Standing in the tree, Tang San watched the scene, grinding his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
Su Mo's Gashapon Machine really could dispense things.
He had been a little surprised at first.
But once he saw that it was just an ordinary ring, he scoffed inwardly. That was it? How could Su Mo possibly compare to him with that?
He had twin martial souls, and he was destined to become a god.
He had actually been quite pleased at first. After all, Su Mo's martial soul really was pretty useless.
Then he saw Su Mo put the ring he had drawn onto Xiao Wu's finger.
His entire mood soured.
He cried out anxiously in his heart, Xiao Wu, hurry up and refuse! Refuse!
Unfortunately, it did no good. All he could do was watch in silence.
"Su... Su Mo... wh-what are you doing..." Xiao Wu's voice was very quiet.
Gone was her earlier attitude that whatever Sister Xiao Wu said went.
"I don't have any use for this. Why are you giving it to me?"
"Yes, yes, you don't have any use for it. Then just consider it safekeeping it for me." Su Mo smiled, still not letting go of her hand.
Xiao Wu pressed her rosy, cherry-like lips together and lowered her head to look at the ring on her finger. In the end, she couldn't bear to take it off.
"Hmph, let's be clear. If I lose it, I'm not taking responsibility."
She quickly pulled her hand out of Su Mo's grasp, wearing an expression that said losing it wouldn't be her problem.
But the way she kept glancing down at it didn't escape Su Mo at all.
"It's fine. If you lose it, you lose it," Su Mo said, utterly unconcerned. All he could think was that Xiao Wu was simply adorable right now.
"Hmph!" Xiao Wu huffed, then lowered her head to look at the ring again.
That was what she said, but if she really lost it, she would be heartbroken.
This was the first thing Su Mo had ever given her.
And it was a ring, no less.
She said she didn't want it, but inside, she was over the moon.
Only after quite a while did Xiao Wu return to her usual self. She patted Su Mo's shoulder. "Little Mo, since you're so thoughtful, come to Sister Xiao Wu whenever you need anything. Sister Xiao Wu will sort it out for you."
"From now on, Sister Xiao Wu has your back at the academy."
Su Mo shook his head with a soft laugh. "Who has whose back?"
Xiao Wu widened her eyes and planted both hands on her hips, utterly confident. "Sister Xiao Wu has your back, of course!"
Su Mo chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Come on. It's late. Let's go back to bed."
Xiao Wu nodded lightly and followed Su Mo back, but after only a couple of steps, she moved right up beside him and linked her arm through his.
Tang San hurried toward the dormitory as well.
Once inside, Tang San went straight to his bed, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.
But his mind was filled with the scene of Su Mo putting the ring on Xiao Wu's finger.
He felt an inexplicable anger mixed with an equally inexplicable pang of bitterness. It was a tangled mess.
Just you wait, Su Mo. You're nothing but trash. That useless Gashapon Machine of yours only dispenses worthless junk. What do you have that can compare to me?
Once Xiao Wu sees clearly who is truly worth entrusting herself to, once that day comes...
Tang San clenched his jaw, his teeth grinding audibly.
"Tang San, could you stop grinding your teeth?"
Wang Sheng's voice came from nearby.
"What delicious food are you dreaming about, anyway? Why do you grind your teeth every night?"
Wang Sheng was thoroughly annoyed. Lately, he kept hearing Tang San grind his teeth, making it impossible to get a decent night's sleep.
Tang San's face darkened. He left his thought unfinished and simply pretended not to hear.
Hmph. A piece of trash who probably won't reach level ten in his entire life. There's no point getting angry with him.
Tang San didn't think anything of Wang Sheng at all.
He was a Soul Master now. His status was already on an entirely different plane from trash like Wang Sheng, who hadn't even reached level ten.
Getting angry with a piece of trash would only lower his own standing.
Before long.
Su Mo and Xiao Wu returned.
Their movements were very quiet.
But Tang San still heard them.
He kept his eyes closed without making a sound.
His ears, however, kept listening.
"What should I do, Su Mo? Suddenly, I can't sleep." Xiao Wu was rather excited.
It was mainly because of the ring Su Mo had given her.
Xiao Wu knew perfectly well what it meant when a boy gave a girl a ring.
Precisely because of that, she no longer felt sleepy.
"If you can't sleep, go outside and run. Once you're tired, you'll fall asleep."
"Hmph, you meanie! How can you be like that, Su Mo? Why don't you tell me a story to lull me to sleep?"
Xiao Wu leaned close to Su Mo and simply stared at him.
The dormitory was dark, and without turning on the lights, nothing could be seen.
But thanks to Su Mo's Eye of Thunder, he could still see everything clearly in the darkness.
Right in front of him, Xiao Wu's rosy face carried a flush. She really did look excited.
He reached out and flicked her forehead.
"You might not want to sleep, but I do. What story? What's there to tell? Hurry up and go to sleep."
"Su Mo, you actually dared to flick your Sister Xiao Wu! Watch how I deal with you."
Xiao Wu bit down directly on Su Mo's finger.
"Ow! Aren't you a rabbit? Since when do rabbits bite people?" Su Mo winced and tried to pull his finger out of Xiao Wu's mouth.
Xiao Wu kept biting and refused to let go. "Hmph, hmph. Don't you know even a rabbit bites when it's cornered?"
"Let go," Su Mo said.
"No." Xiao Wu bit down harder.
Su Mo continued, "If you don't let go, don't blame me for playing rough."
Xiao Wu said scornfully, "How rough? I'm not letting go."
"Really?" Su Mo grinned mischievously, then reached out and started tickling her.
"Are you letting go or not?"
"Hahaha! I can't take it! I'll let go! Stop, Su Mo!"
Su Mo stopped tickling her and patted her rounded bottom. "Hurry up and sleep."
Xiao Wu snorted. "Fine, I'll sleep."
She draped a thigh over Su Mo and wriggled closer to him.
Su Mo felt helpless too. "Can you just settle down and sleep?"
Xiao Wu said nothing and kept wriggling.
Su Mo was speechless. All he could do was hold Xiao Wu tightly to keep her from moving around.
How was he supposed to sleep with her squirming like that?
Held in Su Mo's arms, Xiao Wu finally settled down.
Soon, she drifted into dreamland.
Sometimes, Su Mo really envied how well Xiao Wu slept. She could fall asleep the moment she decided to.
He was different. Every time he tried to sleep, all sorts of thoughts would pop into his mind.
Then it would take him a long time to fall asleep.
So sometimes, holding Xiao Wu as he slept was an ordeal for him too.
Fortunately, once Xiao Wu was sound asleep, she wasn't easily awakened. Otherwise, she would probably wake whenever he moved.
If that happened a few times, neither of them would get any sleep all night.
As Su Mo watched the sleeping Xiao Wu, his gaze settled on the ring.
He didn't know whether Tang Hao had discovered Xiao Wu's identity.
If he had, the ring didn't seem all that useful anymore.
Besides, Su Mo wasn't sure whether the ring could fool a Titled Douluo.
If it couldn't, then even if Tang Hao hadn't discovered Xiao Wu's identity yet, he would find out sooner or later.
If that happened, things would get troublesome.
Countless thoughts swirled through Su Mo's mind as he considered how to handle things in the future.
Meanwhile, Tang Hao had been quite troubled lately.
He felt as though he had been terribly unlucky recently.
Ever since learning that Tang San's first soul ring came from Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo, he had noticed that his luck seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.
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