"At the very last moment before the Demon Locking Tower collapsed, Lin Yueru pushed Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er away with a smile to give them a sliver of hope of survival, only to be buried forever beneath the falling boulders."
"Before she died, she looked at the man she loved and left just one sentence: 'Eat till we're old, play till we're old. Who knew I was already so old...'"
At this point, Xiong Shaoqing stopped, leaving only the occasional crackle from the charcoal brazier.
Across from him, Xiao Wu's tears had long since begun falling like beads from a broken string, splashing into the porcelain bowl before her.
As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, she had absolutely no resistance to such pure love and sacrifice taken to the utmost.
"Waaah, why did it have to be like this?" Xiao Wu wiped haphazardly at her tears, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. "Why couldn't Li Xiaoyao be with Zhao Ling'er and Lin Yueru at the same time?"
"They clearly loved each other so much. They were even willing to give their lives for each other. Why did someone have to die? This ending is too tragic..."
Hearing this, Xiong Shaoqing felt fireworks going off wildly inside him.
Beautiful. Sword and Fairy 1 really was an attack from a higher dimension. This rabbit has worked out the logic of being together at the same time all by herself.
Xiong Shaoqing forcibly suppressed his wild delight, but deliberately raised an eyebrow, sounding slightly teasing:
"Hey, Xiao Wu, that wasn't what you said outside the Rose Hotel earlier. Didn't you say love was exclusive, and that someone would die if their heart was cut in half? Why do you think the three of them should be together now?"
Xiao Wu was momentarily at a loss for words, her fair, pretty face instantly flushing scarlet.
She could not even spare the attention to wipe away her tears. Setting down her chopsticks indignantly, she began being "unreasonable." "H-how is that the same? That was then, and this is now! The situations are completely different. How can you lump them together?"
Xiao Wu hurried to defend her logic. "Don't compare that stinking tiger who only knows how to have a woman in each arm to Li Xiaoyao! That stinking tiger went to the Rose Hotel purely to satisfy his lust. That's depraved!"
"But Li Xiaoyao is different!" With reddened eyes, Xiao Wu counted on her fingers as she earnestly analyzed it. "He genuinely loves Zhao Ling'er and Lin Yueru. There's no need to explain how much he gave for Ling'er. How much did he suffer on that journey to find her?"
"As for Lin Yueru, they went through so many life-and-death trials together. At the government office, Li Xiaoyao even shielded Lin Yueru with his own body, taking the blows of the punishment paddle for her!"
Xiao Wu grew more agitated as she spoke. "And Sister Yueru! She was the dignified young lady of the Lin Family, raised in comfort and luxury, yet when Li Xiaoyao drowned his sorrows in drink, she cast aside all her status to take care of him. She followed him through the martial world regardless of everything, even abandoning a woman's reserve!"
"All three of them loved so fiercely, so purely!"
Watching Xiao Wu argue with such righteous conviction, doing her utmost to prove that "anything could be forgiven and accepted as long as it was true love," Xiong Shaoqing's hand holding his teacup paused slightly. Then he let out a long breath inwardly.
Done.
Xiong Shaoqing's heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally settled back into his belly.
The first step of brainwashing was a complete success. As long as the emotional foundation occupies the high ground of sharing life and death and giving purely, this girl's theory of possessiveness will collapse without a fight.
He calculated inwardly that as long as he kept treating her well afterward, displayed the God King presence of "I'd give up my life for all of you" when facing danger, and then slowly used the diary to introduce the other girls' tragic backgrounds and devoted love...
A little rabbit like Xiao Wu, who responded to gentleness rather than force and valued feelings immensely, would absolutely accept the other sisters' existence with tears in her eyes.
She might even take the initiative to help him cherish his other beloved confidantes in the future.
Only children choose. Adults naturally want them all.
Wasn't it just a matter of telling a few more beautiful, tragic love stories?
He, Xiong Shaoqing, might not have much else, but the various exquisitely tragic bad-ending scripts in his head were enough to keep her crying for ten years.
"All right, all right, I can't win against you. It's just a story. Listen and leave it at that. Don't cry yourself into a little tabby cat."
Xiong Shaoqing quit while he was ahead, changing the subject without revealing anything as his tone became gentle again. He picked up a piece of fish with the bones removed and placed it on Xiao Wu's plate.
"Here, try Suotuo City's specialty sweet-and-sour fish. It'll taste fishy once it gets cold."
Xiao Wu smiled through her tears, nodded emphatically, and picked up the fish to eat happily.
Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Xiong Shaoqing paid the bill and took Xiao Wu strolling back to the inn through the accumulated snow.
"We've been busy all morning. Go back to your room and take a nap. Get some rest, and I'll take you around Suotuo City's night market this evening." Standing outside his room, Xiong Shaoqing gave this calm instruction, then turned and pushed open his door.
