The Real Succubus

From the moment he revealed himself, Long Xiaoyao recognized Scarlet King's identity. Though he spent most of his time in the Sun Moon Empire, he had still heard of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.

And any soul beast that required a Ferocious Beast to protect it so closely was certainly no ordinary creature. That was also why he had only temporarily restrained this Three-Eyed soul beast.

Scarlet King growled, "If you dare harm her, you will become the enemy of every soul beast in the Star Dou Great Forest."

Long Xiaoyao looked coldly at Scarlet King. "Are you threatening me?"

Scarlet King was instantly speechless. After all, he had been the one to attack first, so he was already in the wrong. He had only blurted out those words because he had been too worried about the Auspicious Beast's safety.

Long Xiaoyao's words immediately sobered him up. Even if the other party killed the Auspicious Beast on the spot, there was nothing he could do. With the other man's strength as an Ultimate Douluo, even Di Tian himself would be unable to do anything to him.

Beg for mercy? Setting aside whether it would work, asking a Ferocious Beast to beg a human Soul Master for mercy? If he really did that, he might as well pack up and get out of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Scarlet King calmed his anxious emotions and said, "She is the only Auspicious Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest. If she dies, all the soul beasts in the entire Star Dou Great Forest will riot. By then, it will likely become a disaster for humanity."

Scarlet King tried to use the greater good of humanity to make the peerless expert before him yield, but who was Long Xiaoyao?

To make up for his past mistakes, he had been able to remain by the side of the greatest leader of evil Soul Masters on this continent for decades. To Long Xiaoyao, the greater good was certainly important, but his bottom line was that no one could touch what he cherished.

Long Xiaoyao said coldly, "That has nothing to do with me."

The moment those words fell, the forest sank into deathly silence.

While the two faced off, Mu Feng had not been idle either. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's peculiar appearance was far too recognizable, especially with Scarlet King following beside her like an authenticity seal.

There's no way I'm wrong. This is the Auspicious Beast that will later become the vessel for a wisp of Tang Wutong's divine consciousness.

Mu Feng crouched before the soul beast covered in golden fur and resembling a male lion, studying her curiously. He was not worried in the slightest that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could break free from Long Xiaoyao's restraints. Just as he was about to boldly reach out and touch her intimidating lion head—

"Don't touch me!" A clear, enchanting young girl's voice came from the golden-maned lioness before him.

Mu Feng hurriedly withdrew his hand. Only then did he recall the forbidding aura she would display after joining Shrek Academy. He awkwardly took a step back, curled his lip, and said, "Who wants to touch you anyway?"

"Hmph." She was busy trying to break free from Long Xiaoyao's control and had no interest in paying attention to the little fellow before her.

Fortunately, Long Xiaoyao was powerful. The Dark Shadow Dragon Lock nearly burst open several times, yet she ultimately failed to escape. Exhausted after failing to break free, she collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"As expected of the Emperor Auspicious Beast. She already has such strength with only ten thousand years of cultivation," Mu Feng could not help marveling at the dominance of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's bloodline.

But then he thought of how this Auspicious Beast, whom Scarlet King treasured so dearly, would be swapped out by Tang San and eventually sacrificed to become one of Huo Yuhao's many soul rings.

The contrast between her circumstances before and after was truly immense. Mu Feng could not help sighing inwardly at the thought.

He was also quite interested in the power of destiny contained within her vertical eye, but he did not dare press his forehead against it.

Mu Feng believed that the information in his head was far more confidential than Huo Yuhao's. Compared to that tiny, ethereal bit of destiny power, he considered his own secrets far more important.

As Mu Feng wandered around her, looking her over from every angle, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who had already resigned herself to her fate, glared at him with her two bright golden eyes. Together with that bewitching vertical eye, all three of her eyes were fixed tightly on Mu Feng. Wherever he went, her gaze followed.

Feeling uncomfortable under her stare, Mu Feng returned to Long Xiaoyao's side. Long Xiaoyao and Scarlet King were still refusing to yield to one another, locked in a stalemate with no solution in sight.

Suddenly, Mu Feng seemed to think of something. He ran to Long Xiaoyao's side and whispered into his ear.

Long Xiaoyao nodded after hearing him. "That is a good idea."

Mu Feng's group had come secretly to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain soul rings. Now that this had happened, whether they could resolve the conflict before them or not, Scarlet King had already set his sights on them.

If several more Ferocious Beasts arrived afterward, they would be unable to move freely. Their original goal of obtaining soul rings might very well come to nothing.

Thus, Mu Feng suggested to Long Xiaoyao that they have Scarlet King capture suitable soul beasts for them instead.

