"Mm-hmm. Tang Hao was among the fiercest of the Titled Douluo. Even a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast might not be his match in a one-on-one fight.
Escaping from him would be no easier than safely growing up to become a Titled Douluo."
Mirror Xiaoming stood to the side with his arms folded. He wasn't talking nonsense; escaping really was that difficult...
Now he was just waiting for Xiao Wu's despair to rise so he could take her in hand.
Hmph, if we weren't so far from the Star Dou Great Forest, I wouldn't be afraid of that Tang Hao or whatever his name is!
Xiao Wu took a deep breath to calm herself and looked at Mirror Xiaoming.
"So, why are you telling me all this...? You can tell me what you're after now."
She didn't believe this guy was some kindhearted person.
Who would turn their nose up at a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone?
"My goal is very simple. Actually, you don't have a choice... Maybe both options are a kind of hell, but I might not be interested in your Soul Ring. Can you understand that?"
Mirror Xiaoming pinched his chin as he watched Xiao Wu fall, bit by bit, into the lies he had woven.
As he spoke, he took out the Card Deck and unhurriedly drew a blank Seal Card.
"I can give you the ability to protect your life, to walk freely in the human world and escape whenever you run into danger, using a space like the one we're in now.
Once you have that ability, not even a Titled Douluo can stop you if you want to run.
And the price is merely becoming a Contract Beast who comes whenever called.
Well? Are you tempted?"
"Contract Beast? What's that?"
Xiao Wu frowned. She'd never heard the term before...
She had heard of beast pets and the like in the human world. Surely he wasn't asking her to become one of those?
"A Contract Beast... you can think of one as a battle partner, or a hired muscle, something like that. That explanation should be easy enough to understand, right?"
The moment Xiao Wu heard about hired muscle and fighting, her ears sprang upright.
She was good at that!
And it didn't sound all that dangerous.
"You're sure you won't set your sights on Sister Xiao Wu, right?"
Xiao Wu still didn't quite believe the guy in front of her.
Mirror Xiaoming raised four fingers to the sky and said, "Don't worry. I personally don't have the slightest interest in your Soul Ring or Soul Bone. I can swear it to heaven."
He was a mirror image. What would he want with a Soul Ring and Soul Bone?
He wanted Wang Xiaoming to work hard because he hoped he could get stronger without working hard himself!
After thinking it over again and again, Xiao Wu looked at the guy in front of her.
For now, she could only choose to trust him.
"How do we make the contract? Tell me."
Seeing Xiao Wu agree, Mirror Xiaoming's heart was about to burst into bloom with delight, but outwardly he remained calm and held out the card in his hand.
"Just press your hand on it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Wu pressed her hand directly onto the card.
In an instant, a lively image of Xiao Wu appeared on the Advent Card.
But Xiao Wu herself felt nothing, as though... nothing had happened.
She stared at the card beneath her hand, her face full of confusion. Even the rabbit-ear ornaments on her head tilted to one side, and she didn't know whether to take her hand back.
Mirror Xiaoming took back the card and nodded in satisfaction, then inserted it into the Card Deck.
"Good. With that, the contract is officially complete.
Oh, I forgot to tell you: now that we've made the contract, you couldn't resist even if I told you to die."
Xiao Wu: "!!!"
Hearing that, Xiao Wu grew so worked up that her face turned red.
"Then why didn't you say so earlier!?"
Mirror Xiaoming shrugged and said as though it were obvious, "If I had, would you have agreed to the contract so readily?"
Xiao Wu: "..."
That made so much sense, but his face really was begging for a beating!!
Xiao Wu really wanted to hit someone to vent right now.
It was decided. Later, she'd drag Tang San out to spar with her!
Mirror Xiaoming chuckled and handed the Card Deck to her.
"All right, don't overthink it. Generally speaking, that sort of thing won't happen. You're worth more alive than a Soul Ring and a Soul Bone.
Keep this safe. 'I' will come and ask you for it later. Until then, remember not to get reckless; develop steadily. Your little life is at stake here, after all~ If you lose it, don't blame me.
Oh, right. If you have any other Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast friends who don't want to become Soul Rings, once they've thought it over, they can come to 'me' to make a contract at any time.
Go back. If that guy can't find you soon, he'll start worrying.
Remember not to act strangely in front of anyone else, especially Tang San. Otherwise... you know."
After he finished his long speech, Xiao Wu was still holding the Card Deck and digesting the information.
"Then how long until I can live here without worrying?"
"Not too long. Just until... the next time 'I' come looking for you."
The next moment, Mirror Xiaoming reached out and flicked her forehead. Xiao Wu cried out in pain, and her entire body was instantly flicked out of the Mirror World.
Having done all that, Mirror Xiaoming smiled in satisfaction.
He really looked forward to seeing Wang Xiaoming's expression when he transformed and saw that his Ryuki skin was pink.
Oh, no, that wasn't right. It should be called Rabbit Rider now.
Hehehe.
Xiao Wu was sent flying to the shore. Holding her head, she glared at the lake, gnashing her teeth.
He actually flicked Sister Xiao Wu's forehead!
She sat on the shore and tied up her hair, then stormed straight toward the dormitory, ready to drag Tang San out and beat him up to vent her anger!
Just then, someone's gaze fell on her, full of confusion.
"Strange. Why did the Soul Beast presence on this little rabbit suddenly disappear?"
Tang Hao crouched in a tree, utterly baffled.
He had just come out of Yu Xiaogang's room when he noticed something was off about Xiao Wu.
But... this was good too. Now no one else would set their sights on his son's Soul Ring.
Early the next morning, the wheels of Wang Xiaoming's carriage rumbled along the main road as it made its unhurried way into the mountains.
His destination was the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, located within them.
This entire mountain belonged to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, which showed just how wealthy it was.
Wang Xiaoming sat comfortably in the carriage, leaning against a cushion and feeling the gentle rocking produced by the carriage's characteristic spring suspension.
Wang Xiaoming had hung the gold-edged admission invitation on the horse's head.
Though it was called an invitation, it was more like a pass.
Ordinary people who wanted to go up were, in principle, only allowed to take their carriages halfway up the mountain. But now, Wang Xiaoming had hung that principle on his horse's head.
The guards at the academy entrance spotted the invitation on the carriage from a distance, then looked at the viscount's residence emblem on its body. They didn't ask a single question. They had long since received orders from above, so they acted as though they hadn't seen it.