Canghui Academy

A day passed quickly, and everyone made ample preparations.

Early the next morning, the dawn slanted across the grass as Zhao Wuji walked toward them step by step, his gait a little awkward.

His shadow stretched long behind him.

Tang San and the others looked over. They froze, all of them astonished.

This...

Zhao Wuji's swelling had gone down, but he still looked rather battered.

There was a faint bruise beneath his left eye, and he barely moved one arm as he walked, making his movements look deeply unnatural.

His expression was off, too. He looked nothing like his usual carefree self.

His face was utterly solemn.

Not even Tang San had ever seen him in such a sorry state. Even Dai Mubai, who had been enrolled for three years, had never seen this.

"Pfft..."

Ma Hongjun couldn't hold back a sound from his nose.

Zhao Wuji shot him a warning look.

Ma Hongjun hurriedly put on a serious expression and stood at attention.

Ma Hongjun wasn't the only one who was curious about what had happened to Zhao Wuji. He was a Seven-Ring Soul Sage, and a defensive-type Vajra Bear at that. Who could possibly have beaten him?

Dean Flender?

That couldn't be right. The dean didn't look like he'd been in a fight...

Zhao Wuji acted as if nothing had happened. His gaze swept across the group, lingering secretly on Tang San as the image of Tang Hao surfaced in his mind.

"All right. We're setting off."

Xia Yan and the others immediately set out.

Shrek Academy wasn't especially close to the Star Dou Great Forest, but it wasn't particularly far away either. It was only a hundred miles farther from the forest than Notting Academy was from Soul-Splitting Forest.

The journey was five hundred miles in all.

They were all Soul Masters, so there was naturally no need to travel by carriage.

With support from Ning Rongrong and Oscar, the two support-type Soul Masters, the group made rapid progress.

Xiao Wu remained silent the whole way. Oscar was in a complicated mood, half expectant and half dejected. Dai Mubai deliberately kept Xia Yan at a distance, traveling alongside Ma Hongjun.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, however, stayed with Xia Yan.

They kept going until nightfall.

By then, they had reached a small town about seventy miles from the Star Dou Great Forest. The town was roughly three or four times the size of Shrek Village. It couldn't compare with Suotuo City, but its streets were brightly lit even at night.

Both sides of the brick-paved streets were lined with shops: herbalists, armorers, weapon shops, restaurants, general stores... There was everything you could want.

Everyone looked around with curiosity.

Zhao Wuji found a hotel.

When they went inside, they saw that the diners could fill about half the tables.

The hotel was plain and simple, with two floors: the first for dining, the second for lodging.

As soon as Xia Yan and the others entered, they drew the attention of the diners around them.

Most of the people who came here were Soul Masters, so it wasn't unusual to see striking appearances. But people as exceptionally beautiful as Xia Yan, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu...

The diners had never seen anyone like them.

They couldn't help looking over.

Some even dropped their food from their chopsticks, prompting jokes from the people beside them.

"We'll stay here and rest for the night," Zhao Wuji said. "We'll set out at dawn tomorrow. You'll cover your own lodging and meals."

"I won't be paying your expenses, either."

At Shrek Academy, teachers didn't cover students' expenses when they traveled. Likewise, they wouldn't accept any favors from students.

The rules were clear.

With that, he headed upstairs.

At two meters tall, his massive frame was broad as a wall, making even the staircase look tiny. A thin man who'd been about to go upstairs stepped aside to let him pass.

The sheer force of his presence was overwhelming.

After Zhao Wuji disappeared down the second-floor corridor, Xia Yan and the others found a large table with room for eight.

Ma Hongjun asked everyone what they wanted, then shook his head at their choices.

"Honestly, you lot have no idea how to eat. This meal's on me. I'll order us some good dishes."

He ordered more than twenty dishes in one go, with the practiced ease of a seasoned diner.

While they waited for the food, silence settled over the table again.

Nobody spoke.

Ning Rongrong and Xia Yan sat together, with Zhu Zhuqing beside Ning Rongrong. None of them said a word.

There was no need to mention Dai Mubai. Zhu Zhuqing didn't care about him at all, which irritated him to no end.

Oscar only had eyes for Ning Rongrong, and he didn't feel like talking, either.

Xiao Wu sat there, uninterested in everything.

Tang San wanted to talk to Xiao Wu and comfort her wounded heart, but he didn't know what to say.

As for Ma Hongjun...

Of course, he could tell that nobody felt like talking.

So he focused entirely on what dishes would arrive next, figuring out which ones to save room for based on their flavors and how long they took to prepare, and which ones he should only sample a couple of bites of...

As they waited,

a group of people walked in from outside. There were eight of them, too.

The man in front was middle-aged, around forty. His hair was oiled and combed so neatly it could have served as a mirror. He was fairly handsome.

He wore a moon-white Soul Master robe embroidered with silver thread.

His level was far below Zhao Wuji's, but his clothes were certainly much finer.

Behind him were six men and one woman.

All seven wore matching moon-white Soul Master robes, though theirs were less ornate than the middle-aged man's and had a simpler cut, with no embroidery.

A blue ring bearing the words "Canghui Academy" was emblazoned on each of their left shoulders.

They were all from Canghui Academy.

When Dai Mubai saw the girl among them, his eyes lit up at once, and a predatory, rutting look spread across his face.

"Tsk, tsk..."

He smacked his lips twice. "She's pretty, I'll give her that..."

At the same time, he glanced at Zhu Zhuqing as if by chance. Her expression was calm, as though it had nothing to do with her.

Dai Mubai was furious. What he hated most was that attitude.

Ever since he was a child, he had been the center of the world. Everyone had to revolve around him.

The more Zhu Zhuqing acted like this, the more it grated on him, and the more agitated he became.

"Fatty."

He jabbed Ma Hongjun beside him with his elbow. No longer bothering to lower his voice, he asked in a normal tone, "What do you think?"

As he spoke, he nodded toward the group.

The first floor covered more than a hundred square meters. The diners occupied about half the tables, chatting amid the hubbub. In theory, the noise should have drowned out Dai Mubai's voice.

But everyone from Canghui Academy was a Soul Master.

They heard him perfectly well.

Sure enough, as soon as Dai Mubai finished speaking, they turned to look, their faces hardening.

Dai Mubai merely smiled with disdain.

The girls saw him harassing another girl, and their expressions darkened. His already ruined reputation in their eyes took another hit.

Ma Hongjun didn't answer. He sneaked a glance at Xia Yan, then finally said hesitantly, "Boss Dai, we've got things to do tomorrow. Maybe we should..."

Dai Mubai shot him a look. "A man who's afraid of trouble is a coward."

"If you don't even dare provoke a little academy like Canghui, then you've got no guts at all. Don't call yourself a Shrek student when you go out!"

At that, the people from Canghui Academy finally couldn't take it anymore. They'd initially been willing to overlook Dai Mubai's behavior because he was young and they were all over twenty.

They hadn't expected him to mistake their restraint for weakness and remain so arrogant and overbearing.

With cold expressions, they walked over toward the Shrek group.

A few sharp-eyed customers in the middle of their meal sensed the tension and immediately moved aside.

Xia Yan took a sip of tea. Being unafraid of trouble didn't make someone a coward, but courage backed by a safety net wasn't courage at all. Dai Mubai knew Zhao Wuji was there, which was why he dared to harass the girl.

He was even using Flender's words as an excuse to harass and provoke other people.