Chapter 99: Meeting Xiao Wu, Just Happening to Be on the Same Path! (1)
In a remote forest near Notting City.
After finally finding the opportunity to meet Xiao Wu, Su Mo stopped hiding and pretended to be righteous. He shouted angrily and rushed out from the forest.
After running onto the path, Su Mo punched a bandit away, and then he and Xiao Wu beat the rest of them up together.
"Ah! It hurts, help me!"
"Stop hitting me, I won't dare do it again!"
"Wuwu, please stop, I was wrong! I was really wrong!"
...
Faced with the extraordinary skills of Su Mo and Xiao Wu, this group of ordinary people who had become mountain bandits was clearly no match for them. They were beaten and fled in panic, crying for their parents.
In fact, if Su Mo had encountered these bandits alone, he would've surely followed his principle of eliminating evil and promoting good — and would have wiped them out!
In Su Mo's opinion, no matter why these people had become bandits, the way they treated the old man clearly showed they had become true criminals.
Killing them could save countless lives in the future.
Unfortunately, Su Mo's purpose this time was to meet Xiao Wu and win her favor.
And Xiao Wu was kindhearted.
Su Mo felt that if he was too ruthless and killed all these bandits, it might cause resentment in her heart.
So after some thought, Su Mo ultimately decided not to kill them. Instead, he held back his strength as much as possible and only used the strength of an ordinary person to help Xiao Wu defeat the bandits.
In this way, thanks to the combined assault of Xiao Wu and Su Mo, the bandits realized after resisting for a while that they were completely outmatched.
Based on the principle of bullying the weak and fearing the strong — or rather, preserving the green mountains and not worrying about having no firewood — the bandits immediately surrendered and begged for mercy.
"Hmph! You're all despicable. Grown men bullying an old man — don't you feel ashamed?"
After the bandits pleaded for mercy, Xiao Wu vented her anger. She couldn't help but put her hands on her hips and scolded them angrily:
"Wow, wow, little lady, we had no choice!"
"We were just villagers from a simple village, but because our village belongs to a noble, we were heavily exploited. So we had no choice but to go up the mountain and become bandits to survive."
"And since we became mountain bandits, we had to rob someone. But to be honest, this is our first job."
"We were starving and robbed this old man. Please, spare our lives, miss and young master!"
Facing Xiao Wu's accusation, the leader of the bandits looked helpless as he cried with snot and tears, begging for mercy.
"Ah? So that's how it is. It's because of the oppression by nobles? My mom was right — people... nobles are the worst!"
Xiao Wu couldn't help but soften after hearing the bandit leader's tearful explanation. She raised her fist angrily.
"Yes! Yes! Please spare us, miss. We'll go back and never dare to rob again!"
The tall, thin female bandit beside him cried and nodded when she saw Xiao Wu's soft heart.
Seeing this, the other bandits also cried and begged for mercy.
"Fine! Fine! Go now — don't rob people like this again. If you do, I won't be so easy to talk to!"
Moved by their tears and pleas, Xiao Wu finally let them go.
However, in Su Mo's opinion, what the bandits said about why they became bandits might be true.
But whether they truly learned their lesson and would stop robbing in the future — that was doubtful.
"Little miss and young master, thank you so much for helping me — otherwise, I'd have been in real danger!"
After watching the bandits flee and disappear into the forest, Old Leo couldn't help but feel a bit frightened and quickly thanked Xiao Wu and Su Mo.
"No need to be so polite, grandpa. My mom said that when you see injustice on the road, you must draw your sword to help. That's what I'm supposed to do!"
In response to Old Leo's gratitude, Xiao Wu felt a little shy, but her love for showing off made her act generous. She patted her chest and said:
"That's right! This is what we should do. I believe that as long as there are capable people, they will surely help when they see such things."
Su Mo also nodded slightly with a faint smile.
"You think so too? Then we think alike!"
Hearing Su Mo's words, Xiao Wu couldn't help but look at him and waved her small clenched fists. With a bit of baby fat on her innocent, adorable pink cheeks, she looked very happy.
When Xiao Wu noticed Su Mo, the natural aura emitted by the Martial Soul of the Tree of Life Staff naturally attracted soul beasts.
This made Xiao Wu instinctively feel good about Su Mo.
But with her carefree personality, Xiao Wu thought that Su Mo's behavior was simply doing justice together, and she really liked what he said, which made him very pleasing to her eyes.
"By the way, my name is Xiao Wu. What's your name?"
Since she now had a good impression of Su Mo, and with her personality, the next step would be to get to know him and become friends.
So Xiao Wu asked cheerfully:
"My name is Su Mo, nice to meet you, Xiao Wu!"
After Xiao Wu introduced herself, Su Mo also smiled and made a slight bow.
"Su Mo? What a nice name!"
After learning Su Mo's name, Xiao Wu softly repeated it and couldn't help but laugh.
"By the way, Su Mo, are you and grandpa from around here? I wanted to ask if you know of a big city nearby that has a soul master academy?"
After getting to know Su Mo, Xiao Wu suddenly remembered her purpose for leaving the Star Dou Great Forest and hurriedly asked.
"Uh... sorry, I'm not from here. I graduated from the Advanced Soul Master Academy in Wuhun City and came to Notting City's Notting Academy to apply for a teaching position."
Faced with Xiao Wu's question, Su Mo pretended to apologize.
"You... you're a distinguished soul master, and you graduated from Wuhun Hall?"
Hearing Su Mo's words, Old Leo couldn't help but look at him with a face full of awe.
It should be mentioned that Wuhun Hall was highly respected among common folk.
As the head of Daoxiang Village, Old Leo had some knowledge. He knew that graduates from Advanced Soul Master Academies had at least a high cultivation level.
And that was already considered a soul master in the area near Notting City.
Moreover, Su Mo was a soul master from Wuhun Hall.
So upon learning Su Mo's background, Old Leo felt deep respect for him.
"Miss, this distinguished soul master might not be able to answer your question, but I'm from around here, so I can."
"There is indeed a city nearby with a soul master academy, but it's only for the youth. The city is called Notting City, and the academy is called Notting College."
After showing respect to Su Mo, Old Leo couldn't help but look at Xiao Wu again. He reached out, gently stroked his long white beard under his chin, and said with emotion.
"Notting City is nearby? Then, Xiao Wu, are you going there to enroll in Notting College? If so, it turns out we're heading the same way!"
After hearing what Old Leo said, Su Mo pretended to be very "surprised," turned his head to look at Xiao Wu, and asked.
(End of Chapter)