Tang Hao: I Was Only Gone a Little While-How Did My Son's Soul Ring End Up Being Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo?

Su Mo hadn't expected it either. They had only gone to ask for leave, saying they were going to hunt for soul rings.

Instead, a teacher at the school had made all the arrangements.

As it happened, several others were going that day too, so the teacher had simply added them to the group.

Naturally, Su Mo and Xiao Wu had no reason to refuse.

A free carriage ride-how could he turn down something that good?

Neither Su Mo nor Xiao Wu had the money to hire a carriage.

If they walked to the Soul Hunting Forest themselves, it would probably take two or three days.

Even with a teacher leading them, they hadn't arrived until noon the next day.

Only, something unexpected had happened along the way.

Not long after entering the Soul Hunting Forest, they encountered a thousand-year Mandala Snake.

Without a second thought, Su Mo grabbed Xiao Wu and ran.

As for the others, he could do nothing to help them, however much he might have wanted to.

Keeping himself alive was already a problem. How could he spare the time to worry about anyone else?

"Holy shit! Why is there a thousand-year Mandala Snake on the outskirts?"

Su Mo ran for a long time. Only after realizing the Mandala Snake hadn't followed them did he stop.

"Su Mo, do you think Tang San and Grandmaster ran into this same Mandala Snake? Is that why they looked so beaten up?"

Xiao Wu patted her little chest, still visibly shaken.

But then she thought of Tang San and Yu Xiaogang, whom they had seen yesterday.

Considering what they had just encountered, Tang San and his companion might have suffered the same fate.

Su Mo sat beneath a tree and took a drink of water before saying, "I think that's very possible."

"I even suspect Tang San killed that Mandala Snake's offspring. That's why it keeps prowling around the outskirts."

He could hardly be blamed for thinking that. After all, hadn't Tang San's first soul ring in the original story come from a Mandala Snake around four hundred years old?

Something unexpected must have happened this time, preventing Tang San from obtaining the Mandala Snake's soul ring.

And needless to say, that unexpected factor had to be the thousand-year Mandala Snake.

Tang San really had brought no end of trouble down on others.

"Hmph, that Tang San really is a menace." Xiao Wu hadn't wanted to hunt for soul rings in the first place.

Now that this had happened, she vented all her anger on Tang San.

Su Mo shook his head, stood up, and said to Xiao Wu, "Let's go. Since we've been separated from the others, we'll have to rely on ourselves."

He wasn't familiar with the Soul Hunting Forest either. This was his first visit, and he had no idea which way to go.

Still, as long as they didn't head deeper inside, they should be fine.

Xiao Wu recovered quickly enough.

She skipped along ahead of Su Mo, the rabbit ears on her head bouncing with every step.

Looking at Xiao Wu's rabbit-ear accessories, Su Mo thought how wonderful it would be if they were real.

Who wouldn't want a soft, sweet little rabbit-eared girl?

"Su Mo, what are you looking at?" Xiao Wu turned around and bounced over to him.

Su Mo pointed at her rabbit ears. "I was wondering whether they'd feel really nice to touch if they were real."

Xiao Wu jumped in fright and instinctively reached up to feel her ears.

Only after finding that nothing had changed did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"What are you thinking? How could these possibly be real rabbit ears?"

"Why are you so nervous?"

"Am I?" Xiao Wu grew a little flustered.

Su Mo nodded. "You are."

Xiao Wu hurriedly changed the subject. "Enough about that. Su Mo, have you ever been to the Soul Hunting Forest?"

Su Mo pinched Xiao Wu's chubby cheek. "Do you think I have, you little silly?"

Xiao Wu puffed out her cheeks indignantly. "You're the silly one! Your Sister Xiao Wu is plenty smart."

Su Mo was speechless. "If you're so smart, would you have asked that question?"

Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips, utterly convinced she was in the right. "I was just asking casually. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

"If you haven't been here, then you haven't. Do you know what the Soul Hunting Forest is like, though?"

Su Mo thought for a moment before saying, "The Soul Hunting Forest is actually a place where Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire keep low-level soul beasts in captivity."

Xiao Wu's expression grew forlorn. "Doesn't that mean all the soul beasts here are raised in captivity for those soul masters to kill?"

