"Big brother..."
Xiao Wu looked at the tall, lean figure ahead, and her heart suddenly ached.
For my sake, you even set aside your pride as a god. I won't buy things recklessly anymore. I'll help you save money.
Xiao Wu hurried after him. Ignoring the gazes of the passersby, she hugged Xiong Shaoqing's arm and pressed her cheek against his shoulder, her voice muffled and slightly choked:
"Big brother, I don't want to eat signature dishes at a fancy restaurant. I want those meat buns you bought me yesterday... those tasted the best."
Xiong Shaoqing stiffened.
He turned his head and looked at Xiao Wu, who was utterly moved, her eyes red, and a wave of wild delight rose in his heart.
This girl is way too easy to fool... no, too easy to understand. Just a few diary entries, and I've maxed out the emotional payoff.
Just then, the long-absent system notification rang out in his mind like heavenly music:
[Ding! Xiao Wu has been detected experiencing extreme guilt, heartache, and undying gratitude.] [System Feedback Mechanism activated.] [Host's Soul Power purity increased. Current Soul Power growing steadily, breaking through the level-eleven barrier.] [Current Soul Power: level eleven.]
Feeling the increasingly powerful Soul Power flowing through his meridians, Xiong Shaoqing forcibly suppressed the upward curl of his lips. He put on a stern expression, pulled his arm free, and lightly flicked Xiao Wu's forehead, his tone stiff.
"Enough nonsense. I said we're eating at a restaurant, so we're eating at a restaurant. With me around, you haven't fallen so low that you have to live on buns. Come on."
He strode ahead, his retreating figure cold.
Holding her forehead, Xiao Wu was not annoyed at all. Instead, she smiled through her tears and followed him happily, her eyes filled with nothing but the man who had sworn to keep her safe for life.
Chapter 23: A down-to-earth "God King"
In a private room on the third floor of Flavor-Seeking Tower, Suotuo City's finest restaurant, the underfloor heating blazed, shutting out the wind and snow beyond the windows completely.
A tableful of delicacies from mountain and sea arrived in a steady stream: crystal pork hock, snow frog stewed with black-bone chicken, roasted venison...
Sitting on a round mahogany stool, Xiao Wu looked at the table laden with extravagant dishes, twisting her hands together uneasily.
Although she had little concept of human money, she knew this meal certainly cost a fortune.
"Big brother, you ordered too much. The two of us can't finish it. It's such a waste of money." Xiao Wu felt a pang over the money pouch they had barely had time to warm.
Xiong Shaoqing sat upright across from her, his face frosty, yet his movements were utterly natural as he picked up the tenderest piece of venison and placed it in her dish.
"Just eat. Money isn't your concern." His voice was cold and hard, brooking no argument. "Eat as much as you can. Don't hurt yourself by overstuffing."
"We'll have a waiter pack all the leftovers into food boxes later and take them back to the inn. Heat them up for the next meal, and they'll fill our stomachs just the same."
Xiao Wu froze, her pitiful expression instantly turning to astonishment. "Pack them up and take them back to eat?"
Xiong Shaoqing set down his chopsticks and cast his deep gaze toward the raging wind and snow outside. His tone abruptly grew heavier:
"No matter how expensive food is, once it goes into your stomach and becomes strength, it isn't wasted. But throwing it away after a couple of bites is a sin."
"The heavy snow has sealed the city. How many commoners out there barely have clothes to cover themselves, suffering hunger and cold, unable to get even a mouthful of hot soup?"
"We may have a little money to spare now, but if we squander it freely, treating food as refuse to flaunt our status, how are we any different from those bloodsucking tyrants?"
His words rang out with weight, striking Xiao Wu right in the heart.
Looking at Xiao Wu's stunned expression, Xiong Shaoqing outwardly wore the stern face of an elder lecturing a junior, but inwardly, his abacus was already clacking furiously.
Hehe, this show of compassion for all living beings instantly broadens my stature.
It shows how considerate I am of her health while establishing my image as a God King who refuses extravagance and waste.
With a contrast like this, won't these pampered young ladies of Douluo be utterly bewitched by me?
