When Er Ming arrived and saw Xiao Wu, visible delight spread across his face.
But then...
His brow furrowed when he saw Gu Chen beside her.
"Roar-!!!"
Er Ming let out a low roar.
"Er Ming, I won't let you roar at him!!!"
Seeing this, Xiao Wu immediately stepped in front of Gu Chen and spoke to Er Ming with a huff.
Er Ming: "..."
Wait, Sister Xiao Wu, you've only been gone a few days, and you're already taking an outsider's side?
The Titan Giant Ape's grievance was written all over his face.
Tens of thousands of years together couldn't compare to a few dozen days with an outsider. Anyone would feel aggrieved in his place.
"All right, stop standing there like a fool and hurry up and take us to the Lake of Life. Brother Chen has something to discuss with you."
Xiao Wu waved her hand dismissively as she spoke.
After tens of thousands of years, how could she not understand Er Ming? She only needed to say a couple of nice things to him later. If that didn't work, she'd say three. It was that simple.
"Roar~"
Er Ming's roar was full of grievance, but he did as she asked, scooping up Xiao Wu and Gu Chen before heading toward the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Aboard the Titan Giant Ape express, they traveled without obstruction.
No matter how hardheaded a Soul Beast was, it wouldn't be hardheaded enough to provoke a Hundred-Thousand-Year Titan Giant Ape. After all, they were hardheaded, not stupid.
Soon.
Gu Chen, who wasn't even a One-Ring Soul Master, had easily entered the forbidden zone that even human Soul Masters struggled to reach.
The Lake of Life.
The place had the feel of a primeval forest, with towering trees, emerald-green lake water, and... the Sky Azure Bull Python, slowly emerging from the center of the lake.
"Er Ming, why did you bring a human here?!!!"
Da Ming naturally welcomed Sister Xiao Wu's return wholeheartedly, but when he saw Gu Chen, a human, he was unhappy. This was a forbidden zone for Soul Beasts. If they brought a human here and he remembered the way and set his sights on them, wouldn't they be in danger in the future?
"Roar~"
Er Ming gave an aggrieved cry. After setting Xiao Wu and Gu Chen down, he turned his back on everyone and lay down, looking thoroughly aggrieved.
Don't talk to me.
It's bad enough that Sister Xiao Wu brought a man back, and now you're roaring at me too. I'm angry now, and nobody can cheer me up!!!
"Da Ming, stop roaring at Er Ming. I was the one who told him to bring Brother Chen here."
Xiao Wu hurriedly explained.
"Sister Xiao Wu, how could you be so muddleheaded! Humans are best at deception. Everything they say is a lie, and they have no credibility whatsoever. You must have been deceived by him. Now that he knows where we are, I really can't let him live. Get out of the way, and I'll kill him right now!!!"
Compared with the naive Xiao Wu and Er Ming, who had muscles for brains, Da Ming was undoubtedly the smartest of the Three Tyrants of Star Dou. Over tens of thousands of years, he had seen too many humans. Hypocrisy, selfishness, greed, jealousy, deception, betrayal... He had seen far too much of it in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Besides, hadn't Aunt Wu saved a human? She had saved his life, and it would have been one thing not to expect anything in return, but she had been betrayed instead!
This...
How could he trust humans?
When he finished speaking.
Lightning churned around him like giant serpents, ready to strike at any moment.
"Wait! Da Ming, calm down first. When I went out this time, a Titled Douluo set his sights on me. If Brother Chen hadn't helped me, you wouldn't have seen me again! He saved my life, and I won't let you attack him!"
Xiao Wu spoke with a huff.
Leaving aside how Gu Chen had rescued her from fire and water, she was still counting on him to help her evolve her Martial Soul. If Da Ming attacked him, wouldn't she have to remain a Soft Bone Rabbit for the rest of her life? She could have endured the darkness if she had never seen the light.
But having seen the light, how could she endure the darkness?
As for Gu Chen dying at Da Ming's hands?
Don't make Sister Xiao Wu laugh!
She was a little dim, but she wasn't stupid. With Gu Chen's spatial ability, he had been able to escape with her right in front of a Titled Douluo. On his own, couldn't he come and go as he pleased?
Hearing this.
Da Ming narrowed his lantern-sized eyes slightly. After pondering for a moment, he let the lightning around him disperse.
"Sister Xiao Wu, this could be his trick. That Titled Douluo might be in league with him!"
He offered a reasonable guess.
Trusting a human had already cost them dearly once. Aunt Wu was gone, so how could they fail to protect Xiao Wu? If Gu Chen coveted Xiao Wu's Soul Ring and Soul Bone, or if he had come here to learn the whereabouts of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts like them, that would be disastrous.
"Da Ming, why are you so stub-"
"All right, Xiao Wu, let me speak!"
Gu Chen stepped forward and stopped Xiao Wu from continuing. He was afraid that if she went on, she would be so worked up that she would cry.
"You've said so much already. It's my turn to say a few words."
He looked straight at Da Ming and opened with a critical hit.
"Da Ming, Er Ming, you wouldn't want a Titled Douluo keeping a close eye on Xiao Wu, would you?"
Those words instantly made Er Ming stop sulking. He rolled over and stood up, staring fixedly at Gu Chen. Da Ming did the same. He felt that what Gu Chen had done was nothing short of a provocation!
"Human, if you're using your position as Sister Xiao Wu's savior to provoke us, then you're courting death. Don't think we really don't dare kill you!"
"Roar-!!!"
Da Ming's voice was icy, and Er Ming let out a roar of agreement.
"Heh!"
Gu Chen chuckled, paying the threat no mind. With the Void Ring in hand, what did it matter if they were displeased? He had come to discuss working with them to kill Tang Hao, not to act like their grandson.
If negotiations failed, he had the Leveling Cheat. At worst, he could bide his time for ten years, then emerge and sweep away everything in his path.
"You may be Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, but I can come and go from this place as I please. You want to kill me? You're not worthy!"
As he spoke, Gu Chen activated his Soul Skill, Space Mark, and vanished instantly before Da Ming and the others. Soon afterward, he reappeared silently beside Xiao Wu. The change made Da Ming's expression shift drastically.
"This is... a spatial ability!!!"
He had a discerning eye. He had caught the spatial fluctuations when Gu Chen used his ability just now, and he was one hundred percent certain that it was a spatial ability, not some kind of invisibility.
If it really was a spatial ability, he truly had no way to deal with him.
Although he and Er Ming were both Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts with the bloodlines of top-tier Soul Beasts, he knew that among all abilities, spatial abilities were the strongest and the most unfair. Even with a hundred thousand years of cultivation, he really couldn't stop Gu Chen if he wanted to leave, much less kill him. That was simply a pipe dream.
"You have some discernment after all!"
Gu Chen glanced at him calmly. He had only tested his blade on an ox, yet he had already cowed him.
He had to admit, showing off in front of two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts...
Felt pretty damn good!!!