Su Yu pushed open the door to Dorm Seven and walked inside.
Tang Wu was carefully sorting through Su Yu's spare clothes.
She folded each long robe with meticulous care, then stretched out her small, fair hands and smoothed every last wrinkle from the fabric.
"Brother Yu, you're amazing." Tang Wu looked up, her clear eyes shining with adoration. "That bad guy was acting so high and mighty just a moment ago, but you didn't even lift a finger, and he went and made a fool of himself. What kind of magic did you use?"
Su Yu sat down on the bed and casually ruffled Tang Wu's dark-blue hair without offering any explanation.
Xiao Wu sat on the opposite bed, munching on a carrot.
Watching Su Yu's calm, unruffled demeanor sent a chill down her spine. Cold sweat even beaded across her back.
She recalled Yu Xiaogang's bizarre behavior just moments ago. It was obvious that someone had forcibly twisted his will.
A method that could kill without drawing blood and manipulate cause and effect directly was practically impossible to guard against.
Xiao Wu secretly congratulated herself on recognizing the situation on her very first day and wisely acknowledging this man as her boss.
If she'd been foolish enough to oppose him back then, she might be the one acting like a lunatic now.
Tang Wu placed the neatly folded clothes into a bundle and tied it shut.
"Brother Yu, Wang Sheng said we need a permit issued by Spirit Hall to enter Soul Hunting Forest." Tang Wu turned to him and asked, puzzled, "Where can we get one? Do we have to ask one of the academy teachers?"
Su Yu had no intention of following the original story's path and seeking out some damn Grandmaster or academy higher-up.
He turned and gave Xiao Wu, who was munching on a carrot nearby, a meaningful look.
The look made Xiao Wu feel deeply uncomfortable. The rabbit ears atop her head twitched twice in alarm.
"Why are you looking at me?" Xiao Wu put down the carrot and folded her arms. "I don't have one of those little human passes."
Su Yu stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes. "You don't, but Spirit Hall does. Come on. We'll go get one."
The three left Nuoding Academy and headed straight for the entrance to the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City.
The Spirit Hall building was grand and imposing, with two guards in silver armor standing at the entrance.
They gripped sharp spears, chins held high and expressions arrogant.
When they saw three children in ordinary clothes walking up the steps, the guard on the left immediately frowned and slammed his spear against the ground.
"Stop! Where do you brats think you're going?" The guard glared down at them and barked, "This is a restricted area of Spirit Hall, not somewhere for you to play in the dirt! If you're begging, go somewhere else. Now get lost, before you dirty Spirit Hall's steps!"
Su Yu stopped, paying no attention to the guard's shouting.
He turned and gave Xiao Wu a look.
Xiao Wu understood at once.
She stepped forward, her lively expression turning ice-cold in an instant.
The pure pressure of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast quietly emanated from her body.
She controlled it with extreme subtlety, concentrating it into a straight line that struck the two low-ranking guards with pinpoint accuracy.
The two guards felt the air around them freeze.
It was as if a terrifying Ferocious Beast from the primordial wilderness had fixed them with a merciless stare. A shudder born deep in their souls swept through their bodies.
Their pupils shrank violently, their eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
It was as if the bones had been pulled from their legs, leaving them limp as noodles.
With two dull thuds, the guards' knees slammed into the hard stone paving. Their spears slipped from their hands and hit the ground with a sharp metallic clang.
Cold sweat poured from their foreheads like a waterfall, soaking through their thick underclothes in an instant.
It felt as though an invisible hand had clamped around their hearts. Their minds went completely blank, and they couldn't even manage a word of pleading.
The few commoners passing by hadn't been directly subjected to the pressure, but they still felt an inexplicable pang of fear. They lowered their heads and hurried away.
While the two guards remained momentarily dazed, Su Yu slipped his hands into his pockets and swaggered over the threshold into the Spirit Hall office.
The office hall was quiet.
The clerk behind the counter had also been affected by a trace of the pressure's aftershock. He sat rigid in his chair, the quill in his hand frozen in midair, his eyes vacant.
Su Yu walked up to the counter and scanned the desktop.
Amid a pile of disorganized files lay a Soul Hunting Permit that had already been stamped but not yet issued.
He reached out and calmly picked it up, then waved it at the still-dazed clerk.
"I'll borrow this for now."
The clerk's mouth hung open. A meaningless croaking sound came from his throat, but he couldn't say a word.
Su Yu pocketed the permit, turned, and walked out, taking Tang Wu and Xiao Wu with him.
Half an hour later, the three rented a cramped, ordinary carriage and officially set out for Soul Hunting Forest.
The carriage left Nuoding City and jolted violently along the uneven dirt road.
There wasn't much room inside the carriage to begin with, so the three of them sat rather close together.
Tang Wu sat to Su Yu's left.
When the carriage jolted violently, she used the momentum to tumble softly into Su Yu's arms.
She had changed into a short skirt that was easy to move in, leaving her two fair legs exposed.
She wore no shoes or socks. As the carriage rocked, her dainty bare feet gently brushed against Su Yu's lower leg.
Their skin touched, bringing a fine warmth.
Tang Wu's face flushed slightly. She pressed her cheek against Su Yu's chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, her breathing growing a little uneven.
She looked up at him, her big, watery eyes full of affection.
Seeing how clingy Tang Wu was, Xiao Wu felt a sudden surge of defiance.
She gave a cold snort and shifted forward, deliberately stretching out her own long, straight legs to rest them right across Su Yu's knees.
Xiao Wu's fair toes playfully hooked the hem of Su Yu's robe and gave it a gentle tug.
She lifted her delicate chin and challenged Tang Wu with her gaze, as if declaring her claim.
Tang Wu bit her rosy lips. Her bare feet pressed more firmly against Su Yu's lower leg, and she burrowed deeper into his arms.
Xiao Wu refused to back down. Her toes slid an inch farther up the hem, and the muscles in her thighs tightened slightly, displaying astonishing flexibility.
Su Yu sat as steady as a rock, enjoying the two girls' silent contest in the cramped space as the carriage sped toward Soul Hunting Forest.
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