The sudden interruption sent the once-heated atmosphere plummeting to freezing point.
Oscar's face, which had been full of anticipation, instantly darkened.
His chance at success had been right within reach, and now someone had ruined it. Anger flared up inside him in an instant.
He whipped around, glaring at the stranger who didn't know what was good for him.
"Where'd you crawl out from, you nobody?"
"I'm confessing to the person I like. What's it to you?"
Gu Qing withdrew his hand and brushed at nonexistent dust on his palm.
Faced with the other man's fury, the smile on his face only grew deeper.
"Nothing much. I just can't stand seeing people get pushed around."
"I saw injustice on the road, so I drew my blade to help. That's all."
Hearing such a flimsy excuse, Oscar was enraged.
He sprang to his feet, not even bothering with the flower lantern in his hand.
"Quite the hero, aren't you!"
Oscar puffed out his chest, flaunting the confidence he had as a Soul Master.
"Open your damn eyes and look! We're the monsters of Shrek Academy!"
"If you know what's good for you, get lost—far away from here!"
"Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens!"
Dai Mubai and Tang San, standing not far away, also frowned deeply. Soul Power was already stirring faintly around them.
They were ready to step in at any moment and stand up for their brother.
Yet faced with Oscar's threat, Gu Qing didn't retreat a single step. Instead, he pressed a little closer.
He regarded the youths before him, who called themselves monsters, with a calm gaze.
His tone was as casual as if he were remarking on how nice the moon looked tonight.
"Shrek Academy?"
"Then that Fatty who crawled back like a dog must be one of your cronies?"
At those words, the entire crowd fell silent.
Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Qing met their startled gazes and dropped a bombshell.
"I forgot to introduce myself."
"I'm the one who crippled that fatty."
His words struck like thunder out of a clear sky.
The arrogance froze on Oscar's face. He jumped in fright, his legs retreating a step before he could stop them.
His pupils contracted violently, and he looked at Gu Qing as though he were a demon.
The sight of Ma Hongjun's pitiful state that morning was still fresh in everyone's mind.
His meridians had been shattered and his bloodline stripped away. Even Dean Flender had been powerless to help.
The mysterious, ruthless culprit was actually this smiling young man standing right before them!
It wasn't just Oscar. Dai Mubai and Tang San, who had been about to step in, also stopped in their tracks.
They exchanged glances, and each saw the deep wariness in the other's eyes.
The onlookers who had been egging them on were even more frightened by the mention of the attack. They shrank back one after another.
They were afraid of getting caught up in the trouble.
Gu Qing paid no heed to the Shrek students' fear.
He tilted his head slightly and looked toward Ning Rongrong, who stood nearby at a loss.
His voice softened, but it carried a reassuring confidence.
"You don't have to say yes if you don't want to."
"No one in this world can force you to do something you don't like."
With Gu Qing's words backing her up, and after seeing the absolute strength he had just displayed, Ning Rongrong took a deep breath. A surge of courage rose within her.
At last, she lifted her head and looked calmly at Oscar.
All her earlier doubts and misgivings were gone.
"I'm sorry."
Ning Rongrong's voice rang out, clear and sweet, yet resolute as a nail driven into wood.
"We're not right for each other."
She paused briefly, then laid bare the truth in her heart.
"There's too great a gap between us. Whether it's our family backgrounds or our futures, we're on different paths."
"From now on, let's just be ordinary classmates."
Those few words stabbed into Oscar's heart like knives.
He stood there, stunned, his face instantly flushing crimson.
A collective gasp rose from the crowd.
The people who had been shouting and egging him on just moments ago now looked at Oscar differently.
Their pointing fingers and hushed, mocking laughter made him seem like a clown, desperately performing onstage only to be rejected.
A wave of humiliation engulfed Oscar.
His eyes grew bloodshot with mortification and rage.
Hearing Ning Rongrong say they should "just be ordinary classmates," Oscar froze in place.
The onlookers burst into laughter.
He'd never been so thoroughly humiliated in his life!
If he slunk away with his tail between his legs, how could he ever show his face in Heaven Dou Imperial Capital again?
Overcome by rage, Oscar lost all reason.
Soul Power churned wildly within him.
"I Have a Big Sausage!"
He shouted an extremely vulgar incantation.
Immediately afterward, a steaming big sausage appeared in his right hand.
Oscar's eyes were bloodshot as he glared savagely at Gu Qing.
Every bit of humiliation he had suffered today was this man's fault!
He suddenly swung his right arm.
With all his strength, he hurled the Big Sausage at Gu Qing's face like a Hidden Weapon.
His movements were utterly crude.
He wasn't really trying to hurt anyone. He just wanted to create chaos in the crowd.
Once everything descended into confusion, he could slip away through the crowd.
The sausage whistled through the air toward Gu Qing.
Gu Qing stood where he was, without so much as a sway.
He regarded the oncoming sausage with nothing but contempt.
He didn't even raise an eyebrow.
He slowly lifted his right hand.
Then gave a casual wave toward the air.
The gesture was as effortless as shooing away an annoying fly.
The instant he waved his hand—
Several strands of dark light surged from his palm.
They were his Dark Blue Silver Grass.
The moment the vines appeared, they surged with the wind, growing several meters long in an instant.
They twisted and coiled through the air at high speed, transforming into a thick whip of vines.
A sharp crack rang out.
The vine whip lashed through the air with a piercing whistle.
It struck the flying Big Sausage with pinpoint accuracy.
The sausage couldn't withstand that terrifying force.
It was instantly smashed to bits.
Crumbs and powder fluttered down all over the ground.
But that was only the beginning.
After shattering the sausage, the vine whip lost none of its momentum.
Like a venomous serpent darting from its lair,
it cut across the air in a streak of black.
With a terrifying rush of wind, it lashed straight toward Oscar, who stood some distance away.
Oscar's eyes widened.
He didn't have time to react, much less dodge.
The vine whip struck him squarely.
"Argh—!"
A piercing scream split the long street of the Lantern Festival.
Oscar looked as if he'd been struck by a heavy hammer.
His feet left the ground, and he flew backward.
He traced an incredibly awkward arc through the air.
Finally, he crashed onto the stone road more than ten meters away.
Dust billowed into the air.
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