["A true genius..." For some reason, the figure holding a three-foot sword, a little red sword marked on his forehead, flashed through Li Shaobai's mind.]
["A true genius probably doesn't need a Soul Ring to prove his strength, either."]
[Under the moonlight, Li Shaobai glanced at the bright moon. Purple mist flickered in and out of sight in the sky, making a bank of dark clouds look like a lively, sinuous snake.]
["Although all those books say that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts taking human form are exceedingly rare, and that we must hunt them for their Soul Rings and bones..."]
["To me, Xiao Wu is just a little girl with a somewhat fiery temper, who likes reading strange novels, who cries, and who has no home to return to."]
["Out of human conscience, I can't lay a hand on a little girl who also happens to have saved my life."]
[Hearing this, Xiao Wu blushed and muttered under her breath.]
["...What little girl? Sister Xiao Wu is much older than you."]
["Hmm? What did you say, Xiao Wu?"]
["Ah, nothing."]
[Xiao Wu quietly buried her head against Li Shaobai's neck, her voice still somewhat hoarse.]
["Li Shaobai, don't you want to know why I insist on leaving the Star Dou Great Forest?"]
[Without waiting for Li Shaobai to answer, Xiao Wu continued on her own.]
["I only learned these past few days that there are even more powerful beings in the Star Dou Great Forest besides Da Ming and Er Ming."]
["Da Ming and Er Ming are my two younger brothers. I used to naively think that the Star Dou Great Forest was only so big, and that we were the strongest beings there."]
["But on the day of the beast tide, Da Ming and Er Ming followed the orders of