"Er Ming, this is as far as you go. If you follow me any further, it'll easily draw attention and cause trouble."
"Go back quickly. I'll come back to see you and Da Ming again in the future."
Under the starry night, faint starlight sprinkled down.
Deep within the outer circle of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiao Wu reined in her aura, and her three spirit rings—yellow, yellow, and purple—slowly disappeared.
She spoke faintly to the giant, dark Titan Giant Ape behind her, signaling for him to leave.
It was also after Snake Woman had left the Star Dou Great Forest with Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran that night, Zhao Wuji took Oscar to hunt for other spirit rings in the Star Dou Great Forest. The Titan Giant Ape sensed Xiao Wu's aura, came to find her, and took her away from Shrek's team.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiao Wu also successfully condensed her third spirit ring.
The Titan Giant Ape was somewhat reluctant to part, but urged by Xiao Wu, he slowly walked deeper into the forest.
"Phew~ I wonder how Third Brother and the others are doing now. They're probably very worried about me, right?"
"I need to hurry back and find them."
"No, if I go back this clean, it'll definitely arouse their suspicion. Third Brother is so smart…"
"Got it!"
Xiao Wu walked to a clear stream where the sound of flowing water rippled under the night sky, and the silver crescent moon reflected in the stream, like a scene from a fairy tale.
She scooped up some mud by the stream and smeared it on herself, making herself dirty. Feeling it still wasn't enough, she tore her clothes slightly, then untied her scorpion braid and messed it up.
It was only when Xiao Wu, with her scorpion braid hanging down, looked at herself in the clear stream until her appearance resembled someone who had escaped a disaster that she was satisfied.
But the moment she pulled back her messy scorpion braid, Xiao Wu froze, as if she had seen something incredible.
She couldn't help but lower her head, looking at a spot upstream in the stream from the same angle.
She saw clear, trickling stream water washing over bluestones, illuminated by the faint silver moon. Two fierce thousand-year Spirit Beasts were tethered nearby, their eyes unfocused, seemingly bewildered by something.
And in the stream not far from those two thousand-year Spirit Beasts, a peerlessly handsome young man with an extraordinary physique, whose every movement seemed to stir the World's destiny, had just emerged from bathing in the stream.
The young man's hair was still wet, his strong, fair upper body exposed, eight exquisite abdominal muscles like a work of art, with white mist swirling around him as if he were in a fairyland.
"So… so exquisite… such a handsome man…"
"How can there be such a beautiful human in this World…"
Xiao Wu just stood there, unable to make a single move, her eyes fixed, unable to look away.
Drip~
Drip-drop~
Drip-drop——
In just a few seconds, Xiao Wu felt her face burning hot, her body heating up, and a warm current surging through her.
Looking down, drops of bright red blood were dripping from her nose into the stream, staining the clear water.
She was having a nosebleed!
Xiao Wu's eyes widened, flustered.
It was her first nosebleed, and she was a bit confused about the situation.
She could only tilt her head back to prevent the nosebleed from flowing out, while using her other hand to cup stream water to clean herself.
But unexpectedly, the more she tilted her head back, the more uncomfortable she felt. Her breathing became difficult, her entire nasal cavity was blocked, and she accidentally choked on her windpipe, coughing continuously.
"Am I going to die?"
Fear appeared in Xiao Wu's eyes.
"Lower your head and pinch the sides of your nose with your hand."
It was at this moment that a young man's voice, like a gentle breeze, sounded in her ears, as if in a dream.
At the same time, her nape felt cool, as if it were a cold cloth strip soaked in the stream.
It was magical; she followed the voice's instructions, and her nosebleed indeed stopped quickly.
But when she came to her senses and looked at the stream under the moonlight again, the young man and the Spirit Beasts were gone, leaving only a tranquil silence.
"Where is he?"
"Who… who exactly was he? His voice sounds somewhat familiar…"
"This person is just too handsome, isn't he?"
Xiao Wu took the white cloth from her nape. It turned out to be a towel. She sniffed its scent, which was a clear masculine fragrance, likely used by the young man after his bath.
She couldn't help but press it to her nose and sniff a few more times. The young man's face reappeared in her mind—his figure, his looks, truly peerless in the World, a rare find among humans; he was simply too handsome.
For a moment, Xiao Wu was somewhat intoxicated.
He wiped his body with this towel, and I'll wipe my face and mouth with it, so does that count as me getting close and intimate with him?
"I must find him!"
Xiao Wu clenched the white towel, her eyes more determined than ever before.
Perhaps this is what Mom called that human feeling, love at first sight!!!
...
While Xiao Wu was still helplessly lost in the young man's peerless immortal appearance, Su Ran had already led the two thousand-year Spirit Beasts and fled overnight, reaching the edge of the outer circle.
After confirming that no one was chasing him, Su Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He had spent a lot of effort in the Star Dou Great Forest to find the two thousand-eight-hundred-year Lie Xue Wang Hu (Fierce Blood King Tiger) and the approximately two-thousand-four-hundred-year Ghost Barrier Great Serpent he was currently leading.
However, because he had been busy hunting spirit rings for Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong these past few days and had no time for himself, this time he was scouting suitable Spirit Beasts for Meng Yiran and Wang Sheng alone. He passed by a clear stream, so he decided to quickly clean his body and refresh himself.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Wu, by a strange coincidence, ran over and broke Su Ran's tranquility.
This girl even had a nosebleed from looking, which truly left Su Ran speechless.
"I hope this girl didn't recognize me."
Su Ran shook his head, swung himself onto the Lie Xue Wang Hu (Fierce Blood King Tiger), led the Ghost Barrier Great Serpent, and galloped out of the forest.
The two thousand-year Spirit Beasts he had chosen for Wang Sheng and Meng Yiran were both extremely powerful, arguably having overlord-level Bloodline strength among thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
But in front of Su Ran, they seemed to have lost their wildness, and a peach blossom petal shape appeared in their beast eyes.
This was Su Ran's first Spirit Ability, Folding Branch Like a Dream, which could pull a living being's consciousness into an illusionary mirror.
Moreover, after Folding Branch Like a Dream's age limit increased to a thousand years, not only did the illusion duration increase, but the illusion could also be integrated into reality. Su Ran could guide the opponent's actions, and low-cultivation, low-spirit power Spirit Beasts and Spirit Masters, in particular, found it difficult to resist.
In the eyes of the Ghost Barrier Great Serpent and the Lie Xue Wang Hu (Fierce Blood King Tiger), their World was pink, the surrounding trees had turned into peach blossom trees, beautiful and dreamlike, and they themselves were no longer ferocious Spirit Beasts, but rather a colorful unicorn or a loyal guard dog, and Su Ran was their master.
Naturally, Folding Branch Like a Dream was not permanent. When the color of the peach petals in their eyes grew dimmer and finally disappeared, it also meant that they were regaining their wildness and becoming irritable.