His cheeks were swollen badly, and his words came out slurred. Every syllable tugged at his wounds, making sweat bead at his temples, yet he stubbornly kept his neck stiff and didn't let out a single groan.
Ma Hongjun clutched his still-bleeding nose and nodded fiercely. Blood and spit trickled from the corner of his mouth as he said, "Right! Let Teacher Zhao smash that fatty's Heavenly Net Cover with one punch! He dared to steal our money and beat us up like this. We have to make him learn just how powerful Shrek is!"
Oscar lay across Dai Mubai's back, the pain in his lower back making him suck in sharp breaths, but he gritted his teeth and chimed in. "Exactly... Teacher Zhao always stands up for his own... He'll definitely help us get even..."
The three of them supported one another as they staggered toward the academy.
They had just reached the entrance to Shrek Academy when Ning Rongrong appeared on the steps with her arms crossed.
Seeing the three of them battered and bruised, leaning on one another in such a sorry state, Ning Rongrong raised an eyebrow. Her voice was openly mocking. "Well, well, aren't you the three great experts of our academy? How did you end up looking like this after a little outing? Did you try to steal a chicken, only to lose the rice you used as bait and get beaten up?"
She had no goodwill toward Dai Mubai and the others—in fact, she despised them, especially Dai Mubai.
After all, Ning Rongrong still remembered what Dai Mubai had told her before: that he would rape her and then kill her.
She wasn't afraid of Dai Mubai doing such a thing to her, of course. As the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she wasn't some fool.
When she traveled, she always carried something to protect her life.
If Dai Mubai dared lay a hand on her, he'd be turned into a lump of flesh in an instant.
As soon as Ning Rongrong finished speaking, Ma Hongjun flew into a rage. Clutching his bleeding nose, he roared, "What the hell do you know? We were ambushed by a Soul Ancestor! Why don't you try taking him on?"
Ning Rongrong gave a mocking laugh. "A Soul Ancestor? I thought you were talking about someone impressive. You can't even handle a Soul Ancestor, yet you have the nerve to call yourselves students of Shrek?"
"You!" Ma Hongjun was so angry he wanted to charge at her, but Dai Mubai grabbed him and held him back.
Dai Mubai endured the pain in his face and shot Ning Rongrong a cold glance. "Laugh if you want, but stop running your mouth. We're going to find Teacher Zhao. We don't have time to waste on you."
His look made Ning Rongrong falter, but she still refused to back down. "Going to find Teacher Zhao? What, you couldn't win, so now you're looking for someone to hide behind? How impressive."
Oscar lay across Dai Mubai's back, panting through the pain. "Y-you don't have to say that... That guy's Heavenly Net Cover... We couldn't break it at all..."
"If you couldn't break it, couldn't you think of another way?" Ning Rongrong said, crossing her arms. "You're nothing but a bunch of idiots who only know how to meet force with force."
Dai Mubai ignored her. Supporting Ma Hongjun, he headed straight for Zhao Wuji's residence.
Watching their backs, Ning Rongrong curled her lip. "Hmph. You deserved it."
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
Xu Yuan and his group traveled with Liu Erlong by carriage, heading for Star Dou Forest.
Liu Erlong sat at the front of the carriage, playing with her whip as her gaze swept over the seven people inside. "Star Dou Forest is nothing like the academy. The Soul Beasts there won't follow any rules. For the first three days, we'll stay near the outskirts and get familiar with the surroundings. Then, for the next five days, we'll venture into the middle region and work on our tactics."
Xu Yuan and the others nodded to show they understood.
Xiao Wu was deeply conflicted. She didn't want to kill Soul Beasts, after all—they were her kin.
Noticing Xiao Wu's subtle expression, Xu Yuan chuckled to himself.
The Soul Beasts' biggest problem had always been that, aside from the Silver Dragon King and Golden Dragon King, they had no god-level combatants.
They also took far too long to grow, leaving them completely outmatched by humans.
If Artificial Soul Ring technology were developed, the number of Soul Beast casualties would fall considerably.
But the best solution would still be to do what happened later—to take a group of Soul Beasts to another plane and develop there.
Humans could never coexist peacefully with Soul Beasts. As the saying went, "Those who are not of our kind must have a different heart." Besides, humans couldn't even live peacefully among themselves.
But... what the hell did any of that have to do with him right now?
He wasn't a Soul Beast. Why should he care so much about whether they lived or died?
Even Gu Yuena, the Soul Beast Master in Douluo III, hadn't cared all that much about the Soul Beasts. She spent every day dating Tang Wulin.
Everyone knew that the Gu Yuena in the original story and the Gu Yuena in fanfiction were two different people.
A friend of his had gotten to know Gu Yuena through his eternal sex buddy and had fallen completely for her. Then he went and read Douluo III, and his faith in life was shattered on the spot.
After transmigrating to Douluo Continent, he had already prepared himself for all the ridiculous things that might happen in the future.
God King Tang San had already become his Martial Soul. What could possibly be more absurd?
It wasn't as if he'd end up sleeping with his own teacher.
Just thinking about it was ridiculous. Liu Erlong loved Yu Xiaogang so much, and the age gap between her and Xu Yuan was so huge. There was no way the two of them could ever get together.
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, God King Tang San began pondering how he could reclaim his source from Liu Erlong.
A few days later, the carriage rolled into a small town not far from Star Dou Forest.
The carriage stopped outside an inn. Liu Erlong climbed down first, and the others followed one after another.
After they entered the inn, Liu Erlong booked a room for everyone.
Once she had finished booking the rooms, Liu Erlong led everyone to a table in the dining hall and ordered some food.
The dining hall was filled with the aroma of food, and the wooden tables had been polished bright by countless passing guests.
Liu Erlong ordered a large spread of meat and vegetables. A braised pork knuckle steamed on the table, tenderly stewed Soul Beast meat gave off a rich, savory aroma, and Xiao Wu had already taken a bite of the crisp greens as soon as they were served.
"Slow down. No one's going to steal it from you." Zhu Zhuqing wiped a speck of grease from the corner of her mouth with a helpless smile, then put a piece of beast meat into her own mouth.
There was a hint of ease in her eyes. After days on the road, a hot meal was a rare treat.
Tailong bent over his rice, chewing every mouthful with unusual force, as if venting his exhaustion.
He glanced at Xu Yuan across from him, who was eating at a leisurely pace.
"I'm exhausted. I'm going to eat until I burst!"
Just then, a voice complaining came from outside.
Xu Yuan heard it and looked toward the entrance.
He saw Tang San and the others entering the inn.
Tang San walked at the front. He had black hair and black eyes, and the pimples on his face seemed to have faded a little. His expression was still indifferent, but his gaze paused briefly on Xu Yuan's table before he calmly looked away.
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar followed behind him. Most of the injuries on their faces had healed, but their brows still held a trace of gloom.
When Dai Mubai saw Xu Yuan, his eyes narrowed with a complicated look. The beating he'd taken in Drunk Spring Alley had only made his desire for strength burn stronger.
Now, seeing how steady Xu Yuan and the others seemed, he felt an even greater urge to prove himself.
As soon as Ma Hongjun entered, the aroma of the food in the dining hall made him swallow hungrily. He called out, "Teacher Zhao, I want braised pork knuckle! And that roasted Soul Beast leg, too!"
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