"I'm not a dog!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion instinctively retorted, her voice clear and sweet, carrying an inborn pride:
"I'm the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!"
The little girl tilted her head, seemingly not quite understanding what "Emperor Auspicious Beast" meant, but still nodded earnestly:
"Oh... then you're a pretty little Goldie."
"It's Golden Lion! Three-Eyed Golden Lion!"
Qiu'er corrected her, but her tone had already softened.
She sized up the little girl and found not the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power on her, nor any sign that she had cultivated. She was simply an ordinary human cub.
"Where are we?"
Just then, the little girl asked another curious question.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion helplessly pointed a forepaw at the stone stele beside them that towered into the clouds:
"Doesn't it say right there? Desolate-Ancient-Forbidden-Land-"
The little girl looked in the direction she pointed and saw that ancient, weathered stone stele, its imposing presence reaching the heavens, along with the seal-script characters upon it that seemed to contain the fundamental truths of heaven and earth.
"Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land..."
She repeated it softly, then furrowed her little brows and pouted. "What an ugly name."
An ugly name?
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion froze.
This was a deathtrap that had reduced Long Aotian to dust within just a few steps!
There were probably few people on the entire Douluo Continent who dared casually pass judgment on this place, yet to this little girl, it was merely "ugly"?
"Oh, right, what's your name?"
But the little girl's attention quickly shifted. She crouched down to meet the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's eyes, her large eyes full of friendliness.
Perhaps the pure presence about her made it impossible to keep one's guard up, or perhaps the fear of facing this strange deathtrap alone made the Three-Eyed Golden Lion crave conversation...
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion did not know why, but instinctively answered with a name she found familiar:
"Qiu'er."
"Qiu'er..."
The little girl repeated it, then smiled, a smile so pure it seemed capable of dispelling every shadow.
"Hello, Qiu'er. My name is Xiao Nannan."
"Xiao Nannan?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion murmured the name, which sounded soft and cuddly.
"Oh, right," Xiao Nannan asked, tilting her head as though she had suddenly remembered something, "Qiu'er, do you know where White Emperor City is?"
"White Emperor City?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's amber-gold eyes instantly lit up.
How could she possibly not know!
As someone who constantly followed the Heavenly Screen's livestream, she had long been full of curiosity about that place-White Emperor City under Heavenly Emperor Hao Lin Hao's command, one of the most mysterious and powerful factions in the Shrouding the Heavens World!
Especially Heavenly Emperor Hao Lin Hao himself-she dreamed of witnessing his true splendor with her own eyes!
"You're going to White Emperor City?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's voice carried an excitement she could not suppress.
"Mm." Xiao Nannan nodded, but a trace of bewilderment rose in her large eyes. "I don't know why either... but it seems like someone told me to go to White Emperor City and find someone named Lin Hao."
"Yes, yes! Let's go together!"
Qiu'er practically blurted it out, but then she suddenly calmed down.
Dejectedly, she looked back at the dark-red, deathly still land behind her, then at the edge of the lush forest ahead that concealed deadly dangers, and pouted in dismay:
"But... we can't even get out of this Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land..."
"Can't get out?"
Xiao Nannan blinked in confusion and looked around. "Why can't we get out? There's no one stopping us."
As she spoke, she reached out her little hand and grabbed the soft golden fur on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's neck.
"Come on, follow me."
"Hey! What are you doing! Wait-"
Before the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could react, Xiao Nannan was already pulling her forward.
She was so frightened that her soul nearly flew out of her body, her four limbs standing rigidly in place, but Xiao Nannan's strength was astonishing-or rather, that irresistible feeling left her unable even to muster the thought of resisting.
"Don't be scared."
Xiao Nannan looked back and gave her a reassuring smile.
That smile was utterly adorable, yet inexplicably put the beast at ease, and even the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's pounding heart calmed a little.
Tentatively, ever so slowly, she lifted a forepaw.
One step.
It landed on the dark-red sand and stones.
She held her breath, her golden eyes fixed on her paw, waiting for that terrifying aging to descend.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths...
Nothing happened.
Her paw remained the same paw, shimmering with golden light and brimming with strength. No wrinkles appeared, nor did it lose its luster, as though time had lost its terrifying power to strip things away here.
"Huh?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was dumbfounded.
She cautiously took a second step, then a third...
She remained completely unharmed.
"This... I'm really all right?"
She lowered her head to look at herself in disbelief, then looked up at Xiao Nannan.
The little girl was pulling her along like an actual puppy, skipping forward, occasionally bending down to pick up an oddly shaped stone, examining it, then casually tossing it away.
Her relaxed, carefree manner made it seem as though this were not the terrifying Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land that could strip away time, but her own backyard.
"What could happen?"
Xiao Nannan looked back, her large eyes full of matter-of-fact certainty. "Come on, let's go find White Emperor City."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion nodded blankly and instinctively followed.
They passed towering, withered ancient trees, their trunks long since drained of all signs of life, like silent giants watching the two figures, one large and one small.
They crossed the blood-dark sand and stones, which gave faint rustles beneath their feet, yet nothing unusual happened.
Gradually, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's taut nerves relaxed.
This Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land... the Three-Eyed Golden Lion muttered inwardly. It isn't as dangerous as it looked on the Heavenly Screen.
She even began to feel a little smug. Could I really be a heaven-chosen beast? Even time makes an exception for me?
The thought made her unconsciously raise her head, regaining her usual proud bearing, her golden fur flowing with magnificent luster in the thin daylight spilling through the gaps between the dead trees.
Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent.
Before the Sea God Pavilion, Yan Shaozhe, Xuan Zi, and the others exchanged looks, each seeing deep confusion in the others' eyes.
"Hiss! What's going on? Wasn't the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land supposed to strip away time?" Puzzlement filled Yan Shaozhe's eyes.
"Why isn't this little girl affected by the stripping away of time? And that Emperor Auspicious Beast..."
"Could it be..." Xian Lin'er began hesitantly, "that the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land's stripping away of time has conditions? Or... that it only targets certain people?"
"Or perhaps we overthought things before, and this Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land isn't actually a land of death?"
"Last time, was it just a coincidence, or was Long Aotian really just ambushed by someone?"
Hearing this, Xuan Zi nodded. "That must be it!"
"After all, that Xiao Nannan looks like an ordinary human girl."
"Never mind having no Soul Power fluctuations-she isn't even steady on her feet. Clearly, she isn't a cultivator from the Shrouding the Heavens World either..."
"It seems that if we go to those so-called forbidden lands in the Shrouding the Heavens World in the future, we won't need to worry."
"All of this was nothing but us scaring ourselves!"