Aging

The next day, the sky gradually brightened. A torrential downpour raged outside, thunder and lightning flashing as everyone stared nervously at Tang San on the bed.

"What's going on? Why isn't Zhao Wuji back yet?" Flander was frantic. Others might not know who Tang San was, but he did!

Tang San's father, Tang Hao, had once visited Shrek Academy. Naturally, he knew Tang San's identity.

If that Haotian Douluo learned what had happened to Tang San, he might just kill him.

Burning with anxiety, he paced back and forth. The rain outside grew heavier and heavier, as oppressive as everyone's mood.

"No, I'll go get it myself!" Flander could wait no longer and was about to head out when Zhao Wuji suddenly appeared in the doorway.

He was soaked through by the rain, carrying an enormous snake in his hand. He held its limp head in a grip, and it was clearly on the verge of death.

"Hehe, I'm back. This snake was too troublesome. It wasn't easy to leave it half-dead."

With Zhao Wuji's strength, killing a Mandala Snake would have been ridiculously easy. The difficult part was keeping it alive.

"Come on, let Little San kill it!"

Handing the Mandala Snake to Yu Xiaogang, Zhao Wuji spoke slowly. The snake was already half-dead. One strike would finish it!

"Alright!" Yu Xiaogang placed the snake beside the bed and looked at Meng Yiran. "I'll leave it to you. The rest of us are leaving!"

There was a trace of reluctance in his eyes as he looked at Meng Yiran, but for Little San's sake, he had no other choice.

Using Dual Cultivation to absorb a Soul Ring would inevitably leave the other person severely injured. Even if they survived, they would lose most of their vitality.

"Everyone, leave the room!"

Everyone left the room, leaving only Meng Yiran behind. Her face could not help but flush.

Taking a deep breath, Meng Yiran looked at Tang San and smiled. "Darling, here I come!"

She slowly removed Tang San's clothes and began Dual Cultivation with him. Through the power of Dual Cultivation, her Soul Power entered Tang San's body, using Tang San's hand to kill the Mandala Snake.

A purple Soul Ring slowly rose into the air. Everything was perfectly normal.

Meng Yiran took a deep breath and began guiding Tang San to absorb the Soul Ring. Everything seemed to be going smoothly as the purple Soul Ring gradually merged into Tang San's body.

Joy rose in her heart. Was it finally about to succeed?

At that moment, a powerful suction force emerged from within Tang San's body, instantly draining away Meng Yiran's Soul Power.

Meng Yiran was startled. Feeling the Soul Power in her body empty out, she hurriedly tried to pull away, but there was no time for that now.

After taking Meng Yiran's Soul Power, Tang San was still not satisfied. His body instinctively began absorbing Meng Yiran's life force.

Visible to the naked eye, Meng Yiran's face slowly aged from that of a young maiden, fine wrinkles appearing across it.

Yet she had no way of knowing any of this. She collapsed unconscious.

Tang San continued absorbing Meng Yiran's life force until her hair had turned gray and her skin had grown slack, only then stopping.

The two of them fell onto the bed together.

Outside, thunder still roared and lightning flashed. It was as if heaven and earth themselves were roaring in rage—over the unwillingness of a young life? Or cheering for the rebirth of the protagonist?

No one knew.

"Today's rain came rather suddenly..." In the Rose Hotel, Long Jie sipped tea while sitting opposite the four girls, chatting with a cheerful smile.

At that moment, Little Wu suddenly had an idea and looked at Long Jie. "Brother, if one day I were dying, and Rong Rong's life was needed to save me, would you be willing to let her sacrifice herself?"

"Hey! Why me? What do you mean, Little Wu?" Ning Rongrong unhappily pinched Little Wu's cheeks. Of all people, why did she have to mention me?

The two immediately began bickering. Their relationship really was wonderful!

Long Jie could not help but smile. "If such a day truly came, I would sacrifice myself to save you!"

"Why?" Little Wu did not understand. There was clearly someone else's life available, so why use his own?

"Because..." Long Jie thought for a moment before answering earnestly, "the only life I have the right to control is my own. I have no right to decide the fate of anyone else's life!"

After saying that, he smiled and rubbed Ning Rongrong's head. "Besides, Rong Rong is so cute. I couldn't bear to do it!"

Both girls froze, neither expecting that answer.

In this world, lives had long been given clear prices. In the eyes of those important figures, lives had value. Other than their own, anyone else's life could be used as a sacrifice.

But Long Jie was different. He was not some important figure, nor would he disregard other people's lives. He was merely an ordinary Chinese who had been born beneath the red flag and raised in the spring breeze.

"So..." Ning Rongrong slapped Long Jie's hand away, her face flushing as she said, "then why are you touching my head?"

"Hahaha... because I like it!" Long Jie said this, and Ning Rongrong's face reddened again. Could it be?

"Because, Rong Rong, you have so much hair, and it's so soft and smooth!" Long Jie rubbed Ning Rongrong's head again, messing it up completely before smiling happily.

It really was stress-relieving.

"What is that supposed to mean!" Ning Rongrong pouted, unhappy inside. What kind of answer was that...

Only Zhu Zhuqing silently glanced at her own dry hair, feeling quietly dejected.

The rain was especially heavy that day, so no one left the Rose Hotel. With nothing else to do, Long Jie and the four girls began playing Big and Small Kings.

With a flicker of Soul Power, Long Jie took out a set of Big and Small Kings cards from his Storage Ring, which he had made when he was six years old. Smiling, he explained the rules to the girls.

The moment the game appeared, Little Wu's eyes lit up. Back then, Sister Little Wu had dominated the Junior Soul Master Academy with this game.

"Come on, come on, Sister Little Wu will teach you!"

The girls were instantly interested. Led by Little Wu and Long Jie, they began playing.

Very soon, an hour later, everyone's faces were covered in slips of paper.

Ning Rongrong's face was covered in paper strips, completely obscuring her features! "Hmph! I'm not playing anymore. This isn't fun!"

She was furious inside. She was clearly a Young Miss, so why could she not even beat them at a game?

Unable to swallow her anger, she slammed the door open and stormed out.

The moment she stepped outside, she ran into Huang Yuan and Tai Long. Seeing her like that, Tai Long jumped in fright. "Is that a ghost?"

"Get lost!" Ning Rongrong angrily kicked him in the stomach, making Tai Long suck in a sharp breath from the pain.

"What did the captain do to Rong Rong?" Huang Yuan watched Ning Rongrong's departing figure in confusion.

Immediately afterward, Zhu Zhuqing and Jiang Zhu also came out with half their faces covered in paper.

The strange appearances of the three girls left the two men utterly baffled. What exactly had the captain done to them?

Could it be?...

Huang Yuan and Tai Long exchanged a knowing grin, then rushed into Long Jie's room.

"Captain, what did you do!"

"Tell us honestly, did you bully them?"

Long Jie, who was slowly peeling the paper strips off his face, froze for a moment. He helplessly held the cards out before them. "Big and Small Kings. Want to join?"

That was right. As a mighty transmigrator and the inventor of Big and Small Kings in this world, Long Jie could not beat Little Wu at all...

Beside him, Little Wu laughed delightedly. Huang Yuan and Tai Long exchanged looks, hesitated for a moment, then actually sat down.

"How do you play?"

Half an hour later, the two left Long Jie's room with their faces covered in white paper strips...