w.a.n.g Qiu"er stood up straight in Huo Yuhao"s embrace as she spoke. She was tall in the first place, and so they were staring into each other"s eyes as she grasped Huo Yuhao"s shoulders with both hands.
"Have you kissed Dong"er before, Yuhao?" w.a.n.g Qiu"er smiled, her exceptionally enchanting face s.h.i.+ning radiantly, like a hundred blooming flowers.
Huo Yuhao nodded lightly.
w.a.n.g Qiu"er gradually closed her eyes, and her lengthy and curly eyelashes touched her lower eyelids. She raised her head gently, and her red lips seemed exquisite and alluring as she whispered, "Kiss me."
Huo Yuhao chuckled. He could feel his own weakness. All the strength and might that he had possessed throughout his entire lifetime was coming to an end. They had travelled more than fifty kilometers out within such a short time; not even t.i.tled Douluo could find them unless they executed a large-scale hunt.
An unspeakable warmth and pa.s.sion instantly travelled from Qiu"er"s lips. Huo Yuhao was already extremely weak, and he suddenly felt as if he were a little lost.
And it was in this moment that, as they kissed each other, Qiu"er"s forehead was facing forward and pressed tightly against his. Their opened Eyes of Destiny touched.
In that instant, Huo Yuhao felt as if his entire brain was about to explode, and strange scenes flashed by in his mind one after another.
He was looking a large, dense forest, where countless ancient trees that reached high into the sky blocked off the sunlight completely. In that world where plants were everywhere, there was a small golden figure lying prostrate on the ground.
This is… This is…
"Haven"t you always been curious about why Dong"er and I look identical, and why I look so similar to the G.o.ddess of Light produced by your martial soul fusion skill with her?"
"The reason is because I presented myself before the two of you according to what the G.o.ddess of Light looks like."
"Do you know who I am now?"
That tiny golden figure gradually raised its head, and in that moment, Huo Yuhao felt as if his brain had been struck by an enormous hammer. All that doubt, suspicion, and unsurety in his mind were suddenly cleared in this instant.
He finally understood why she looked so similar to Dong"er, and why she was closer to the G.o.ddess of Light in his heart.
He finally understood why she could move around in the Great Star Dou Forest unhindered, and why she had such peculiar feelings for soul beasts, to the point where she would save those Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears.
He finally understood why he would feel a sense of familiarity with her now and then, and why she possessed an Eye of Destiny like he did.
He finally understood why she would always appear by his side every time he was in danger.
He finally understood why she knew everything about him, and why she was just so familiar with him, and why she would appear beside him continuously.
That was because she wasn"t a human in the first place!
That was because she was the one that had given him his Eye of Destiny!
That was because she was the one that controlled destiny, and was the envoy of destiny.
That was because she had looked into his memories a long time ago.
She was the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion had left a profound impression in him in the Great Star Dou Forest, and had given him his Eye of Destiny. The lion controlled the entire Great Star Dou Forest"s fate and fortunes, and was greatly beneficial and helpful to all other soul beasts within the forest.
The Ten Great Savage Beasts and other similarly powerful soul beasts protected her in the Great Star Dou Forest.
Qiu"er… Qiu"er is actually the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!
Huo Yuhao"s spiritual sea was about to be incinerated completely at this very moment, but this sudden information caused his spirit to tremble from all that astonishment. He had been about to pa.s.s on the Ice Empress, the Snow Empress, and the Skydream Iceworm to Qiu"er, but now he had no choice but to stop.
"Qiu"er, you…"
"Yes, I am the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. I am that silly and foolish Three-Eyed Golden Lion who developed an interest in you, and stepped into the world of humans.
"When you forcefully imprinted my Eye of Destiny, you were destined to be the bane of my destiny. When you read my memories that time, I did the same to you - you can only see the grand and drab forest, the Great Star Dou Forest. But in your memory, I saw the countless aspects and expressions of humanity, and I saw its beauty.
"I"m different from other soul beasts. I"m not even limited by destiny, and I don"t have that bottleneck at one hundred thousand years like they do. I can continue living if I am willing to, and even though I can"t become as strong as Di Tian and the others, even the true dictator that"s slumbering in the Great Star Dou Forest will only take good care of me. He won"t let any harm come to me.
