Chapter 66: Something Was Stolen—Yet Somehow, I'm the One at Fault
Seeing Xiao Bai continue shouting, clearly furious, Fan Chen felt a deep sense of confusion rise in his heart.
"Something's wrong — very wrong. Extremely wrong."
He knew Xiao Bai's temperament better than anyone. The only time Xiao Bai had ever been this angry before was when Di Tian had tried to make a move against him.
Could it be that this time as well, the other side had some kind of scheme targeting him?
But just as Fan Chen was still pondering whether Xiao Bai had discovered some hidden ambush, he suddenly saw Xiao Bai dash straight toward the spot where the little girl had been standing.
Xiao Bai moved at an astonishing speed, like a bolt of white lightning. He passed directly between the Scarlet King, Golden Crocodile Douluo, and the others, plunging headfirst into the grass.
The Scarlet King froze on the spot — not because Xiao Bai was fast, but because he hadn't sensed Xiao Bai's presence at all.
There hadn't been the slightest fluctuation of energy.
If Xiao Bai hadn't run past him right before his eyes, he probably wouldn't have had the faintest idea what had just happened.
The moment Xiao Bai dove into the grass, a startled scream rang out.
The Scarlet King immediately spun around, no longer caring about Golden Crocodile Douluo or Guang Ling on the opposite side, and rushed straight over.
Golden Crocodile Douluo and Guang Ling were equally stunned. They were still locked in a tense standoff — how had things suddenly escalated on the other side?
"Don't hit my Jin Bao!"
The little girl's voice, tinged with tears, came from behind the grass. The Scarlet King stood stiffly at the edge, not daring to move.
His expression was strange, yet he took no action — as if what was happening in front of him was not something he was qualified to interfere with.
"Fan Chen, your martial soul just made a little girl cry. Is Xiao Bai really that vicious, or was this your idea?"
Listening to the crying voice coming from not far away, Meng Xiaoyan poked Fan Chen with her finger.
She didn't know what was happening inside, but judging from the situation, it was probably close to what she imagined.
The only question was whether Fan Chen himself was behind it. After all, Xiao Bai was his martial soul.
She knew Xiao Bai's usual temperament very well — there was no way he would normally be this violent.
"It wasn't my idea, but I can feel that Xiao Bai is really angry."
Fan Chen himself was somewhat dumbfounded. At first, he had thought the other side had set a trap to target him.
But now it seemed that things weren't quite what he had imagined.
Judging from the emotions Xiao Bai was sending back to him, it was more like someone had taken something that belonged to him — and he had noticed it.
Like a cat catching a mouse stealing food, and beating it mercilessly.
"Xiao Bai, come back."
After Fan Chen called out, Xiao Bai immediately responded. In a flash, he darted out of the grass and returned to Fan Chen's side.
"What happened?"
Looking at Xiao Bai, whose anger had yet to fade, Fan Chen asked in confusion.
"She stole my stuff. I want to beat her."
"Stole your stuff? What did she steal?"
Fan Chen felt completely lost. He truly couldn't imagine what Xiao Bai could have that someone else could steal.
But judging from Xiao Bai's appearance, it really didn't seem like he was lying.
"Jin Bao didn't steal anything. You gave it to me yourself."
A very aggrieved voice sounded out. Fan Chen looked up.
The little girl who had been hiding behind the tree had now stepped out, clutching in her arms a small golden beast that was slightly smaller than Xiao Bai.
The small beast was covered entirely in golden fur and looked like a strangely shaped little cat.
Its golden fur was somewhat disheveled — clearly bearing the marks left behind by Xiao Bai just moments ago.
On its forehead was a unique third eye, red in color. From a distance, it looked like a translucent red gemstone.
Its fluffy, long tail was curled up tightly, and its expression was incomparably pitiful.
"I don't care, you —"
"Xiao Bai, shut up."
Seeing Xiao Bai's emotions flare up again, Fan Chen hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth.
If he let Xiao Bai continue, it would be who knows how long before they ever figured out the truth.
