Chapter 568: New Year's Eve's...

Chapter 568: Chapter 345: New Year’s Eve’s…

Wo Xue Mian was completely different from low-level Poacher Organizations.

For one, there was an absolute gap in strength. For another, Wo Xue Mian operated on an “international” level. According to Rong Yang, Wo Xue Mian wasn’t after money, but power!

They sought higher Quality Soul Pearls and Soul Skills, and Soul Beasts and Soul Pets with higher Potential Values.

In fact, a question had always lingered in Rong Taotao’s mind, one that no one had been able to answer for him.

If Wo Xue Mian was truly after power, then the Snow Realm Treasure, the Nine-Petaled Lotus, that Rong Taotao possessed should be extremely attractive to them!

So here was the question!

Why hadn’t Wo Xue Mian ever come after Rong Taotao for such a power-enhancing Snow Realm Treasure?

Didn’t that contradict Wo Xue Mian’s entire philosophy?

The Qian Organization had teamed up with the Free People to assassinate Gao Lingwei in order to kill her Snowball Cat, eliminating the rare Soul Beast that threatened the very foundation of their existence and removing a potential threat.

Similarly, Wo Xue Mian could assassinate Rong Taotao to get his Lotus Petals, so why hadn’t they made a move?

Was it because they couldn’t find an opportunity?

‘What a joke!’

How many times had the Poacher Organization tried to assassinate Gao Lingwei? Weren’t those all opportunities?

So, what was the true purpose and meaning of this mysterious organization, Wo Xue Mian?

Judging from their past actions, they were indeed a group of sophisticated egoists who disregarded the law. In that case…

As he thought about it, a dreadful premonition suddenly surfaced in Rong Taotao’s mind.

‘Am I just a “pig” being fattened for the slaughter right now!?’

In the short year and a half since he enrolled in school and became a Soul Martial Artist, he had already collected a total of three Lotus Petals. Just how terrifying was his efficiency at gathering them?

And right now, based on the information Rong Taotao had, his mother, Xu Fenghua, possessed at least one Lotus Petal.

For anyone, the difficulty of obtaining that particular Lotus Petal was undoubtedly top-tier!

Xu Fenghua’s raw power was undeniable. To say she was a force to be reckoned with in the region would be an understatement; she could even be described as a force revered throughout Huaxia!

As her son, was there a chance he might receive it as a gift from his mother?

Was Wo Xue Mian waiting for that day?

Or perhaps this had nothing to do with his mother and was all about the speed at which he collected the Lotus Petals?

As long as the number of petals Rong Taotao collected reached a certain threshold, one that made the risk worthwhile for Wo Xue Mian, then they would come to reap the harvest… ‘Wait!’

Rong Taotao frowned slightly, pondering inwardly, ‘I already have three Lotus Petals. For Wo Xue Mian, that should be a big enough payoff, right?’

‘Does Wo Xue Mian really want to keep fattening the pig?’

‘If they keep this up… aren’t they being a little too brazen?’

Rong Taotao wasn’t sure if his deductions were correct. After all, he’d had pitifully little contact with Wo Xue Mian and couldn’t grasp their motives.

But if everything was as he suspected, then it was hard to say whether they were “fattening a pig for slaughter” or “rearing a tiger that would come back to bite them”!

Although Rong Taotao’s codename was “Pig,” his mask wasn’t that of a domestic pig, but a ferocious warthog!

“There are too many people. Let’s not push our way in.” The group arrived at the outskirts of the Central Square, located next to the night market district, and saw a sea of people.

“Taotao?” Gao Lingwei turned to look at Rong Taotao, only to find that his earlier cheerful mood had vanished, replaced by a worried expression.

“Huh?” Rong Taotao snapped back to his senses and quickly replied, “Should I activate my Douxing Qi?”

Hearing this, before Gao Lingwei could say anything, Yang Chunxi shot Rong Taotao a glare, though she couldn’t help but smile. “No bullying ordinary people,” she said.

“Hehe.” Rong Taotao scratched his head in embarrassment. ‘Bully ordinary people?’

‘If I really wanted to bully them, I wouldn’t need Douxing Qi. I’d just use Star-Stepping Split to charge through. One step and shattered starlight would fly everywhere…’

Of course, if Rong Taotao actually did that, he was guaranteed to be arrested by the Soul Police before he could take more than a few steps…

“The fireworks celebration starts at ten thirty. Let’s just watch from here,” Cheng Yuan suggested. She stood at the edge of the square, seemingly unwilling to go any further in.

