Bibi Dong snorted coldly, beat the Six-Winged Purple Light Wings on her back, and vanished into the horizon.
Heaven Dou Empire, Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.
Disguised as Xue Qinghe, Qian Renxue sat upright at her desk, reading the updated Diary in her mind. Her normally still-as-a-well golden eyes brimmed with unconcealable shock.
"Pfft..."
Qian Renxue could not help herself; she nearly sprayed a mouthful of premium black tea onto her desk.
Dong'er? The Pope of Spirit Hall actually had a secret past like this.
Qian Renxue set down her teacup, a playful smile curling her lips.
Though deep down she rejected, even hated, Bibi Dong, the "mother" who had given birth to her yet loathed her, there was no denying that woman was the proudest, most cold-blooded being on this continent.
Yet now the diary said that in her previous life, that overbearing Pope had actually been a devoted woman willing to give up both her life and Spirit Hall for this "God King."
How interesting.
The Pope of Spirit Hall, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast...
Xiong Shaoqing's romantic debts from his previous life really were a tangled mess.
Qian Renxue propped her chin on one hand and tapped her fingertips against the desk, truly looking forward to seeing those two fall out.
This grand drama was growing more fascinating by the moment.
On an official road swept by wind and snow.
Wrapped in a thin cloak, Zhu Zhuqing trudged through the bitter wind.
The moment she saw the Diary, her cool brows knitted tightly.
A man could actually love two women so deeply at the same time?
An instinctive resistance rose in Zhu Zhuqing's heart.
She hated fickle people most of all. If what the Diary said about Dai Mubai was true, then he was a coward concerned only with satisfying his lust.
Yet the words of the man who had written this diary revealed nearly soul-rending pain, conflict, and undisguised tenderness toward that Soul Beast. None of it seemed feigned.
This stirred a trace of confusion in her once-hardened heart.
The pain and struggle in those words could not be faked.
Zhu Zhuqing stopped and lifted her head, letting snowflakes fall onto her pale cheeks.
But could love really be shared?
Could one heart truly hold two people at once, loving both with reckless abandon?
She clenched her frozen fists, drew a deep breath of icy air, and buried those tangled thoughts deep in her heart.
There was no point thinking about this.
Suotuo City, Rose Hotel...
Dai Mubai, once I personally verify what you've done, I'll judge whether this supposed devotion in the diary is real or false.
On the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiong Shaoqing put away his rusty iron sword, brushed the snow off his old cloak, and turned toward the forest's edge.
"Stop daydreaming. Keep up."
His voice was cold and hard, and he did not spare Xiao Wu so much as another glance.
Xiao Wu hurriedly scrambled up from the snow and jogged after him.
As she watched that tall, straight figure ahead deliberately keeping his distance, her eyes were red, yet the light in them shone brighter than ever.
Big Brother was clearly agonizing over the hatred between me and that woman, yet he still had to act so unapproachable.
Xiao Wu sighed inwardly, but a trace of sweetness welled up in her heart. Since you don't want to spell it out for fear of upsetting me, I'll pretend I know nothing.
"Big Brother, wait for me." Xiao Wu quickened her pace and grabbed the sleeve of Xiong Shaoqing's cloak.
Xiong Shaoqing paused slightly, his brows tightly furrowed and his tone stern. "What kind of behavior is this, tugging at me? Let go. I've just finished absorbing a Soul Ring, and my breath is unsteady. Keep your distance."
He tugged at his sleeve, only to discover that he could not pull it free of the girl's instinctive Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast grip.
Not only did Xiao Wu refuse to let go, she rubbed her cheek against his broad sleeve and lifted her slightly cold-reddened face, smiling with exceptional sweetness:
"I won't let go. You just said that even if that Pope came back, you'd stand in front of me. If I don't hold on tight, how am I supposed to protect you if danger really comes?"
"You..." Xiong Shaoqing was left speechless. He turned his head away with a stern face. "You're impossible. Do as you please."
