The Gluttonous Pouch was a Spatial Artifact, and he planned to give it to Oscar as a gift.
Even that good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang had given Tang San the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night. How could Lan Minghua possibly be inferior to him?
Once he'd decided, he got straight to work, burying himself in the project.
As for the materials, he could just use the most basic substitutes.
It was only a temporary creation, after all. It didn't need to be very good quality.
Oscar bounced back to the dormitory. The moment he opened the door, a large hand grabbed him by the collar.
"Xiao Ao, what were you doing looking for that beggar?" The one gripping his collar was Dai Mubai.
After Ma Hongjun had exaggerated the story, Dai Mubai had come to hate Lan Minghua.
And once he'd recovered, he kept feeling that he wasn't quite as capable in that department as before.
"Boss Dai, I went to ask him to take me as his disciple. Teacher Zhao said himself that my master's strength is no weaker than the Dean's."
Oscar didn't notice the stormy look on Dai Mubai's face. He was still praising Lan Minghua's strength.
Sure enough, when he heard those words, Dai Mubai trembled with rage and hurled Oscar against the wall.
"Oscar, how could you betray us?!"
"Betray you? What did I betray?" Oscar asked, confused.
He'd only become Lan Minghua's disciple. Lan Minghua was a new teacher at Shrek, so how was that a betrayal?
"Hmph! He knocked Boss Dai and me flat in front of everyone and showed us no respect at all. By becoming his disciple, you're betraying us!"
Ma Hongjun finally spoke, still twisting the facts to suit himself.
Dai Mubai nodded slightly, agreeing with Ma Hongjun.
Oscar knew what the two of them were like, and he could tell that Ma Hongjun had misled Dai Mubai.
He immediately called him out. "Fatty, don't you know exactly why my teacher hit you?"
"You couldn't find Cuihua to vent your Evil Fire, and you didn't have money to go pay someone to help you blow off steam, so you started attacking people at random."
"You were lucky you ran into my teacher. If you'd picked a fight with any other Soul Saint, the grass on your grave would already be six feet tall."
Oscar had gotten back early enough to notice that Ma Hongjun hadn't suppressed his Evil Fire.
But that was nothing unusual, so he hadn't paid it any mind.
Although he'd only met Lan Minghua two or three times, he knew Lan Minghua wasn't someone who liked to cause trouble.
On the contrary, Ma Hongjun, who'd been raised on the idea that "not daring to cause trouble makes you a mediocrity," was the one who loved picking fights.
Even without seeing what happened, Oscar could guess most of the story.
After hearing him out, Dai Mubai came to his senses too.
Lan Minghua had humiliated him, but he hadn't actually tried to kill him.
They'd spent every day with Ma Hongjun, so they knew exactly what he was like.
He loved causing trouble, was stubborn as a mule, and was petty, among other things.
Whoever said Ma Hongjun was stupid had it all wrong. He was far too clever.
Dai Mubai glared at Ma Hongjun with a dark expression and asked coldly, "Fatty, care to explain?"
Ma Hongjun fidgeted for a long time, unable to say anything.
Their gazes made him feel like needles were pricking his back. At last, he couldn't hold it in and shouted, "So what?! He shouldn't have messed with me! He's so powerful—couldn't he have just let me off?"
Dai Mubai and Oscar were both speechless.
That man was so powerful, yet he hadn't killed you. That was already generous of him.
Ma Hongjun didn't care. He started throwing a tantrum.
"I don't care! I don't care! Xiao Ao, you're cutting ties with him right now. Otherwise, you're not my brother anymore!"
Dai Mubai fell silent, and it was hard to tell whether he was agreeing or refusing.
He didn't like Lan Minghua either. Today, he'd made Young Master Dai of Suotuo City lose face in front of everyone.
Oscar gave a self-mocking smile. He hadn't expected his brothers, who'd been with him day in and day out, to cut ties with him over something so trivial.
By Lan Minghua's side, he felt his future was bright and that he'd found his path.
Dai Mubai carried himself like a man from a powerful and wealthy family.
Flender had treated Ma Hongjun like his own son since childhood. It was fair to say that Shrek's future belonged to him.
Oscar had also been adopted by Flender when he was young, but as a Support Soul Master, he clearly didn't hold as high a place in Flender's heart as Ma Hongjun did.
The two of them already had bright futures ahead of them. He was the only one with no one to rely on.
Whenever the three of them disagreed, Oscar was always the one who gave in.
He was a Support Soul Master, weak in combat, and had to depend on them.
Thinking of this, Oscar gave another self-mocking smile.
Looking at Ma Hongjun throwing his tantrum, he chose not to give in this time.
He had to think about his own future instead of worrying about that meaningless brotherhood.
"Fatty, if that's how it is, then from now on, we'll each go our own way."
With that, Oscar left without a moment's hesitation.
Ma Hongjun was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected Oscar to be so firm.
Still, he believed that without their help, Oscar wouldn't get far as a Support Soul Master.
"So ungrateful. Once he learns how hard it is, let's see how he begs to come back," Ma Hongjun said with a sneer.
Dai Mubai nodded. He didn't believe Lan Minghua could take Oscar very far, either.
They had no idea that the gap between them would start widening from that moment on.
Lan Minghua had appeared on the dormitory roof at some point.
Watching Oscar's retreating figure, he said calmly, "Looks like my first disciple is determined to grow stronger. In that case, I'll help you surpass them, then."
Oscar ran out of the dormitory and made his way to the river, his face clouded with worry.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
"Handsome, what's wrong? Regretting it? Want to go back and make up with them?"
Oscar turned around and saw that Lan Minghua had appeared behind him at some point.
"Master, how did you know I argued with them?"
Lan Minghua obviously wasn't going to tell him that he'd been eavesdropping. Instead, he said calmly, "My house isn't far from your dormitory. It was easy to hear you."
"Don't dodge the question. Answer me: do you want to go back and make up with them?"
Oscar bit his lip, unable to answer.
A few years of brotherhood with Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun couldn't simply be cast aside.
But this time, they'd gone too far.
Seeing this, Lan Minghua nodded slightly. Oscar was a decent person.
If he were truly so cold and heartless, that would be a bad thing.
So he said, "If you want to go back and make up with them, I won't stop you. Whether you end our master-disciple relationship is up to you."
Lan Minghua didn't want to use their relationship to force Oscar into anything the way Ma Hongjun had.
He wanted to give him a choice and let him decide for himself.
After all, he'd already received the reward. He wasn't going to force Oscar to be his disciple.
Oscar felt a warmth in his heart. He hadn't expected Lan Minghua to understand him better than the brothers who'd been with him day in and day out.
"Whew!"
He took a deep breath, his gaze turning resolute.
"No. They've always looked down on me and thought I couldn't get by without them."
At that, Oscar smiled wryly. "If I hadn't met you, Master, I might really have spent my whole life depending on them."
Lan Minghua knew Oscar wasn't lying. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun really did look down on him.
Among the Shrek Seven Devils, Dai Mubai was the oldest, Oscar was the next oldest, and Tang San was third.
Yet the way they addressed them was very different.
Dai Mubai was Boss Dai, and Tang San was Third Brother.
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