"Since that's the case, I'll go with you two to where you're living now and help you pack," Zhao Ling said.
Seeing that Xiao Rou had agreed to leave with him, Zhao Ling felt quite pleased.
However, he didn't show it—he only nodded slightly and spoke with a serious expression.
The Sky Blue Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, upon hearing that Xiao Rou was taking Xiao Wu to the human world, couldn't help but feel reluctant, but they still had to say goodbye.
Since Xiao Wu's father trusted this man enough to entrust Xiao Rou and Xiao Wu to him, it meant this man was worthy of that trust. Otherwise, how could anyone entrust their wife and daughter to another person?
Zhao Ling, Xiao Rou, and Xiao Wu returned together to the small wooden house in the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Zone.
Looking at the house built entirely of wood with a thatched roof, Zhao Ling could only think how incredibly shabby their living conditions were. If it rained a little heavier, it would be pouring outside and leaking inside. And if the wind blew harder, the thatched roof might fly right off. Harsh was an understatement.
There wasn't much of importance inside the house—if anything, the most notable things were Xiao Rou's clothes and the dozen or so pounds of carrots they liked to eat.
Zhao Ling stored all of Xiao Rou's clothes into his storage space, as Xiao Rou didn't have a storage soul guide. He had to keep them safe for her.
As for the carrots, Zhao Ling didn't see the point of keeping them. After all, Heaven Dou City was enormous—buying carrots or any other vegetables would be a piece of cake.
But when he saw Xiao Wu lying on top of the carrots, unwilling to move, he couldn't help but silently summon his diary panel and start complaining.
[Jeez, look at this Xiao Wu acting like she's never seen the world—clinging to a pile of carrots like they're treasure. Is carrot really that tasty?]
[Come on, it's just carrots. Nothing special. If you love them so much, once we get back to Heaven Dou City, I'll buy you a whole room full of carrots—eat till you throw up.]
[Uh… maybe that's too cruel. There's so much better food in Heaven Dou City, and I'm feeding her carrots?]
[Eh, whatever. She likes carrots, so let her eat carrots every day. As for everyone else, we'll eat real food…]
[Honestly, I didn't expect my made-up story about Xiao Wu's dad being my savior would actually fool Xiao Rou and the brothers Da Ming and Er Ming.]
[Now that Xiao Rou is willing to take Xiao Wu and follow me to the human world, it feels like a dream—everything went so smoothly.]
[Sigh… I didn't want to lie to them, but I had no choice. I needed a reason to gain their trust.]
[If I told them this Douluo world was just a novel and I came from another world through the book…]
[And that I know Xiao Rou will die in a few years in a deadly place, and Xiao Wu will become an orphan shortly after taking human form… they'd probably think I'm insane.]
[Things turned out well this way. Of course, I, this LSP (lewd saintly person), am no great saint. Xiao Rou and Xiao Wu are so beautiful—how could I not be tempted?]
[I'm no Liu Xiahui (a paragon of virtue who resisted temptation). In the future, this mother-daughter pair… this old rogue will definitely claim them, hehehe…]
After his rant, Zhao Ling clicked "upload" on the diary and received a B+ rating, along with a reward of five mid-grade spirit stones and +10 charm points.
Zhao Ling was quite satisfied with the reward—especially the five mid-grade spirit stones, which were excellent.
His stock of low-grade stones was nearly used up. Including this batch, he now had only eight mid-grade stones.
He planned to use two mid-grade stones to trade for a large batch of low-grade stones once they reached Heaven Dou City.
Mid-grade stones should last much longer, given that the spiritual energy they held was more than ten times richer than that of low-grade stones.
As for the +10 charm points, Zhao Ling wasn't too excited—his charm stats still just showed three question marks.
He didn't even know how much charm he had. He had only unlocked "Lady Killer Lv.1," and only the system knew when it would upgrade to Lv.2.
After packing, Zhao Ling stepped outside and took out the Cloudpiercer Shuttle from his storage space.
The shuttle grew rapidly with the wind, and in no time, it became a colossal vehicle over twenty meters long, six meters wide, and as tall as a three-story building.
Xiao Wu stared, dumbfounded, at the massive shuttle and asked her mother, "Mom, what is this thing? Why is it so big?"
Although Xiao Rou had seen boats traveling on rivers in the human world, she had never heard of a flying ship, so she just shook her head.
Curious, she scooped up Xiao Wu from the table, walked out the door, and eagerly leapt onto the shuttle, looking around in wonder.
At that moment, both mother and daughter noticed the Zhao Ling Diary Replica floating half a meter in front of them—but they were too caught up in the wonder of the flying ship to care about what was recently updated in the diary.
After all, this sky-sailing vessel was unlike anything they'd ever seen. How could it not be more fascinating than the diary's contents?
Zhao Ling watched Xiao Rou jump aboard with excitement and was quite pleased. Once they were on this "thief's ship," it wouldn't be so easy to get off.
With a light tap of his foot, Zhao Ling jumped aboard, went to the rear of the ship, and replaced the spirit array with two mid-grade spirit stones.
Then he moved to the bow and activated the autopilot mode, setting their destination to the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
Once activated, the Cloudpiercer Shuttle slowly lifted off and began flying steadily toward the forest's edge.
Xiao Rou and Xiao Wu were mesmerized by the view, their eyes sparkling as they watched the forest blur beneath them.
Zhao Ling didn't say much. He simply watched the two enjoy themselves. Once their excitement had passed, they finally noticed the diary floating in front of them.
Curious about what Zhao Ling had written, Xiao Rou used her thoughts to open the Zhao Ling Diary Replica.
Reading the recent entries, Xiao Rou's delicate brows furrowed slightly.
So Zhao Ling had lied about knowing her husband, just to convince her and her daughter to leave Star Dou Forest and go to the human world.
Still, Xiao Rou didn't blame Zhao Ling. As a soul beast, she had strong instincts—neither she nor Xiao Wu sensed any malice from him. At the very least, she knew he wouldn't harm them.
However, she didn't quite understand what he meant when he wrote in the diary that the Douluo world was "a book." Could it be like the human storybooks she had read about?