A Rift

On the other side, Oscar hurried back to the inn where the Shrek group was staying.

"Dean, we've got trouble!" Oscar shoved open Flender's door. Seeing Grandmaster sitting inside, he froze. "Oh, Grandmaster's here too."

"Why are you always so rash? What have I taught you?" Flender shot the flustered Oscar an annoyed look.

"Xiao Ao, you mustn't panic when something happens." Yu Xiaogang picked up the freshly brewed green tea and took a slow sip.

"B-but the others are about to die!" Oscar's voice trembled.

The next second, the teacup hit the floor with a crash, scalding tea splashing onto Yu Xiaogang's trouser legs and cloth shoes.

"Ah..." He leapt up in pain and took a good while to calm down.

He limped forward, gritting his teeth against the burn as he seized Oscar by the collar.

"Speak! What happened to Xiao San?" Yu Xiaogang's face twisted with fury. His usual calm and composure had vanished completely.

"G-Grandmaster..." Oscar's face flushed red. He stared at Grandmaster, his voice stumbling over the words.

He had never seen Grandmaster like this. He was nothing like the refined, inscrutable man he remembered.

"Xiaogang, calm down. Let Xiao Ao go first—he can't breathe." Flender hurried to intervene. Oscar was practically gasping for air; how could they question him like this?

Sigh...

Flender couldn't help sighing inwardly. Xiaogang was good in every way, but whenever something happened to Tang San, he lost control.

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down? Do you know whose child Xiao San is?!" Yu Xiaogang released Oscar, his face dark with anger.

"Whose child is he?" Flender had always been curious about that, but whenever Tang San's origins came up, Yu Xiaogang acted as if they were shrouded in mystery.

Still, with the surname Tang and the Clear Sky Hammer as one of his Twin Martial Souls, he surely had some connection to the Clear Sky Sect.

"He is..." Yu Xiaogang paused. Remembering His Excellency Clear Sky's instructions, he came to his senses at once. Turning around, he clasped his hands behind his back. "Now's not the time to talk about this. Where is Xiao San?"

"Come with me." Oscar took out three Flying Mushroom Sausages. He ate one himself and handed the other two to Grandmaster and Flender.

The three flew out of the inn and headed for West Street in Suotuo City. When they saw the hundred-meter-high wall of ice in the distance, Flender and Yu Xiaogang's expressions darkened.

Only a Titled Douluo could pull off something like that.

Not far away, Zhu Zhuqing had long since exhausted her Soul Power. She frantically unleashed Soul Skills against the wall of ice, but couldn't even budge it.

"Zhuqing..." Ning Rongrong worriedly helped Zhu Zhuqing steady herself. The latter shook her head weakly.

"I'm fine." Zhu Zhuqing braced herself against the ground. The backs of her hands were streaked with blood and coated in frost. She stared at the three unconscious figures inside the wall of ice, worry showing on her usually cold face.

At this rate, Xiao San and the others would freeze to death.

Zhu Zhuqing raised her hand, ready to continue.

"That's enough." Yu Xiaogang and Flender arrived just then. Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San inside the ice, his expression grim. "Who did this?!"

How dare someone treat his disciple like this? He would never let them get away with it.

"It was Qiankun..." Oscar hurried to answer, but Ning Rongrong shot him a fierce glare.

"Tang San wanted to avenge Xiao Wu, so he brought us to ambush Qiankun Mingxin. Then a mysterious Soul Master showed up halfway through, and this happened." Ning Rongrong spread her hands, her tone helpless.

If she hadn't owed Tang San for the Hidden Weapons he had given her before, Ning Rongrong would never have gotten involved.

Xiao Wu had brought that fate upon herself by failing to ambush Qiankun Mingxin, yet Tang San had still insisted that the other side pay with their lives.

"Then why are you all right?" Yu Xiaogang's unfriendly gaze swept over the three of them.

"From the way you put it, Grandmaster, you'd rather we'd all gotten caught up in this too?" Ning Rongrong put her hands on her hips and shielded Zhu Zhuqing behind her, her tone impatient.

