he was the first to stand in front of me..."

Xiao Wu comforted her in a gentle voice, yet for some reason, the tears Zhu Zhuqing had been holding at the corners of her eyes suddenly burst forth.

"Huh? Zhuqing, why are you crying?" Xiao Wu hurriedly reached out and gently wiped the tears from Zhu Zhuqing's cheeks with her fingertips. "Zhuqing, stop crying."

"I'll beg my brother later and have him help you think of a solution..."

"Xiao Wu, I really envy you." Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were red, her voice somewhat hoarse. "You had someone you could entrust everything to by your side as you grew up."

She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and continued.

"Let's go. Isn't your brother buying something? Let's hurry and find him."

"Mm-hm..." Xiao Wu took Zhu Zhuqing's arm on her own initiative and headed in the direction where the three of them had separated earlier.

About fifteen minutes later.

At a street corner.

"...Huh? No, Brother?!"

Xiao Wu tilted her head, confusion written all over her large eyes as she stared at the extremely crude piece of low-quality crystal in Zhao Linchuan's hand.

"You said you were going to buy a treasure, and this is what you came back with?"

"You weren't scammed, were you?"

Zhu Zhuqing stood beside them without speaking, but her expression was identical to Xiao Wu's. Her cool eyes shifted back and forth between Zhao Linchuan and the crystal.

Based on the impression Zhao Linchuan had given her over the past few days, this man was meticulous and experienced. He handled matters with order and method, and he was definitely not a fool.

But the problem was that the crystal in his hand looked like nothing more than a worthless piece of low-quality crystal. Even the cheapest goods from a roadside stall were better than this.

It was the sort of thing that no one would bother picking up even if it were thrown by the roadside.

She could not help doubting alongside Xiao Wu whether Zhao Linchuan had truly been scammed.

"Long hair, short sight. What do you know?" Zhao Linchuan shook the crystal in his hand with feigned mystery. "This is called..."

Just then, a voice abruptly interrupted him.

"Um, brother."

The three of them turned toward the sound and saw a youth in a light-blue fitted outfit hurrying toward them.

His steps were extremely hurried, and his gaze was nailed to the poor-quality crystal in Zhao Linchuan's hand, unblinking.

The youth was not particularly handsome, but his features were clear and proper enough to be considered decent-looking.

"Brother, can you let me take a look at the Crystal Plate in your hand?" he asked urgently. Before Zhao Linchuan could answer, he had already reached out.

"Take it." Zhao Linchuan casually tossed it to him.

The youth hurriedly caught it, cradling the crystal in both hands as he brought it close to his eyes and inspected it carefully.

"This, this is...!" The youth's expression gradually turned solemn, delight gleaming in his eyes. "Wonderful! Wonderful...!"