Who exactly had Ji Yang asked Nuoding City's "Beggar Gang" to help him find?
The person in question was connected to Tang San and was, in fact, one of his greatest opportunities.
Moreover, she was Tang San's future companion and accessory, a key figure in his attainment of dual godhood.
None other than Xiao Wu!
Since Ji Yang's target was Xiao Wu, his purpose was obvious.
He intended to snatch not only the Blue Silver Emperor from Tang San, but Xiao Wu as well.
Of course, he had other reasons for making Xiao Wu his target.
He had set his sights on two of Xiao Wu's close companions, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape.
However, he was not after their soul rings or soul bones, but the two of them themselves.
He wanted the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape to become his "Dao Protectors."
Living on the Douluo Continent without a bodyguard or a powerful faction behind him to keep him safe was bound to bring all sorts of risks.
He had absolutely no intention of joining another faction, such as Spirit Hall or the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
That left him with no choice but to find himself a few bodyguards.
And his first choices were none other than the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape.
Another was Dugu Bo, a solitary Titled Douluo who likewise had never joined any other faction.
Not to mention that Dugu Bo also possessed the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, a medicinal garden filled with immortal herbs.
However, Dugu Bo was too far away, and approaching him rashly would be unwise.
By comparison, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape were more accessible and much easier to win over.
As long as he started with Xiao Wu, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape would naturally be hitched to his war chariot as well.
As for whether he could win Xiao Wu over, and how?
To Ji Yang, that was no problem at all.
"I'll be off, then!"
With that thought in mind, Ji Yang immediately said goodbye to the two gatekeepers and hurried toward the eastern city gate.
From that moment on, he needed to race against time.
There was one thing he was uncertain about, and it worried him.
Had Tang Hao followed Tang San to Nuoding City?
If Tang Hao had already arrived, had he discovered Xiao Wu's presence?
For now, he could only hope that Tang Hao had not yet reached Nuoding City and was still in Holy Soul Village.
Or perhaps Tang Hao and Xiao Wu had approached Nuoding City from different directions and had not yet encountered each other.
I hope everything goes smoothly!
That was what Ji Yang thought.
About half a quarter of an hour later.
Ji Yang reached the eastern city gate after racing all the way there.
He had not seen Xiao Wu along the way, nor had he found any sign of her inside the gate.
But when he reached a corner of the city wall outside the eastern gate, he spotted a familiar figure.
It was not Xiao Wu, but a member of Nuoding City's "Beggar Gang," a boy who looked only twelve years old and whom he knew fairly well.
"Brother Ji, over here!"
Almost the instant Ji Yang spotted the young beggar, the boy noticed his arrival as well and waved to him.
Ji Yang waved back and walked toward him.
"Where is she?"
Once he reached the young beggar, Ji Yang got straight to the point.
"Nannan is keeping her busy playing, but if you hadn't come soon, Brother Ji, I doubt Nannan could have held her there much longer!"
The young beggar explained as he led the way.
The Nannan he spoke of was his younger sister, only five years old, who had wandered with him since she was little.
Had Ji Yang not given them considerable financial help over the past six months or so, even keeping themselves fed and clothed would probably still have been a problem.
That was why the siblings were especially grateful to Ji Yang and worked particularly hard for him.
"Here we are!"
Under the young beggar's guidance, Ji Yang soon spotted Xiao Wu inside a low, dilapidated wooden hut.
Her pink clothes, the hair ornaments tied into the shape of rabbit ears, the rabbit accessory she wore, and her adorable appearance all confirmed her identity.
At that moment, the little girl named Nannan was pestering Xiao Wu nonstop to play with her.
Judging from the slightly helpless look on Xiao Wu's face, it was just as the young beggar had said: she really could not keep this up much longer and was starting to want to leave.
"You're finally back! I'll leave Nannan to you. I still need to register at Nuoding Academy!"
Seeing the young beggar return, Xiao Wu looked as though her savior had arrived and immediately spoke with relief written all over her face.
Ji Yang, on the other hand, was unconsciously overlooked.
But soon, her gaze landed on Ji Yang's face and lingered there for a long time.
It was not because she recognized him or anything of the sort, but because his little face was simply too handsome.
It would be no exaggeration to call Ji Yang the most handsome little boy she had ever seen.
Even though she was not someone obsessed with looks, she still found herself drawn to him.
The credit could only go to Ji Yang's Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace martial soul.
Although Ji Yang had always been handsome, his appearance had never been this absurdly striking.
Only after he refined some beauty-enhancing herbs and materials with his Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace martial soul had his looks soared further, reaching their current level of nearly universal appeal.
"Yes, yes, thank you for your help. I'll take care of Nannan now!"
The young beggar offered Xiao Wu his "thanks."
With that, he stepped forward and picked up his little sister, who was still clinging to Xiao Wu, thoughtfully leaving Ji Yang and her some space.
After they left, just as Xiao Wu was wondering what to say or do next, Ji Yang spoke, and his words instantly stirred her excitement.
"I'm Ji Yang. You're Aunt Rou's daughter, right?"
Ji Yang first introduced himself, then asked Xiao Wu that question.
The Aunt Rou he spoke of was actually named Ah Rou.
She was Xiao Wu's mother, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit who had taken human form and been killed two years earlier by Bibi Dong, the current pope of Spirit Hall.
Naturally, Ji Yang could not have had any connection with Ah Rou before this. He had never even met her.
That did not stop him from deliberately saying this now to deceive Xiao Wu, laying the groundwork to lure her away.
"You knew my mom?"
Sure enough!
Unaware of the truth, Xiao Wu instantly took the bait, looking at Ji Yang excitedly and questioning him eagerly.
Because Ji Yang had addressed her mother so affectionately, she felt no wariness toward him. Instead, she found him much more pleasing to the eye.
She also instinctively assumed that her mother might have known Ji Yang, or perhaps had some connection with his family.
After all, once her mother had taken human form, she had not shunned humans. She had helped many of them and shared quite a few pleasant experiences with them.
Ji Yang or his family might have been among those people.
"My family received Aunt Rou's help, and I met her once myself."
Ji Yang continued making things up.
His fabricated words further confirmed Xiao Wu's suspicions, making her even happier.
But in the next instant, the joy on her face suddenly vanished without a trace, replaced by sorrow and indignation. "Mom is already dead. An evil person killed her..."
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