"Mm, have a good nap, Big Brother." Xiao Wu nodded obediently and returned to the room next door with smiling eyes.
The instant he closed his door, Xiong Shaoqing's composed expression fell apart. The corners of his mouth rose wildly, almost stretching to his ears.
Just as their meal had ended, the system notifications in his mind had gone off like New Year's firecrackers, leaving him comfortable from head to toe:
Chapter 13: An Unexpected Harvest
[Ding! Detected a major destabilization and reshaping of Xiao Wu's views on love. Her tolerance toward the host has increased significantly. Feedback: Soul Power advancement progress +25%.] [Ding! Detected extreme dependence on and admiration for the host from Xiao Wu. Feedback: mental power purification +10%.] [Ding! The host's current Soul Power has broken through the level-eight barrier. Current Soul Power: level eight.]
Feeling his meridians widen once more, along with his increasingly thick and pure Soul Power, Xiong Shaoqing breathed out at length in comfort.
The effect of this brainwashing was immediate. Twenty-five percent Soul Power progress!
At this rate, I can head straight for the Star Dou Great Forest the day after tomorrow.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, but his mind was exceptionally clear, without the slightest sleepiness.
No, strike while the iron is hot. This girl's head is full of Sword and Fairy's beautiful, tragic romance right now. I need to add fuel to the fire in the diary and weld this cold-outside, warm-inside, forbearing and restrained persona into her mind.
With a slight stir of his thoughts, Xiong Shaoqing summoned the Destiny Diary.
He repeatedly contemplated the feeling of "blaming himself because he cared" inwardly, then began to write:
[Back at the inn, I listened as the sounds next door quieted down, yet I felt no desire to sleep.]
[Thinking back to the restaurant just now, I don't know whether what I did was right or wrong.]
[Seeing her brood over the behavior of that disgusting Dai Mubai, stubbornly insisting that love could only be exclusively divided, I couldn't suppress my competitive streak for a moment. I wanted to tell her that love in this world took many complicated forms, so I told her the story of Li Xiaoyao, Zhao Ling'er, and Lin Yueru.]
[Who could have imagined I would actually make that silly girl cry?]
[Watching those large tears roll down her face, honestly, my heart hurt as though needles were stabbing it. I was utterly remorseful. I knew perfectly well that she was innocent by nature and couldn't bear tragedies of separation and death. Why did I still have to run my mouth and tease her?]
[I really wanted to gather her into my arms and comfort her properly, but I couldn't.]
[Right now, I can't muster even a trace of divine power. I can't protect her at all. I have to deliberately keep a cold face. I have to keep my distance from her. Only then, should we encounter danger, will I avoid dragging her down.]
[Xiong Shaoqing, you must hold steady. Once you've recovered your strength, make up for the tears you owe her, little by little.]
After writing the final line, Xiong Shaoqing closed the diary with satisfaction.
This inner monologue, full of helplessness and holding back before rising, would absolutely bring out this little rabbit's maternal radiance and protective instincts in full.
He could already imagine Xiao Wu hugging her quilt in the room next door, winning herself over for him.
And things were indeed just as he expected.
In the neighboring room, Xiao Wu lay on her stomach on the bed, her two fair, delicate calves swinging gently in the air.
After reading the updated diary in her sea of consciousness, she resembled a fully ripened peach, flushed from her cheeks all the way to her ears.
Big Brother actually cared so much about her tears, and even blamed himself and felt heartache for making her cry with his story.
Xiao Wu buried her burning cheeks in the soft pillow, her heart feeling as though it had been soaked in honey.
That boy who outwardly even complained about carrying a basin of water for her was actually tossing and turning deep inside over a single tear of hers.
Yet after the sweetness passed, Xiao Wu suddenly realized a serious problem.
Oh no, this is bad! Big Brother is so remorseful. What if he never tells stories again because he wants to avoid any appearance of impropriety, or because he's afraid of making me cry?
Xiao Wu abruptly sat up, the rabbit ears atop her head twitching anxiously.
No, no! Big Brother's stories are so wonderful, and listening to him tell them is when I'm closest to his heart.
She absolutely could not lose this perfect opportunity to bring them closer together.
Xiao Wu quietly made plans inwardly.
Looks like I'll have to find a suitable opportunity to tell him myself that I actually really love listening to his stories.
Meanwhile, this diary entry brimming with remorse also stirred waves in the seas of consciousness of the other heroines.
On an ancient road amid wind and snow, Zhu Zhuqing, who was taking a brief rest, looked at the diary with a slight frown. Deep puzzlement flashed through her cool eyes.
Li Xiaoyao, Zhao Ling'er, Lin Yueru-who were all these people? Just what kind of beautiful, tragic story in this world could make a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast cry on the spot?