"Xiaogang didn't mean that. He just thinks you're all one group, and should share both blessings and hardships." Seeing that another argument was about to break out, Flender hurried to explain on Yu Xiaogang's behalf.

"So, Dean, you mean you blame us for not suffering alongside Tang San too?"

"Sigh... That's not what I meant."

Ning Rongrong snorted and turned to leave, pulling Zhu Zhuqing along.

"Rongrong..." Oscar watched Ning Rongrong's retreating figure and raised a hand to stop her, but she didn't look back.

"Let them go. They'd better not come back!" A vicious glint flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes as he looked at the three figures growing weaker inside the ice.

Ma Hongjun had a fire-type Martial Soul of the highest caliber, yet even he couldn't withstand this ice. That showed just how powerful the person who'd done this was.

"Flender, come take a look."

Flender nodded and stepped forward to examine the wall of ice.

After a long while, he stepped back with a sigh. "It won't work. If we break through the ice directly, we might kill Xiao San and the others. The one who did this is at least a Titled Douluo. Unless we find a Titled Douluo who can use Soul Power to melt it from the inside, their lives will be in danger."

Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened. If only His Excellency Clear Sky were here.

He called Oscar aside. "Xiao Ao, do you remember anything distinctive about the person who did this?"

"He was a white-haired boy of about fifteen or sixteen, and very handsome. He was dressed all in white." Oscar thought for a moment, then added, "Oh, right. He had a beautiful bow on his back, all sorts of colors. His clothes had a blue ice-arrow pattern, and one of his hands looked like crystal."

"A boy of fifteen or sixteen..." Yu Xiaogang furrowed his brow slightly and lowered his head, thinking through the Titled Douluo he knew. Then his pupils shrank, and a look of shock crossed his face.

"Could it be him?!"

But that man should have been cultivating in the Worship Hall. What was he doing here?

"Xiaogang, who is it?" Flender couldn't help asking at the sight of Yu Xiaogang's stunned expression.

He came from humble beginnings, and even though he'd made a name for himself in the Soul Master World over the years, he knew very little about Titled Douluo.

Even Oscar, standing beside him, perked up his ears.

A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old Titled Douluo? How could someone that unbelievably powerful exist?

"He's from Spirit Hall: the Fifth Elder of the Elder Consecration Hall, Guang Ling Douluo. Don't let his youthful appearance fool you; he's actually over eighty. And he's a level 96 Peak Douluo." Yu Xiaogang's expression grew more and more solemn. He punched the wall of ice.

They could never avenge themselves against someone like that unless His Excellency Clear Sky intervened personally.

"What?!" Flender and Oscar exclaimed in unison.

A level 96 Peak Douluo—someone straight out of legend.

Forget a Peak Douluo; Oscar had never even seen a Titled Douluo in his life.

"Who would've thought that young lady had such powerful backing?" Flender clenched his fists. How could they ever get revenge against someone like that?

"What do we do now? Can we get Xiao San and the others out of the ice first?" Oscar looked worriedly at the three figures inside the wall. They were wearing masks, so no one could recognize who they really were, but people were coming and going on the street. If it was still like this by morning, how humiliating would that be?

Flender stared silently at the wall of ice. That was beyond even him.

On the other side, Ning Rongrong took Zhu Zhuqing back to the inn. Feeling sorry for her, she took out bandages and ointment and tended to her wounds.

"Zhuqing..." Ning Rongrong lowered her head, her lips moving faintly.

"What is it?" Zhu Zhuqing watched Ning Rongrong struggling to hold back her words. She knew there was something she wanted to say.

"Would you leave Shrek with me?" Ning Rongrong took Zhu Zhuqing's hand, her gaze sincere.

She'd truly had enough.

When people walked different paths, they couldn't work together.

Since Grandmaster had told them not to come back, then she'd leave.

Besides, she'd never felt comfortable here.

The only person she worried about was Zhu Zhuqing. She was quiet to begin with; what if the others bullied her again?

As for Oscar, he always got along with everyone. She didn't need to worry about him.

If fate brought them together, they'd meet again.

If not...