With a slight shift of thought, he immediately summoned the Destiny Diary in his Sea of Consciousness and struck while the iron was hot:
[After receiving the bookshop's deposit, I brought this silly girl to the best restaurant in the city. Seeing her feast so heartily finally put my heart a little more at ease.]
[But looking at this tableful of delicacies and listening to the wind and snow howling outside, I found the food somewhat tasteless.]
[On this Douluo Continent, Soul Masters stand high above everyone else, treating mortals like weeds. One meal for the wealthy could feed an ordinary family, young and old, for years. Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot; along the roads lie the bones of those frozen to death.]
[I don't begrudge a penny spent on today's meal, but I won't permit the slightest waste either. Whatever we can't finish, we can simply pack up and take away. All living beings under heaven face such hardship. How many commoners freeze or starve to death in this bitter winter?]
[If gods care only about sitting high upon their divine thrones and enjoying offerings, yet cannot pity these mortals' suffering, what use is such a divine position?]
The diary's words had barely appeared.
Xiao Wu, holding her rice bowl, instantly felt warmth well up in her eyes.
She shoveled rice into her mouth, carefully picking up even a single grain that fell onto the table and putting it into her mouth.
Big brother doesn't just care about me. He holds all the suffering people in the world in his heart.
Xiao Wu choked up silently inside, her eyes full of worship and reverence. This is a true god. He was right to lecture me. I mustn't waste his painstaking care.
Meanwhile, at Suotuo City's gates.
A tall figure wrapped in a black cloak had just stepped into this city of wind and snow.
Zhu Zhuqing tugged at her hood, hiding half her cold, pale face.
The diary entry appearing in her mind brought her steps to an abrupt halt.
The Star Luo Empire had a rigid hierarchy, with an uncrossable chasm separating nobles from commoners.
She had lived comfortably since childhood. Although she had never been extravagant or wasteful, she had never truly lowered her gaze to those ants at the bottom struggling in the mud.
Yet this man named Xiong Shaoqing, a God King, was lamenting mortals' hunger and cold.
"Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot; along the roads lie the bones of those frozen to death..."
Zhu Zhuqing turned the line of poetry over and over, the strings of her icy heart struck hard.
By comparison, those imperial scions who knew only how to seek pleasure in women's tender embraces were simply nauseating.
Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, she looked through the wind and snow toward the city's bustling streets.
Suotuo City. Finally here. The Rose Hotel...
Dai Mubai, I'll see for myself whether things are really as Xiong Shaoqing wrote.
At that moment, far away in the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace within the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
Qian Renxue read the words in her mind, rubbing the jade thumb ring she wore, a meaningful, shadowy gleam flickering in her golden eyes.
"Heh, a Soul Master who cares about commoners? In this world, which high-ranking Soul Master doesn't have their nose in the air?" Qian Renxue murmured to herself.
In Spirit Hall's doctrine, commoners were merely tools that supplied faith and menial labor.
Yet this Xiong Shaoqing was actually so sensitive and compassionate.
What sort of person is he, exactly? I really want to peel away this mysterious outer layer and see this fellow's true face for myself.
An intrigued smile curved Qian Renxue's lips, her curiosity about this unpredictable element rising once again.
As for Bibi Dong, who was on her way back to Spirit City, she merely gave a disdainful snort upon reading this diary entry.
Foolish. Wasting sympathy on ants-he's destined never to amount to anything.
In this world, absolute strength alone is truth.
Gods pitying mortals? What a joke. Mortals deserve only to prostrate themselves at gods' feet and tremble.
In a cheap, dark inn tucked away in a remote corner of Suotuo City.
Tang San sat on a hard plank bed, tightly clutching a sheet of parchment he had just bought from an information broker.
To investigate Xiong Shaoqing's background, he had spent the last of his savings, managing to pry only a few clues from several gate guards and low-ranking Spirit Hall deacons.
A fallen noble's son, level-five innate Soul Power, only just went to Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for his first soul ring...
"A worthless lump of mud unfit to be seen in public, an ant-like piece of trash. What bewitching potion did he feed Xiao Wu to make her attack me for him?"
