Upheaval in Gengxin!

"Big Bear, wait!"

"Just because I don't want her soul ring doesn't mean I told you to kill her."

Xiong Jun's raised claw froze in midair, and he shot Lou Xu a disgruntled sidelong glare for interrupting him.

"Kid Lou, if we don't kill her, are we keeping her around for New Year?"

Lou Xu shook his head unhurriedly.

"Big Bear, you're the mighty Xiong Jun. Your job is to protect me.

But protecting me is one thing. Surely we can't make you personally run every errand and handle every little chore, too?

We happen to need a trustworthy helper.

Keep her for now, and we'll have another pair of hands. If she turns out to be an ungrateful wolf no matter how we raise her, we can always kill her then, right?"

Xiong Jun stared at him and mulled it over for a moment, then tossed Xiao Wu to the ground and withdrew his claws.

"Hmm, you've got a point... fine, the Bear Lord will give you some face. But..."

"If this rabbit's ears don't work, or she dares bite us behind our backs, the Bear Lord will skin her on the spot!"

With the sunlight behind him, Xiao Wu couldn't make out his expression. She only felt as though his icy tone had frozen her blood.

She didn't dare look at Xiong Jun again. Instead, she weakly raised her head and gazed cautiously at Lou Xu.

Tears still swam in her eyes, but under Lou Xu's calm gaze, her sobbing slowly subsided.

Lou Xu looked down at her, his voice level.

"Get up."

"Stay with me from now on, and I'll keep you alive."

"But from this moment on, you have to listen to me."

Xiao Wu froze, as though his words hadn't registered.

Only after a long while did she speak, her eyes red and her voice thick with tears.

"...You really won't kill me?"

"I don't lie."

Lou Xu stood up and held out his hand to her.

"Get up."

Xiao Wu stared at that hand, hesitating for a long time.

It wasn't broad, and thin calluses from forging marked its fingers, yet it remained steady before her.

She looked at the boy's handsome face and his deep eyes, calm as still water. Bathed in sunlight, he seemed almost sacred.

At last, she reached out with a trembling hand and gently took his. Feeling the warmth of his palm, Xiao Wu tightened her grip and refused to let go.

Like a drowning person clutching a life-saving straw.

She didn't know whether she could trust this boy, but he was the only person who had held out a hand to her.

After a brief rest, the four of them set off on their journey back.

On the way, Xiao Wu kept avoiding Xiong Jun, whether deliberately or not, and instinctively stayed half a step behind Lou Xu.

Yet Xiong Jun's task was precisely to protect Lou Xu without leaving his side.

And so a scene unfolded that left one unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Xiao Wu clung to the hem of Lou Xu's clothes and followed close behind him. The moment she turned her head, she found Xiong Jun had somehow drifted behind him to one side and was giving her a sinister grin. Terrified, she immediately huddled behind Lou Xu, not daring even to raise her head.

Lou Xu made no attempt to stop Xiong Jun's twisted fun.

Xiao Wu had run wild for so many years. Now that someone could keep her in line, he couldn't ask for better.

Along the way, he also found time to summon the Flowing Fire Cloudburning Wings and practice flying.

Fiery red wings unfurled from Lou Xu's back, their span immense. Layer upon layer of feathers burned with crimson fire, like a furnace full of solidified lava. Their tips were the most dazzling of all, interspersed with gold and orange feathers that glittered in the flames, their beauty almost dreamlike.

"Wow, what beautiful wings!"

Envy shone in Xiao Wu's eyes. She reached out to touch them, only to recoil from their searing heat.

"Hiss!"

Looking down, she saw that her fingers had been burned bright red. With tears in her eyes, Xiao Wu put them in her mouth for a while, then pulled them out and blew on them in great puffs.

Seeing this, Lou Xu silently sighed.

Oh, Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu.

Always brimming with tears, never learning your lesson.

"Is that... an external soul bone?!"

Lou Gao's eyes widened, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Yes," Lou Xu explained.

"My second soul ring came from a twenty-seven-hundred-year-old Flamecloud Unicorn. After absorbing it, I obtained this external soul bone."

With that, he imitated a fledgling learning to fly, climbed a high slope, and leaped off.

At first, he fell faster than he had expected and ended up being caught in an undignified heap by Xiong Jun, who was waiting below.

