The Two in a Sorry State

The Shrek group had settled into a guesthouse in a quiet alley on the west side of Suotuo City.

Most of the paint on the guesthouse door had peeled away, and several clumps of waist-high weeds grew along the base of the wall. No matter how one looked at it, it hardly seemed fit for people to live in.

At that moment, several old tables and chairs had been set out in the courtyard. Tang San had spread out a hand-drawn map and was discussing Soul Fighting tactics with Oscar.

Xiao Wu sat on a stone bench beside them, her scorpion braid hanging over her shoulder as she held a carrot in her hand, chiming in now and then.

Flender wore reading glasses as he checked the finances by the light of an oil lamp. Zhao Wuji reclined in a wicker chair against the wall, his snores rumbling loudly.

The guesthouse door was slammed open, the door panel crashing against the wall with a loud bang. Zhao Wuji's snoring came to an abrupt stop, and he sprang out of the wicker chair on reflex.

Dai Mubai entered the courtyard with Ma Hongjun supported against him.

Ma Hongjun's right arm hung at his side at an unnatural angle, his wrist swollen purple and all five fingers completely immobile. Tear tracks and sweat still stained the fat man's face, while the clothes over his chest had been wrinkled into a mess and were even covered with several dry leaves from who knew where.

Tang San was the first to stand. He quickly walked over to Ma Hongjun, his gaze settling on the fat man's utterly motionless wrist.

"What happened?"

Ma Hongjun's gaze drifted from Tang San's face to the clump of weeds by the wall, then drifted back again. His lips moved several times before he finally forced out, "Nothing. Dai and I were playing around in the street and I accidentally fell. My hand ended up like this."

The room fell quiet for a moment. Zhao Wuji lowered his head and glanced at Ma Hongjun's wrist, which had clearly been forcibly snapped by an external force. The corner of his mouth twitched. He lay back down in the wicker chair and remarked, "Young people these days are so fragile. They can get hurt like that just from falling."

Xiao Wu jumped down from the stone bench and circled Ma Hongjun once. Her nose twitched slightly, and then she waved a hand in front of it.

"You fell? You reek of alcohol. From the smell, you drank at least half a jin. And your clothes—what's that mark on your collar? Rouge? Did you fall into a pile of rouge?"

Oscar quietly added from the side, "And it's Red Romance rouge. I've seen that color several times when passing by on the street. In all of Suotuo City, only Red Romance uses that rose-red shade."

Ma Hongjun's face went from deathly pale to red. He wanted to argue, but the agonizing pain in his wrist made him suck in a breath with every word. After holding it in for a long while, he only managed to squeeze out, "I really fell... I just accidentally stepped into empty space..." His voice grew softer and softer until even he could no longer hear himself.

Flender took off his reading glasses and scratched the corner of his forehead with one of the temples. As the dean, he had wanted to say something, but after catching the mixed scent of alcohol and rouge on Ma Hongjun, he swallowed his words. He merely shook his head, put his glasses back on, and continued checking his finances.

Tang San did not press him. He simply lifted Ma Hongjun's right hand and gently pressed his fingers against the swollen wrist bone. The instant his fingertips touched the skin, Ma Hongjun grimaced in pain and sucked in a sharp breath.

Tang San's fingers traced along the seams of the bones inch by inch, from the wrist bones to the metacarpals, then from the metacarpals to the finger bones. He examined the entire hand before his movements stopped and his brow furrowed slightly.

"The finger bones are dislocated, and the wrist bones are completely fractured. The break is uneven—it was crushed apart by someone's bare hand. This wasn't a fall. A fall wouldn't leave such a concentrated fracture, much less this kind of rotational dislocation."

He raised his head and looked into Ma Hongjun's eyes. "Tell me. Who was it?"

Large beads of sweat rolled down Ma Hongjun's forehead. His lips trembled for a long time before he finally blurted out, "It was some fair-skinned kid. There was a girl from the Ji Ni Tai Mei Team with him, and she was pretty... I just said one extra thing, just one sentence, and he came over and told me to say it again. I got mad and punched him, but who knew that kid would crush my hand with his bare hand? Dai went up to help, but he was sent flying by a casual palm strike."