Tang San's eyes were bloodshot, the Purple Demon Eye flashing wildly within them in his fury.
Bang.
The cheap teacup in his hand was forcibly reduced to fine porcelain powder by the surging internal power of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, trickling through his fingers.
Protected by the Mysterious Heaven Skill, his fair, tough palm naturally remained completely unharmed, but the towering flames of jealousy churning in his chest nearly burned his reason to ashes.
He would never allow the woman he had already claimed for himself to fall into the hands of such trash.
Take her by force? The image of Xiao Wu desperately defending her man last night flashed through Tang San's mind, and he immediately rejected the idea.
Xiao Wu was now completely bewitched by that bastard. Using force would only push her farther away, perhaps even drive her to fight him to the death.
Chapter 24: Zhu Zhuqing fully awakened
Since this fellow disguises himself so well, I'll tear away his disguise layer by layer.
A vicious, icy gleam flashed in Tang San's eyes. The best way to deal with a fallen noble who was all show was to utterly ruin his reputation.
"Xiong Shaoqing... just you wait. I'll uncover every detail of your background and expose all those filthy deeds of yours that can't bear the light."
"I'll make Xiao Wu see for herself just what a despicable, shameless little man she's risking her life to protect."
Tang San drew a deep breath and began frantically weaving poisonous schemes of slander and framing in his mind.
[Ding! Heaven's chosen son Tang San has been detected experiencing extreme jealousy and devising malicious schemes. His fortune value has undergone a substantial shift.] [Host feedback: Spiritual Power purification +15%. Acquired the 'Primary Crisis Perception' talent!]
In Flavor-Seeking Tower's private room, Xiong Shaoqing set down his teacup, his movement pausing briefly as a deep, cold gleam flashed in his eyes.
That hypocrite Tang San really couldn't hold back anymore.
Xiong Shaoqing's heart sank sharply, and he put aside some of his earlier contempt.
He knew very well that although he had made his first pot of gold, his Soul Power had only just broken through to level eleven.
Meanwhile, Tang San's Soul Power was probably already approaching the level-forty threshold, and he carried an endless variety of vicious Tang Sect Hidden Weapons.
He was out in the open, while that venomous snake, its eyes full of malice, lurked in the dark, ready to spring out and hurt someone at any moment.
This enormous gulf in levels and resources could never be bridged through clever talk alone.
Strength. I'm still not strong enough.
Relying solely on Xiao Wu to shield him meant that once Tang San found an opening, there would be no saving the situation.
Xiong Shaoqing secretly gritted his teeth. He had to pick up the pace, fleece these Heaven's Favored Daughters hard, and turn the system shop's resources into tangible assets as soon as possible.
At that moment, in central Suotuo City.
Outside the most luxurious suite at the end of the Rose Hotel's third floor.
Zhu Zhuqing kicked open the half-closed door.
The decadent sounds inside stopped abruptly. On the spacious waterbed, the blond, mismatched-eyed Dai Mubai was disheveled, an identical, alluring twin in each arm, pinning them beneath him.
The room was filled with sensuality, and the air reeked of nauseating, cheap cosmetics.
Zhu Zhuqing stood in the doorway. Wind and snow poured through the open door, yet neither was as cold as her eyes at that moment.
"Who is it?" Dai Mubai shouted angrily, turning his head only to meet a pair of icy black eyes burning with netherworld fury.
"Zhu... Zhuqing?" Dai Mubai looked as though lightning had struck him. His entire body stiffened, and he frantically tried to push the women off him and tug his clothes into place.
Zhu Zhuqing said nothing.
A final, faint shred of hope had remained in her heart. She had kept thinking that perhaps the outrageous behavior described in the diary was merely Xiong Shaoqing spreading baseless rumors.
But now, the evidence stood like a mountain.
The diary's phrase, "a disgusting piece of filth who can't control his lower half," thundered wildly through her mind like great bells.
So everything written in the diary was true.
Zhu Zhuqing stared fixedly at the fiancé she had once regarded as her emotional pillar, the one she had traveled countless miles to seek refuge with, and felt her stomach churn with nausea.
There were no tears or tantrums, no hysteria.
Before you continue