Ning Rongrong: Scarface, go after Ma Hongjun! Shrek is confused: Where did Fatty go?

"Little San, you're going alone?"

Flender asked with concern.

"The guards there are strict, and we didn't exactly part on good terms with the royal family."

"I can't worry about that anymore."

A flash of determination crossed Tang San's eyes.

"Even if I have to beg, I must bring Ye Lingling here. If the Shrek Seven Devils fall apart right here, that would be the real joke."

Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong walked along the cold, gloomy streets of Heaven Dou City.

Feeling the faint, lingering gazes of passersby through her mask, the distortion in her heart grew more intense.

"Save him? Heh..."

Ning Rongrong let out a low, crazed sneer, her fingernails digging deep into the flesh of her palms.

"Ma Hongjun, you caused me to be disfigured, and you still expect me to beg others to save you? I want to watch as your meridians are burned dry by your Evil Fire bit by bit, and watch you turn into a complete and utter cripple! Only when you are ten thousand times more miserable than me will the fire in my heart be slightly appeased..."

Ning Rongrong's eyes were cold and sinister:

"Huang Yan, I can't afford to provoke you, but I can watch as everyone around me goes to hell because of you! I will settle this debt with everyone, slowly!"

Heaven Dou City, Seven Treasure Pavilion.

Ning Rongrong avoided the core members of her sect and walked straight into this property.

She lowered her mask and slammed a crystal-clear token onto the table.

"Young Miss? Why are you dressed like this..."

The pavilion master was terrified out of his wits once he saw the token.

"Cut the nonsense, and don't notify my father, or I'll tear this pavilion down."

Ning Rongrong's voice was hoarse.

"Do two things for me. First, find an agility-type Soul Saint to go to that inn in the south of the city tonight and capture someone. Second, find me a thug—the more perverted, the better."

The pavilion master was stunned, cold sweat streaming down his face:

"Young Miss, this... what do you need a thug for?"

"Isn't that fat pig Ma Hongjun suffering from Evil Fire?"

Ning Rongrong let out a series of bone-chilling, low laughs.

Half an hour later, a bald man with a face full of flesh and a scar was brought into the side hall.

"Heh heh, what are your orders, noble lady?"

The bald Scarface rubbed his hands together, his eyes lecherous.

"As long as it's this kind of 'refined business,' this humble one is the most proficient."

Ning Rongrong glanced at him with disgust and said coldly:

"A fat man will be sent to you tonight. He has a heavy case of Evil Fire, so you must 'serve' him well. Don't let him die, understand?"

"Understood, understood! This humble one will make sure he's in heaven."

The bald man grinned from ear to ear.

Night fell over the inn where the Shrek group was staying.

Tang San had already departed for the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, while Dai Mubai and Oscar were dozing off in the next room.

A black shadow, like a ghost, slipped through the window crack into Ma Hongjun's room.

"Mmph--!"

Ma Hongjun, who was still screaming in his coma, had his voice instantly sealed by a surge of powerful soul power.

He was then hoisted up like a sack by the dark shadow and vanished into the night.

Ning Rongrong stood on a distant pavilion, watching the shadow depart, her fingers gently stroking her cold mask.

"Ma Hongjun, enjoy yourself.

When you return tomorrow, I want to see if you still have the face to stand there and sneer..."

Heaven Dou City, in a dim cellar in the south of the city.

Ma Hongjun was roughly thrown onto the straw-covered floor.

The charred scars all over his body emitted a foul stench in the damp air.

The technique used to seal his soul power had not been undone, making it difficult for him to even move a finger; he could only let out muffled whimpers.

"Heh heh, awake?"

Scarface squatted down, his rough palm patting Ma Hongjun's swollen face.

Behind him stood two other men with shifty eyes, their gazes filled with excitement.

"Mm... mm-mm!"

Ma Hongjun's pupils constricted, and he tried desperately to shrink back, but his body refused to obey.

"The noble one said your Evil Fire is heavy, so you must be 'served' well."

Heaven Dou Royal Academy, VIP reception room.

Tang San sat upright in the guest chair, while Ye Lingling opposite him listened to his purpose without expression, then gently shook her head.

"Mr. Tang, the Nine Heart Begonia lineage never participates in outside disputes.

My father has been in seclusion for three years and does not concern himself with worldly affairs."

"Miss Ye, I am willing to trade hidden weapon blueprints and century-old medicinal herbs.

As long as you save his life, you may name your conditions."

Tang San's hand gripping the teacup tightened slightly.

Ye Lingling glanced at him for a moment, her tone as flat as if she were discussing the weather:

"Your companion is suffering from Ultimate Fire.

Even if the Nine Heart Begonia can repair meridians, a destroyed root of life cannot be regrown.

Even if saved, he will be a cripple."

"That is still better than him being dead!"

Tang San stood up abruptly.

"Besides, your Ye Family has always had a friendship with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Rongrong, she..."

"Ning Rongrong?"

Ye Lingling interrupted him, a trace of mockery flashing in her eyes.

"If she truly had some business, she should have come to beg me herself.

Yet you, an outsider, are sticking your neck out for her?"

Tang San was left speechless.

Ye Lingling picked up her teacup, signaling the end of the visit:

"Mr. Tang, I advise you to save your energy.

What your 'partner' needs right now is not a doctor, but... never mind, go back and see for yourself."

With that, she rose and left the room, leaving Tang San frozen in place.

South City Inn, early morning.

Dai Mubai was startled awake by a frantic knocking at his door.

Pushing open the door to rush into Ma Hongjun's room, he saw only an empty bed and a half-open window.

"Where is Fatty?!"

Oscar's face was deathly pale as he pointed to the bloodstains remaining on the bed:

"I, I don't know... I was half-asleep and thought I heard a commotion, but when I came to look..."

"Damn it!"

Dai Mubai punched the wall, cracking it, his evil eyes filled with rage.

"Teacher Zhao!

Dean Flender!"

Flender stumbled in, and upon seeing the empty bed, the color drained from his aged face in an instant:

"Hongjun... Hongjun was abducted?

This, how is this possible?

I clearly set up a defensive Soul Tool..."

"Dean, did that piece of junk of yours even make a sound?"

Dai Mubai asked coldly.

Flender opened his mouth, but was left speechless.

Zhao Wuji poked his head out of the window and said in a deep voice:

"The opponent is at least a Soul Saint; their methods were clean, leaving behind no traces of soul power.

At this point, I'm afraid it's already too late to give chase."