Su Mo stepped in front of Xiao Wu and pulled her into his arms.

He knew that, as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast who had taken human form, Xiao Wu felt an inexplicable bond with these soul beasts.

"What are you doing? Did Sister Xiao Wu give you permission to hug her?" Xiao Wu pushed Su Mo away, her face a little red.

"You looked upset, so I was going to comfort you." Su Mo spread his hands.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Wu asked, "Su Mo, do you think humans and soul beasts can live together peacefully?"

Su Mo nodded earnestly. "Yes. Of course they can."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up, and a trace of anticipation appeared on her pretty, rosy face. "They really can?"

Su Mo nodded, then shook his head. "They can, but it's very difficult right now."

Peaceful coexistence was far too difficult.

To grow stronger, soul masters needed to absorb soul rings.

And to absorb soul rings, they had to kill soul beasts.

It was a deadlock with no solution.

Even in the second and third installments, when artificial soul rings could already be made, they still hadn't achieved it.

Only in the final installment, once production became industrialized, had humans and soul beasts truly achieved peaceful coexistence.

But that was tens of thousands of years in the future.

Still, without all of Tang San's ridiculous meddling, it might happen much sooner.

Xiao Wu was a little disappointed, but she soon rallied.

"It's all right. As long as it's possible."

Su Mo once again slipped his arm around Xiao Wu's slender waist, small enough to encircle with one hand.

"I already told you, Sister Xiao Wu doesn't need you to comfort her."

This time, Xiao Wu didn't pull away. Instead, she leaned against Su Mo's chest.

Listening to Su Mo's heartbeat, she found her own heart speeding up for some reason.

"Ahem. All right, that was a reward from Sister Xiao Wu."

Blushing, Xiao Wu left Su Mo's embrace.

Su Mo was left wanting more. Holding her just now had felt wonderful.

To lighten Xiao Wu's somewhat gloomy mood, Su Mo decided to tease her a little.

"Xiao Wu, what kind of soul ring are you going to choose?"

Xiao Wu instantly forgot everything that had happened before.

She grew flustered. She had actually forgotten that she still needed to get away from Su Mo to condense her soul ring.

Had she remembered, she wouldn't have run off with Su Mo earlier.

But then she recalled how, even in such danger, Su Mo had held on to her without letting go, and she felt a little moved.

Now she wondered if she should slip away for a while that night.

But Su Mo's embrace was so warm, and nighttime was precisely when she should be sleeping.

What a difficult choice.

No, Xiao Wu, you can't keep letting yourself sink into this.

She gritted her teeth and made her decision: she would sleep for a while first, then leave.

"I've already decided. I'll tell you to... tomorrow."

Night fell.

Xiao Wu curled up in Su Mo's arms and slept for a while before reluctantly leaving.

Naturally, Su Mo noticed when Xiao Wu left.

But he showed no reaction. Only a little while after she had gone did he quietly follow her.

Mostly, he was worried about Xiao Wu's safety.

Elsewhere.

In Yu Xiaogang's dorm room, Tang Hao's expression was grim as he stared fixedly at Yu Xiaogang.

Right now, he badly wanted to strangle Yu Xiaogang with his own hands.

"Your Excellency Haotian," Yu Xiaogang greeted Tang Hao respectfully.

Tang Hao said darkly, "Yu Xiaogang, tell me. I was only gone for a few days. Why did Little San's first soul ring come from ten-year solitary bamboo?"

Cold sweat poured off Yu Xiaogang. He wanted to explain that this had been Tang San's own choice.

But then he remembered that he seemed to have been the one who first told Tang San that ten-year solitary bamboo was well suited to Blue Silver Grass.

It felt as though no explanation could get him out of this.

He steeled himself and said, "Your Excellency Haotian, according to my theory, ten-year solitary bamboo is the best match for Blue Silver Grass."

A chilling cold radiated from Tang Hao's eyes. "I don't want anything going wrong with Little San's second soul ring."

"If this happens again, don't force me to slap you."

"This is your final warning. Don't apply your bullshit theories to Little San. You know perfectly well where those theories came from."

Yu Xiaogang's face turned from green to purple. He wanted to argue, but he didn't dare.