Did Zhu Zhuqing Want It?

"Could she have spotted me?"

Zhu Zhuqing abruptly wanted to slip away.

But just as she was about to turn, she saw Ning Rongrong take both hands off her Martial Soul, stagger, and fall to the ground.

Her Soul Power must have given out.

It should have been a pitiful sight.

But Ning Rongrong had landed headfirst, and the sight was genuinely comical. Especially when she clearly looked like a young lady from a wealthy family, it was just too absurd.

"Pfft!"

Even Zhu Zhuqing, who seldom smiled or laughed, couldn't help letting out an unkind laugh.

"Ow."

"Is my face ruined?"

"Who? Who's nearby?"

Ning Rongrong had only just gotten halfway through Healing Pagoda when, unexpectedly, effort had squared off against strength, and strength had been the first to throw in the towel.

With her Soul Power depleted, her Martial Soul finally gave out and vanished from her palms, and she fell to the ground.

She hadn't expected someone to catch her making such a spectacle of herself.

She looked toward the laughter and saw a familiar figure. She recognized Zhu Zhuqing.

Fortunately, it wasn't Tang San, Dai Mubai, or any of their crowd.

Otherwise, she would have lost all face today and might even have flown into a rage from embarrassment and hacked one of them to death.

"Hehe~"

"Zhu Zhuqing?"

She wanted to ask when Zhu Zhuqing had arrived.

But that felt too embarrassing. What if Zhu Zhuqing had arrived ages ago, and she'd failed to notice her all this time?

Then again, if she didn't ask, she couldn't shake the feeling that the girl had been there a long time.

In the end, Ning Rongrong decided to ask out of politeness.

"When did you get here?"

"A long time ago~"

Zhu Zhuqing smiled with pursed lips, looking rather charming.

Her eyes sparkled in particular, and just meeting her gaze nearly made Ning Rongrong lose her composure.

Of the two best-looking people at Shrek Academy, Ning Rongrong ranked first, and Zhu Zhuqing second.

Each of them had her own strong points.

And now, one person's body was in her hands, while the other stood right in front of her.

"That was just an accident. Pretend you didn't see it."

Ning Rongrong waved her right hand, motioning for Zhu Zhuqing to come over and talk.

But Zhu Zhuqing had no idea what Ning Rongrong wanted.

That left Ning Rongrong feeling very awkward.

The next moment, she had no choice but to add, "You're standing so far away. Do we have to shout to talk?"

With that, she pretended to shout.

That sent Zhu Zhuqing into peals of laughter, her body swaying like a flowering branch.

Did this girl laugh this much in the original story?

Having watched the anime in her previous life, Ning Rongrong knew what Zhu Zhuqing's personality was like, yet Zhu Zhuqing was acting completely out of character now.

He made a rough calculation in his heart.

Most likely, Zhu Zhuqing definitely had something up her sleeve.

Was she comparing who was prettier?

No, or was she comparing who had the better figure?

Tsk, tsk.

If it's looks, I have a chance. If it's figures...

"I get it, hehe~" Zhu Zhuqing replied with a laugh as she walked toward Ning Rongrong.

"..."

That only made Ning Rongrong feel that something was even more off.

When things were out of the ordinary, there was bound to be a demon behind them.

It probably wasn't as simple as a beauty contest.

"Your cultivation method is very special."

Zhu Zhuqing seemed to think Ning Rongrong had already noticed that something was strange about her, so she made no attempt to hide it and directly voiced her question.

"Can this cultivation method work for everyone? Could you teach me? I want it too..."

Full of sincerity, Zhu Zhuqing put the question to Ning Rongrong.

"You want it?"

Sure enough, just as expected, Ning Rongrong frowned sharply.

Though she didn't dislike Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuqing would grow close to Dai Mubai in the original story, and they would even get together.

Surely she couldn't teach her just because she said she wanted it?

Fortunately, it seemed this thing couldn't be taught anyway.

Faced with Zhu Zhuqing's roundabout questions, Ning Rongrong frowned slightly and said, "Cultivation methods differ from person to person. Following someone else's path will often only have the opposite effect."

Although... well, I can't teach you anyway...

Of course, Ning Rongrong didn't say that last part aloud.

Ning Rongrong didn't want anyone to know yet that Healing Pagoda was a cultivation method given to her by the system. Even if someone else learned it, it wouldn't do them any good.

