The romance continent truly lived up to its name

Later that day, Su Lin and Sean returned to the residence in Rhode Town. Xiao Wu was reclining on a lounge chair in the garden, basking in the sun as she read a comic book, with assorted fruits and seasonal vegetables on a low stool beside her.

Hearing footsteps at the courtyard gate and seeing that Su Lin had returned, she immediately slapped the comic book facedown on her lap. Her eyes lit up, and she bounded over in her soft-soled shoes. "You're back! How was today's haul?"

Su Lin raised an eyebrow and deliberately lifted his arm to flex his forearm muscles, a hint of smugness in his voice. "Do you even need to ask? When Su Lin takes the field, he's worth two men. Of course I came back loaded."

"Hmph, I'll give you that." Xiao Wu tilted her chin up with a dainty huff, but the corners of her mouth curled high, looking as though she shared in his glory.

Her gaze swept over Sean behind him, and she remembered the letter delivered by the post station that morning. Tilting her head, she asked, "Oh, right, Uncle Sean said Uncle Grant sent a letter? Was it something important?"

"Nothing much. Just about the start of school. Uncle's urging us to go register." Su Lin casually plucked a grape from the low stool and tossed it into his mouth, speaking indistinctly.

"All right..." Xiao Wu pouted, twisting the hem of her clothes between her fingertips, somewhat reluctant to leave. These nine months in Rhode Town had been wonderfully carefree, and she could run into the forest every day. But she also knew it really was time to go. "When are we leaving?"

"We'll pack a few things tonight and leave first thing tomorrow," Su Lin replied.

"That soon?" Xiao Wu blinked, somewhat surprised. "Doesn't school start in September? It's only late July. There are still almost two months left. Do we really need to leave so early?"

"We're going to Heaven Dou City," Su Lin explained. "The journey from here to Heaven Dou City will take at least half a month or more. Once we get there, we'll still need to settle in, handle the paperwork, and get familiar with the place. It's really not that early."

"Heaven Dou City?" The smile on her little face abruptly froze, and she asked in confusion, "Why are we going to Heaven Dou City? Isn't there an intermediate Soul Master Academy in the provincial capital? Won't the intermediate academy in Fasinuo Province do?"

"It's Uncle Grant's arrangement." Su Lin briefly recounted the arrangements in Grant's letter and the reasons Sean had explained to him on the way.

When he finished, however, Xiao Wu did not respond as she usually did.

Su Lin looked up at her, only then noticing that her face had paled. Her once-sparkling eyes seemed veiled in mist, and even the corners of her mouth had drooped. The anticipation that had first surfaced at their impending departure had vanished, replaced by an increasingly obvious mixture of complicated feelings and suppressed distress.

She remained silent for a long while before stiffly tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I... I suddenly feel a little unwell. I'm going back to my room."

Without waiting for Su Lin's reply, she turned and jogged up the stairs.

Watching her hurriedly retreating figure, Su Lin froze for two seconds before realizing what was wrong.

Heaven Dou City was nothing like a backwater such as Nuoding City. Nuoding City's strongest person, its city lord, was merely a rank-forty Soul Ancestor, and those managing the area around the Soul Hunting Forest were, at most, Soul Elders. Xiao Wu's instinctive ability to conceal her presence after taking human form was enough for her to live safely in such an environment, but Heaven Dou City had Titled Douluo.

The presence of Xiao Wu as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form could not possibly escape a Titled Douluo's perception.

In the original story, she had only been able to appear before a host of Titled Douluo because Lovesick Heartbreak Red completely sealed off the unique beast-origin presence of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit within her.

But Lovesick Heartbreak Red was still in Dugu Bo's medicinal garden, and Su Lin's connection to Dugu Bo was so distant that even eight poles laid end to end would not reach him.

If she really went to Heaven Dou City with Su Lin and even became a student at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Affiliated Intermediate Academy, she would be putting herself right under the noses of a group of top-tier experts. The risk of discovery would increase far more than tenfold. That would hardly be going to school-she would practically be handing herself over for free.

Looks like we'll have to part ways for a while.

Leaning against a veranda pillar, Su Lin thought to himself.

To be honest, when he had first approached Xiao Wu, half of it had been for her status as a protagonist, and the other half had been because he coveted the experience gains from her Soul Beast Transformation.

But after spending nearly a year together, day in and day out, they had gradually become close companions who shared everything. By now, he had grown somewhat used to having Xiao Wu around, and the sudden thought of their impending separation did leave him feeling a little out of sorts.

Of course, being used to it was one thing. They still had to part when it was time.

He had to keep his priorities straight. Nothing mattered more than staying alive. He could hardly drag Xiao Wu into a fire pit.

Meanwhile, in the room on the other side, the night gradually deepened.

Hugging a fluffy rabbit cushion, Xiao Wu curled up against the wall at the head of her bed. The curtains were drawn tightly shut, with only a small lamp at the corner of the table casting a dim yellow light.

Her thoughts had already tangled into a mess of hemp. She did not want to part with Su Lin. From Nuoding Academy to Rhode Town, Su Lin had been the first friend to treat her sincerely after she took human form. But if she did not leave, what if a Titled Douluo discovered her? Forget continuing her cultivation-she might not even be able to keep her life.

The impossible choice weighed on her chest like a stone. She buried her face deep in the rabbit cushion, her voice muffled and carrying a faint, aggrieved nasal tone. "Mom... what am I supposed to do...?"

The night passed without further incident.

At the first glimmer of dawn the next day, the residence bustled with activity.

The guards went in and out, loading bundles of luggage from the residence onto the carriage. They had lived here for more than half a year and had naturally acquired quite a few household items, all of which they would certainly be taking along.

Su Lin walked out of his room with a yawn. Passing Xiao Wu's room, he instinctively glanced inside. The door stood wide open, and there was no one inside. The thin quilt on the bed had been folded neatly.

Good. Not stupid.

Nodding, Su Lin guessed that Xiao Wu had already left. He did not linger and had already begun thinking about his next course of development.

First, he definitely needed to make contact with Dugu Bo.

That old poisoner was an existence who could stand alongside female characters such as Zhu Zhuqing, Dugu Yan, and Qian Renxue on the Douluo Continent's must-eat list.

If he could establish a connection with him, then even setting aside the garden full of immortal herbs, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well alone was precious enough to rank among the top ten, or even the top three, on the Douluo Continent's list of fortuitous opportunities, second only to Godhood Inheritance.

Thinking this, he descended the stairs to the ground floor and passed through the corridor into the front courtyard, only for his face to naturally take on the expression of the old man on the subway looking at his phone.

In the morning light, Xiao Wu stood at the garden entrance, chatting and laughing with Sean. When she saw Su Lin coming, she even waved at him with a broad smile.

Su Lin stood rooted to the spot, his head full of question marks.

No, girl, do you have a death wish? You're still not running?