Little White Rabbit

"Hey, human..."

The Titan Giant Ape's booming voice was about to say something, but he stopped when he saw Qian Daoliu's soul ring configuration. His ferocious face grew even uglier.

Golden Crocodile's configuration of eight black rings and one red had already forced Er Ming to slow his steps. That was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!

As for Guang Ling and Jiang Mo's configurations of two purple and seven black rings, Er Ming hardly gave them a thought.

But things changed when Qian Daoliu's soul rings appeared. There were now two blood-red soul rings present.

Those are Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, not the bananas I eat every day.

"Hey, big gorilla, why did you stop?"

Guang Ling's voice interrupted Er Ming's thoughts.

Er Ming: "..."

"Er Ming, right? Why did you leave the Lake of Life and come out here?"

Qian Daoliu rubbed his chin. Judging by Er Ming's actions, this big blockhead did have some brains.

"Human, you know my name."

When Er Ming heard Qian Daoliu call his name, Qian Daoliu and the others saw confusion on the Titan Giant Ape's face.

"Not only do I know you, I also know Da Ming, the two rabbits, and the lake..."

Qian Daoliu continued. If they could avoid a fight, they would. With Golden Crocodile and the other two here, he was not afraid of Da Ming and Er Ming. His main concern was that a great battle might disturb whatever lay beneath the lake.

Dealing with those two would be easy, but with that presence beneath the Lake of Life, Qian Daoliu did not know whether his group could leave safely.

"Human, how do you know so much?"

Er Ming cut Qian Daoliu off and slammed a fist into the ground.

How do I know?

By seeing it with my own eyes and hearing it with my own ears, of course.

"Hahaha, that isn't important, is it?"

Boom...

Er Ming was deeply dissatisfied with Qian Daoliu's answer.

"Human, you think I'm afraid of you, don't you?"

Qian Daoliu and the others exchanged glances, all seeing the same thought in one another's eyes.

Well, aren't you?

You made such a racket coming here, but once we released our soul rings, everyone just stood around talking.

"We only came here to obtain a soul ring for a junior. As for you, we could sit down and have a chat."

Qian Daoliu pointed at Bibi Dong, who was still absorbing her soul ring behind him.

If they started fighting, it might interfere with Bibi Dong's absorption.

Er Ming's enormous "lanterns" turned toward the space behind Qian Daoliu. A human girl was sitting on the Man Faced Demon Spider Emperor's back.

"Pah, filthy spider."

The moment he spotted the Man Faced Demon Spider Emperor, Er Ming spat in disgust.

Qian Daoliu and the others: "..."

"Ahem, sorry. This kind of soul beast isn't welcome. Good job killing it. Um, could you let me give its corpse a pounding?"

Man Faced Demon Spider Emperor: "..."

Er Ming seemed to sense their stares and scratched his head sheepishly.

Golden Crocodile and the others looked at Qian Daoliu, their eyes seeming to say, Big Brother, isn't this soul beast a little...

"Sure."

Qian Daoliu nodded, then withdrew his martial soul.

"Big Brother..."

Golden Crocodile spoke worriedly.

"It's fine. Er Ming is easy to get along with, too. You should do the same."

Golden Crocodile and the others frowned, but seeing that Qian Daoliu had already withdrawn his martial soul and landed, they sighed and followed him.

"Human, you've got courage. I like that."

Er Ming was taken aback by Qian Daoliu's actions.

Soul masters needed time to release their martial souls. Although these men were powerful enough that the delay barely mattered.

But they're showing goodwill. What do I do? Looks like we won't be fighting after all.

Er Ming moved closer to Qian Daoliu and the others.

"I'm Er Ming. Humans, what are your names?"

Qian Daoliu and the others then introduced themselves in turn.

"Er Ming, why did you come all the way out here?"

A playful voice rang out. As soon as it finished speaking, a snow-white rabbit appeared on the Titan Giant Ape's shoulder.

Golden Crocodile and the others' eyes lit up again.

Another soul beast nearing a hundred thousand years old-and a Soft Bone Rabbit at that.

But why could she talk before reaching a hundred thousand years?

That was not the point. The point was that, compared with the Titan Giant Ape, this rabbit had far less destructive power and would be much easier to hunt.

If Qian Daoliu needed her, Golden Crocodile and the others would strike immediately, killing the Titan Giant Ape on the spot before keeping this rabbit penned up.

"Sister Xiao Wu, why are you here?"

Hearing her voice, Er Ming looked at the rabbit on his shoulder.

"I saw that only Mother and Da Ming were at the Lake of Life, so I knew you'd run off to play again. Da Ming even told me which way you'd gone."

"Running off on your own is one thing, but you didn't even bring me! Don't you have any respect for your Sister Xiao Wu?"

As Xiao Wu spoke, she scratched at Er Ming's rock-hard fur with her snow-white forepaws.

"Hehe, Sister Xiao Wu, that's not it. I sensed some powerful soul masters coming in from outside and wanted to drive them away."

Er Ming hastily waved his hands after hearing Xiao Wu's words.

Qian Daoliu found Er Ming's behavior fairly normal. After all, this was Er Ming; it was hardly strange.

But Golden Crocodile and the other two felt as though the world had changed. Their mouths twitched. A little rabbit smaller than the Titan Giant Ape's palm could make him act like a child who had done something wrong.

"Oh, there are humans? Where are they? And are they like Mother after she transformed?"

At the mention of soul masters, Xiao Wu's ruby-like eyes lit up.

Looking at Xiao Wu, Qian Daoliu recalled a few things.

When Xiao Wu's mother faced her hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation, she had chosen soul beast transformation.

Perhaps she had been lucky. She had spent some time in the human world without being discovered by any powerful experts.

After learning how humans lived, she had eventually returned to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Once she returned, she told Xiao Wu about the wonders of the human world.

Having lived under their protection, Xiao Wu had never seen a human.

Now her curiosity reached its peak.

"Sister Xiao Wu, look down at the ground. That's them."

Er Ming spoke to Xiao Wu on his shoulder and pointed toward Qian Daoliu's group.

Xiao Wu lowered her head and followed Er Ming's pointing finger. Sure enough, she saw humans who looked like Mother.

Whoosh!

Xiao Wu vanished from Er Ming's shoulder and appeared five meters away from Qian Daoliu and the others an instant later.

Er Ming froze at the sight of Xiao Wu's figure, then raised his aura to its peak.

No one can hurt Sister Xiao Wu.

"You're the soul masters Er Ming was just talking about?"

Xiao Wu showed her little white teeth.

"Little rabbit, aren't you afraid of us?"

Guang Ling pushed Jiang Mo aside and stepped forward as he spoke.

"Why should I be afraid of you? You couldn't beat us. See him? He's a hundred-thousand-year soul beast."

"And I'm a ninety-thousand-year soul beast. In a few more years, I'll pass my heavenly tribulation and become a hundred-thousand-year soul beast."

Xiao Wu lifted her rabbit head and spoke proudly.

Golden Crocodile and the others exchanged glances once again. This rabbit was not normal either.

"Your name is Xiao Wu, right? I'm Qian Daoliu, from the Spirit Hall."

Qian Daoliu stepped forward and spoke as he looked into Xiao Wu's ruby eyes.