After giving her orders, Bibi Dong flickered into a barely perceptible streak of violet light and swept straight out through the Papal Palace's secret passage. Under cover of night, she shot toward Suotuo City thousands of miles away like an arrow tearing through the wind and snow.
Chapter 7: Xiao Wu Lost Her Heart
Elsewhere, those few lines in the diary exploded in Xiao Wu's mind like a massive bomb.
Strange...
Xiao Wu quietly raised her tear-blurred eyes and stole a look at Xiong Shaoqing opposite her through the gaps between her fingers.
His large, well-defined hands held a crude earthenware cup, his fingertips rubbing its rim. He made no motion of writing, and there was not even the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power around him.
Yet in the diary within her sea of consciousness, lines of ink were appearing on their own alongside his deep gaze.
A bold guess that set her heart racing instantly took shape in her mind:
He had no idea he was writing a diary.
This miraculous booklet was very likely some manifestation of the Heavenly Laws, directly capturing his deepest, most subconscious thoughts and automatically projecting and condensing them into words.
In other words, as far as Xiong Shaoqing knew, he was only silently thinking about these things, unaware that this diary had already revealed his inner voice to her.
At that thought, a secret thrill suddenly welled up in Xiao Wu's heart, as though she had secretly glimpsed a god's deepest secrets.
But what followed was overwhelming shock that engulfed her like a tsunami.
If a diary someone wrote on paper could still be fabricated or exaggerated, then his deepest, completely unguarded subconscious thoughts absolutely, absolutely could not be false.
He acted so cold and disdainful toward me, yet inside, his heart was being carved by knives over the wrongs I had suffered...
So this was why he was driving me away.
He would rather I saw him as a cold stranger, rather we never met again in this lifetime, if it meant keeping me alive.
Xiao Wu trembled all over, tears pattering onto the braised beef.
She abruptly raised her head and pushed the silver coin on the table back toward him, staring fixedly at Xiong Shaoqing with utter determination, even the desperate resolve to stake everything:
"I'm not leaving. Big brother, please, let me stay as your maid. I can serve tea and water, and I can fight, too. I absolutely won't drag you down."
Xiao Wu hardened her heart. If you refused to acknowledge me, then I would shamelessly stick to you.
Even if you drove me away, I would stay by your side and protect you, a powerless man who had lost his divine power.
At the sight of Xiao Wu's readiness to face death, Xiong Shaoqing closed his eyes, concealing the wild joy about to spill from them.
[Ding! Detected extreme heartache and a resolve to stand together in life and death from Xiao Wu. Misunderstandings born of the information gap have reached their pinnacle. Feedback Soul Power advancement progress +30%!] [Ding! The host's Soul Power has broken through the Level 7 barrier. Current Soul Power: Level 7.]
Feeling the Soul Power within him surge and swell once more, Xiong Shaoqing slowly opened his eyes and let out a helpless sigh.
"You silly girl. Why are you so stubborn?"
He no longer drove her away, tacitly accepting her presence instead.
In Xiao Wu's eyes, this helpless compromise was undoubtedly her God King brother's final tenderness toward her.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away.
Braving the swirling snow, Tang San used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track as he raced like a madman along the muddy, freezing highway.
His face was livid. Pushing Purple Demon Eye to its limit, he searched relentlessly for any footprints or clues that might have been left in the snow.
Nothing. There was nothing.
Two days and two nights had passed since Xiao Wu burst out through the door.
Tang San had practically turned Nuoding City and every surrounding village upside down, yet he had not found so much as a single pink rabbit hair.
A bone-piercing gust of wind mixed with ice and snow poured down his collar, freezing Tang San stiff, but the chill in his heart was far worse.
Tang San stopped in the wilderness ravaged by wind and snow, his chest heaving. The violet light in his eyes gradually gave way to a thick gloom.
Why?
Tang San clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms. Blood dripped between his fingers onto the snow, a shocking sight.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand.
The fear in Xiao Wu's eyes when she looked at him, as though she had seen a deadly viper, was like a sharp knife driven into his heart.
Only the day before, she had still been the sweet little sister clinging to him and calling him "Brother San," yet after a night's sleep, she shunned him like snakes and scorpions.
Who exactly had said something to her? Was someone deliberately sowing discord?
Tang San's breathing grew heavy.
Xiao Wu was not merely his little sister in name. She was also an indispensable asset for his future grand ambitions.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form-if she sacrificed herself when driven into a corner, what a terrifying leap in strength that would bring.
She was prey he had long since set his sights on. How could he tolerate her flying away right under his nose?
"Whether it's the Hidden Heaven Sect or some other faction, daring to touch someone belonging to me, Tang San, daring to snatch away my opportunity..."
Tang San slowly raised his head and looked toward Suotuo City, the muscles in his face twisting slightly with extreme malice.
"You've already paved your own road to death. Once I gather all the materials for my hidden weapons and break through the Mysterious Heaven Skill's bottleneck, I'll uncover the truth and tear you into ten thousand pieces."
Meanwhile, at the Old Oak Tavern in Suotuo City.
The fire crackled.
Looking at Xiao Wu's determined gaze and reddened eyes before him, Xiong Shaoqing let out a long sigh steeped in endless exhaustion.
"You silly girl... fine."
He said nothing more about driving her away. Instead, he picked up the coarse porcelain wine cup on the table and drained the last mouthful of bitter wine.
The instant he set down the cup, fireworks were practically going off inside Xiong Shaoqing.
It worked! This retreat-to-advance move was a stroke of genius.
Now this rabbit wouldn't leave even if I chased her away with a broom.
Not only would she stay, she would guard me fiercely as though I were something fragile.