"But I experienced too much boredom in my several thousand years of life. How could I resist that curiosity after seeing the beauty of humanity?"
"Therefore, I used the only chance I had in my entire lifetime to transform into a human, and I became that G.o.ddess of Light in your memory. After my transformation, I was destined to only be able to transform between the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and the G.o.ddess of Light, and even my name, w.a.n.g Qiu"er, was created based on w.a.n.g Dong"s name.
"I walked into your world of humans, and I used the partial Golden Dragon blood in my body, and replicated the Golden Dragon by imitation. The world of humans was so novel and interesting to me, but it was also very unfamiliar at the same time. I gradually began to feel fear after my very brief happiness and curiosity, because I didn"t understand you, and everything about the world of humans, at all. Even I don"t know why I went to Shrek Academy like that, and why I appeared in front of you.
"We met yet again, but I had become a human. You didn"t recognize me, but I recognized you, and that feeling was so peculiar and magical at the same time. Perhaps because of the connection between our Eyes of Destiny, my fear disappeared when I was by your side, and I felt especially safe and a.s.sured. Therefore, I entered Shrek Academy, and arrived by your side. I wanted to see how you lived your life, and what differences there were between you humans and us soul beasts.
"At that moment, I discovered that the fellow who was a good friend to you was actually a girl, and the two of you had actually become lovers. I had a sour feeling in my heart at that time, and only then did I realize that the appearance that I had transformed into was how she would look when she grew up.
"I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed and at a loss once more. During that time, I wanted to leave and return to the Great Star Dou Forest because the origin power of my destiny came from the Great Star Dou Forest, and because I had snuck out in the first place. However, I couldn"t bear to leave this opportunity to enter the world of humans behind. I knew that if I left just like that, returning to your side would almost be impossible even if I wanted to."
"Therefore, I remained, and followed you guys into the Great Star Dou Forest so that we could find a suitable soul ring for you. I am a soul beast, yet I was helping you hunt and kill soul beasts. Wasn"t that just comical? Even though I am typically bloodthirsty, and I like to kill, those soul beasts were my kin, my brethren, after all!
"Afterwards, I listened to you recount your story with your mother. Going through your memories and listening to you telling your story was so different, and in that moment, I suddenly realized that soul beasts and humans are just different; we are fundamentally different in our emotions and in our feelings. The emotions that humans possess are things that us soul beasts do not have, and it was in that moment that I was determined to remain. I wanted to try and see if I could be better than Dong"er in your heart.
"I quickly discovered how unrealistic this thought was. After going through life and death with you, even I didn"t know that you were becoming more and more important to me, and your impression had become stronger and stronger in my heart. Because of the mutual connection and pull between our Eyes of Destiny, you were my greatest predestined fate. I was starting to like you. I liked to see you, and I liked being by your side. However, you started to reject and ostracize me because of Dong"er. Perhaps you felt that way because the threat that Dong"er felt from me was overly intense and overwhelming. I was even a little proud at that time. So what if we looked identical? I would be stronger than she was, and so I would s.n.a.t.c.h you from her hands."
"But I had no idea how to make you like me, how to make you fall in love with me. I was very lost at that time, till one day, when I watched you impatiently leave the Academy with a look of anxiety and worry. My curiosity was piqued, and my curiosity made me follow you into some faraway land.
"Your intelligence, your determination, and your stubbornness towards Dong"er was continuously moving me. When I watched you swallow the Blazing Sunspring"s water, which was hot enough to melt metal, into your belly so that you could spit out some of your own blood, do you know how I felt?
"That was the first time I felt heartache, and it was so, so painful. And it was then that I understood what love was… you could disregard your own life and sacrifice yourself for Dong"er, but did you ever think about how much pain I felt in my heart when I was by your side, and when I watched you become like you were? When I vomited some blood of my own and plucked another Yearning Heartbroken Gra.s.s for you, I knew that I had already fallen in love with you, and irrevocably so.
"Even I felt that I was so silly and foolish, because we are different in the first place. You"re a human, and I"m a soul beast. We should be completely dichotomous, but I am just so foolish, as if I am a moth being attracted to a fire, and flying straight into the flames.
"You hurt me so much every time, and I felt so much pain, but I couldn"t bear to leave you every time..."