Dai Mubai leaned against the doorframe, the spot on his chest where Yu Tianlin's palm had struck him still faintly aching. He had not said a word since entering the courtyard. Only when everyone turned to look at him did he slowly raise his eyes.

"When he attacked, not a single soul ring lit up. He didn't even release his martial soul. But the power behind that palm strike was at least greater than mine." Dai Mubai's voice was heavy, as if he were stating a fact he did not want to admit but had no choice but to accept.

Everyone looked toward Tang San at once. A flash of purple light glinted deep within Tang San's pupils.

His fingers quickly tapped several points around Ma Hongjun's wrist bones. The internal force of the Mysterious Heaven Skill flowed through his fingertips into the broken bone seams, forcing out the pooled blood as the swelling and redness visibly began to subside.

Tang San fell silent. Catching Phoenix flames with his bare hands, sending Dai Mubai back with one palm strike, never releasing a martial soul or soul rings throughout the entire exchange. This description perfectly matched the Ji Ni Tai Mei Team captain who had never made a move on the arena during the day. Together with the girl, the timing matched, the identifying traits matched, and the description of his strength matched. There was no doubt they were the same person.

After setting Ma Hongjun's wrist bones back into place, Tang San used splints and bandages to give him a simple treatment and immobilize the injury.

Only after finishing did he straighten and turn toward Dai Mubai.

"At the Soul Fighting Arena today, he stood motionless in the center of the ring, and I already felt something was off. Someone who could command an entire team without moving in an actual battle either lacked the strength and would only be a burden if he joined in, or was so strong that he simply had no need to fight. It looks like it was the second."

While everyone was discussing the matter, Yu Xiaogang emerged from the inner room. He had been sorting through the Soul Fighting Arena's records inside and had heard part of the commotion outside.

He stood at the doorway for a moment, looked at Ma Hongjun's broken hand, then listened to Dai Mubai's and Tang San's deductions. He had already roughly understood what had happened.

He did not ask what exactly Ma Hongjun had said to that girl. Ma Hongjun's visits to Red Romance were already commonplace, and Yu Xiaogang understood the side effects of the Evil Phoenix. Some matters were useless to expose directly, but what needed to be said still had to be said.

"Hongjun, going to certain places too often isn't good for your body." Yu Xiaogang's voice was neither loud nor soft, but it carried a weight that made it impossible to argue against.

"You can't suppress the evil fire that way. You're still young. Every time your Soul Power rises another level, the backlash from the evil fire will grow stronger. External release can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. To solve it, you need to start with the martial soul itself. Restrain yourself."

Ma Hongjun stood there with his head lowered, his right hand suspended against his chest in a bandage sling while his left hand clenched the corner of his clothes. He was usually the most talkative of the Shrek Seven Devils, yet at that moment, he could not say a single word.

Because every word Yu Xiaogang had said was true. Going to Red Romance was true. Having his wrist crushed barehanded by someone who had not even lit up a soul ring was also true. From beginning to end, this disaster had been caused by his own loose tongue. There was not even room for an excuse.

Yu Xiaogang said no more. He merely raised a hand and made a pressing gesture toward Ma Hongjun's broken wrist. "Focus on recovering. As for the person who crushed your wrist, I already have a rough idea of who he is. But if you run into him on the street in the future, do not provoke him first. His strength is likely far greater than any of us anticipated."

As he said this, his gaze swept across Dai Mubai's face. Dai Mubai instinctively looked away.

Tang San walked over to Dai Mubai and asked in a lowered voice, "Dai, did you see what attribute his power had?"

Dai Mubai thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It was too fast. I couldn't see clearly. But one thing was strange. That palm strike to my chest didn't leave any signs of burning, freezing, or any other attribute. It was simply a pure Soul Power impact."