I'll Pay You Back

"Where's Yu Xiaowei? He skipped class again?"

Dugu Bo asked from the podium, displeased.

The students all shook their heads.

Seeing that even Ning Rongrong was shaking her head, Dugu Bo knew they truly had no idea.

"That little brat dares to skip my class? Three in a row, no less. Just wait until he comes back—I'll teach him a lesson."

After muttering that, Dugu Bo continued the lesson.

Aside from Yu Xiaomeng, probably no one knew that Yu Xiaowei had already arrived in Suotuo City of the Balak Kingdom.

"The timing's off."

Yu Xiaowei sat in a restaurant, staring eagerly toward the city gates.

The more he thought about the letter he had seen at Liu Erlong's place, the angrier he became.

The letter had been written by that old swindler Flender.

He first complained about how he had also founded an academy and recruited some talented students.

Recently, due to suppression from the Balak Kingdom, not only had they lost their subsidies, they had even been denied the qualifications to participate in the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament.

Though troubled, the academy was the fruit of twenty years of his labor. No matter what, he would not give up.

Then came the important part. In the letter, he specifically mentioned one thing.

He had found Yu Xiaogang. When the opportunity arose, he would bring Yu Xiaogang to Heaven Dou City so that the Golden Iron Triangle could reunite.

He even said Liu Erlong should let go of the knot in her heart from back then, because she and Yu Xiaogang were a match made in heaven.

After reading it, Yu Xiaowei felt the blood rush to his temples.

Over here, he had been doing everything he could to persuade Liu Erlong to let go of Yu Xiaogang.

Over there, Flender was about to steal his home.

In his fury, he had nearly torn up the letter on the spot. But the rationality he still possessed made him realize that if he did, Liu Erlong would immediately discover that he had read it.

Yu Xiaowei forced himself to calm down and put the letter back exactly as it had been. He even messed up the room he had already tidied.

Then, without telling anyone, he set off for Suotuo City overnight.

Yet after arriving in Suotuo City, he wandered around and found no advertisements for Shrek Academy's admissions.

Confused, he asked around and learned that it was not yet time for Shrek Academy to recruit students.

That old liar Flender. When Yu Xiaowei saw the letter, he had thought admissions were already over and that Tang San and the others had already entered the academy. After all that, recruitment had not even begun yet.

And according to the timeline from the original novel, even once Shrek Academy began admissions, he would still have to wait another half a month before Yu Xiaogang arrived.

Since Yu Xiaogang was not in Nuoding City at the moment, he could only stay in Suotuo City.

As for going after Flender, the culprit behind all this.

He was not an idiot. A Soul Elder going to pick a fight with a Soul Saint was not looking for trouble—it was looking for a beating.

As for how to determine Shrek Academy's opening date within the city, he chose the simplest method: wait for Tang San to enter the city.

If he remembered correctly, Tang San stayed at the Rose Hotel after arriving in Suotuo City, then went to Shrek Academy the next day.

As the sky slowly darkened, Yu Xiaowei rose helplessly, casually gave the waiter a Silver Soul Coin, and left the restaurant.

Another fruitless day.

Under the night sky, Suotuo City was ablaze with lights and revelry.

Though it could not compare to Heaven Dou City in prosperity, it had a distinctive street that was bustling with people at all hours. This was also Suotuo City's greatest attraction for passing travelers.

Red-Light Street.

Here, everything could be found, from straw huts that charged three to five Copper Soul Coins a visit to brothels that cost dozens of Gold Soul Coins a night.

Yu Xiaowei was an upright man, so naturally he would not visit such places.

But he had no choice. Red-Light Street lay directly in the most conspicuous path from the city entrance, and if he wanted to return to the Rose Hotel where he was staying, he had to pass through it.

Moreover, although he was only twelve, he was tall and powerfully built. His muscular body did not look like that of a child at all.

So there were always some bold madams throwing flirtatious looks his way.

Whenever that happened, he would quicken his pace, cover his face, and flee in embarrassment.

However, today, he ran into someone he knew here.

"Little girl, where are you going so late?"

"My, my, this place is so remote. Aren't you afraid of running into bad people?"

"Where do you live? Come on, uncle will take you home."

A voice that sounded fairly honest traveled over from afar.

Yet the response it received was a cold shout.

"Get lost!"

Hearing that voice, Yu Xiaowei perked up his ears.

It sounded somewhat familiar, but he could not recall who it was for the moment.

Curious, he looked toward the source of the voice.

In a secluded corner some distance away.

A man in his forties, bare-chested and wearing a pair of floral shorts riddled with holes and flip-flops, was blocking a cold-faced young girl with a lecherous grin.

"Her?"

Yu Xiaowei raised a brow.

Seeing her fiery figure and facial features somewhat similar to Zhu Zhuyun's, he would have to be an idiot not to know who she was.

