After listening to Zhang Lexuan's guilt-ridden confession, Lin Yun still couldn't help speaking up after a long while.
"How is this your fault, Senior Sister? Put kindly, it was a natural disaster. Put less kindly, the teacher leading the group was negligent, wasn't he?"
Zhang Lexuan shook her head and said earnestly,
"It wasn't Xuan Zi's fault. We can't guarantee that someone will always be there to protect us every time we enter the forest, so we can't leave everything to the people protecting us from the shadows."
"Besides, Elder Xuan has suffered enough. As a man, you should understand even better that when you can no longer pursue certain things in life, you start chasing after other desires. It's like how a blind person's hearing becomes sharper."
Lin Yun said,
"Wasn't that because he chose it himself? He didn't do it when he was young, and now that he's too old to do it, he eats and drinks to excess and lets it get in the way of important matters. Though, taking care of himself is fine, but he doesn't have to be both self-reliant and grateful for it, does he?"
Zhang Lexuan glanced at Lin Yun and said,
"At the very least, I'm grateful to the Academy. After all, the Academy helped me avenge my great hatred. I should repay it properly before anything else."
Lin Yun nodded and said casually,
"I can understand that. As long as you're not forcing anyone to help you fulfill those desires, it's your freedom. Even if you've imprisoned yourself deeply, you still have that freedom."
Zhang Lexuan paused and said nothing more. She simply sat cross-legged in the carriage and quietly circulated her Soul Power to recover from her injuries.
After all, the journey had been a little too much for her.
Back at Shrek Academy, Lin Yun slipped into character in an instant. He took a deep breath, stretched, and spoke to the air.
"Back at Shrek Academy, even the air tastes sweet."
He looked utterly sincere in his devotion to Shrek Academy, enough to move anyone.
In truth, he had nothing to do with Shrek Academy at all. It was simply that Flying Star City had been saturated with the stench of the dead. It was like leaving a foggy city and finding that the air in any little village tasted sweet.
By the time Lin Yun returned to Shrek Academy, most of the freshman class's hazing was over. The biggest change was that Zhou Yi had expelled more than a dozen students. In her words, "These people are impossible to manage. There's nothing I can teach them."
That was what happened when an incompetent teacher ruined everything. Pair any student with a useless teacher and the whole thing was doomed.
Huo Yuhao's relationship with Wang Dong was terrible this time, which had surprised Lin Yun. According to Wang Dong, the conflict between the two mostly came down to their habits.
Wang Dong liked to sleep, and Zhou Yi's training was intense. On top of that, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm inside Huo Yuhao hadn't clashed with Electrolux this time, so both of them had conserved their energy.
That left Huo Yuhao with plenty of Soul Power and spiritual power to complete the training on his own. Without that extra factor, Wang Dong sometimes got so tired from training that she fell asleep and snored.
The snoring was like an ambush with no way to predict when the attack would come. It seriously hampered Huo Yuhao's cultivation, so naturally, he wouldn't give Wang Dong a friendly look.
Wang Dong had never put up with that kind of crap before. She was just as sharp-tongued, and she hit Huo Yuhao where it hurt. Then they got into another fight.
Wang Dong had made her way into Lin Yun's dorm room and, while he was away, had taken over his bed.
When Lin Yun returned to the dorm, he saw a figure sprawled openly across the bed where he usually kept his luggage, her two snow-white feet swinging up and down.
After a "friendly exchange," Lin Yun scrutinized Wang Dong and said,
"You can move in, and you can snore. But everyone cleans up after themselves. Neither of us gives the other a hard time. Got it?"
This time, Wang Dong didn't argue with Lin Yun. She seemed to understand that sharing a room with him was her best option right now, since there was no way she could beat him. She immediately smiled and said,
"Of course, of course. When in Rome, right? I know the rules, I know!"
Lin Yun sighed and said helplessly,
"Look at you. If you'd been this well-behaved from the start, you wouldn't have had to change dorms, would you?"
Wang Dong hesitated before saying,
"Actually, there was a reason I changed rooms. I've always felt there was something about Huo Yuhao. How should I put it? When we're alone together, there's an aura about him that makes me uncomfortable, like his mental field or something is oppressive."
Lin Yun looked out the window and said,
"If you had to eat steamed buns made from flour mixed with sand and rice husks every day, and a plain white-flour flatbread was such a luxury that you'd thank your benefactor for it as if it were New Year's, you might be even more miserable than he is."
Wang Dong was taken aback, then looked out the window and said,
"You're not wrong, but I didn't cause any of that. What's with giving me the cold shoulder?"
Lin Yun took a deep breath.
"Anyway, you already beat him up, so let's call it even. You still have to study and live together. Even if you changed rooms, wouldn't you still see him when you leave your room or in class? You can't kill him, can you?"
Lin Yun's last question made Wang Dong shiver. Lin Yun turned around and said,
"Could you do me a favor? If it works out, I'll sweep the floor for a week."
"Deal!"
Wang Dong immediately agreed, patting her chest as she said,
"I'll do whatever I can."
Lin Yun said,
"Use your family's connections to investigate someone. No, two people."
Half a month later, Wang Dong returned to the dorm, her face livid with anger. Lin Yun asked in confusion,
"What happened?"
Wang Dong handed him the files she was holding and said,
"Everything you asked me to investigate is in here. A servant who betrays their master is the worst kind of scum!"
Lin Yun read through the files. The events back then were almost exactly as Chu Zhengzhang had described. The only difference was that Chu Zhengzhang's mother hadn't actually taken her own life. Her tendons had been severed in all four limbs, and she had been placed under house arrest.
As for what they kept her under house arrest for, well, everyone could guess.
That was even more depraved, to put it mildly.
Lin Yun's fingers clenched tight. Early the next morning, he brought the documents to Mu En.
After reading the investigation's findings, Mu En furrowed his brows as well. He said angrily,
"To think something like this could happen under the Shrek Inspection Team's watch. It's absolutely horrifying."
Lin Yun leaned against the door and looked at Mu En.
"Elder Mu, I'll leave this matter to you. It can serve as the final follow-up to what happened last time."
Mu En said,
"Lexuan has nearly recovered, and you need to hunt for your third Soul Ring. You two can go together. After the hunt, take Lexuan there. I don't care about their Dou Ling Imperial Family status. I'll write you a warrant. Arrest whoever needs arresting, and kill whoever needs killing."
That was what a Limit Douluo was like. When they got angry and decided to do as they pleased, royalty and nobility in the mortal world didn't even make a sound when they hit the ground.
Still, even though Mu En's mustache was practically standing on end with rage, he hadn't lost his reason. He'd even taken the opportunity to give his own beauty a push, which truly showed his mastery...
Before you continue