Under Zhao Wuji's leadership, the Shrek group traveled for about two and a half days before finally reaching a small town outside the Star Dou Great Forest.
It was called a town, but in reality it was little more than a rudimentary waystation.
It had no basic infrastructure to speak of, just an inn, a general store, an escort agency, and a horse station.
The inn was where Soul Masters heading to the Star Dou Great Forest could eat, rest, and spend the night.
The general store sold necessities such as insect-repellent powder, rations, and drinking water.
The horse station served as a transfer point for passing carriages.
The escort agency, on the other hand, offered a much wider range of services.
Some Soul Masters traveled without companions, so they hired other Soul Masters through the agency to escort them.
At the same time, the escort agency was also a den for fencing stolen goods. If Soul Masters brought valuable items out of the Star Dou Great Forest, they could sell them to the agency on the spot.
You could think of the escort agency as an outer branch of the Grand Auction House, responsible for gathering goods to be auctioned.
After the people from Shrek Academy reached the small town on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, Zhao Wuji went off alone to patrol the forest's perimeter. Once he had confirmed it was safe, he returned to town.
It was already night when Zhao Wuji returned, so the group went into the inn, planning to feast in style and celebrate before their Soul Hunting expedition.
There were nine people in the Shrek group, so they split into three tables.
Li Luo, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing sat together.
Oscar, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun shared a table.
Tang San and Zhao Wuji sat at the last table.
Dai Mubai had wanted to sit with Zhu Zhuqing, but she had coldly rejected him.
Oscar still harbored fantasies about Ning Rongrong, but she sat right beside Li Luo, giving Oscar no chance at all.
Xiao Wu was quite warmhearted. She pulled Zhu Zhuqing over to join her and Li Luo.
Tang San had wanted to sit with Li Luo too, but their table was already full, so he had to squeeze in with Zhao Wuji instead.
Zhao Wuji felt awkward sitting at the same table as Tang San. After all, Tang Hao had beaten him up not long ago. Zhao Wuji had been looking for a chance to vent his anger on Tang San by making him do extra training. But Tang San was a student at Shrek, and Zhao Wuji was his teacher. Their teacher-student relationship still mattered, so he couldn't actually go too far.
Tang San had no idea about any of this, though. Zhao Wuji was the only one feeling awkward.
"Whoo!"
A whistle rang out. Ma Hongjun had spotted a pretty girl at the neighboring table and was wolf-whistling at her, acting like a lecher.
But the girl at the next table ignored him. She didn't even turn to look.
When he got no response, Ma Hongjun grew bolder and started discussing her with Dai Mubai without bothering to lower his voice.
"Boss Dai, see that girl? She's a real stunner!"
Dai Mubai followed Ma Hongjun's gaze and saw a female student wearing a school uniform. Four large characters were printed on it: Canghui Academy.
They were students from Canghui Academy.
Ma Hongjun had made no effort to hide his words, speaking loudly in front of everyone present.
So naturally, the Canghui Academy students at the next table had heard him and turned to look over.
Dai Mubai saw the Canghui Academy students across from him all looking his way.
His eyes narrowed as he sized them up. Seeing their neat uniforms and relatively sharp, energetic bearing, he sneered and provoked them.
"A bunch of show-offs. What are you so proud of? Canghui Academy? I've never even heard of it. What backwater corner did that no-name academy crawl out of?"
Dai Mubai was acting in accordance with Shrek Academy's outrageous motto: "Those who dare not stir up trouble are good-for-nothings."
He had deliberately picked a fight with Canghui Academy.
Even a clay figurine had a temper. The Canghui Academy students had been insulted for no reason, and they weren't about to take it lying down.
One of the boys carried over a large tray with a steaming hot pot on it, heading toward Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's table.
When he reached Dai Mubai, he tilted his hand, tipping the tray so the scalding broth spilled toward him.
But Dai Mubai sprang aside and dodged the piping-hot pot.
Then he lifted his leg and kicked the boy in the stomach.
The boy took a heavy blow to the gut and went flying backward.
But the hot pot he had been carrying crashed right onto Dai Mubai's table, sending scalding broth splashing everywhere and spattering Ma Hongjun and Oscar.
Ma Hongjun was a fire-type Soul Master, after all, and had a high tolerance for heat. A little hot broth couldn't hurt him.
Oscar was another matter. The broth had been boiling, easily reaching eighty or ninety degrees. It splashed straight onto his skin, and Oscar shot up from his seat, leaping and yelping in pain.
"Yow! Ah!"
The commotion naturally drew everyone's attention, including Li Luo's.
Li Luo only glanced over. He had no interest in getting involved in the bad habits of Shrek Academy's core students.
Ning Rongrong didn't even look. She picked up some food and fed it to Li Luo.
Xiao Wu watched Dai Mubai's table with curiosity. Her combative nature made her itch to join in.
But Li Luo's constant guidance had taught Xiao Wu that Dai Mubai had started the dispute and was in the wrong. So she tamped down her urge to fight and sat quietly in her chair, staying out of it.
Zhu Zhuqing stared at Dai Mubai with undisguised contempt, thinking his troublemaking was incredibly stupid.
Tang San also looked toward Dai Mubai's table. He couldn't understand why Dai Mubai had gone out of his way to provoke students from another academy.
At that moment, Zhao Wuji explained from beside him.
"'Those who dare not stir up trouble are good-for-nothings'—that's Shrek Academy's motto."
Clearly, Zhao Wuji strongly approved of Shrek Academy's motto. He had no problem with Dai Mubai deliberately picking a fight and was even ready to handle the aftermath.
After all, when Zhao Wuji was young, he had been quite the little devil himself. He'd done more than his share of bad things in the Soul Master World. Otherwise, the Soul Master World wouldn't have given him the nickname Immovable Vajra.
But after settling down as a teacher at Shrek Academy, and with plenty of enemies outside, he had learned to rein himself in.
Tang San listened to Zhao Wuji's explanation with a strange look on his face.
Li Luo's constant guidance hadn't made Tang San abandon the ways of the Tang Sect from his previous life, but he had learned to distinguish right from wrong. Besides, he wasn't particularly close to Dai Mubai. There was no need to get dragged into the mess he had caused and wind up covered in trouble himself.
Seeing Dai Mubai act so arrogantly, start a fight, and then dare to bully one of their fellow students, the Canghui Academy students banded together and closed in on him and Ma Hongjun.
At that moment, an ill-timed voice rang out.
"Honored Soul Masters, if you're going to fight, please take it outside. This little shop barely gets by. We really can't afford to have you wrecking the place."
The speaker was an inn attendant. If Dai Mubai and the others started fighting inside, all the guests currently eating would leave. The damage to the premises alone would cost a considerable sum.
He wouldn't dare demand compensation from these Soul Masters. In the end, his employer would surely blame him for the loss.
That was the helpless lot of ordinary people on the Douluo Continent.
Dai Mubai didn't care to bully an ordinary person, so he walked out of the inn, then glanced back at the Canghui Academy students with a taunting look.