Zhu Zhuqing.

The little thief who had picked the lock to his room in Silvis City.

Even now, the Soul Tool containing her underwear was still sitting in Yu Xiaowei's Soul Tool.

After hearing Zhu Zhuqing's voice, the middle-aged man did not back off. Instead, his expression became even more lecherous.

"Slurp—"

"What a lovely voice. That figure, that little face~"

His eyes, brimming with vile intent, swept brazenly over Zhu Zhuqing's voluptuous body as he let out waves of obscene laughter.

He slowly closed in on Zhu Zhuqing, placing his right hand on his belt as though he were about to pull it off.

"Little girl, why not come with uncle? Uncle will take you to see goldfish. Big goldfish."

Without another word, Zhu Zhuqing immediately activated Martial Soul Possession. Her hands transformed into sharp claws, which she slashed viciously at the middle-aged man.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're a feisty one. I like that."

The middle-aged man let out a strange cry as four Soul Rings rose beneath his feet.

Two enormous round coverings appeared out of thin air and swiftly wrapped around Zhu Zhuqing from the front and back.

Zhu Zhuqing, subdued in a single move, immediately showed panic on her iceberg-like face.

She had no idea what material this covering was made from, but it was incredibly resilient. Her cat claws could not tear it at all.

The middle-aged man chuckled and lifted the covering, which looked like a huge bundle, with both hands, preparing to leave.

Zhu Zhuqing seemed to realize what was about to happen. Ignoring the drain on her Soul Power, she repeatedly used her Soul Skills to tear at the man's covering.

Once all her struggles proved futile, she bit her lip tightly to stop herself from crying out. Yet tears as large as beans streamed wildly from her eyes.

Just then, an abrupt voice tore through the darkness. Upon hearing it, Zhu Zhuqing's body stiffened.

"Hey, you creepy bastard over there. What kind of skill is bullying a little girl?"

The middle-aged man paused and frowned as he looked over.

Not far away, a tall youth was giving him the middle finger.

"Well, well. There sure are a lot of people looking to die tonight."

The middle-aged man said disdainfully, "You little brat, trying to play the hero and save the beauty? Is your hair even fully grown? Take a look at yourself first. Do you know your own limits?"

Four Soul Rings—white, yellow, purple, purple—rose up, and Soul Power at level 46 radiated the aura of a Soul Ancestor.

His Martial Soul was currently being used to trap Zhu Zhuqing, making it inconvenient to use against an enemy. So he intended to scare Yu Xiaowei away with his Soul Power alone.

"Oh my, a Soul Ancestor? You've scared my little heart into pounding so hard~"

Yu Xiaowei whistled and giggled in a mocking, affected tone.

Seeing how fearless he was, the middle-aged man's expression gradually turned serious. The feeling Yu Xiaowei gave him was becoming more and more unsettling.

It was as if a tyrannosaur stood before him, roaring at him.

Boom—!

Yu Xiaowei stomped down hard. With an explosive crash, shattered stones flew everywhere. His body flashed forward as he drove a fist straight at the middle-aged man's face.

Cruel Hand Destroys Flowers!

Facing Yu Xiaowei's ferocious assault, the middle-aged man could no longer spare any attention for Zhu Zhuqing. He hurriedly unleashed his fourth Soul Skill.

An enormous covering that released vast clouds of pink mist closed in from all directions.

The instant Yu Xiaowei came into contact with the mist, his five senses were swiftly blocked, and he immediately lost all sense of direction.

The soft covering enveloped him. No matter how he threw his punches, a strange force dispersed their power.

"Whew—"

"You scared the hell out of me. Turns out you're just a reckless little brat."

Seeing Yu Xiaowei wrapped inside the covering, the middle-aged man let out a long breath.

Just as he was about to walk toward Zhu Zhuqing, who had collapsed on the ground, a terrifying force suddenly came from within the covering.

He stared over in horror, only to see a savage beast claw violently thrust out from inside. With one burst of strength, it tore the entire covering in half.

A half-human, half-dragon youth stepped out from the covering and looked at him with a savage grin.

"A Control System Soul Master? Not a bad Soul Skill. What a shame, though. It doesn't have enough power."

"You can't even hit someone properly, and you call yourself a lecherous old pervert?"

The middle-aged man hurriedly tried to use another Soul Skill, but his vision blurred, and Yu Xiaowei was already in front of him.

A fierce Tail Whip, carrying the force to tear through the air, smashed brutally into the middle-aged man's right arm. It sent him flying, and he did not stop until he had crashed through several straw huts.

Zhu Zhuqing, weak all over, barely supported herself as she looked at Yu Xiaowei, who had returned to human form. The first thing she said was actually:

"I'll pay you back."

After saying that, she fainted.