Under the blazing sun, the Star Dou Great Forest remained cool and shady. The Star Dou Great Forest had existed for countless millennia, nurturing not only a diverse array of soul beasts, but also towering trees with lush foliage that effectively blocked the intense heat of the sun.
"Whoosh—"
A sudden whistling sound rang out as a dark figure darted out. Losing her footing, a branch snapped, and the figure fell.
She rolled on the ground, skillfully dissipating the force of the blow, thus avoiding injury.
But instead of getting up, she curled up behind a tree. She wasn't tall, appearing to be only a teenager, but her figure was quite alluring; any ordinary man would surely have wild fantasies upon seeing her.
Zhu Zhuqing breathed heavily, her eyes filled with terror, beads of sweat glistening on her pale cheeks. It took her a long time to recover from the shock.
Only as she gradually calmed down did a wave of shame wash over her.
She had actually run away!
Facing death for the first time, she actually chose to back down.
Under the oppressive weight of the fifteen soul beasts and the intimidating gaze of the fake "Tang San," she chose to run!
She had once utterly hated Dai Mubai for his cowardice; she had always believed that the worst that could happen was death, what was the big deal? Running away was the most cowardly act.
But now, when she truly faced death, she chose to abandon her two father's men and flee alone.
The more she had hated Dai Mubai, the more regret she felt now! She
shouldn't have done that!
She wasn't that weak!
Yet her still trembling arms constantly told her that she wasn't much stronger than an ordinary person.
No matter how cold and indifferent she appeared to be on the surface, at this moment, her body's reaction clearly told her that she was still just an ordinary person afraid of death. Physical appearance didn't tell the whole story, and even the coldest face couldn't hide the fact that she was only ten years old.
Zhu Zhuqing curled up, burying her head in her knees, her fair chest squeezed and distorted, barely allowing her to breathe.
Her hands trembled incessantly.
"Stop shaking, stop shaking! Stop shaking!" Zhu Zhuqing pressed her hands down, screaming hysterically.
"Whoosh—"
The sound of wind breaking was quite abrupt. Zhu Zhuqing's delicate body trembled, and she looked up sharply, her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpoints. Impossible! How could it be so fast?! If it were this fast, he could have escaped long ago! Without
time to think, Zhu Zhuqing darted out like a startled bird, as if death was right behind her.
"Who?!"
Zhu Zhuqing's sudden movement was quite loud, and the other party noticed it immediately. He stopped abruptly, looked at the spot he had just passed, and shouted angrily.
A figure darted out quickly, and the person sneered: "Trying to escape?"
Swish—
the next moment, the person suddenly disappeared from the spot, appearing almost simultaneously in the direction the figure had fled, blocking Zhu Zhuqing's path.
Zhu Zhuqing immediately stopped in her tracks, frantically taking steps back.
"Second Miss?! What are you doing here?" the man asked in surprise.
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing finally had time to see the man's attire clearly—it was the uniform of the Zhu family guards!
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It wasn't him!
It's good it wasn't him…
Zhu Zhuqing's clothes were soaked with cold sweat. She breathed a sigh of relief, her heart pounding with lingering fear.
"Second Miss?" The man asked, bewildered, seeing Zhu Zhuqing's lack of response.
"Ah?" Zhu Zhuqing shuddered again, belatedly asking, "Why are you here?"
"I was ordered by the clan leader to examine the Terrorclaw Bear's corpse to see if it contained a soul bone," the man replied respectfully. "The clan leader just saw a rather suitable soul beast, but he has a 90,000-year-old soul beast with him, so he plans to wait for the right opportunity."
"Don't go!" Zhu Zhuqing immediately said, remembering the fifteen ferocious dark-colored soul beasts.
"Ah?" The man was somewhat confused.
"I... I mean, take me to Zhu Zhuyun's place."
The man instinctively sensed something was wrong. He looked up but didn't see the two comrades who had escorted the Second Miss. He frowned and asked, "Second Miss, where are Zhu Lie and the other two? Shouldn't they be escorting you? Why are you alone?"
"They..." Zhu Zhuqing opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. She felt that her "escape" was being magnified infinitely. The other man's originally innocent gaze felt like a sharp blade scraping across her face, making her feel ashamed.
"Zhu Lie is dead, and Zhu Lian... I don't know." Zhu Zhuqing lowered her eyes, her gaze flickering.
"Dead?" The man's gaze sharpened, and he immediately guessed what was going on. He said, "Second Miss, please come with me. I'll take you to find the clan leader."
With that, the man led Zhu Zhuqing through the forest, heading towards the location where Zhu Mo and the others had ambushed the soul beasts. But before they arrived, they ran into Zhu Mo's group.
They all wore expressions of relief, and Zhu Zhuyun was especially happy, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.
"Hmm? Why are you back so soon?" Zhu Mo asked, puzzled by the newcomer, then paused, seeing Zhu Zhuqing behind him. "Zhuqing?"
"Clan leader, something's happened!" The man bowed before Zhu Mo, saying, "Zhu Lie should be dead. Zhu Lian's fate is currently unknown."
Zhu Mo's gaze sharpened, demanding, "What happened?!"
"This… I don't know much either." He then looked at Zhu Zhuqing, who had calmed down.
"What happened?" Zhu Mo's voice softened considerably towards his daughter, even though she wasn't his favorite, and he didn't like to boss her around.
Zhu Zhuqing crossed her arms, her pale lips pressed together, unsure how to begin.
Zhu Mo was patient, not urging her, and after a long while, Zhu Zhuqing finally organized her thoughts and recounted the entire incident.
Zhu Mo remained silent after hearing this, his face unusually gloomy. He had spent his days hunting geese, yet he never expected to be the one pecked in the eye by one. He, a dignified Soul Douluo, had been deceived by a mere teenager.
No wonder he had always felt the boy's words were untrue, that something was amiss!
It turned out the boy's mouth was full of lies!
"So, you ran away before Zhu Lian even died, before you even figured out his soul skills?" Zhu Zhuyun's lips curled into a sneer, her face full of disgust and contempt. "You really are a pair! Even your choices are exactly the same."
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly looked up; she knew who Zhu Zhuyun was talking about. Although she herself despised her actions, for some reason, she couldn't accept Zhu Zhuyun's sarcasm.
Her nails dug into her palms, an indescribable anger erupting from within, Zhu Zhuqing's icy eyes seemingly filled with raging fury.
Zhu Zhuyun smiled dismissively, glancing sideways at Zhu Zhuqing, completely unconcerned about Zhu Zhuqing's anger: "Oh? You want to fight me?"
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