For a long while, Xu Ran lay on Xiao Wu's long legs, recovering his strength.
Breathing in the delicate fragrance coming from Xiao Wu, Xu Ran felt incomparably comfortable. Of course, there was also a faint salty scent on her, perhaps because she had hurried over too anxiously and exerted herself. Naturally, it could not have been anything else. Xiao Wu was pure as ice and jade, and could not possibly have had any other thoughts.
"Shameless host, all you know is how to take advantage of Xiao Wu," the system said huffily. Watching Xu Ran lie on Xiao Wu's legs in such comfort, she could not help feeling a little jealous. Her host was too awful. There was clearly not a single injury on his body, yet he still pretended to have suffered a tremendous loss of vitality. Was lying on Xiao Wu's legs in the sunshine really that comfortable?
Xiao Wu was not even as pretty as she was. How could it possibly be so comfortable?
"What? Aren't I doing this to look injured? Otherwise, how would I gain Xiao Wu's trust? And how would I show Tang San up?" Xu Ran denied it outright. Was he that sort of person? He was no lecher.
"Hmph, you're just shameless." The System Lady was rather unhappy.
"Then I'll stop lying here. I still need to go show Tang San up." As Xu Ran spoke, his eyes abruptly opened, a sharp gleam flashing within them. His presence grew powerful once more, making it look as though he had recovered his strength.
"Auspicious Beast, you're awake?" Xiao Wu asked, a flicker of embarrassed indignation crossing her beautiful eyes. The Auspicious Beast had been lying on her for so long that his head had made her legs go numb.
"Yes, I've recovered some of my strength. We need to leave here quickly. That Titled Douluo might still be searching for me. It isn't very safe to stay here too long," Xu Ran said, his eyes full of gravity.
"A Titled Douluo? There's a Titled Douluo near us?" Xu Ran's words caught Xiao Wu's attention, and her heart suddenly clenched. She was a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast who had undergone human transformation. A Titled Douluo could see through her identity.
"That Titled Douluo is very powerful. Even I'm no match for him. And he lives in a nearby village. That's where I escaped from," Xu Ran said, revealing a grave expression.
Fortunately, Tang San had a ready-made father. Otherwise, winning Xiao Wu over would probably have been very difficult.
"A Titled Douluo lives nearby?" Xiao Wu's expression changed drastically. At the same time, another question rose in her heart. If there really was a Titled Douluo, why had he not killed her?
"That Titled Douluo already has all his Soul Rings and Soul Bones. Killing you wouldn't benefit him. I think he's been watching you all these years, waiting for the right moment to kill you and take your Soul Ring and Soul Bone," Xu Ran explained.
"How could this happen?" Xiao Wu's face was pale, her entire body trembling. She had thought that coming to somewhere as remote as Nuoding City would keep powerful people from discovering her, yet even a place like this had someone at the Titled Douluo level.
She did not doubt Xu Ran's words in the slightest. As an Auspicious Beast, Xu Ran could not possibly deceive her about something like this. Besides, the Auspicious Beast had encountered danger here too. That was enough to show that there really was a Titled Douluo nearby.
"Lord Auspicious Beast, when will he make his move against me?" Xiao Wu's voice trembled slightly, and her eyes reddened. She was not afraid of dying. If she had been, she would never have transformed into a human. She was only afraid of dying an unremarkable death. How would she avenge her mother then? If she died too, no one would ever avenge her mother.
"Lord Auspicious Beast, please, show me a way forward. I can't die. If I die, I won't be able to avenge my mother." Xiao Wu bent her knees and knelt directly before Xu Ran. Her delicate forehead touched the ground, and her pert, still-developing yet very rounded bottom rose high.
Why did she suddenly kneel?
And that pose?
Wouldn't this give people the wrong idea?
"Don't kneel. I told you I would help you. You saved me, so I'll help you resolve these troubles." Xu Ran pulled Xiao Wu up from the ground. He smiled. Naturally, he had a way to shatter the relationship between Xiao Wu and Tang San.
Once their relationship shattered, he could have Xiao Wu.
As an Auspicious Beast, a Soul Beast Emperor, what was wrong with taking a concubine? Who would dare object?
"That Titled Douluo is named Tang Hao, an unrivaled expert from the Clear Sky Sect, the greatest sect in the world. He offended Spirit Hall and was expelled from the Clear Sky Sect. All these years, he's been living in seclusion in Holy Soul Village outside Nuoding City," Xu Ran said with a smile.
"The Clear Sky Douluo?" Xiao Wu could not help feeling horrified. As a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, she was not completely ignorant. The Clear Sky Douluo had vanished from the continent long ago, and no one knew where he had gone. So he was hiding in this remote place.
No wonder Spirit Hall could not find him.