Though his words were full of disdain, Xiong Shaoqing unconsciously slowed his steps and turned slightly sideways, blocking most of the cold wind.
Walking half a step behind him, Xiao Wu keenly caught this detail, and a whole jar of honey melted in her heart.
You big liar, saying one thing and meaning another.
Ahead, where Xiao Wu could not see, beneath Xiong Shaoqing's expressionless, iceberg-cold face, wild delight nearly overflowed the lake of his heart.
What a crushing win. This retreat-to-advance move was an absolute triumph.
Look at those utterly devoted eyes. Look how practiced she was at throwing herself at me.
My long-suffering God King script really was a higher-dimensional nuclear weapon against Douluo Continent.
The snowstorm had just ended, and Suotuo City's streets regained their usual bustle.
Leading Xiao Wu, Xiong Shaoqing stopped before an imposing three-story building called Hanmo Publishing House.
This was a branch of the largest publishing firm in Balak Kingdom.
"Big Brother, what are we doing here?" Xiao Wu curiously studied the scholars and writers coming and going.
"Some proper business." Xiong Shaoqing tossed out those words expressionlessly and stepped over the threshold.
He had worked it out clearly in his mind.
Even a hero could be brought low by a single coin. A dignified God King could hardly take a girl out to perform on the streets.
Writing fiction was currently the most respectable, most lucrative way he could think of to conjure something from nothing.
Fine sandalwood incense burned in a private room on the publishing house's second floor.
Boss Qian, the publishing house's manager, was a potbellied middle-aged man with shrewdness in his eyes.
At first, he paid little attention to the somewhat shabbily dressed youth before him, taking him for some down-and-out scholar testing the waters.
That lasted until Xiong Shaoqing sat in a rosewood chair, lifted his teacup, and presented the central outline of Chinese Paladin in the level tone of someone who had seen through all life's vicissitudes.
From the breathtaking glimpse on Fairy Spirit Island and the cruel twists surrounding the Forget Worry Gu, he moved on to the bickering lovers brought together by a marriage tournament, then to the final farewell beneath the Demon Locking Tower: "Eat till we're old, play till we're old."
Less than the time it took an incense stick to burn.
The purple clay teapot in Boss Qian's hand tilted, spilling tea onto the red sandalwood table, yet he remained utterly unaware.
This old fox, who had spent decades weathering the worlds of commerce and literature, now had slightly reddened eyes and trembling lips.
Chapter 22: Successfully Gaining the Power of Money
"Wonderful... absolutely wonderful!" Boss Qian abruptly rose and slapped the desk, his eyes blazing with fervor. "To think such a soul-stirring, endlessly twisting, tragically beautiful love story could exist!"
"Young master, this concept is simply the work of a celestial genius. Once this book goes to print, paper will become as dear as it once did in Luoyang, and it will sweep across all of Douluo Continent!"
Xiong Shaoqing set down his teacup, his expression still cold as frost, as though the story he had just told were utterly insignificant.
"If you find it acceptable, Boss Qian, let's discuss the split."
Boss Qian rubbed his hands, putting aside his earlier dismissiveness, and became exceedingly solemn. "Young master, in our trade, publicity, printing, and establishing distribution channels all require arrangements, consuming enormous manpower and resources. For ordinary writers, our publishing house has always split the proceeds fifty-fifty."
He paused, then gritted his teeth and held up three fingers. "But for this Chinese Paladin, I'll keep only thirty percent of the profits to keep the publishing house running. Seventy percent of the earnings will go to you. Consider it my way of making your acquaintance."
Xiong Shaoqing's heart stirred slightly.
Seventy percent? This fat fellow certainly had guts.
Xiong Shaoqing understood perfectly.
He knew better than anyone how ruthlessly the capitalists of his previous life sucked blood. He would only provide an outline and a draft, leaving all the tedious publicity and operations to the other party, yet still receive seventy percent. This was absolutely a windfall of a good-faith offer.
