Beneath the trees by the training grounds,
Tang San sat on a stone bench, wiping the Hidden Weapons in his hands.
Xiao Wu sat beside him, swinging her legs. Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing leaned against a tree on the other side, listening to Yu Xiaogang's tactical briefing for tonight's matches at the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.
"Dai Mubai? Ma Hongjun?"
Yu Xiaogang looked up first. Seeing the state they were in, his brows instantly knitted into a deep frown.
Tang San hurried to his feet and rushed over in a few strides, catching Dai Mubai just as he was about to collapse.
"Boss Dai, Fatty, how did you get so badly hurt?"
Tang San reached out and felt Dai Mubai's pulse. His expression darkened at once.
Most of the bones in Dai Mubai's arms were shattered, and his Soul Power was nearly exhausted.
Ma Hongjun lay on the ground, his chest caved in and his face drained of color.
"Third Brother... you—you have to get justice for us!"
Ma Hongjun lay on the grass, gasping heavily, his voice full of venom.
"It was Dugu Bo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan! And that guy called Qin Feng!"
Oscar wiped away tears nearby and quickly chimed in.
"Little San, those two were far too overbearing."
"We were just walking down the street when they suddenly came over and provoked us."
"That Dugu Yan poisoned Fatty without a word and even stomped on his chest, breaking his ribs."
"Boss Dai stepped forward to reason with them, but that Qin Feng relied on his strength and sent Boss Dai flying with a single palm strike."
As Oscar recounted their ordeal, Tang San's eyes grew darker by the moment.
His hand clamped around Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist, and his voice turned low.
"Qin Feng, Dugu Yan..."
"Did they really say that?"
Dai Mubai gritted his teeth and spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood.
"Little San, that guy didn't take our Shrek Academy seriously at all."
"He said everyone who came out of Shrek Academy was a bunch of good-for-nothings—not even as good as trash."
Tang San drew a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart.
"They hurt someone from Shrek. They have to pay for it."
"Mubai, Fatty, go rest for now."
"Tonight, at the arena, if he dares to step onto the stage, I'll use the Dragon Whisker Needle to let him taste the agony of having his flesh twisted apart, bit by bit."
At the words "Dragon Whisker Needle," Xiao Wu, standing nearby, trembled slightly.
Unable to bear it, she tugged at Tang San's sleeve.
"Third Brother, isn't using the Dragon Whisker Needle too cruel?"
"Once it pierces the flesh, it can't be removed. It'll make the person suffer terribly."
"Besides, we haven't even figured out what started this."
Ning Rongrong also approached, looking doubtfully at Dai Mubai, whose eyes were darting about.
"That's right, Dai Mubai. We all know what you're usually like."
"Why would anyone in Heaven Dou City attack you for no reason?"
Put on the spot by Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun grew flustered and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Rongrong, how can you not trust your own people?"
"We've been beaten up like this, and you're still taking the outsiders' side!"
Tang San waved a hand, cutting off Ning Rongrong's questions.
"Rongrong, whatever started it, Qin Feng was vicious. He was trying to kill them."
"Mubai is my brother. If the other side shows no mercy, then I won't show any either."
Zhu Zhuqing stood at the back of the group, her expression cool, as if she were watching a farce.
She said nothing and quietly retreated to a corner of the training grounds.
The Chat Group in her mind had suddenly lit up.
Zhu Zhuqing sank her consciousness into the group, and lines of text appeared.
[Poison Fairy]: "I'm furious! I ran into two disgusting creeps in the street today. In broad daylight, they had the nerve to harass me. Disgusting!"
[Little Witch]: "What? There are men in Heaven Dou City that shameless? Who were they?"
[Bunny Eats Radish]: "Exactly! Tell us who they are, so we can steer clear of them too!"
[Poison Fairy]: "Who else? They claimed they were from Shrek Academy. One was a red-haired fatty, fat as a dead pig, and he actually told me to kneel down and lick his shoes. Disgusting to the extreme!"
Zhu Zhuqing's heart gave a sudden leap.
A red-haired fatty, harassing women.
Wasn't that Ma Hongjun?
[My Cat Is White And Big]: "Was the red-haired one foul-mouthed? And was there a blond guy with different-colored eyes beside him?"
[Poison Fairy]: "Yes! Little sister, how did you know? Did they harass you too?"