On one hand, they held the Auspicious Beast as leverage, so they did not have to worry about the other side refusing. On the other, Scarlet King, who knew the distribution of soul beasts within the Star Dou Great Forest like the back of his hand, could quickly find rare light-element soul beasts, sparing them several days of exhausting travel.

However, when Long Xiaoyao proposed this exchange to Scarlet King, Scarlet King suddenly fell silent.

"How am I supposed to trust you?"

Three thousand-year sacred-type soul beasts in exchange for the Auspicious Beast—there could be no more profitable deal than that. Yet he had to wonder whether this was merely a trick by the humans before him to lure him away.

Long Xiaoyao snorted coldly. "What use are you here? Even if I wanted to take her away now, you could do nothing about it."

Long Xiaoyao immediately laid out the situation plainly—whether Scarlet King was present or not, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's life or death depended on a single thought from him. And for Scarlet King, reality was just that cruel.

Scarlet King's expression changed repeatedly. "Fine. Wait here for me." The instant his words fell, he turned into a streak of red light and vanished into the forest.

However, Long Xiaoyao and the others did not know that Scarlet King was heading toward the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest. The Auspicious Beast being captured was far too important a matter for him to place his hopes on the other side's verbal promise.

But as long as the Auspicious Beast had not suffered any substantial harm, there was still room to salvage the situation. To avoid mishandling things, compared to the domineering Di Tian, Bi Ji was clearly a better choice for negotiations. If the other party ultimately turned hostile and harmed the Auspicious Beast, Bi Ji would also be able to treat her in time.

Having thought it through, Scarlet King no longer hesitated and raced toward Bi Ji's dwelling.

Without Scarlet King's interference, Mu Feng quickly found perilla leaves by the roadside. Following Huo Yuhao's method, he cleaned the fish, stuffed the perilla leaves into their bellies, and set up the grill. To make up for his martial soul's inability to sense the heat, Mu Feng had no choice but to focus completely.

"It's done." Mu Feng looked with great satisfaction at the five skewers of golden grilled fish in his hands. One was for Long Xiaoyao, and one was for himself.

Although Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai's loyalty to him came from Ye Xishui, there was no denying that the two had helped him greatly during the past few years of cultivation. Thus, each of them received a skewer as well.

Upon receiving the grilled fish Mu Feng handed them, the two stood there stiffly like wooden posts.

Accustomed to the two doing nothing without an order, Mu Feng commanded, "Take them."

In the darkness, Xiao Bai's right hand moved ever so slightly, too subtly to be noticed. He answered, "Yes."

Mu Feng took the remaining two skewers of grilled fish and sat beside Long Xiaoyao and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, treating the soul beast as though she were not an outsider at all.

He stuck one skewer into the ground, then took a bite. As he broke through the crisp, charred outer layer, the tender fish flesh soaked in the fragrance of perilla melted in his mouth, fresh and sweet.

"The taste isn't bad," Long Xiaoyao commented after taking a bite.

Mu Feng nodded. If there was one thing most underestimated on Douluo Continent, it was probably this unremarkable grilled fish.

The fake succubus—likable Huo Yuhao. The real succubus—grilled fish.

Who knew how many people's favorability toward Huo Yuhao it had secretly maxed out? That invisible goodwill had also provided tremendous help to Huo Yuhao's growth without anyone noticing.

"Give me a skewer too." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was bound to the ground and saw that everyone had a skewer of grilled fish except her. Yet Mu Feng himself had taken two, and one of them was stuck in the ground not far in front of her.

Mu Feng said as he ate, "There's no more."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion grew a little angry upon hearing that. "Isn't there still one stuck over there?"

"That's the one I'm going to eat later."

"Hmph!" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion forcefully blew out a breath. Since Mu Feng would not let her eat it, she wanted to blow the grilled fish over so that he could not eat it either.

Mu Feng reacted quickly and caught the grilled fish before it could fall. Then, as though he had not seen her little tantrum at all, he continued eating without a care.

Seeing that her scheme had failed, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion spoke again. "Give me a skewer of grilled fish, and I'll tell you one secret about yourself."

"Oh?" Mu Feng had originally used the grilled fish to tempt her only because he still held a grudge over her not letting him touch her head. But when he saw that she wanted to trade a secret for it, his interest was immediately piqued.

"What secret?"

Long Xiaoyao, who had been watching the two bicker, also became interested. He wanted to know what secret of Mu Feng's she could see through after such a brief encounter. Could this Auspicious Beast truly possess some unusual ability?

Long Xiaoyao watched them with amusement. Mu Feng likewise did not believe that she could see through all his trump cards with only a few glances. He guessed that the crafty soul beast might simply be trying to scam a skewer of grilled fish.

The pleasant voice of a young girl rang out, her tone exceptionally serious. "Like me, you seem to be favored by destiny."