An

"Master, the Blue Silver Grass to the east sensed something approaching." Rem spoke, interrupting Bai Xiao's wild imaginings.

Rem was the product of Bai Xiao combining his Martial Soul with his brain. With the authority Bai Xiao granted her, she could assist him in controlling the Martial Soul to a certain extent and gather information about the surroundings in the background!

"Hm? Activate the emergency backup plan. Execute Plan A!" Bai Xiao's expression turned serious as he hurriedly spoke, looking every bit the commander.

"Yes, Plan A activated!" the girl's voice rang out.

The plants in the grass beside him began to shrink, splitting open to reveal what was clearly a large pit beneath them.

Bai Xiao leaned backward, using the softness of the lawn to land safely on the ground.

With his arms pressed tight against his torso, Bai Xiao rolled over and nimbly flipped into the pit.

"Hide!" Bai Xiao silently recited in his heart.

The plants on both sides grew wildly, covering the opening in the lawn in the blink of an eye.

Bai Xiao concealed himself through the plants' growth. The plants covering him grew naturally, so there was no way to tell from outside that someone was hidden here.

No sooner said than done, a black figure flashed over the patch of grass where Bai Xiao was hiding.

Rustle, rustle, rustle~

Quick footsteps crushed the fallen leaves.

A blue figure strode after it, moving at a speed that nearly matched the one ahead.

Just as the pursuer was about to catch up, the one fleeing in front suddenly stopped, then turned around. A black gleam flashed.

The figure giving chase hurriedly reacted as well, summoning a crimson silhouette. An orange sharp gleam shot forward to meet it.

The two collided at tremendous speed.

Bang!

With a thunderous boom, the two figures flew backward. After regaining their footing, they began confronting each other.

Only then did Bai Xiao see clearly that the black figure from before was a Black Leopard. Silver stripes ran across its forehead and back, while blood flowed from one of its hind legs. It was obviously injured.

The crimson figure behind it was a burly man. Based on what Bai Xiao had seen while traveling the continent before—or rather, wandering it—he could determine that the man was a mercenary. After all, mercenaries were the corpses Bai Xiao had looted the most. They were his most loyal customers.

For some reason, the sight of a mercenary made Bai Xiao's hands itch.

Clearly, the mercenary was hunting this Black Leopard's Soul Ring, what people on Douluo Continent commonly called "soul hunting."

Brother, hurry up! Slide right over there, and I can start my work—looting corpses. Bai Xiao silently urged.

Wait. If this mercenary can kill this Black Leopard, then the Soul Ring clearly isn't one he needs to absorb. He was probably hired to hunt the Soul Ring. Bai Xiao's thoughts raced.

A plump youth with an oily face walked up from behind. His face still carried some youthful softness, making him look around his teens, but a hint of cunning lurked at the corners of his eyes, as though he were greedily eyeing some delicious food.

"Uncle Wang, slow down! You left your young master behind. If a Soul Beast eats me, who's going to absorb this Soul Ring?" Xiao Pang in splendid clothes shouted.

Hmph, if you weren't the city lord's bastard son, who would bother with you? Wang Shi cursed inwardly.

Yet he kept a respectful smile on his face as he said, "Young Master, wasn't I afraid your Soul Ring would run away? Look how devoted I am!"

"Don't worry, Uncle Wang. When I get home, I'll definitely have my father reward you handsomely." The fat boy wore a lecherous grin as he spoke calmly, his greedy gaze fixed on the distant Black Leopard.

"Oh my, then thank you, Young Master! Watch me catch that Soul Ring for you!" Wang Shi immediately released his Martial Soul. One white and one yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet.

A crimson tiger-type Soul Beast phantom enveloped Wang Shi as he pounced toward the Black Leopard with the force of a thousand catties.

The originally ferocious Black Leopard was directly pinned down by his attack, nearly about to be ground against the earth.

"An..."

Bai Xiao clenched his fists tightly, his eyes locked on the fat boy in splendid clothes. If looks could kill, the fat boy would have already died at Bai Xiao's hands ten thousand times over.

As the saying went, enemies were fated to meet. Bai Xiao had never expected that he would encounter his enemy at such a time!

When Bai Xiao had first arrived on Douluo Continent and begun wandering, he had no family or friends. Alone in the towns, he scavenged through rubbish and survived on rotten fruit.

Back then, Bai Xiao had met a girl named An, also a wandering child. Her name had only one character: An.

Bai Xiao had heard other wandering children say that her name suited her, carrying the meaning of "quiet," and that she rarely spoke in ordinary times.

She was one or two years older than Bai Xiao. Though she was a girl, she was not weak at fighting at all. For some reason, she had always taken care of Bai Xiao as though he were her own younger brother.

Bai Xiao had heard her say that she loved seeing him smile, just as she loved Bai Xiao's name...

Though Bai Xiao had been poor back then, following that skinny girl had never made him feel the slightest misery in his heart.

On Douluo Continent, wandering children were the easiest to die, because they were like stray cats and dogs by the roadside. No one cared if they lived, and no one cared if they died. They were left entirely to rise and perish on their own.

Sometimes, they would encounter someone with a wicked heart who sprinkled poison into food and tossed it onto the ground. The next day, a wandering child's corpse might be lying there.

Some mercenaries with bloodthirsty urges could not defeat powerful Soul Beasts and did not dare kill ordinary civilians, so they would secretly target wandering children in the shadows.

Bai Xiao and An had lived each day by barely surviving beneath humanity's shadows. An had been Bai Xiao's final faith...

But An was only an ordinary wandering girl. How could she possibly withstand the darkness of human nature...