The Future of Soul Beasts

Seeing this, Bi Ji began probing indirectly about where Bai Yushan lived.

"Xiaoshan, where do you live?" Her voice was very gentle, as though she were making casual conversation. "Should I call your parents? After all, they'll worry if you don't come home this late at night."

Bai Yushan glanced at Bi Ji.

The woman sounded casual, but there was clearly a probing look in those emerald eyes. She was digging into his background, trying to find out exactly where he came from and what his family situation was.

Bai Yushan saw right through her intentions.

He waved a hand. "It's fine, it's fine. My parents are dead."

Bi Ji's expression stiffened.

"Well..."

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but Bai Yushan cut her off before she could get the words out.

"My home is poorer than a garbage dump. If I hadn't come back with you for dinner, I'd have had to go find food at the community center."

Bai Yushan's tone was casual, as though he were commenting on the nice weather. He picked up a grape and tossed it into his mouth, chewing twice, without a trace of sadness on his face.

Bi Ji's voice grew even softer. "I..."

But Bai Yushan didn't wait for her to finish.

Watching Bi Ji become enveloped in guilt, he secretly chuckled to himself.

Sure enough, she fell for it. She thought he was talking about his tragic background, thought he was pouring out his woes, thought he was trying to win her sympathy.

But Bai Yushan was only teasing her.

He loved seeing people make that sort of expression-the guilt, the heartache, the helplessness. He found it especially entertaining.

Never one to shy away from stirring up trouble, Bai Yushan doubled down.

He leaned against the back of his chair, his eyes on the ceiling, deliberately putting a world-weary note in his voice.

"Actually, I'm already used to it. It's just never knowing where the next meal will come from, going cold and hungry in the wind and rain!"

His voice wasn't loud, but every word came through clearly.

"In winter, I don't have thick clothes, so all I can do is huddle in a corner and shiver. In summer, there are so many mosquitoes they bite me until I'm covered in bumps. When I'm hungry, I dig through garbage cans. When I'm thirsty, I drink tap water. Life's a little hard, but aren't I still alive and well?"

As Bai Yushan spoke, he could barely hold back his own laughter.

Everything he said was indeed true, but it had all happened in his previous life. In this life, he at least had Red Mountain Academy providing food and lodging. The conditions weren't great, but he wouldn't starve or freeze to death.

But Bi Ji didn't know any of that.

All she heard was a six-year-old boy talking about his tragic past, saying that both his parents were dead, that he was too poor to afford food, that he endured cold and hunger.

Bi Ji's eyes reddened.

Her lips trembled slightly, and a veil of tears clouded her emerald eyes. Her hands rested on the table, her fingers clutching the tablecloth so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Xiaoshan..."

Her voice was somewhat choked.

Bai Yushan was waiting for her to look utterly guilt-stricken so he could enjoy himself.

He loved this sort of performance most of all. First, he would make himself sound a little more miserable, then watch the other person ache for him unbearably. Finally, he would suddenly burst out laughing and say, "Fooled you!" That contrast felt especially satisfying to him.

He was already working out when to reveal the joke.

Just a little longer. Once Bi Ji's eyes get a little redder, once her tears fall, I'll laugh and say, "Fooled you! I've been living pretty well."

The corners of Bai Yushan's mouth had already begun to curl upward.

But just then, a sudden wail erupted beside him.

"Waaaaah..."

Na'er had burst into tears.

Her little face crumpled, and tears streamed down like beads from a broken string. Her mouth was wide open, her cries ringing through the entire dining room.

Crying, she slid off her chair, ran to Bai Yushan, and wrapped both hands around his arm.

"Big brother, you've had it so hard! Na'er will stay with you from now on!"

Na'er's voice was broken by sobs, halting and uneven, but every word was loud.

"Na'er doesn't want big brother to go hungry! Na'er doesn't want big brother to be cold! Na'er wants to stay with big brother! Wherever big brother goes, Na'er will go!"

She buried her face against Bai Yushan's arm, smearing tears and snot all over his sleeve.

Bai Yushan froze.

He stared at Na'er, who was crying her eyes out, completely dumbfounded.

Wait, why did this little girl take it seriously?

Although what he had just said wasn't entirely false, things hadn't been that miserable. Besides, he had only been teasing Bi Ji, not actually pouring out his woes.

Why had this little girl started crying?

The corner of Bai Yushan's mouth twitched.

"Stop crying," Bai Yushan said.

Na'er cried even harder.

"Big brother, don't send Na'er away! Na'er will listen! Na'er will be good! Na'er doesn't want big brother to suffer alone!"

Bai Yushan's head ached.

He looked at Na'er, then at Bi Ji.

Bi Ji was stunned too.

Watching Na'er cling to Bai Yushan's arm and cry, her expression shifted from heartache to surprise, then from surprise to helplessness.

She had just been aching over Bai Yushan's background, only for Na'er to react even more strongly than she had.

Bi Ji took a deep breath and steadied her emotions.

She stood, walked over to Na'er, crouched down, and gently patted her back.

"Na'er, stop crying. Isn't Xiaoshan doing fine now? He has somewhere to live now, and food to eat."

Sniffling, Na'er raised her head and looked at Bi Ji with reddened, amethyst-like eyes.

"Really?"

"Really," Bi Ji said softly. "From now on, Xiaoshan will live with us. He'll have enough to eat every day, and a warm bed to sleep in every night. You don't need to worry about him."

Na'er sniffed and turned to look at Bai Yushan.

Bai Yushan said impatiently, "Oh, yes, yes!"

He couldn't stand these tearful scenes. They made his head feel twice its size.

But Na'er didn't mind Bai Yushan's attitude at all. She smiled and said, "That's wonderful!"

Her amethyst-like eyes curved into crescents, her little face flushed pink like a flower washed by the rain.

Bai Yushan rolled his eyes, not bothering with her.

Watching this, Bi Ji felt even more deeply moved.

These two children-one the Lord who had lost her memories, the other a little lunatic whose mouth ran wild with nonsense-had somehow ended up together. And it seemed Na'er's reliance on Bai Yushan wasn't a passing whim. She truly regarded him as someone she could trust.

But then, Bi Ji's thoughts turned to the future of Soul Beasts!

Her thoughts drifted away from the two children before her, toward somewhere much farther away.

She couldn't make sense of Bai Yushan's potential at all.

When she had restrained him earlier, Bi Ji had actually already sensed Bai Yushan's Soul Power cultivation. He had only just awakened his Martial Soul and had merely rank-three innate Soul Power. Among human Soul Masters, such aptitude placed him among the most ordinary, unremarkable people. He couldn't be considered a genius at all.

But his strength wasn't right.

A little fellow with rank-three innate Soul Power, yet his physical capabilities were absurdly powerful. His punching strength, speed, and explosive power were nothing a six-year-old child should possess. Even those two-ring or three-ring Soul Masters with Beast Martial Souls might not match his strength after Martial Soul Possession.