Xiong Shaoqing rose expressionlessly, casually tossed down a few Copper Soul Coins to settle the bill, and grabbed the old cloak from the chair back, draping it over his shoulders. His movements were crisp and efficient, yet carried a touch of world-weariness.
"Stay close. Suotuo City is rough at night. If you get lost, I won't have the strength to look for you."
His tone remained cold, even slightly disdainful.
But to Xiao Wu's ears, those words sounded like heavenly music.
He wasn't driving me away. He had agreed to let me stay.
Xiao Wu haphazardly wiped the tears from her face and broke into a smile. Slinging her little pink bundle onto her back, she followed Xiong Shaoqing without leaving his side.
They pushed open the tavern's wooden door, and wind and snow rushed into their faces.
Xiong Shaoqing walked ahead, his figure straight and tall.
He was in no hurry to find an inn. Instead, he slowed his steps and led Xiao Wu through Suotuo City's tangled streets, seemingly wandering without any destination.
The persona had to be reinforced.
Walking through the wind and snow, Xiong Shaoqing sank a sliver of his attention into his sea of consciousness. Although she was now utterly devoted to following me, as a reincarnated man who had lost all his divine power, I had to show some concern about our current circumstances to make her believe even more firmly.
The dark-gold Destiny Diary opened to a new page within his sea of consciousness, and his thoughts rapidly took shape as words.
Following behind him, Xiao Wu immediately sensed the copy in her sea of consciousness tremble.
As she stepped into the footprints Xiong Shaoqing left in the snow, she split her attention to read the newly appearing ink:
[I really don't know what to do with this silly girl. I can't even drive her away.]
[Does she know how dangerous things are right now? That hypocrite Tang San will never let this rest, and Spirit Hall's soul-hunting squads could appear in Suotuo City at any moment.]
[In this shell of a body, my Soul Power is pitifully weak. If danger really comes, I won't even have the strength to open a spatial rift and send her away.]
[Forget it. Since she insists on following me, I'll stake this life on it. As long as I have a single breath left, I will never let anyone harm her in the slightest. I failed to protect her in my previous life. In this life, even if my divine soul is utterly annihilated, I'll accept it.]
Chapter 8: How Was This Possible?
Amid the wind and snow, Xiao Wu abruptly stopped walking.
Her nose stung fiercely, and her vision blurred once more.
She looked at the back ahead of her, neither broad nor sturdy, even somewhat thin. Every word in the diary struck her heart like a heavy hammer.
For me, he wasn't even afraid of having his divine soul annihilated...
Xiao Wu clenched her fists, her nails sinking into her palms.
At that moment, her pride as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was fully ignited.
No. I would never let you die for me again.
Xiao Wu cried silently in her heart, You had lost your divine power, so I would protect you.
Whether Tang San or Spirit Hall, whoever dared touch a hair on your head, I would tear them apart even at the cost of my life.
[Ding! Detected Xiao Wu's intense obsession with protecting the host to the death. Misunderstandings born of the information gap have triggered a qualitative change. Feedback Soul Power advancement progress +40%!] [Ding! Detected a slight resonance in Xiao Wu's Martial Soul Origin. The host's physique has been greatly enhanced!]
Walking ahead, Xiong Shaoqing felt a pure, violent warm current surge straight up his spine into his head.
His limbs, which had been somewhat stiff from the cold wind, instantly filled with explosive strength.
"Hiss."
Xiong Shaoqing sucked in a cold breath, forcibly restraining the urge to throw back his head and howl as he roared inwardly.
Forty percent Soul Power progress, plus physique enhancement-had this rabbit used even her own origin power to provide feedback to me?
He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, using the pain to force himself to remain calm.
Stay calm, stay calm. He was only a God King who had grown indifferent to life and death.
Deep breath. This was a tremendous windfall. At this rate, in another couple of days, I could go to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest and look for my first soul ring.
One behind the other, the two trudged through the snow and arrived before a reasonably clean-looking inn.
Xiong Shaoqing stopped and turned to Xiao Wu. His gaze remained calm, but his tone was a little less cold. "We'll rest here tonight. You..."
He paused, seemingly weighing his words, then finally sighed. "Don't stay too far from me. We'll get two adjoining rooms. Call me anytime if something happens."
Xiao Wu nodded vigorously. "Mm! Don't worry, big brother. I'll take good care of you."
The corner of Xiong Shaoqing's eye twitched.
Take care of me? Why did this girl look at him as though he were a rare animal in desperate need of protection?
This information gap was getting more and more absurd.
Night deepened.
Suotuo City's wind and snow howled outside the window, battering the inn's sturdy wooden lattice.
Xiong Shaoqing sat cross-legged on the warm bed, listening to Xiao Wu's breathing gradually steady in the room next door, and exhaled a long, stale breath.
Phew. This girl had finally fallen asleep.
Recalling Xiao Wu's earlier determination, as though she were ready to take a blade for him, Xiong Shaoqing could not stop the corners of his mouth from twitching.
The reverse-conquest effect brought about by this information gap was a hundred times fiercer than he had expected.
Still, the act had to go on, and the sheep had to keep being fleeced.
Now that we had settled in today, I would update the diary once more before bed, reinforce my persona, and thoroughly stir up Suotuo City's muddy waters while I was at it.
Xiong Shaoqing closed his eyes, sank his awareness into his sea of consciousness, and summoned the Destiny Diary, which radiated a dark-gold glow.
He needed to show his "concern" for Xiao Wu in the diary, fleshing out his image as a God King who valued loyalty and affection but was constrained by his strength.
At the same time, since he had already arrived in Suotuo City, it was time to give that little wildcat currently on the road a strong dose of medicine.
I couldn't make it too sappy. I had to maintain some reserve, with a sense of helplessness born of having weathered the vicissitudes of life...
Before you continue