[My Cat Is White And Big]: "...They really are from Shrek Academy. The red-haired fatty is Ma Hongjun, and the blond one is Dai Mubai. They used to frequent brothels in Suotuo City. They're no good."
[Poison Fairy]: "So it was those two sleazebags! I was so angry that I kicked and broke that fat pig's bones. Then that blond, odd-eyed freak tried to pick a fight with my young master, saying he'd teach us a lesson."
[Poison Fairy]: "My young master slapped him away like a fly. He broke most of his bones and sent him crashing into a pile of rubble. In the end, a sausage-maker had to drag them out like a pair of dead dogs. Serves them right!"
Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, who had been lurking in the group, saw the messages too.
[Little Witch]: "Good heavens! Those two are shameless! They harassed a girl in the street, got taught a lesson by her young master, then came back pretending to be innocent and claiming the other side had picked on them!"
[Bunny Eats Radish]: "Aww, really? They just came back and told us the other side had thrown their weight around and seriously injured them. The guy on our team named Tang San even said he'd use a vicious Hidden Weapon to cripple that young master at the arena tonight."
[Pope]: "Shrek? As expected, a bunch of riffraff unfit to show their faces in public. When the beam is crooked, the rafters will be crooked too. Any teacher who can raise disciples like that must be a selfish hypocrite."
[Gentle Fire Dragon]: "Wait... Those two brats in my courtyard actually did something like this?! I'm furious! Those little bastards—when I get back tonight, I'll skin them alive!"
[Poison Fairy]: "Heh, that Tang San wants to use a Hidden Weapon, does he? Let him come. My young master is going to the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena tonight anyway. We'll see who cripples whom!"
Zhu Zhuqing quietly left the Chat Group.
Her eyes were filled with contempt and disgust.
Meanwhile, on the training grounds, Ning Rongrong had finally had enough.
She strode toward Ma Hongjun, her footsteps heavy, and let out a cold laugh.
"Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, you two put on quite a show."
Tang San frowned at Ning Rongrong.
"Rongrong, what kind of attitude is that?"
"Mubai and Fatty are this badly injured, and instead of helping, you're standing there making sarcastic remarks?"
Ning Rongrong crossed her arms and sneered.
"Sarcastic remarks?"
"Ma Hongjun, let me ask you: why did Dugu Yan go after you in particular?"
"You wanted Poison Fairy to kneel down and lick your shoes, and you call that 'just walking down the street'?"
Ma Hongjun's cries abruptly stopped. The color drained from his chubby face.
"I... I didn't... Rongrong, don't make things up..."
Dai Mubai panicked too. He forced himself upright and glared at Ning Rongrong.
"Rongrong, you weren't there. Why are you believing outsiders' rumors and insulting us?"
"If you don't want people to know, don't do it."
Zhu Zhuqing walked slowly forward from beneath the trees, her eyes utterly cold.
"Dai Mubai, how long are you going to keep up the act?"
"Ma Hongjun harassed a woman in the street, and instead of stopping him, you helped him do it."
"That young master slapped you flying. You brought it on yourselves."
"Now you've come back and made up lies to deceive everyone, so Little San would take your side. Your faces are thicker than the city walls."
Xiao Wu looked at Tang San with disappointment.
"Third Brother... so they were the ones who harassed her first."
"In that case, it was only right for that person to teach them a lesson. We can't avenge them. That would be completely unreasonable."
With their lies exposed in front of everyone, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun were mortified. A wave of humiliation and fury followed.
"Zhu Zhuqing! Are you even my fiancée?!"
Dai Mubai clutched his broken arm and screamed hysterically.
"You're always taking outsiders' side! Dugu Yan is just a poisonous woman with a ruined reputation. Fatty harassed her because he thought highly of her!"
"Why are you pretending to be so above it all now?!"
"You disgust me."
Zhu Zhuqing looked at Dai Mubai's frantic face, her revulsion plain to see.
"From today on, you and I have nothing to do with each other."
Though things had reached this point, Tang San's expression shifted only briefly before hardening again.
He stood and stepped in front of Dai Mubai, facing Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.
"That's enough."
Tang San's voice was low.
"Even if Mubai and Fatty were in the wrong, the other side went too far."
"The bones in Mubai's arms were shattered, and Hongjun's chest was caved in. They were clearly trying to cripple them."
