Shrek Academy.
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Zhu Zhuqing had also returned after their evening classes ended.
Dai Mubai watched Zhu Zhuqing, who had barely paid him any attention all day, and finally snapped. "Zhu Zhuqing, don't push your luck! I've already turned over a new leaf. What more do you want from me?"
Zhu Zhuqing looked at Dai Mubai's hostile attitude. Disappointment flashed across her eyes, but her expression remained cold and aloof, like an iceberg beauty. Without a word, she turned and left.
"You!!!"
Dai Mubai was so furious that Soul Power surged around him. He felt the urge to fight Zhu Zhuqing.
"Boss, since when have you been so devoted? I've never seen you act like this over a girl before. Could it be your desire to conquer her at work?" Ma Hongjun teased with a mischievous grin.
"Get lost!" Dai Mubai was already in a foul mood. When he heard Ma Hongjun's teasing, he immediately slapped him, making Ma Hongjun's scalp tingle.
"I'm not the one who made you mad! Why hit me?" Ma Hongjun said with a mournful face.
"I don't hit the diligent or the lazy. I hit the ones who don't know when to keep their mouths shut." Dai Mubai snorted and turned to leave.
"Boss, where are you going? Grandmaster's teaching class tomorrow!" Ma Hongjun asked in surprise.
Dai Mubai left without a word, never looking back.
"Forget it. Don't provoke him." Oscar sighed and headed into the academy.
Ma Hongjun's eyes darted around. He glanced at Oscar's back and grinned slyly, then hurried after Dai Mubai.
Oscar noticed, but didn't interfere. He hadn't gone far when he saw Yu Xiaogang and Flender standing on the road ahead.
Oscar froze. "Dean, Grandmaster."
The two stood with their hands behind their backs and nodded slightly.
Flender frowned and asked, "Xiao Ao, why did only you and Zhu Zhuqing come back? Where are Xiao Bai and Hongjun? And Ning Rongrong hasn't returned either?"
Oscar felt a headache coming on. "Dean, Mubai and Hongjun had something come up and went out again. I don't know where they went. As for Ning Rongrong, I know even less."
Flender's brow furrowed. After taking a deep breath, he waved a hand. "Go on back."
"Yes!" Oscar hurried away.
Flender sighed. "We're done for!"
Yu Xiaogang frowned slightly and said flatly, "You were too harsh with your scolding. You only beat them down without offering them a carrot."
Flender's mouth twitched. "What's the point of bringing that up now?"
Yu Xiaogang shot Flender an exasperated look. "We barely have any students as it is. We finally got two new ones, and you drove one of them away!"
"All right, all right! It's my fault, it's my fault! Let me off the hook!" Flender immediately begged for mercy.
"And Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun are both completely out of line! You've spoiled them rotten!" Yu Xiaogang said gravely.
"Hongjun's Evil Fire might have flared up..." Flender said, thoroughly uneasy.
"Though it's true that blocking is worse than guiding, this can't go on forever! I'm worried that the Evil Fire inside Ma Hongjun will grow stronger and stronger until it burns him to death!" Yu Xiaogang said gravely.
"But... this is the only way Hongjun has right now!" Flender said, awkward and anxious.
"If Hongjun could find a powerful woman with an ice attribute to be his partner, that would solve the problem," Yu Xiaogang mused.
"That's easier said than done." Flender's mouth twitched. He knew Ma Hongjun's character all too well. What powerful female Soul Master with an ice attribute would ever take a liking to Ma Hongjun? She'd have to be blind!
Even he wouldn't want to...
Yu Xiaogang said calmly, "What I just mentioned is the best solution. For now, the only thing we can do is find a water- or ice-attribute Soul Master who can counter the Evil Fire inside Hongjun and use her Soul Power to suppress it."
Flender considered this. "The Skywater Academy is full of female Soul Masters with water and ice attributes. What do you think... should we take Hongjun there and try our luck? Maybe someone will be into his type!"
Yu Xiaogang said, "It's not impossible."
Flender then asked, "And... should we look for Ning Rongrong?"
Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "No need. If she wants to come back, she'll come back on her own. Besides, Suotuo City is so big. Where would you even look?"
With that, Yu Xiaogang turned and left.
Flender couldn't help sighing as he watched him go.
The next day, the sun was already high in the sky.
Tang Yin slowly opened his eyes after sleeping off his drunkenness. Since he hadn't used Soul Power to metabolize the alcohol, his head was aching.
"This is..."
Tang Yin looked at the two fair arms and long, slender legs draped over him. He glanced to either side at Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, took a deep breath, and slowly sat up.
Their clothes were a little rumpled, but at least they were still wearing them.
After quietly getting out of bed, he adjusted their sleeping positions, then went into the bathroom.
"I really ought to drink less..." Tang Yin held his forehead, letting the hot water wash over him.
He'd actually been drunk under the table by two girls. How embarrassing...
Before long, Tang Yin changed into fresh clothes, left the room, and closed the door behind him.
Not long after, he returned with two bowls of hangover soup.
"Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu~"
Tang Yin gently held Xiao Wu in his arms and sent Soul Power into her body.
Wisps of alcohol-scented energy seeped from the surface of Xiao Wu's skin.
Xiao Wu gave a soft "Mm" and slowly opened her eyes.
"Xiao Wu, how are you feeling? Are you all right?" Tang Yin asked softly.
"I'm okay~ Just a little thirsty~" Xiao Wu smacked her lips and licked them.
"Have some soup. Here~" Tang Yin picked up a bowl of hangover soup and stirred it with a spoon.
"How much did we drink last night?" Xiao Wu noticed Ning Rongrong asleep in the same bed and rubbed her temples, trying to recall what had happened.
"I've never seen you drink before. I didn't expect you to hold your liquor so well. You even drank me under the table." Tang Yin grinned teasingly.
"Hehe~" Xiao Wu smiled sheepishly.
After feeding Xiao Wu the hangover soup, Tang Yin used the same method to wake Ning Rongrong.
As soon as Ning Rongrong opened her eyes, Tang Yin's face was right in front of her. "Tang Yin?"
Tang Yin smiled. "It's me. Hurry up and drink this bowl of hangover soup."
Ning Rongrong slowly sat up and drank the soup as she looked around the room, bewildered. "I remember helping Xiao Wu carry you into your room last night, then going back to my own room! How did I end up here?"
Tang Yin grinned and teased her. "Not only did you end up here, you even slept with us."
Ning Rongrong's eyes widened slightly. When she noticed her rumpled clothes, she panicked and stammered, "I... you—you didn't do anything to me, did you?"
Tang Yin shook his head. "People generally can't do much while they're asleep."
"That's such a shame~" Ning Rongrong murmured.
"What did you say?" Tang Yin tilted his head, puzzled, and leaned closer to hear.
"N-nothing..." Ning Rongrong blushed in embarrassment, secretly cursing herself for being so shameless.
Just then, Xiao Wu came out of the bathroom, already changed into fresh clothes.
"Rongrong, are you feeling all right?"
Drinking together to grow closer wasn't just something boys did. The same went for girls.
That was especially true for straightforward people like Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong.
"I feel a lot better after the hangover soup." Ning Rongrong nodded with a smile.
"That's good~" Xiao Wu smiled, then took a wooden comb from her Storage Soul Tool and handed it to Tang Yin. "Tang Yin, comb my hair~"
Tang Yin happily agreed.
Watching Tang Yin and Xiao Wu at the dressing table, looking like a pair of immortals, Ning Rongrong couldn't help feeling envious.
Just then, Xiao Wu asked, "Rongrong, have you decided what to do next?"
"Why don't I go to the Suotuo Intermediate Soul Master Academy with you? It doesn't matter where I study, anyway!" Ning Rongrong suggested with a beaming smile.
Tang Yin frowned. "No."
"Why?" Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong asked together.
"Uh..." Under the two girls' gazes, Tang Yin's eyes darted around before he smiled. "Rongrong, you wouldn't be comfortable living with us."
Ning Rongrong said seriously, "I can get used to it."
Xiao Wu also began to have her doubts. The Suotuo Intermediate Soul Master Academy had a fairly decent environment, but compared with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the difference was like heaven and earth.
"I really can adapt!" Ning Rongrong promised again under Xiao Wu's doubtful gaze.
Tang Yin scratched his cheek and said no more. Xiao Wu also watched Ning Rongrong, still only half convinced.
"Just you wait and see!" Ning Rongrong declared confidently, then got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
Outside Shrek Academy.
Tang Yin came here once again, with Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong beside him.
At the same time,
he used the Blue Silver Domain to conceal their auras. Unless Flender and the others appeared right in front of him, they wouldn't be able to sense his presence.
However, Tang Yin could use the Blue Silver Domain to examine everything inside Shrek Academy.
At that moment,
inside Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back before Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing, his brow furrowed.
Especially when he saw Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's pale faces and unsteady stances, a hint of displeasure appeared in his eyes.
"Where were you two last night?"
Dai Mubai looked away with an impatient expression. He knew he was in the wrong, but didn't want to deal with Yu Xiaogang.
Ma Hongjun lowered his head guiltily.
Seeing this, Flender was instantly furious and was about to give them both a scolding.
But just then, Oscar ran over from nearby, shouting excitedly, "Dean! Grandmaster! I've broken through to level thirty!"
"What are we doing here?" Ning Rongrong asked in surprise.
"Treasure hunting~" Xiao Wu said excitedly.
"Huh? Treasure hunting?" Ning Rongrong looked utterly bewildered.
"Let's head back for today and come again tomorrow." Tang Yin turned and left as he spoke.
Xiao Wu hurried after him.
Ning Rongrong was completely baffled, but she followed them anyway.
On the way,
Ning Rongrong asked what was going on, but Tang Yin brushed off every question.
"Yu Xiaogang's been here for two years, and those three don't seem to have changed much. Oscar's only just broken through to level thirty. In that case, we'll come back tomorrow," Tang Yin thought to himself.