Gossip Hao

Before Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao could respond, Zhou Yi transformed into a streak of black light and shot away again. Huo Yuhao retracted his soul ring into his body. In just half a minute, Zhou Yi had already left the range of his Spiritual Detection.

There was no point in keeping his martial soul active except to waste Soul Power.

"Yuhao, did you remember what I just told you?" Xu Jie looked in the direction Zhou Yi had left, somewhat worried.

"Mm, I remembered." Huo Yuhao nodded. This sort of thing was already second nature to him.

Bang!

An explosion sounded from the direction Zhou Yi had gone, and concern appeared on both Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao's faces.

Although they knew that the black-robed man Zhou Yi was pursuing was now merely a moving corpse, and even his martial soul had been torn away by Electrolux and made into a staff.

It could be said that, let alone Zhou Yi, who already had six rings, even Dugu Lu could deal with that black-robed man alone.

Still, they had to put on a show!

Sure enough, just as Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao expected, Zhou Yi reappeared before them a short while later.

"Foolish! The moment you discover an Evil Soul Master, you should report it to the academy immediately, not track them on your own! This time, you were lucky not to have been discovered." Zhou Yi's tone was stern. She was clearly very dissatisfied with Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao's rash pursuit.

"Sorry, Teacher Zhou. We know we were wrong. There won't be a next time." Knowing Zhou Yi's temper, Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao naturally would not stubbornly resist like Wu Feng. They immediately admitted their mistake obediently.

"Hmph. Let it go this time. If there's a next time, you'll train properly behind me for a month." Zhou Yi's tone remained severe, and her icy expression did not soften because of their apology.

"Now, tell me exactly what happened."

Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao immediately took turns recounting everything from the moment they separated from Dugu Lu. Nearly every word was true, save for the man whom Huo Yuhao had turned into an idiot with Soul Shock, whom they naturally left out.

They also omitted the part where Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao had been discovered. Instead, they said that the two of them had stayed hidden in the grass at the side and had not been noticed by the black-robed man, remaining concealed until Zhou Yi found them.

"Mm. You two at least knew your limits and didn't recklessly rush up to fight the Evil Soul Master directly." Zhou Yi nodded after hearing their account. What they said did indeed match what Dugu Lu and she herself had seen. It seemed the two had not lied.

"Let's go back first." As she spoke, she stretched out both hands and grabbed Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao by their collars.

"Teacher Zhou, what is this?" Huo Yuhao was bewildered as his collar was seized, while Xu Jie beside him was already used to it.

The familiar sound of metal folding rang out. Like she was carrying two chicks, Zhou Yi gripped one in each hand and shot straight toward Shrek City.

"Damn..." The fierce wind poured into his mouth. Experiencing flight for the first time, Huo Yuhao subconsciously activated his martial soul. Fortunately, he adapted quickly. Before he could even admire the view from the air, he was drawn to the Flying Soul Guidance Device on Zhou Yi's back.

Eh? This was a Class 7 Flying Soul Guidance Device, but why was it so exquisitely made? It shouldn't be.

After three months in the Soul Guidance Department, Huo Yuhao had absorbed quite a bit of knowledge about soul guidance devices. In particular, having inherited Xu Jie's combat philosophy that even if you could not beat your enemy, you still had to be able to outrun them.

Of all the different soul guidance devices, the ones he understood best were Flying Soul Guidance Devices. Driven by curiosity, Huo Yuhao began carefully examining the device on Zhou Yi's back.

Wait, this style looked so familiar. This was Teacher Fan's style.

Soul Engineers were still human, and humans had their own habits. Once they formed habits, the soul guidance devices they made would bear traces unique to their creators.

Many soul guidance device appraisers relied on the subtle traces left on a device to identify its maker. These appraisers only gradually developed such skill through years of experience.

But Huo Yuhao, who possessed Spiritual Detection, was different. He was a born appraiser. Whether it was soul guidance devices or anything else that could be appraised, after only a brief period of study, Huo Yuhao could appraise all things.

Thud!

They landed before the eastern gate. Zhou Yi brought Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao down, then turned to look at Huo Yuhao, whose expression had become strange. Confusion filled her heart.

What was wrong with this child? Logically speaking, a short flight should not have any side effects. Why did he look so strange? Xu Jie beside him looked perfectly normal.

Suppressing her doubts, Zhou Yi stepped through Shrek City's eastern gate.

"Brother Jie, I found out that Teacher Zhou and Teacher Fan seem to be in that kind of relationship." Walking behind her, Huo Yuhao lightly tugged at Xu Jie's sleeve and whispered.

"Exactly." Xu Jie, who knew the original story, naturally understood the relationship between Zhou Yi and Fan Yu, and he replied in an equally low voice.

"Really? But their age gap is way too big." Huo Yuhao could not help but feel shocked. He had never expected the usually quiet Teacher Fan to like older women.

"Yuhao, use Spiritual Detection to look at Teacher Zhou's face." Having grown up practically inseparable from Huo Yuhao, Xu Jie naturally understood what Huo Yuhao was thinking when he saw his shocked expression. He immediately gave Huo Yuhao a terrible suggestion.

"Is that really okay?" Huo Yuhao glanced guiltily at Zhou Yi, clearly tempted.

"You decide for yourself." Xu Jie glanced at the tempted Huo Yuhao and immediately moved some distance away from him.

Whoosh!

A breeze swept past. Zhou Yi, walking at the very front, suddenly stopped and looked around.

"Teacher Zhou, what's wrong?" Huo Yuhao, standing behind her with a calm face and steady heartbeat, asked innocently as he looked at Zhou Yi, who had suddenly stopped.

"Nothing." Zhou Yi shook her head.

Why did she suddenly feel as if someone was watching her? Was it just her imagination? Unable to find the soul master peeping at her, Zhou Yi did not dwell on it and continued leading Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao toward the academy.

Seeing that he had not been discovered, Huo Yuhao behind her immediately let out two breaths of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness. Teacher Zhou hadn't noticed. Still, Teacher Fan's taste wasn't bad at all.

"Brother Jie, why do you think Teacher Zhou wears a mask?" Huo Yuhao moved back beside Xu Jie and continued whispering.

"Could it be because Teacher Zhou's original appearance isn't intimidating enough?" Xu Jie whispered back.

"That makes sense." Huo Yuhao imagined Teacher Zhou speaking with the face he had just detected. It really did not seem very intimidating. "But Brother Jie, how did you know Teacher Zhou was wearing a mask?"

"Look at Teacher Zhou's hands." Xu Jie pointed at Zhou Yi's bare hands.

Huo Yuhao looked at Zhou Yi's delicate hands and understood how Xu Jie had figured out what was going on with her.