"We're a team. I can't stand by while my companions are humiliated."
Ning Rongrong laughed in sheer fury.
"Tang San, you're a shameless scoundrel who can't tell right from wrong!"
"They're clearly the ones at fault, and you're still twisting the truth!"
Yu Xiaogang stepped forward just then, his hands clasped behind his back and his expression composed.
"Little San is right."
"Shrek's fortunes rise and fall together. Whatever the cause, they hurt our people, so we have to win back our honor in the arena."
"As for punishing Mubai and Hongjun, I'll deal with them according to the academy rules after tonight's matches. Outsiders have no right to do it for us."
Hearing the teacher and student dress up their words so self-righteously, the last trace of warmth vanished from Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.
She had no desire to say another word. Turning around, she strode toward the academy gate.
"Zhu Zhuqing, stop right there!"
Dai Mubai roared furiously behind her, his mismatched eyes bloodshot.
But Zhu Zhuqing didn't even look back.
Dai Mubai glared after Zhu Zhuqing as she left, grinding his teeth with hatred in his heart.
You bitch. You think that Qin Feng can protect you?
Once Little San cripples him with the Dragon Whisker Needle at the arena tonight, I'll make you kneel and spend the rest of your life suffering at my hands!
After leaving the academy, Zhu Zhuqing made her way along the street, her expression troubled.
She had seen Tang San's Hidden Weapons before. Their silent, deadly attacks were truly hard to guard against.
More importantly, that Hidden Weapon called the Dragon Whisker Needle was cruel. She didn't want Qin Feng to get hurt.
Following the street she had taken earlier, Zhu Zhuqing asked around until she found Qin Feng at a quiet teahouse belonging to Dugu Bo.
She pushed open the door to a private room on the teahouse's top floor.
A faint sandalwood fragrance filled the room. Hu Liena and Dugu Yan seemed to have gone out, leaving Qin Feng alone in an armchair, holding a teacup as he leisurely watched the street outside.
At the sound, Qin Feng turned around. Seeing Zhu Zhuqing panting slightly, he smiled.
"You came in such a hurry. What's wrong?"
Zhu Zhuqing hurried over, her tone serious.
"Qin Feng, be careful tonight at the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena. Tang San is going to come after you."
Qin Feng looked at the worry in her eyes and gestured to the chair opposite him.
"Sit down and tell me."
Zhu Zhuqing didn't sit. Instead, she continued urgently.
"Tang San has a terrifying Hidden Weapon called the Dragon Whisker Needle."
"It's a specially made golden thread. Once it pierces the body, it curls up instantly and wraps tightly around the muscles and bones. It takes tremendous force to pull it out, and it makes the victim suffer terribly."
"He said it himself on the training grounds. He plans to use it to cripple you in tonight's death match."
Qin Feng looked at Zhu Zhuqing's pretty face, flushed with tension, and slowly rose to his feet.
He was tall and slender. Once standing, he towered half a head over Zhu Zhuqing.
He took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
Feeling his warmth and the pressure of his presence, Zhu Zhuqing stiffened slightly.
Qin Feng reached out with his right hand. His warm fingertips gently lifted Zhu Zhuqing's delicate chin, bringing her flustered eyes to meet his.
"You're worried about me?"
As Qin Feng treated her with such tenderness, Zhu Zhuqing felt her cheeks flare like they were on fire, the blush spreading all the way to her ears.
She turned her face aside in a fluster, her voice barely audible.
"I... I just don't want anything to happen to you."
"Besides, Dai Mubai and the others were in the wrong, but Tang San still wants to use such a method..."
Qin Feng watched her shy expression, withdrew his hand, and laughed freely.
"Don't worry."
"In the face of absolute strength, so-called Hidden Weapons are just children's toys."
"Tonight, I'll show them what true despair means."
Watching Qin Feng's confident, unhurried manner, Zhu Zhuqing's restless heart miraculously settled down.
The two chatted for a while longer in the quiet private room. As they spoke, an unusual, ambiguous feeling quietly took root between them.
Night fell, and the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena blazed with lights and roared with noise.
As the largest entertainment venue in Heaven Dou City, it drew countless nobles, Soul Masters, and commoners every evening.
The enormous circular stands were packed to the rafters. The noisy cheers and shouts surged together into a wave of sound, nearly lifting the entire domed roof.