The square was quite large, but only half of it was open. The Soul Police had cordoned off the central-northern part of the square, including a huge building to the north.

Within the cordoned-off area stood several huge ice sculptures, three to four meters high. They were exquisitely crafted, mostly depicting auspicious themes with pun-based names, like “Dragons and Phoenixes Bring Prosperity” and others symbolizing good fortune.

Gao Lingwei didn’t know what Rong Taotao was thinking, only that he seemed troubled. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, “They’re selling candied hawthorns over there.”

“Hm?” Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up, and he quickly turned his head to look.

Seeing his reaction, the corners of Gao Lingwei’s mouth lifted into a slight smile. She whispered, “Come on, I’ll take you. Don’t let your sister-in-law see.”

Rong Taotao nodded repeatedly. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go~”

The two squeezed through the crowd to a street vendor with a glass case and bought a stick of candied hawthorn. Rong Taotao licked his lips, and just as he pulled down his scarf and took a bite of the bright red hawthorn, he heard a wave of cheers!

Rong Taotao quickly turned to look and saw that on the northern side of the Central Square, a “golden waterfall” was flowing down the walls of the cordoned-off building.

The golden fireworks cascaded down from the top floor of the building, flowing along the walls in a brilliant, beautiful burn.

“WHOOSH~” “WHOOSH~”

From the ground all over the square, fireworks let out piercing shrieks as they shot into the night sky.

“BANG~ CRACKLE…”

A sky full of stars rained down, a truly beautiful sight.

Gao Lingwei held her scarf over the lower half of her face and leaned close to Rong Taotao’s ear, shouting to be heard. As a “local,” she was very familiar with the proceedings of Songbai Town’s celebration. “The fireworks will last for an hour and a half. They’ll stop for a bit at 11:55.”

“That’s when the townsfolk will do the countdown together. It’ll start again after that, and the fireworks after 12 o’clock are even bigger.”

“Oh, okay.” Rong Taotao admired the sky while eating his candied hawthorn. The brilliant fireworks exploding in the night reflected a strange luster in his dark eyes.

One after another, seven of the eight sugar-coated hawthorns on the stick went into his stomach. Rong Taotao finally brought himself to look down at the single hawthorn left on the bamboo skewer…

Holding the skewer, he brought the hawthorn to Gao Lingwei’s lips. “Here, you have it.”

Gao Lingwei gave him an exasperated but amused look. “You eat it.”

“Go on. It took all my willpower to save it for you,” Rong Taotao said, licking his lips with a serious expression.

Gao Lingwei hesitated for a moment, then pulled down her scarf with one hand and leaned in to bite the hawthorn.

Unexpectedly, Rong Taotao pulled the skewer back from her face.

Gao Lingwei leaned forward again, but the candied hawthorn in Rong Taotao’s hand retreated further…

Now, Gao Lingwei was not pleased. Her eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of danger in her gaze as she looked at Rong Taotao.

And in that very moment, Rong Taotao lowered the skewer. Taking advantage of the posture she’d adopted while being drawn in by the candied hawthorn, he quickly leaned forward, his lips gently pressing against her cool, thin ones.

Gao Lingwei: !!!

Her eyes widened slightly, her body freezing on the spot.

‘Oh yeah~ a successful sneak attack! What a perfect New Year’s Eve!’

Only then was Rong Taotao satisfied. With one hand, he pulled her scarf back up, once again covering the lower half of her face.

‘An hour and a half from now? The New Year’s countdown?’

‘I can’t wait that long…’

Rong Taotao pursed his lips, as if savoring a pleasant memory.

Gao Lingwei’s stiff body finally relaxed, but her mind seemed to be in turmoil. A faint blush colored her face, and it took her a while to compose herself.

And she could only watch as Rong Taotao popped the last sugar-coated hawthorn into his mouth.

Gao Lingwei clutched the top edge of her scarf, adjusting it to hide her slightly flushed face. “Rong Taotao, you’ve gotten bold. Be grateful it’s New Year’s Eve. I’ll let you off the hook… for now.”

In the night sky, the brilliant fireworks crackled and popped. Rong Taotao pretended he couldn’t hear her, tilting his head and looking at Gao Lingwei’s slightly flickering gaze.

He shouted, “Do you want more? Should we buy another stick of candied hawthorn?”

Gao Lingwei, however, shot him a fierce glare before turning her head up to watch the splendidly blooming fireworks, ignoring him completely.

Seeing this, a smile spread across Rong Taotao’s face.

‘Heh, women.’

‘What’s the use of talking tough?’

‘They’re still just as soft when you kiss them…’