Chapter 91: Second Girlfriend, Xiao Wu
Inside Zu Zong's room, he and Xiao Wu embraced each other.
A brief moment of peace felt warm and comfortable.
Zu Zong couldn't help but feel emotional. If not for meeting Xuan Jian and Wei Qianqian, remembering their tragic end in the original story, and seeing them reunited because of his intervention—he might never have noticed how much he had changed.
Unknowingly, he had already shed the mentality of a transmigrator. He was no longer self-important, no longer looking down on others.
Looking back, Grandpa Tom, Zhu Qing, and Xiao Wu had all become irreplaceable in his heart.
Zu Zong gently stroked Xiao Wu's forehead and smiled. "Xiao Wu, in a while, let's take leave and visit Grandpa Tom in Emperor Soul Village."
"Mm." Xiao Wu pressed her forehead against him like a kitten, then clung to his chest.
Her tone suddenly changed. "But before that, I have a question for you."
She stepped back, crossing her arms, returning to her usual domineering-sister demeanor.
Xiao Wu studied him like a wife interrogating her husband about hidden savings. "First, how did you see through my real identity?"
Zu Zong froze. Come to think of it, he had never shown his Sharingan in front of her.
"This is my second martial soul—the Sharingan." He pointed to his eyes.
His eyes closed briefly, then reopened—blood-red, with three tomoe spinning counterclockwise in each pupil.
"The Sharingan can observe, copy, and hypnotize. I can see the flow of soul power, break or cast illusions, and copy techniques and non-martial-soul soul skills," Zu Zong explained.
Of course, when he first entered Nuoding Academy, his eye power wasn't strong enough to identify her true form. He only knew because he was familiar with the original story.
But the fact he was a transmigrator—this, he could tell no one. Not even Xiao Wu or Zhu Qing.
Silently, he apologized in his heart.
"Wow! No wonder you learn so fast—you just see something once and you can do it. Hmph! Fine, you pass." Xiao Wu's tone was fierce, yet still cute.
"Second question—where did that Transformation Pill come from?" she asked. If there were more, she could give them to Da Ming and Er Ming.
Zu Zong put on a serious expression. "It was Transformation Grass. I found an immortal herb and ground it into a pill. It's extremely rare—I only found it by chance while hunting for my first soul ring."
Hearing this, Xiao Wu looked slightly disappointed.
But soon her eyes lit up again. She stared at Zu Zong with her big, watery eyes, making his scalp tingle.
"Last question—how many times have you kissed Zhu Qing?" she asked, her cheeks turning red.
Zu Zong swallowed hard. Had this rabbit always been this cute?
He started counting. "Once after leaving the Soul Arena, twice in the grove… okay, about one hundred and twenty times in four months."
The moment he spoke, he regretted it. Xiao Wu's expression had shifted from softness, to seriousness, to shyness, and now to gritted teeth.
The next second, she pounced.
"Go die, you dirty, two-timing radish head!" She grabbed his right hand, rolled up his sleeve, and bit down hard.
"Ah! You wicked rabbit—let go!"
"No!"
"Let go!"
"I just won't!"
After a while, Xiao Wu walked out of the room looking pleased, with Zu Zong following behind her, his right hand covered in rabbit teeth marks.
Zu Zong gave a helpless smile. Well, so much for his flawless body—it now had bite marks.
———— Divider ————
Tian Dou Empire, Tian Dou City.
The journey from Tian Dou Imperial Academy to Tian Dou City wasn't far. Zu Zong and Xiao Wu hadn't walked long before arriving at the capital of the empire.
From a distance, the fluttering flags atop the city walls came into view. As one of the largest and most prosperous cities on the continent, Tian Dou City's walls stood a hundred meters tall, built entirely from the hardest granite.
Patrolling soldiers, both above and below the walls, wore full armor and carried long spears. The cold, disciplined aura they radiated spoke of their sharpness and training.
At that moment, Xiao Wu hopped off Zu Zong's back. As punishment for making her angry, Zu Zong had to carry her all the way to Tian Dou City—and then accompany her for an entire day of shopping.
In Xiao Wu's words, the shopping was something he had promised her back in Soto City. The piggyback ride was a penalty for his "two-timing." On top of that, he had to kiss her at least once a day until the number of kisses surpassed Zhu Zhuqing's.
At first, Zu Zong hadn't agreed. The last shopping trip had been exhausting—not physically, but mentally.
But when Xiao Wu, her cheeks red, said he had to kiss her every day, Zu Zong instantly realized his mistake. One kiss a day wouldn't cut it—he had to show sincerity. With Zhu Zhuqing, the average had been one kiss per day. Since Xiao Wu had known him longer, he decided it had to be at least three per day.
Xiao Wu stretched lazily. "That was such a comfortable nap!"
Zu Zong rolled his eyes. Of course she was comfortable—she'd drooled on his clothes. Still, he didn't feel too cheated. That rabbit's soft curves had made for a surprisingly comfortable massage.
The two strolled along the bustling streets of Tian Dou City.
Xiao Wu was back in full shopping mode. Fortunately, with Dugu Yan not around, she didn't make Zu Zong carry anything—everything went into her storage soul tool.
"Xiao Zong, what's that place? I don't think we saw it last time," Xiao Wu asked, stopping and pointing toward a domed building ahead.
The structure was unusual, perfectly round, like half a sphere placed on the ground. It bore no nameplate, only the image of a hammer.
Zu Zong's thoughts stirred. It resembled the auction gavel from his previous life. "That's probably an auction house. The symbol is the gavel they use for auctions."
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. "An auction house? Let's go take a look! Maybe there'll be something good!"
"This—" Zu Zong hesitated. In truth, he didn't like such places. On the surface, they looked glamorous. In reality, they hid endless darkness.
The nobles of Tian Dou Empire were behind much of that darkness—such as the training of female slaves. These women, stripped of will and self, were treated like goods to be sold.
Most of them came from commoner backgrounds, captured by traffickers and "tamed." The buyers were often the empire's high-ranking officials, with Prince Xue Xing being a prime example.
It was clear to Zu Zong just how rotten Tian Dou Empire had become.
He could imagine that if he had been born ten thousand years later, even with his system and a top-tier martial soul, as an orphan with no place to awaken it, he'd still be a penniless nobody.
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