Once an Evil Soul Master, Always an Evil Soul Master

Huo Yuhao looked up and saw two people approaching along the stream. In front was a girl who looked fifteen or sixteen, her long black hair tied into a ponytail that hung down her back. Her light blue fitted outfit accentuated her youthful vitality.

She had large, lively phoenix eyes, a high, pert nose, and an almost perfectly oval face. A hint of delighted surprise showed on her beautiful features as she stared straight at Huo Yuhao's grilled fish.

Following behind her was a boy who looked about the same age. He was tall and slender, with short, deep blue hair that gleamed like a gemstone in the sunlight.

Although young, he had an air of refinement. A languid, gentle smile rested on his handsome face, and his hands were clasped behind his head. He, too, looked toward Huo Yuhao with interest, though his attention was on the person rather than the fish.

"Little brother, your fish smells amazing! How much are you selling it for?"

Once Huo Yuhao sensed that neither meant him any harm, he smiled and took two freshly grilled fish from the rack. "They're not worth much. Let me treat you both."

"Wow, then I won't stand on ceremony!"

Tang Ya snatched the grilled fish Huo Yuhao offered her and immediately began devouring it. Bei Bei was left speechless by the sight. After accepting his fish from Huo Yuhao, he gave a slight nod. "Thank you, little brother. My name is Bei Bei, and she's Tang Ya. We came to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for soul rings."

"My name is Huo Yuhao. What a coincidence-I'm here to hunt for a soul ring too."

After saying that, Huo Yuhao glanced at Bei Bei, then began staring directly at Tang Ya.

It was not because of Tang Ya's beauty, of course. His younger sister, Qian Renxue, was even more beautiful than her, so he had considerable resistance to beauty.

He admitted that Tang Ya was quite pretty, but not enough to entrance him. What he was looking at was not her outward appearance, but her true nature.

He had once possessed the Six-Winged Angel martial soul, and he also had the Glazed Divine Fire Eyes. Even though his martial soul was not with him now, he could still sense good and evil.

After his martial soul evolved into the Six-Winged Blood Angel, his perception of good and evil had become even sharper. After all, only evil understood evil better than you did.

Within this extraordinarily beautiful girl lay an extreme evil, buried deep in her heart all along-or perhaps deliberately concealed by her.

Huo Yuhao was certain that the righteous-looking boy before him had no idea his companion was an evil existence.

Seeing Huo Yuhao staring so intently, Bei Bei's expression immediately darkened. Tang Ya, meanwhile, looked bashful. Being stared at like that by a stranger, especially a boy younger than herself, naturally left her somewhat embarrassed.

Realizing he had been rude, Huo Yuhao immediately withdrew his gaze and said slowly, "Sorry, that was rude of me. You look like someone I used to know, big sister, so I looked a little longer. Big brother, you're not going to get jealous, are you?"

His words immediately eased the awkward atmosphere. Bei Bei could only chuckle, his expression gradually relaxing.

Tang Ya merely smiled sweetly at his words. "It's all right. I'm just curious how much I look like this old acquaintance of yours to make you stare so intently."

Looking relaxed, Huo Yuhao slowly took a bite of his grilled fish, then exchanged a meaningful look with Tang Ya. "Just a little alike, that's all. That old acquaintance was as beautiful as you, big sister, but she was an extremely evil existence. Her martial soul was an evil martial soul."

As soon as Huo Yuhao finished speaking, Tang Ya's movements froze, and her exquisite face instantly turned deathly pale. She looked at him in horror, but he answered her with only a faint smile.

That only deepened the terror in Tang Ya's heart. She could not shake the feeling that Huo Yuhao was not firing arrows without a target. He had been staring at her just moments ago, and now he had inexplicably said something like this.

Clearly, Huo Yuhao had seen through her secret. On their very first meeting, he had already recognized her true nature as an evil soul master.

Tang Ya swallowed. Since Huo Yuhao did not seem inclined to expose her outright, she could only force herself to remain calm and continue eating her fish as though nothing had happened. Her heart, however, was already in turmoil.

She had no idea how to handle this. If Huo Yuhao spread the news that she was an evil soul master, she would not only lose any chance of taking revenge, but might even be purged from Shrek Academy, which hated evil to its core.

Although Tang Ya's martial soul had not yet mutated into an evil martial soul, she often secretly absorbed the life force of plants to cultivate. She had already embarked on the path of evil, and there was no stopping now.

If anyone discovered it, death would be her only fate.

Tang Ya had clearly encountered the greatest crisis of her life. This unfamiliar boy, whom she had only just met, held her life in his hands.

Because Tang Ya forced herself to remain composed, Bei Bei noticed nothing unusual about her. His attention was clearly on the evil soul master Huo Yuhao had mentioned.

Evil soul masters were enemies everyone had the right to slay. His great-great-grandfather was none other than Dragon God Douluo Mu En, and eight of his nine skills were devoted to purging evil. Bei Bei, too, hated evil to his core.

"This little brother is right. Evil soul masters are enemies everyone has the right to slay. How could that possibly be Xiaoya? She just looks a little like her, that's all."

Hearing Bei Bei's words, Huo Yuhao smiled. He took a bite of grilled fish, then asked casually, "Then, Brother Bei Bei, what would you do if you encountered an evil soul master in the future? Even a very beautiful one?"

There was a distinctly mischievous edge to Huo Yuhao's question. He was probing Bei Bei's attitude while also wanting to see Tang Ya's reaction. He could tell there was probably something romantic brewing between them, but nothing could stay hidden forever. He wanted Tang Ya to see exactly where Bei Bei stood when it came to her.

More than anything, he wanted the girl to recognize herself for what she was and face reality. Since she was an evil soul master, she ought to find somewhere to hide properly, rather than live so carelessly beneath the sun as she did now.

Huo Yuhao admitted that, under Qian Daoliu's influence, he could not tolerate a single evil soul master. Seeing one like Tang Ya disguising herself as a normal person and living among others filled his heart with disgust.

An existence like an evil soul master could never turn good. Once an evil soul master, always an evil soul master.

He lacked the strength today, but the next time he saw Tang Ya, he would immediately purify her and make her atone for her evil.

When Bei Bei heard Huo Yuhao's question, disgust appeared on his face as well. He hated evil soul masters just as Huo Yuhao did. "Evil soul masters are enemies everyone has the right to slay. In my eyes, there are only two kinds of evil soul masters: living and dead. Beauty or ugliness makes no difference."

Although Bei Bei spoke softly, his words struck Tang Ya's heart like an axe weighing a thousand pounds. She had once clung to the fantasy that if she could no longer suppress the Dark Blue Silver Grass within her one day, became an evil soul master, and was discovered by Bei Bei, he would accept her.

Now, however, she knew that Bei Bei could not tolerate any darkness. In the end, she and he were not walking the same path.

With those thoughts in her heart, Tang Ya unconsciously shifted a little farther away from Bei Bei.