Immortal Herb

Xiao Wu lay prostrate before Ah Rou's body, her entire body trembling.

Her tears fell onto Ah Rou's fur, drop after drop, impossible to stop.

Nezha knelt beside Xiao Wu.

His Three Heads and Six Arms had all been withdrawn, leaving only one head and two arms.

He knelt there, one hand tightly gripping Ah Rou's already cold forepaw, the other digging fiercely into the dirt, his fingernails filled with blood and mud.

Da Ming lowered his bull's head, his vertical pupils dim and lifeless.

Er Ming stood some distance away. He did not dare approach or look.

No one spoke.

Between heaven and earth, there was only the soft sound of lake water lapping against the shore, and their suppressed sobs pushed to the brink.

No one knew how much time passed.

Xiao Wu slowly raised her head.

Her eyes were swollen red from crying, and bloodshot veins filled them.

But at that moment, beneath the grief in those eyes was a trace of resolve.

It was a resolve that made one's heart tremble.

"I'm going to undergo Transformation and become human."

Da Ming abruptly raised his head, his vertical pupils filled with disbelief.

Er Ming froze where he stood, his enormous fist suspended in midair without moving.

"Sister Xiao Wu, what did you say?" Da Ming's voice carried a rare note of urgency.

"Do you know what undergoing Transformation into a human means?"

"I know." Xiao Wu's voice remained soft, yet it was exceptionally firm.

"You don't!" Da Ming's tail swept savagely across the ground, carving out a deep trench.

"When a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast undergoes Transformation into a human, if it cannot break through to God Rank above Title Douluo, it can only live for a mere hundred years! A hundred years! To us, that is no more than the flick of a finger!"

"Sister Xiao Wu, don't be impulsive." Er Ming crouched down, bringing his massive head close to Xiao Wu. His voice was full of anxiety. "Aunt Rou has just left us. If anything happens to you too..."

"I'm not being impulsive."

Xiao Wu interrupted Er Ming. She raised her head, her swollen eyes looking at Da Ming and Er Ming. There was no impulse or madness in them, only clarity.

"Da Ming, Er Ming, you both know this. Among Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, my talent is nothing remarkable. Mother chose to undergo Transformation back then because, with her aptitude, it was almost impossible for her to survive the two-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation."

She lowered her head and looked at Ah Rou's body, her voice trembling slightly. "I inherited Mother's bloodline. My aptitude is even worse than hers. If I remain in the Star Dou Forest, when my two-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation arrives, what will I have to survive it with?"

Da Ming and Er Ming fell silent at the same time.

They knew better than anyone that Xiao Wu was speaking the truth.

The Soft-Boned Enchanting Rabbit clan had never excelled in combat. Their talents lay in speed and survival, not in confronting heavenly tribulations head-on.

Ah Rou had chosen Transformation back then because she knew she would not survive it.

And Xiao Wu's talent was even slightly inferior to Ah Rou's.

"And besides..." A flame called hatred ignited in Xiao Wu's eyes.

"If I stay in the Star Dou Forest, how can I avenge Mother? Bibi Dong is the Pope of Spirit Hall. She hides in Spirit City, guarded by Title Douluo and protected by countless Soul Masters. How can I, a Soul Beast, kill her?"

Her claws carved deep marks into the ground. "Only by undergoing Transformation into a human. Only by cultivating to Title Douluo as a human, like Mother did, can I enter Spirit City and kill Bibi Dong with my own hands."

"But—"

Er Ming still wanted to say something.

"Er Ming." Xiao Wu interrupted him, her voice soft, as light as a feather. "Mother is dead. I can't do nothing."

In the end, Er Ming could not say a single word.

Da Ming remained silent for a long time.

His vertical pupils watched Xiao Wu. Since when had Sister Xiao Wu, who only knew how to chase his tail and play, become capable of saying such things?

After a long while, Da Ming lowered his head.

"You've made up your mind?"

"I have."

"You won't regret it?"

"I won't."

Da Ming's bull's head slowly lowered, and he closed his eyes. He did not try to persuade her further.

Because he knew that when Xiao Wu spoke in that tone, no one could change her mind. In that regard, she was exactly like Aunt Rou.

"Fine." Da Ming's voice was hoarse.

"You will undergo Transformation. Aunt Rou's vengeance is ours as well. We will remain in the Star Dou Forest. If you ever need us, send a signal, and even if Er Ming and I have to tear down Spirit City, we will rush to your side."

Er Ming nodded fiercely, smashing his fist into the ground and leaving a deep crater.

Xiao Wu's tears flowed again. But she did not cry aloud; she merely nodded with all her strength.

Nezha had remained crouched beside Ah Rou's body without speaking.

As a transmigrator, he knew better than anyone that Xiao Wu undergoing Transformation was bound to happen.

In the original story, Xiao Wu had undergone Transformation and gone into human society after Bibi Dong killed her mother.

This was the beginning of the entire story of Douluo Continent, a script fate had written long ago.

But knowing was one thing; witnessing it with his own eyes was another.

He had watched Ah Rou turn into a Soul Ring and Soul Bone before his eyes. He had watched Xiao Wu change from a carefree rabbit into someone whose eyes now held nothing but hatred.

He wanted to persuade Xiao Wu, wanted to tell her how dangerous the path after Transformation would be, but he could not find any reason to do so.

Because the same hatred that burned within Xiao Wu also burned in his own heart.

In the end, he merely stood, walked before Xiao Wu, and looked into her eyes. "Xiao Wu, whatever you decide, I'll support you."

Xiao Wu looked at him.

Those swollen pink eyes stared at him, tears swirling within them, ready to burst through at any moment.

Then she suddenly threw herself into Nezha's arms.

She clung tightly to him, her tears soaking the clothes on his shoulder. Her voice was broken. "Nezha, Mother is gone... Mother is gone... From now on, it's just us..."

Nezha said nothing.

He only embraced Xiao Wu in return, holding her tightly, tightly.

Da Ming coiled nearby, his bull's head lowered, silent.

Er Ming turned away, his enormous shoulders trembling slightly.

After a long time, Xiao Wu's sobs gradually subsided.

She lifted her head from Nezha's embrace and wiped her face haphazardly with her claws, but she could not wipe away the tear stains covering it.

At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Nezha's mind.

Like lightning tearing through the night sky, it instantly illuminated something he had forgotten in a corner of his memory.

Immortal Herb.

Lovesick Heartbreak Red.

In the original story, Xiao Wu's identity as a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had been exposed after the Soul Master Tournament, and Spirit Hall had pursued her because of it.

Before that, however, the Soul Beast aura on Xiao Wu's body had been concealed by the petals of Lovesick Heartbreak Red, allowing her to avoid having her Soul Beast identity discovered by Title Douluo.

Immortal Herbs could conceal the aura of transformed Soul Beasts!

The instant that thought appeared, Nezha felt as though someone had gripped his heart tightly.