Dugu Bo, Shocked by Soul Beasts

Dugu Bo flew to Sunset Forest with Bai Xiao and a Hou. He set Bai Xiao and the Hou down on a tree branch. He had originally wanted to put them on the ground, but Bai Xiao said he wanted to show him something interesting, and that watching from the branch would be more convenient.

At Bai Xiao's urging, Dugu Bo stood dumbly in the tree, staring down for ages, yet he did not see so much as a hair. Wouldn't it be nicer to spend this time brewing tea? Dugu Bo thought.

Just as Dugu Bo's attention wandered, a peculiar Hundred-Year Soul Beast passed beneath the tree. Human footsteps soon followed behind it. Clearly, this was an ordinary soul-beast hunt. Why did Bai Xiao make me watch something so boring? Dugu Bo continued watching with that question in mind.

The Hundred-Year Soul Beast ran more and more slowly, nearly getting caught by the pursuing Soul Masters several times. Then, seemingly exhausted, it was about to collapse. Seeing this, the Soul Masters hurried after it.

The distance between them steadily closed. Just as the Soul Master's blade was about to touch the Soul Beast, a long trunk suddenly swept in from his side.

The Soul Master was sent flying before he could react. At that moment, the Soul Masters behind him caught up as well, and then they heard all manner of roars erupt from the surrounding forest.

Leaves whirled through the air and clods of earth burst apart. The group of Soul Masters was surrounded by strange-looking Soul Beasts with powerful auras—at least a dozen of them. Some of the less mentally resilient Soul Masters were so terrified that they collapsed onto the ground. "Big Brother, are you kidding me? We only wanted to hunt a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, but you sent over a dozen Thousand-Year Soul Beasts to ambush us in the grass? Was that really necessary? What grudge do you have? What resentment?"

Dugu Bo was startled as well and could not help saying, "Damn, are Soul Beasts this clever now? I feel like all the Soul Beasts I killed before were fake. If things had been like this back then, whether I could even have become a Soul Master would have been another matter!" Dugu Bo had clearly been frightened.

That was right. These extremely wretched Soul Beasts, who loved ambushing others from the shadows, were Bai Xiao's Soul Beast underlings. Perhaps, when Bai Xiao had first recruited his underlings, many Soul Beasts had been "hired" through this method. After Bai Xiao left, some Soul Beasts had no chance to ambush other Soul Beasts. On top of that, Bai Xiao had assigned them the task of capturing large numbers of Soul Masters to replenish his DNA library and prepare for other future matters. The Soul Beasts altered by Bai Xiao had also learned his habit of scheming against others, leading to the scene from before.

Soon afterward, the Soul Masters could not withstand such powerful Soul Beasts and were knocked unconscious one after another. The Soul Beasts did not kill them. Instead, they stripped away their valuables and tossed them into a cave sealed off by a strange-looking plant Soul Beast.

Seeing these highly intelligent Soul Beasts, Dugu Bo wore a completely bewildered expression. He felt that his understanding of Soul Beasts, built over more than seventy years of life, had been overturned.

Just as the Soul Beasts were preparing to withdraw, the Hou beside Dugu Bo let out a strange cry. The Soul Beasts below were visibly stunned, then collectively howled toward the sky.

Only then did Dugu Bo understand. So these especially treacherous Soul Beasts are connected to you, brat! This grandson-in-law of mine always manages to surprise me. No, I need to get used to it! Dugu Bo thought.

Bai Xiao and the Hou jumped down from the branch and landed atop a Thousand-Year elephant Soul Beast.

The Soul Beast underlings became excited. They believed Bai Xiao had returned to expand their forces, and that they would spread the care of the "Soul Beast Doctor" throughout all of Sunset Forest.

Bai Xiao was also delighted to see the Soul Beasts like this. "Comrades, you have worked hard during this time. This time, I have returned to subdue every Soul Beast in Sunset Forest!!!"

The Soul Beasts were deeply moved by Bai Xiao's words. One by one, they ground their teeth and sharpened their claws, wishing they could immediately knock out the other Soul Beasts and drag them onto the Great Demon King's operating table, so they could experience what "Professor Bai's care" truly meant.

Watching this scene, Dugu Bo's eye twitched. So this brat really is a monster! A beast, too! he thought.