Oscar, who was standing nearby, seemed to notice the looks on Dai Mubai's and Ma Hongjun's faces.
Surprise immediately appeared on his face. He poked Ma Hongjun in the side, leaned close to his ear, and whispered,
"No way, Fatty. Don't tell me that pretty boy beat you two up this badly!"
When Ma Hongjun confirmed it, Oscar's jaw nearly hit the floor.
How old did this kid look? He was only about the same age as Tang San and Xiao Wu, yet he had managed to beat both Ma Hongjun and Boss Dai at once.
Boss Dai and Ma Hongjun working together could hold off a Soul Ancestor-level expert.
That meant the pretty boy in front of him was a Soul Ancestor-level expert.
Was there no justice in the world?!
Su Zui paid no attention to the three of them staring at him. His whole attention was on Ning Rongrong in his arms.
They had only been apart for a few short days, but his little Rongrong seemed to have grown thinner, and she had cried.
How was it that the more he looked at his little girlfriend, the prettier she became?
After the two had cuddled for a while, Ning Rongrong gradually calmed down. She looked up and saw Xiao Wu wearing a doting auntie's smile.
"Oh, Rongrong~ Aren't you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?"
The girl was thin-skinned, after all. She squirmed a couple of times, jumped down from Su Zui's arms, and covered Xiao Wu's mouth with a blush.
"Xiao Wu, you're so annoying! You keep teasing me, but don't you have a boyfriend too?"
As she spoke, Ning Rongrong turned her gaze toward Tang San.
Now Ning Rongrong wasn't the only one blushing. Xiao Wu's face turned as red as an apple, and the two girls grabbed at each other and began to play around.
The alluring sight made the boys present swallow in unison.
Dai Mubai, however, was no longer in the mood to stay. He grabbed a couple of steamed buns and left the dining hall.
All he wanted now was to find Zhu Zhuqing as soon as possible and talk things through with her.
"Su Zui, let's eat first!"
After she finished playing around with Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong immediately linked arms with Su Zui and ran toward the dining hall counter.
But when they saw the food in the dining hall, every one of them was dumbfounded.
"Wait, are we sure this is a dining hall?"
Looking at the watery porridge and steamed buns on offer, Ning Rongrong opened her little mouth in surprise.
Su Zui was stunned too. Honestly, even the food at the orphanage in his previous life had been better than this. At least they had served eggs and milk for breakfast.
Xiao Wu came hopping over and was also startled by the food in the dining hall.
"What? Just a little thin porridge and steamed buns? Don't they even have carrots?"
Xiao Wu was still thinking about her carrots. She couldn't bring herself to swallow a single mouthful of the thin rice porridge.
Wasn't Shrek an advanced Soul Master Academy? The food was worse than what she'd had as a work-study student.
Speechless, Su Zui rubbed his forehead, then took Ning Rongrong's hand and headed outside.
"Rongrong, let's eat out and come back afterward."
It wasn't that Su Zui was picky; this food simply had no nutrition at all.
Both he and Rongrong were still growing.
He still wanted to grow over 1.8 meters tall. He couldn't let malnutrition stunt his growth.
As the saying went, eating was the most important thing in life. You had to eat properly, and you had to eat well!
Hearing Su Zui's words, Ning Rongrong nodded hurriedly like a little quail, took his hand, and walked outside with him.
Watching Su Zui and Ning Rongrong leave, Xiao Wu immediately turned to Tang San.
"Brother, let's eat out too. They don't even have carrots here. I can't eat this."
Tang San, however, was conflicted. He scratched his head, looking troubled.
"Xiao Wu, wouldn't that be a bad idea? Aren't we supposed to assemble this morning?"
Xiao Wu was unhappy and said angrily,
"Oh, why are there so many rules? We came to Shrek Academy to study, not to mine. How can we have the strength to study if we don't eat our fill?"
"If you're afraid of getting punished, I'll go by myself. If anyone gets punished, it'll just be me."
With that, Xiao Wu ran outside in a huff.
"Xiao Wu, wait for me! How could I possibly let you be punished alone?"
Tang San hurried after her and took her hand, then helplessly patted her head.
"Oh, Little San, don't worry."
Xiao Wu pointed at Su Zui and Ning Rongrong ahead of them.
"It's not just the two of us. Aren't Su Zui and Rongrong going too? There are only eight students at Shrek, and now four of us are going out to eat. The law doesn't punish the masses!"
Tang San thought Xiao Wu had a point.
He wasn't someone who clung rigidly to rules. Otherwise, he wouldn't have secretly learned the Tang Sect's highest secret techniques.
With the excuse that the law didn't punish the masses, Tang San walked out of the academy with a clear conscience.
Watching Su Zui and the others leave, Ma Hongjun's shifty eyes turned, as though he had thought of something...
On the streets of Suotuo City, Su Zui and Ning Rongrong, Tang San and Xiao Wu, walked hand in hand in pairs.
The morning sunlight fell on the streets, mingling with the bustle of everyday life in Suotuo City. Merely stepping onto the street gave one a powerful sense of satisfaction.
"Extra, extra! Spirit Hall has officially launched a hundred-day law enforcement action, cracking down hard for a hundred days! Only three days in, Spirit Hall in Suotuo City has already arrested seven criminal Soul Masters!"
"Sorry to trouble you, could I have a newspaper? Keep the change."
Su Zui flicked a Silver Soul Coin from his fingertip, and the newspaper vendor hurriedly thanked him.
In the center of the newspaper, several large characters stood out.
Spirit Hall Law Enforcement Department's Hundred-Day Joint Law Enforcement Action.
Printed by the Spirit Hall Main Hall in Suotuo City...
Besides the text, the newspaper also carried several pictures.
Several Soul Masters who had broken the law had been put in shackles by the Spirit Hall Law Enforcement Department and marched straight into Spirit Hall's prison.
As the four walked along, they could hear ordinary people praising Spirit Hall everywhere.
After all, Soul Masters who broke the law were a nightmare for ordinary people on the Douluo Continent.
A middle-aged man looked at the newspaper and couldn't help exclaiming, "Ah! Spirit Hall really is the savior of us common folk! In the past, if a Soul Master beat someone up, that was that. Who would have dared interfere?"
An elderly man carrying a shoulder pole immediately chimed in. "That's right. Just talking about those hard times in the past is enough to bring tears to my eyes."
The middle-aged man immediately grew interested. "Oh? Sounds like you have a story, old sir."
The elderly man with the shoulder pole replied, "It was when I was young. I was walking down the street when a Soul Master knocked me flying, and I passed out on the spot. Guess what happened afterward?"
Several people nearby immediately asked, as though playing along in a comedy routine, "What happened?"
The old man replied, "That Soul Master reported me to an imperial judge, and the judge convicted me of a hit-and-run!"
"The judge and that Soul Master demanded a hundred Gold Soul Coins from me, but where was I supposed to get that much money? I was sentenced to fifty years on the spot."
"It wasn't until the Spirit Hall Law Enforcement Department was established and major cases were retried that I was finally released."
By this point, the old man's voice was trembling. "But even so, I was wrongly imprisoned for a full thirty years..."
At that, the crowd around him fell silent.
Even Tang San and the others couldn't help stopping in their tracks and looking toward the old man.
The old man seemed eager to find someone to confide in. He squatted by the roadside with his shoulder pole and went on talking. "I was only twenty back then. By the time I came out, I was the only one left in my family."
"Later, a neighbor told me that an hour before I rushed back, my father... had just breathed his last."