Zhu Zhuqing was already curious by nature, and now the complicated emotions revealed between the lines stirred an intense desire to find out more.
Inside the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Qian Renxue was reviewing memorials.
The instant she saw the diary, the vermilion brush in her hand paused slightly. A drop of red ink fell onto the paper and spread.
A story that even he, a God King, considered tragic-could it also concern some secret of sacrifice in the Divine Realm?
Extreme curiosity flickered in Qian Renxue's golden eyes. Just how many unknown secrets did Xiong Shaoqing still have in his head?
Meanwhile, Bibi Dong, who had already entered the Balak Kingdom and was skimming through the air at low altitude, gave an arrogant sneer upon reading the diary.
She could cry just from listening to a story? This Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's disposition was far too weak and easily bullied.
Contempt filled Bibi Dong's exquisitely beautiful face.
As an iron-blooded Supreme Pontiff who had stepped over countless corpses and crawled out of Slaughter City and the Rakshasa Secret Realm, her heart had long since become as hard as black iron.
No story in this world could make her shed a single tear.
However, the contempt in Bibi Dong's eyes soon turned into a trace of intrigued amusement.
This Xiong Shaoqing was an interesting talent. Simply by making up a so-called story, he could toy with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's emotions in the palm of his hand and make her utterly devoted.
Such skill at scheming to conquer hearts was worthy of his pride as a God King.
Bibi Dong sneered, and her purple wings beat sharply.
I shall see just how accomplished these methods of bewitching hearts are when used before me.
[Ding! Detected extreme sweetness and a desire to take the initiative to draw closer from Xiao Wu. Feedback: Soul Power advancement progress +15%.] [Ding! Detected intense curiosity from Qian Renxue and Zhu Zhuqing. Feedback: mental power purification +5%.] [Ding! Detected a trace of wariness and interest from Bibi Dong. Feedback: physical constitution enhancement +5%.]
In his room at the inn, Xiong Shaoqing had just lain down for a short nap. Listening to the notifications ringing out one after another in his mind again, he curled his lips into a smile.
The fish were all in the net.
After night fell, the wind and snow in Suotuo City eased somewhat, but the temperature grew even colder.
Along the streets and alleys of the night market, windproof lanterns hung beneath the eaves on either side, their dim yellow glow casting mottled shadows over the snow.
Xiong Shaoqing brought Xiao Wu to a bustling roadside barbecue stall.
The rough-looking owner worked bare-chested, turning skewers of meat that sizzled with dripping fat over the charcoal fire. The fragrance of cumin and chili powder spread forcefully through the freezing air.
Barbecue had to be eaten at a roadside stall. Eating it with the cold wind blowing was what tasted best.
Xiong Shaoqing found a relatively sheltered corner to sit in, casually wiped the greasy wooden table with his sleeve, and ordered a large plate of grilled meat.
Chapter 14: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road
Soon, the steaming grilled meat arrived.
Xiong Shaoqing picked up two lamb skewers grilled golden and crisp, offering them to Xiao Wu while looking toward the bustling crowd on the street. His tone remained as cool and indifferent as ever:
"Eat. Suotuo City may be filthy and chaotic, but this bustle of ordinary life is at least somewhere to warm yourself."
Xiao Wu took the skewers but did not eat immediately. Instead, she secretly studied Xiong Shaoqing's profile, its angles sharply defined in the glow of the charcoal fire.
Just then, fresh ink appeared in the Destiny Diary within her sea of consciousness:
[I brought this girl to a roadside stall. I wonder if she's used to eating this sort of food.]
[Looking at her little face flushed red from the cold, I really want to take off my cloak and drape it over her. But I must restrain myself.]
[I can't treat her too well. I can't let her grow attached. A fallen God King, with enemies everywhere-this broken body of mine, without even level-ten Soul Power, can't give her any promises or security. Only maintaining an icy distance is the best protection I can offer her.]
[I hope she'll eat more. She ought to enjoy the simple pleasures of this world properly, rather than become a Soul Ring someone keeps penned up.]
Xiao Wu looked at the words in her sea of consciousness, then at the awkward boy before her, who was clearly handing her skewers yet insisted on pretending to admire the scenery. She forcibly suppressed the upward curve of her lips.
Big Brother's acting really had reached perfection. There wasn't a single flaw.
Xiao Wu took a bite of the skewer, filling her mouth with juices, and inwardly grumbled furiously. If she couldn't read the diary, she would almost have been fooled by Big Brother's icy face that kept people a thousand miles away.
Xiao Wu ate the grilled meat in big bites, sweetness filling her heart.
Although she, Xiao Wu, was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and appeared innocent and obedient, she carried a Soul Beast's pride in her bones.
Before you continue