"Again!"

Once, twice, three times...

Only after falling over and over did he slowly begin to grasp how to control the wings through repeated descents and climbs.

Turning, circling, hovering.

After dozens of falls, Lou Xu finally learned to fly, and an indescribable exhilaration surged through his chest.

"Haha, I can fly!"

Lou Xu's chest heaved, but he couldn't help laughing aloud.

Aside from Titled Douluo, who rode through the air with their immense soul power, and Soul Masters with flying beast martial souls, who were born with the right to soar through the heavens.

Now, with the help of his external soul bone, he too had conquered this sky.

He finally understood why humanity had always devoted itself to exploring the skies. The feeling truly was wondrous and stirring, making him linger, unwilling to return.

"Little Xu, stop showing off! Come down so we can get moving!"

Lou Gao shouted with his head tilted back.

Lou Xu landed and called for everyone to continue their journey.

After leaving the forest, they boarded a carriage and headed south.

Still excited, Lou Xu would occasionally get out and activate the Flowing Fire Cloudburning Wings to fly for a stretch.

Sparks trailed behind him, and passersby stopped one after another, marveling at their magnificent beauty.

Their praise left Lou Xu thoroughly pleased.

Returning to the carriage, he lifted the curtain and saw the old man sitting by the window, smoking his pipe as though nothing had happened.

Xiong Jun lounged against the seat back with his legs spread wide. Whenever Xiao Wu peeked out to steal a glance at him, he would kindly offer her a vicious smile.

It frightened Xiao Wu into shrinking into a corner, covering her head with a bundle. Her body pressed tight against the seat back, her knees braced firmly against the carriage wall, as though only that could give her a little sense of safety.

"Creak..."

The carriage door opened.

Xiao Wu cautiously uncovered one eye and peeked out. Once she saw it was him, she sprang over, slipped into her familiar hiding place beside him, and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

Compared with Lou Gao, who had barely acknowledged her throughout the journey, and Xiong Jun, who practically drooled over her, Lou Xu was her only support.

Lou Xu couldn't help chuckling. He reached out and rubbed her drooping rabbit ears.

"Stop shaking, little quail."

"I'll buy you carrots when we get back."

At those words, the little head buried behind him quietly emerged half an inch.

Her eyelashes fluttered several times before she made her demand in a soft, muffled voice that still trembled slightly.

"I... I want the kind with red cores."

Half a month later, Lou Xu and his companions finally arrived in Gengxin City.

The warm air carried the mingled scents of various metals, and the iron-gray city walls had a grim, forbidding air.

Compared with its usual bustle, Gengxin City was strangely quiet today.

When they reached the Blacksmith Association building, Lou Xu was about to introduce it, only to spot a squad of soldiers stationed at the entrance. Lou Gao's chief disciple, Si Long, stood nearby as well.

Lou Gao stepped out of the carriage and approached. "What's going on?"

Upon seeing the travel-worn Lou Gao, Si Long hurried over as though he had finally found his pillar of support and spoke anxiously.

"Teacher, you're finally back!"

"While you were away with Junior Brother, Dai Weisi brought imperial retainers and guards to pressure the Blacksmith Association. He insisted that we hand Junior Brother over."

"Even after I refused, they wouldn't leave. Our blacksmiths got into arguments with them, and they've already fought several times!"

"The other junior brothers are all away, so I'm the only Soul Emperor in the association right now. I can't beat those retainers Dai Weisi brought. They're still squatting in the guest room and won't leave."

He turned to Lou Xu with a worried look.

"Junior Brother, why did you come back?"

"Go, quickly! Leave this to Teacher and me. Don't wade into these muddy waters."

Si Long tried to pull Lou Xu back toward the carriage, but the furious Lou Gao stopped him.

"So while I was away, he decided my Blacksmith Association was his own home?!"

He turned and told Lou Xu to get Xiong Jun and Xiao Wu settled, then took Si Long with him and stormed toward the fourth floor.

Inside the Blacksmith Association, armored soldiers stood everywhere.

As Lou Xu passed through, he saw quite a few blacksmiths with bruised faces and swollen noses, clearly these bastards' handiwork.

A blaze of anger rose in his heart as well.

He found an attendant to take Xiao Wu to the fifth floor and arrange a room for her, then hurried after them with Xiong Jun.