At this moment, Fan Chen also sensed a familiar aura — one that clearly belonged to Xiao Bai.
This was undoubtedly what Xiao Bai had been referring to as the stolen item.
Although he didn't know exactly what it was, anything that could make Xiao Bai this angry had to be extremely important to him.
"Xiao Xue, help me keep an eye on Xiao Bai. Don't let him cause trouble."
With that, Fan Chen stuffed Xiao Bai into Qian Renxue's arms and turned to walk toward the little girl.
Seeing Fan Chen approach, the girl instinctively took several steps back before quickly hiding behind the Scarlet King.
She looked very afraid of Fan Chen — though it was far more likely that she was still frightened by Xiao Bai.
"I apologize for Xiao Bai's behavior just now. But could you please tell me — what exactly did the golden little beast you're holding take from Xiao Bai?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo and Guang Ling stood protectively beside Fan Chen. After Xiao Bai's outburst, even they were having trouble understanding the current situation.
However, with children on both sides now, fighting was clearly out of the question. It was better to let Fan Chen step forward and negotiate.
With the Scarlet King present, Fan Chen had naturally guessed the little girl's identity.
Someone protected by the Scarlet King — there was only one such being in the entire Star Dou Great Forest.
The Imperial Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The last time Di Tian had come looking for him had also been because of her.
Fan Chen knew of her existence, but knowing and actually meeting her were two entirely different things — this was their first true encounter.
Perhaps sensing the goodwill emanating from Fan Chen, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion timidly began to explain.
At this point, her name was not Wang Qiu'er, as Fan Chen remembered, but Di Yue.
And the golden little beast in her arms was her martial soul, named Jin Bao.
Like Xiao Bai, Jin Bao was a separated martial soul, possessing its own independent consciousness.
However, Jin Bao's birth was different from Xiao Bai's.
She was a "premature birth."
By human standards, Di Yue was only five years old today.
Given that humans normally awaken their martial souls at around six years old, a martial soul awakened at five was considered premature.
It wasn't that awakening at five was impossible, but before reaching six, the martial soul within the body had not fully completed its formation. Awakening early carried a high risk of problems.
And Jin Bao was exactly such a case — born early, she carried inherent defects.
However, this defect was compensated for because of Xiao Bai's existence.
The last time Fan Chen and Di Yue met in the Star Dou Great Forest, the two had fused their powers. Fan Chen gained many benefits, and Di Yue did as well.
What she gained was an energy bridge formed between herself and Fan Chen.
This energy bridge connected the two, creating a complementary relationship. Whenever one side experienced an energy deficiency, they could draw a portion of energy from the other to compensate.
Jin Bao had used this energy bridge to extract energy from Xiao Bai, thereby filling in her own defects.
And precisely because this energy originated from Xiao Bai himself, he was extremely sensitive to it.
The moment he noticed it, he completely exploded.
After all, this was no different from someone sneaking up while he was asleep and secretly drawing his blood with a syringe.
Speaking of sleep, Xiao Bai's recent tendency to sleep excessively was also caused by this very issue.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
After hearing the explanation, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others all fell silent.
Only Xiao Bai grew more and more irritable as he listened. If he hadn't been held tightly by Qian Renxue — and warned earlier by Fan Chen — he would probably have rushed over to beat Jin Bao again.
Fan Chen himself was also stunned. This outcome was something he had never anticipated.
Most crucially, Jin Bao's appearance was directly related to him. If he hadn't fused soul power with Di Yue, Jin Bao would never have appeared early.
She might not have appeared at all.
After all, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's uniqueness lay in the changes she underwent based on the people she came into contact with.
Wang Qiu'er's transformation had come from encountering Huo Yuhao and acquiring memories related to Tang Wutong.
Jin Bao's appearance, on the other hand, was because of Xiao Bai — Di Yue had obtained memories related to Xiao Bai, which led to Jin Bao's birth.
At this point, Fan Chen felt like he was being extorted… yet the other side didn't seem to be in the wrong either.
Faced with such a complicated situation, Fan Chen truly didn't know what to do anymore.
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End of Chapter