Let Me Show You Some Color, Zhu Zhuqing's Inner Turmoil

The innkeeper kept searching beneath the counter.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

He sprang to his feet.

"Let me show you some color!"

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu were both ready to use Martial Soul Possession at any moment.

Even Ye Fan was prepared to shield Xiao Wu in front of him.

The innkeeper strode up to Ye Fan, holding something in his hand.

He suddenly spread his hand open, revealing a red card.

"Look, what color is this?"

The three of them stared at it in confusion.

In the end, Xiao Wu could not hold back any longer.

"Red?"

"That's right, red."

"All right, you've seen the color."

"I won't delay the three of you from checking in any longer."

Without hesitation, the innkeeper quickly retreated behind the counter.

He really did show me some color.

Ye Fan chuckled inwardly.

As expected of the system. There was no way it could be wrong.

Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to stay here.

Since the matter here had been resolved, there was no need to change locations.

A new place might bring new trouble.

Ye Fan and Xiao Wu slowly followed Zhu Zhuqing upstairs.

Zhu Zhuqing stopped at the door to her room.

She suddenly turned around and fixed Ye Fan with an icy stare.

"Why are you following me?"

Her first thought was that Ye Fan was in league with the innkeeper.

Both were the sort of people harboring improper designs toward her.

"Who's following you?"

"Move aside."

Ye Fan rolled his eyes.

He stepped forward, casually pushed Zhu Zhuqing to the side, and entered the room next door.

Xiao Wu also snorted and followed him inside.

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Zhu Zhuqing blankly stared at the neighboring door. Only after a long while did she finally enter her own room.

Back in the room,

Ye Fan began quietly cultivating.

Xiao Wu, meanwhile, hugged Ye Fan as she slept.

Late that night,

while Ye Fan was cultivating,

someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Ye Fan frowned and pushed Xiao Wu aside.

"Who is it?"

No one answered.

Ye Fan casually summoned several defensive plants as a precaution before opening the door.

The person knocking on his door was none other than

Zhu Zhuqing.

There was even a forced smile on her face.

"Do you need something?"

"I wanted to properly thank you for what happened today..."

"No need."

The door immediately slammed shut.

Zhu Zhuqing had spent half the night tangled up in her thoughts before finally gathering the courage to knock on his door, intending to thank him and apologize for her earlier suspicions.

But before she could finish organizing her words, the door had been shut.

She was dumbfounded.

This was the first time in her life she had encountered someone like this.

In the end, she did not dare knock again and turned back to her room.

She lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Inner turmoil. Utterly exhausting inner turmoil.

And tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Early the next morning,

Ye Fan and Xiao Wu left the inn where they had stayed for two days.

They exited Suotuo City through the South City Gate and headed toward their destination.

"Fan Ge, do you know where Shrek Academy is?"

After leaving Suotuo City and following the road south, they found vast stretches of farmland lining both sides of the official road. Suotuo City's reputation as the Balak Kingdom's granary was certainly well deserved.

Yet apart from the sprawling fields, as far as the eye could see,

there was not a single building that looked like an academy.

"Just keep walking. We'll see it eventually."

Ye Fan smiled but said nothing more.

They continued down the road through the fields, and a small village soon appeared before them.

Above the wooden archway at the village entrance hung a battered plaque.

The worn-out words "Shrek Academy" were written on it.

Before those five words was a green head-shaped emblem that looked like the head of some humanoid monster.

An antique-looking table stood at the village entrance.

Behind it sat an old man in his sixties.

The old man handled registration for the long line of applicants in front of him.

Ye Fan silently thought that this man should be Li Yusong, a Soul Emperor-level expert.

Xiao Wu frowned. "Fan Ge, this is the Shrek Academy you came for? It's way too run-down."

"It's not even a third the size of Notting College."

But seeing that Ye Fan had no intention of leaving, Xiao Wu immediately changed her tune.

"If it were merely shabby, I wouldn't care to go in. But it's this shabby, so I absolutely have to see what's going on."

The line of over a hundred people looked long, but registration moved quickly.

Ye Fan scanned the crowd and spotted Tang San around the middle of the line.

A young man stepped up to the desk to register.

Li Yusong said lazily,

"The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Just put them in that box."

The young man's father hurriedly took out ten Gold Soul Coins and placed them in the box made from several nailed-together wooden boards.

"Hold out one hand."

The young man did as he was told and extended his hand toward Li Yusong.

Li Yusong squeezed it twice, then shook his head at him.

"You don't meet the age requirement. You can leave."

His father quickly forced a smile.

"Teacher, my son only just turned thirteen. Could you perhaps make an exception?"

Li Yusong said somewhat impatiently,

"Don't hold up the people behind you. Don't you know the academy's rules? We only accept children under thirteen."

"Anyone over thirteen will not be accepted. You can leave."

The young man's father hesitated.

"Then our registration fee..."

Li Yusong said bluntly, "Once registered, no refunds."

The young man's father could not help but snap,

"What kind of lousy academy is this? You're clearly scamming people out of money!"

"Give us back our registration fee!"

Li Yusong lazily called out, "Mubai, handle this."

A figure suddenly sprang up from the ground nearby.

"You want your registration fee back? Fine. Beat me, and you'll get every coin back."

This person was Dai Mubai. Since he had been sitting off to the side and blocked by the crowd earlier, Ye Fan had not seen him.

Compared to when Ye Fan had met him that day,

Dai Mubai now looked somewhat helpless.

Two yellow and one purple soul rings rose and fell beneath his feet. A wave of pressure descended upon the father and son demanding their registration fee back.

"Beat me, and you'll get every coin back!"

"Bad luck!"

The father and son left behind those words and quickly ran away.

After that display, more than half of the people still waiting in line immediately left, and it was soon Tang San's turn.

Dai Mubai finally noticed Tang San as well.

A faint smile appeared on his cool face.

He nodded at them, then pointed at the old man.

Spreading his hands, he made a helpless expression.

After their battle, Dai Mubai naturally knew Tang San's purpose.

Dai Mubai very much hoped Tang San could enter the academy. It would make sparring with him much easier in the future.