"But didn't I hear that the Clear Sky Douluo was a good man? He and Sister Ah Yin were so close. Their love moved heaven and earth," Xiao Wu could not help asking. As a Soul Beast, she had even been moved to tears when she first heard this love story. She had also formed a very favorable impression of the Clear Sky Douluo.
Could such a powerful man, whose wife was Sister Ah Yin, really attack her and the Auspicious Beast? Xiao Wu's heart could not settle. She kept feeling as though some faith deep within her was collapsing.
"The Clear Sky Douluo is a good man?" The corners of Xu Ran's mouth curved upward with some disdain. How could there be so much love and romance in this world? Only innocent girls would believe such things.
"Do you really believe something so wonderful exists in this world? You should know about the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin sacrificing herself to Tang Hao, right?"
"Even if a Soul Beast is willing to sacrifice itself to a Soul Master, one crucial condition must still be met: the Soul Master's cultivation must have reached level 90, just when they need a Soul Ring. But how could there be such a coincidence in this world? Tang Hao doesn't have twin martial souls. Where would he get an extra empty slot for a Soul Ring? He had clearly broken through level 90, so why didn't he promptly hunt for a Soul Ring?" Xu Ran gave a disdainful smile. He did not believe the world could contain such a coincidence.
Besides, it was not as though Tang Hao had been unaware of Ah Yin's identity, yet he had let her be exposed directly before Spirit Hall. Even if he truly had not meant to, he must have known Xiao Wu was a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast. He had not stopped Xiao Wu from going to Spirit City either. Once the tournament ended, every powerful Soul Master in the world knew there was a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast named Xiao Wu, but that her current strength was extremely weak.
Even without Spirit Hall, other powerful people would harbor murderous intentions toward Xiao Wu. A hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast was difficult to hunt, but could a Soul Ancestor or a Soul King not be killed easily?
Tang Hao disguised himself better than anyone. He had been monitoring things behind the scenes when both Ah Yin's and Xiao Wu's identities were exposed. Yet in the original story, his image as a devoted, righteous man had always been maintained, and no one had exposed him.
"The powerful always wear hypocritical masks. They're just like ordinary people. They're simply accustomed to parading their personas," Xu Ran said. Although he too was shameless, he would never hurt someone he cherished in the slightest. His wickedness was reserved for his enemies. His goodness would be reserved for those he treasured.
"So that was how it was? So that was how it was?"
"How could this be? How could the Clear Sky Douluo be that sort of person?"
Xiao Wu looked rather lost and distraught. What Xu Ran had said had nearly brought her worldview crashing down. Could the love story she had believed in for so many years really have such a hidden truth behind it?
"But the Clear Sky Douluo only broke through while fleeing with Sister Ah Yin," Xiao Wu said, catching a flaw in Xu Ran's words. She still held some hope that the Auspicious Beast had merely guessed wrong.
"With the Clear Sky Douluo's strength, he could naturally control his cultivation so that he could break through at any moment. Breaking through while fleeing would be more convincing, and would clear him of suspicion that he wanted to kill Ah Yin. Besides, Qian Xunji, who pursued Tang Hao back then, is already dead, and the others have disappeared too. Naturally, whatever Tang Hao says becomes the truth," Xu Ran said, shattering the final trace of hope in Xiao Wu's heart.
Tang Hao had wanted to use Spirit Hall's pressure to make Ah Yin sacrifice herself willingly and become his Soul Ring, allowing him to enter the Titled Douluo realm in one stroke. By then, the Clear Sky Sect's strength would have increased tremendously, and the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring would already have been absorbed. Spirit Hall would have had no choice but to let the matter drop.
But what he had completely failed to anticipate was that Bibi Dong would kill Qian Xunji after he wounded him, then pin the blame on him. Killing the Pope was a charge that brought Spirit Hall into a fight to the death with him and even the Clear Sky Sect. Bibi Dong had single-handedly buried every one of his aspirations. All one could say was that every villain had another villain to torment him.
Tang Hao drank himself drunk every day, not merely because he was devoted in love. It was because he was the mastermind behind Ah Yin's death. He was afraid, remorseful, dejected, and in pain.
Some things were only cherished once they were lost. After losing Ah Yin, he had obtained none of what he wanted, and because of the mud Bibi Dong had slung at him, he even had to face Spirit Hall's pursuit. This filled him with regret. If he had not schemed to do those things, he would have been the Clear Sky Sect's sect master, with a lovely wife, standing, and status. How could he have fallen so far that he had to hide in seclusion to escape disaster?
Before going with Tang San to see Ah Yin, and even before returning to the sect, Tang Hao had crippled one of his own arms and one of his legs. It was not to repay the sect, but to punish himself and repay Ah Yin.
Naturally, Xu Ran could not possibly have deduced these hidden truths himself. He had no time to bother with such wretched matters. The System Lady had told him all of this, so naturally, none of it could possibly be false.
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