What if Zhu Zhuqing found out and told Dai Mubai, who then told Tang San, and then the whole continent found out?

As the old books often said, women could turn hostile faster than one could turn a page, and women down the mountain were tigers, and so on...

Ning Rongrong had to be more careful.

"Can't I follow someone else's path?" Zhu Zhuqing looked at Ning Rongrong with a somewhat complicated expression.

As a similarly gifted Soul Master, she naturally knew that everyone's cultivation method was different.

But the girl before her was far stronger than she was.

If she could become as strong as her, she wouldn't mind copying her like Dong Shi imitating a beauty's frown.

She thought for a long time.

Although Zhu Zhuqing didn't think Ning Rongrong would really teach her, when she thought of her complicated family and her scumbag fiancé...

Zhu Zhuqing pleaded.

She truly wanted to become stronger.

If Ning Rongrong hadn't appeared, she might not have felt that desire so strongly.

But it was precisely because she had seen Ning Rongrong that her resolve had hardened.

Who said women couldn't become powerful Soul Masters?

And change her own fate along the way.

"You... name your condition. I can agree to anything."

"No, as long as you teach me, even ten conditions are fine."

"Any conditions at all, really!"

Zhu Zhuqing begged.

Then she began talking to herself. "Although, as a member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, there probably isn't much you lack, is there? Sigh."

First she promised to agree to anything, then she spoke to herself with such a pitiful air.

Put those words before any man, and he wouldn't be able to refuse.

When this girl Zhu Zhuqing acted cute, she was deadly too.

"Any conditions?"

Hearing that, Ning Rongrong almost entertained an unrealistic idea.

Girls could have a story together, couldn't they?

What if she cut in and snatched Zhu Zhuqing away?

That would make Dai Mubai completely break down!

After all, her soul was male, at least.

And now she had a perfect opportunity.

No, no.

She would be helping Zhu Zhuqing escape a sea of suffering, an act of immeasurable merit.

But then another problem arose.

She really didn't have a cultivation method she could teach Zhu Zhuqing.

What was she supposed to do?

Damn it!

And there was one more crucial point:

It was much better to cultivate alone. With someone following her around all day, she'd have to worry about her all day too.

What a hassle!

"I really can't teach you."

"No condition will change that."

Ning Rongrong turned her down.

"But..." After hearing Ning Rongrong's reason, Zhu Zhuqing still wanted to say something.

But Ning Rongrong had already decided to leave.

After all, the longer they talked, the more Zhu Zhuqing would want her to teach her.

If she stayed any longer, she would inevitably waste her breath.

Ning Rongrong walked slowly toward the dormitory, with Zhu Zhuqing following behind her.

"We're probably not the same kind of people. Rather than follow me, you'd be better off asking Tang San and Dai Mubai for help. One of them is your fiancé, after all."

"How do you know Dai Mubai is my fiancé?" Zhu Zhuqing asked in surprise. "But you've seen what kind of person he is. I'm already very disappointed in him."

"Besides... it was just a marriage arranged between our families. I never had a choice."

"As long as I can become strong enough, all of that can change."

"..."

Along the way, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing exchanged a few words here and there.

But even at the end, Zhu Zhuqing was still following close behind her.

That made Ning Rongrong somewhat impatient.

"I say, are you ever going to stop? Are you going to follow me even when I'm going back to the dormitory?"

Ning Rongrong's tone grew somewhat unfriendly.

That left Zhu Zhuqing stunned for a moment.

Only after a long while did she reply,

"I... I don't know the way to the dormitory."

"..."

Right... that was true.

After a brief silence,

The two began talking again.

This time, though, they had much more to say.

Zhu Zhuqing finally decided to stop begging Ning Rongrong to teach her cultivation method for the time being.

And Ning Rongrong finally realized something she had overlooked for a long time.

At this point, Zhu Zhuqing had yet to fall under Dai Mubai's spell.

In fact, one important reason she had come to Shrek Academy was to see what kind of person her fiancé was.

What should have been a wonderful encounter had instead exposed Dai Mubai's scumbag nature.

Zhu Zhuqing felt that way.

Perhaps in the future, she really could become someone on the same path as Ning Rongrong.

With a girl's body, there really was more for girls to talk about together.

Ning Rongrong suddenly thought of another wicked thing...

Something she could use to get revenge on Dai Mubai.