The four of them chatted happily. Hu Liena grew increasingly fond of Shi Hao—he was just too adorable.
Shi Hao also liked the three of them very much. They were funny, friendly, and not at all like those hostile strangers he'd met before.
Hu Liena couldn't help but ask,
"What's your daddy's name? And your mommy, what's she called?"
She was genuinely curious about Shi Hao's family.
"Daddy is just Daddy, and Mommy is Xiao Xue."
"I mean their full names."
"Full names… What's that?"
Shi Hao tilted his head in confusion. These past few days, Shi Batian had never once mentioned his own or Qian Renxue's name to the child. To Shi Hao, Daddy was just Daddy, and Mommy was Xiao Xue.
Seeing the serious yet clueless expression on the kid's face, the trio couldn't help but shake their heads. This child… might be a little slow, huh?
Still, to think a kid this young—who hadn't even been weaned off beast milk—would sneak out on his own to rescue his mother… It was genuinely impressive.
His name was Shi Hao, but on the current Douluo Continent, there weren't any famous clans with the surname "Shi"…
Hu Liena's curiosity only deepened. She felt that this kid's background probably wasn't simple. After all, there was a powerful ten-thousand-year soul beast following him around!
As the Pope's direct disciple, Hu Liena quickly pieced together a possibility: someone inside Spirit Hall must be engaged in shady dealings—trafficking women and children. The organization needed some serious cleaning up. She would definitely report this to the Pope.
Hu Liena looked at Shi Hao and said gently, "Don't worry. We'll definitely help you. We're from Spirit City, so we can show you the way. You probably don't even know how to get there, do you?"
"Hehe, how did you know, big sis? Me and Big Cat really don't know the way. We've been wandering around in this forest for days now…"
That sweet call of "big sis" melted Hu Liena's heart. She couldn't resist reaching out and pinching Shi Hao's chubby little face.
Beside her, Yan and Xie Yue gave her a subtle look.
Hu Liena crouched down and whispered so only they could hear,
"This kid… coming out here on his own to rescue his mother, and saying Spirit Hall was the one that took her? There's definitely some kind of misunderstanding. Spirit Hall's too big—it's impossible to manage everything. I'll report this to the Pope. And besides, don't you guys want to help him? He did save us earlier. Spirit Hall didn't raise us to be ungrateful."
Xie Yue nodded. "Maybe… his mother's already gone. Poor kid. We have to find out which bastard did this."
"I'm in," Yan said with a firm nod. "We're helping him, no question."
Hu Liena stood up with a resolute look in her eyes, her gaze shifting between Shi Hao and the demonic white tiger.
"Then it's decided. The three of us will take you to Spirit City and help you find your mother."
"But first," she added, "we haven't completed our mission yet. We still need to hunt soul beasts for our fifth soul rings before we leave Star Dou Forest."
"Our hunt might take a while. If you can't wait, you can take my token. That'll get you into Spirit City."
Hu Liena wasn't just being cautious—soul ring hunts weren't something that could be rushed. Soul masters had to pick soul beasts based on their skills and soul attributes, and the terrain or situation in the forest could greatly affect the hunt. Star Dou Forest was vast and perilous. Even seasoned soul masters could spend days tracking down a suitable target.
But to Shi Hao, who had been wandering aimlessly for days, this was like a divine rope thrown down to a drowning man.
"You need soul rings, right?" Shi Hao suddenly asked.
He remembered what Hu Liena had said earlier about needing to hunt soul beasts to get soul rings.
"Well, there's a soul beast right here, isn't there?" He turned to the wounded demon-wind wolf nearby. "Didn't you guys want it earlier? You can have its ring!"
"What?!"
The trio was stunned. That was a living ten-thousand-year soul beast! Just giving it away like that? Outside the forest, this thing could fetch tens of thousands of gold soul coins!
"This is a ten-thousand-year soul beast… No way, this is too valuable. We can't accept it!"
Shi Hao beamed. "It's fine. You guys need the soul ring. I just want its meat."
"Besides… aren't we friends now? Daddy says real friends always share!"
He suddenly puffed up his little cheeks and frowned.
"Or… are you saying you don't think of me as a friend?"
The three of them looked at each other, speechless. With the kid putting it like that, how could they say no?
"…Yan, go on. We'll owe him one," Xie Yue said solemnly.
This soul ring was originally meant for Yan anyway.
"Got it."
Yan walked up to Shi Hao and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Shi Hao, from now on, if you ever need anything—anything—just call your big brother Yan. I'll never say no!"
Shi Hao grinned.
Yan turned to the severely wounded demon-wind wolf, raised his blade, and brought it down hard.
The beast whimpered a few times—then fell silent forever.
A deep-black soul ring slowly rose from its corpse.
A ten-thousand-year soul ring!
"So after you kill a soul beast… a soul ring really appears. How magical."
Shi Hao watched with sparkling eyes. This was all new to him—his and Daddy's soul rings had all been born with them, no hunting required.
Yan sat down cross-legged and began absorbing the soul ring.
Several hours later, his eyes snapped open, filled with joy. He had succeeded—and broken through to Rank 51!
"Congrats!"
Everyone celebrated.
"Now it's just me and Hu Liena left," Xie Yue said. "Hopefully we can find suitable targets soon and finish this without any surprises."
He looked worried. Hunting ten-thousand-year soul beasts was no easy task. Originally, as members of the Golden Generation, they were supposed to have a Title Douluo escort them on their hunt. But something unexpected had happened back at Spirit Hall—there weren't any free Titled Douluo at the moment.
So the three of them had come to Star Dou Forest alone. Treat it as a trial by fire.
As long as they didn't enter the forest's core area, the three of them working together could take on most ten-thousand-year soul beasts without too much trouble.
Of course, that core zone… was death itself.
_
Please support my patreon, patreon. com/TravelerDouluo
And get early access to my 20 advance chapters.