Zhu Zhuqing's eyes widened. She looked at her chest, then in Du Hao's direction.
A moment later, she let out a cry!
She crouched down on the spot...
"You—you shameless thing!" Zhu Zhuqing grimaced in pain. She'd never imagined she'd suffer such a heavy blow today...
It was a pain that cut straight to the heart.
Du Hao came to his senses. Seeing Zhu Zhuqing crouched on the ground with both arms crossed over her chest, he immediately panicked.
"Are you okay?"
So that black option really had a catch. Were the first two just there to throw him off?
Pulling a stunt like this was practically asking for trouble!
Flender had been patrolling the area when he heard the commotion and hurried over at once.
The first thing he saw when he returned was Du Hao anxiously trying to soothe Zhu Zhuqing.
It seemed something quite serious had happened while he was away.
"What's going on here?" After confirming there was no danger, Flender relaxed.
He stared at the two of them, looking puzzled.
Du Hao had no time to answer Flender's question. All he wanted was to comfort the little kitten in front of him.
He'd really put his back into that slap...
"You..." Zhu Zhuqing lifted her head from where she crouched and glared at Du Hao, murder in her eyes. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Of all places, you hit me there."
"I really didn't do it on purpose!" Du Hao hurriedly waved his hands and tried to explain.
Who could've expected the timing to be so perfect?
After all, Zhu Zhuqing had played the maid before, and they'd shared a few little jokes then. Those had been the sort of playful interactions that brought them closer.
But this time... he might have taken things too far.
Flender stood not far away, watching the two of them with bafflement.
"What are those two brats up to now?" He didn't understand, but he respected their privacy. He didn't go over to interrupt and simply watched from a suitable distance.
After quite a while,
the pain had eased considerably, and Zhu Zhuqing finally rose to her feet, though she still held herself tightly.
She lifted her head and suddenly fixed Du Hao with a kindly smile. "A-Hao... no, I should call you Little Master. Can you tell me why you did that?"
"Zhuqing, don't be like this... you're scaring me." Du Hao grinned awkwardly and took a step back.
He'd never seen Zhu Zhuqing like this. She was smiling, but her eyes seemed to be fixed on prey, as if she wanted to eat him alive.
The corners of Zhu Zhuqing's mouth stayed curled upward, but she spoke softly. "First Soul Skill, Nether Shadow Strike..."
"There's no need to use a Soul Skill!" He was just about to beg for mercy when Zhu Zhuqing vanished from sight.
Du Hao didn't dare let his guard down. He immediately used his own first Soul Skill.
"First Soul Skill, Best Partner, Emerald Green Onion!" As he chanted, an emerald green onion appeared in Du Hao's hand.
Remaining alert, he took a bite of the onion and gave himself a buff.
All attributes increased by 12%.
Looking at the onion with a bite taken out of it, Du Hao reinforced it with Soul Power, in case it snapped when the enraged Zhu Zhuqing started beating him.
"Zhuqing! I really didn't do it on purpose.
"If you really need to, then slap me once, okay? Just don't use a Soul Skill, okay? I really can't take that!" Du Hao continued his last-ditch attempt to resist.
If he could talk his way out of this, then everyone would be happy. There was no harm in trying.
The tense standoff dragged on for a long time.
A cool voice rang out. "Would you dare do that again?"
"I wouldn't, I wouldn't," Du Hao answered hastily.
As if! He wouldn't do it again until her affection was maxed out.
The feel had been nice, but now he was paying for it.
If things went wrong one day, Zhu Zhuqing might tear him into 108 pieces and eat him, bones and all.
Other people might not be capable of that, but Zhu Zhuqing was another matter.
After all, an icy goddess was most likely to turn into a yandere... the deeper the love, the deeper the hate.
"Say you're sorry." Zhu Zhuqing reappeared in front of Du Hao, still holding her arms across her chest.
She looked at him coldly.
"Hehe, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The moment he noticed Zhu Zhuqing had reappeared, Du Hao hurried over with the onion he'd bitten into.
"I really know I was wrong." As he spoke, he offered her the onion he'd been using as a weapon.
His tone was sincere. "Here, calm down."
"Hmph, I don't want it." Zhu Zhuqing turned her head away and walked toward Flender.
Clearly, she was still a little upset.
But Du Hao, ignored, continued following her. "Zhuqing, Zhu-zhu, Qing-qing~"
Hearing him behind her, Zhu Zhuqing, walking ahead, let the corners of her mouth lift slightly.
At the exit of the Soul Hunting Forest.
"Can you two stop being so lovey-dovey?" Flender had just found a carriage and paid for it. When he came back, the two of them were still cuddled up together.
"Weren't you two just arguing? How did you end up stuck together again after only a little while?"
Honestly, Flender was speechless. They were so young, yet already knew how to feed their elders dog food. What was up with young people these days?
Had he, Flender, really fallen behind the times?
"Principal Flender, you can't put it like that. We're childhood sweethearts." Du Hao puffed out his chest as he spoke, full of confidence.
"Besides, it was just a misunderstanding. Right, Zhuqing?" He poked the girl beside him with a finger.
Her cool gaze merely flicked over to him.
She chose to ignore him and went back to savoring the candied hawthorn in her hand, not giving him the time of day.
Where had the candied hawthorn in her hand come from?
Of course, someone had brought it as an apology. Otherwise, she wouldn't have forgiven the guy who'd offended her so easily.
Seeing this, Flender smiled and patted Du Hao on the shoulder. "All right, the carriage is arranged for tomorrow. For tonight, we'll make do here."
As he spoke, he headed toward the inn.
"Oh, right. We're a little short on money this time, so I've only booked two rooms. You two can share one." Flender's voice floated back from a distance.
He hadn't asked the two of them what they thought at all.
"Flender's such a cheapskate—he's pocketing the money again." Du Hao clearly remembered seeing Grandmaster hand Flender a big bag of gold coins when they left the academy.
How could they possibly be short on money?
Flender was obviously planning to pocket the expenses and stash them all in his own little purse.
"Zhuqing, should I book another room?"
Zhu Zhuqing answered Du Hao in the most direct way possible.
"One room is enough. Let's go back to sleep." Without caring what Du Hao thought, she took him by the hand and headed straight for the inn.
Before you continue