"Agreed," Xiong Shaoqing said.
Soon, the contract was drawn up, and both parties signed.
Xiong Shaoqing put away the contract, unconsciously tapped the tabletop twice, and furrowed his brows almost imperceptibly.
The split was generous, but that was all in the future.
Right now, his purse was cleaner than his face, and he still had no money for tonight's inn room.
But for a dignified God King like him to ask for an advance outright-he really could not swallow that loss of face.
How could he broach it without seeming deliberate, perhaps even with a touch of arrogance that treated money like dirt?
Xiong Shaoqing's mind raced.
Just as he was wrestling with this, Boss Qian suddenly smiled across from him.
An old fox steeped in commerce for years, reading expressions was his signature skill.
Xiong Shaoqing's tiny pause and the tapping of his fingers immediately let him catch the unspoken message.
"Young master, with your great talent, this Chinese Paladin is certain to become a masterpiece for the ages." Boss Qian turned, opened the iron safe behind him, took out a heavy deerskin purse, and pushed it before Xiong Shaoqing with both hands, smiling warmly.
"As a token of our publishing house's sincerity, here are one hundred Gold Soul Coins as an initial advance. Once the book sells well, we can gradually deduct it from your seventy-percent share."
"You've only just arrived in Suotuo City, young master. Food, clothing, lodging, and travel are bound to incur some expenses."
Looking at the bulging purse before him, Xiong Shaoqing could not help praising him inwardly.
What a Boss Qian. Such skill at reading people, such breadth in handling people and affairs.
Not only perceptive and generous, he had also fully preserved my dignity. My luck really was good today, meeting such an understanding, heaven-sent business partner.
Though delighted inside, Xiong Shaoqing's face remained entirely unchanged.
He did not even reach out to heft the bag of coins, merely sweeping it casually into his broad sleeve and nodding slightly.
"Thank you for your consideration, Boss Qian. The first draft will arrive tomorrow."
With that, he rose and walked out, his cold retreating figure somehow carrying an air that looked down upon princes and nobles.
After leaving Hanmo Publishing House, Xiong Shaoqing felt comfortable all over despite Suotuo City's cold wind blowing against his face.
He had money now. No need to make the girl live on the northwest wind with him.
He led Xiao Wu through the bustling streets and, with a thought, began updating the Destiny Diary in his mind:
[Today, I resolved a fairly substantial problem.]
[I signed a contract with a publishing house in the city. Its owner was an insightful man who acted with considerable boldness.]
[With this advance in hand, my anxious heart finally settled. Having lost all my Divine Power, I have less than a tenth of my former means left to rely on. If I cannot even secure basic food and clothing, how can I speak of keeping her safe?]
[Fortunately, my first pot of gold is now in hand.]
[Turning to look at this silly girl, I see how she has followed me here and there these past few days, suffering through the wind and snow. Tonight, I can finally take her to the best restaurant in the city and order every signature dish she has never tried.]
[I don't know why, but whenever I see her eating to her heart's content, I feel an inexplicable satisfaction, as refreshing as drinking an iced beverage in the height of summer.]
The diary's words had barely appeared.
Half a step behind him, Xiao Wu abruptly stopped, her large eyes instantly misting over.
She stared blankly at those passages in her Sea of Consciousness as intense guilt and warmth surged together into her heart.
Money...
Xiao Wu bit her lip.
She was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. In Star Dou Great Forest, she ate wild fruit when hungry and drank spring water when thirsty. She had no concept at all of money in the human world.
Ever since she had come to Suotuo City and met Xiong Shaoqing, Big Brother had quietly shouldered every expense for food and lodging.
She had never even considered how much pressure Big Brother was bearing in secret just to maintain their livelihood.
A dignified God King, he had been forced to lower himself and deal with mortal merchants for Gold Soul Coins.
Yet his first thought upon getting the money had not been to find a way to buy spiritual medicines to restore his strength, but to take her out for delicious food.
Before you continue