You'll Be Hurt If You're With Him

Mu Yuan and Tang San entered the dormitory together. The room was not very large and had two beds. After making their beds, they put away their personal belongings.

Tang San looked at Mu Yuan and said,

"Um, we'll be roommates from now on, so let me introduce myself again. My name is Tang San. My martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, and I'm a level twenty-nine Control System Tool Soul Master. My hobbies are mainly cultivation and forging things. Also, I have a habit of getting up early, so I hope you can get used to it. Oh, and Xiao Wu from earlier is my younger sister. We came here together."

For some reason, Tang San had especially emphasized his relationship with Xiao Wu.

Mu Yuan had already known about this and was not surprised.

He introduced himself as well.

"My name is Mu Yuan. My martial soul is a tree, and I'm a level forty-nine Control System Tool Soul Master. My hobbies are similar to yours. I also enjoy cultivation, so we should get along well in that regard."

Tang San nodded. To be fair, he thought Mu Yuan had a very good personality. Despite possessing such powerful talent and strength, he was not the slightest bit arrogant. Instead, he was calm and easy to get along with.

Tang San took out some food from his Soul Tool. The earlier battle had drained much of his stamina, and he urgently needed food to replenish it. Although Shrek Academy had its own cafeteria, it had not started cooking yet.

"Want to eat together, if you don't mind?" Tang San invited.

"Of course I don't mind." Mu Yuan also took out some food from his Soul Tool. "I have some here too. They're local specialties from near Heaven Dou City. Let's try them together."

The two placed their food together.

Mu Yuan's food was more refined—some famous pastries from around Heaven Dou City, all kinds Ning Rongrong particularly liked.

Tang San's, by comparison, was more practical, mostly dry rations that could quickly replenish energy.

As they ate together, the distance between them gradually shrank.

While tasting the specialty pastries from Heaven Dou City, Tang San could not help asking,

"Come to think of it, Mu Yuan, you came together with that girl whose martial soul is the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, right? Are you both from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Mu Yuan said, "Yes. Rongrong and I are both members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Tang San asked in confusion, "Then why did you come here? The advanced Soul Master Academies near Heaven Dou City should suit you better, shouldn't they?"

Mu Yuan pondered for a moment before saying, "That was actually Rongrong's choice. I'm not too sure about the specific reason, but I think she must have her own reasons."

Tang San did not find anything strange about that. The thoughts of an aristocratic young lady really were difficult to fathom.

The two continued eating and chatted idly.

Tang San actually had two questions he cared deeply about: Mu Yuan's cultivation level and his soul rings.

But after hesitating for a long time, Tang San still did not ask.

He had only just met Mu Yuan, so it was not appropriate to ask such important questions.

Besides, Tang San figured that even if he asked, Mu Yuan would not readily tell him, so he simply kept quiet.

After Mu Yuan finished eating, he began meditating to recover his Soul Power.

Seeing this, Tang San secretly activated his Purple Demon Eye and observed Mu Yuan's movements.

But after watching for a long time, Tang San still could not make anything out. Mu Yuan seemed to be doing nothing more than ordinary meditation to recover Soul Power, so Tang San could only give up helplessly.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong had been assigned to the same dormitory and quickly became familiar with each other.

After settling their dormitory matters, Xiao Wu took the initiative to invite Ning Rongrong out shopping.

At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong had always been treated as a lofty little princess. She had never had friends her own age.

Though Ning Rongrong was known publicly as the Little Witch, deep down she was merely a young girl longing for attention.

With Xiao Wu's initiative invitation, Ning Rongrong let down her guard completely and soon became friends with Xiao Wu.

This feeling of being pure friends, without any gap in status between them, was something Ning Rongrong had never experienced before.

Most of the time, Mu Yuan took care of her like an older brother. He was not a friend like Xiao Wu, someone who could go shopping with her, play with her, and comment on all sorts of things together.

Although Suotuo City was far less prosperous than Heaven Dou City, Ning Rongrong still happily shopped with Xiao Wu for a long time. Even as night gradually fell, she was still reluctant to stop.

Compared to Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong was far too innocent at the moment.

On their way back, Xiao Wu took the opportunity to ask,

"Rongrong, you and Mu Yuan seemed to be on bad terms during the day. Has he ever bullied you?"

Ning Rongrong shook her head. "No, he actually..." She paused, then asked instead, "Xiao Wu, why are you suddenly asking this?"

Xiao Wu hurriedly waved her hands. "It's nothing, I was just curious. It's fine if it's inconvenient for you to talk about, Rongrong."

Ning Rongrong hesitated slightly upon hearing that, but she still said,

"It's actually not inconvenient. Mu Yuan is my father's disciple, and we grew up together. He's actually been quite good to me. Not only has he never bullied me, he's always yielded to me in everything, it's just that..."

Xiao Wu asked, "Just what?"

Ning Rongrong pursed her lips and said as they walked,

"It's just that I really hate him. We grew up together, and he was always the most perfect person in everyone's eyes. Everyone liked him. No matter how hard I tried to make myself perfect, I could never compare to him. Only when I became the Little Witch would people briefly turn their attention to me..."

"Rongrong, you're so pitiful." After hearing this, Xiao Wu sympathetically took Ning Rongrong's hand.

Lowering her head, Ning Rongrong said,

"It's actually not that bad. Even though it is a little pitiful, I've had fine clothes and good food since childhood, and I've never had any other worries. But recently, my father wanted Mu Yuan and me to get engaged. I simply couldn't accept it, so I chose to run away from home and ended up here."

"Engaged?!" Xiao Wu could not help crying out. Her grip on Ning Rongrong's hand tightened involuntarily.

Ning Rongrong nodded. "You think it's too much too, right, Xiao Wu? Getting engaged to the person I hate most... Although I know Father is doing it for the future of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I still find it very hard to accept. Besides, Father has already accepted Mu Yuan as his disciple, so why does he insist on making me get engaged to him?

"It feels like I'm being treated as a commodity, forcibly tied to Mu Yuan. Even though Mu Yuan really is good to me, at most I see him as an older brother—and the kind of older brother I really hate. Yet now I'm suddenly being made to get engaged to him. I simply can't accept it. Can you understand how I feel, Xiao Wu?"

Xiao Wu said, "I... I understand, of course. If you're with someone you hate, you could never be happy no matter what, and you might even get hurt."

Ning Rongrong nodded repeatedly and said to Xiao Wu,

"Xiao Wu, that's wonderful. You really are my best friend. Father and the others don't understand me. You're the only one who does!"

Xiao Wu smiled awkwardly at that.

Ning Rongrong did not notice and continued,

"Father also said Mu Yuan is the best genius on the continent, that there's absolutely no one more outstanding than him. Besides not wanting to get engaged, another reason I ran away from home this time was to find a genius even more outstanding than Mu Yuan and prove Father wrong.

"But for now, that seems a little difficult to achieve. Still, whether I can find someone more outstanding than Mu Yuan or not, I will never agree to this engagement. Just as you said, Xiao Wu, if you're with someone you hate, you could never be happy no matter what, and you might even get hurt."

Xiao Wu smiled, took Ning Rongrong's hand, and said firmly, "Rongrong, I support you!"

Ning Rongrong smiled as well. "Thank you, Xiao Wu!"

Looking at the innocent-faced Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu silently apologized in her heart.

Sorry, Rongrong. You're the one who didn't want him.