Zhu Zhuqing was left utterly bewildered by Xiao Wu's retort.
The words of thanks she'd been about to say caught in her throat, and a rare look of confusion appeared on her cool, beautiful face.
Hadn't this young master just said his name was Tang San, and that he lived in Holy Soul Village?
How had Tang San suddenly become an insult?
Su Chen cleared his throat and began his performance with a perfectly straight face.
"To be honest, the name Tang San... Ah, it's a long story!"
Without batting an eye, he spun his tale. "Tang San is a street loafer from my village. His character is utterly vile!"
"Not only does he sneak peeks at the village widows bathing every day, he's always going around saying people have 'already embarked on the Way of Seeking Death.' His favorite trick is shooting people in the back with cold arrows and aiming below the belt."
Xiao Wu immediately nodded, her face full of disgust.
"Exactly! That Tang San's a real scumbag!"
"He even castrated his own master."
Zhu Zhuqing's eyelids twitched.
Su Chen let out a long sigh, his tone growing even more indignant. "His master was a eunuch with peculiar tastes! He loved dragging his disciples off in the middle of the night to study the kind of human anatomy you're not supposed to talk about."
That was pretty twisted.
But remembering how Su Chen had made a Soul Emperor kneel on the spot just moments ago, Zhu Zhuqing couldn't tell who was more twisted.
"I borrowed his name to make things convenient. If I happen to make enemies, and they go to Holy Soul Village to settle the score with Tang San, that'll be doing the people a favor."
The logic was utterly watertight, and even carried a bizarre air of plausibility.
Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment.
"I see. Thank you, Young Master Su Chen, for saving my life. I have nothing to repay you with at the moment..."
As she spoke, she respectfully bent at the waist and gave a deep bow.
Her neckline dipped.
Su Chen's gaze, obeying the laws of physics to a T, glanced downward.
Good grief.
That was downright unfair.
Her tight black leather outfit outlined her stunning curves to perfection. It really was something.
Watch me pull off my ultimate technique: gun control!
Su Chen turned to the side. "No need for all that formal stuff. I saved you because I couldn't stand those grubby men."
Then he changed tack. "Meeting is fate, and a chance encounter is better than an invitation. Since you have nothing to repay me with, why not..."
Zhu Zhuqing's heart lurched, and she instinctively took half a step back.
Was he going to make some outrageous demand?
She bit her lip hard. If that was what he had in mind, she'd rather bite through her tongue and die! She would never give in!
Su Chen grinned. "Why not treat us to a meal? I used up too much energy beating people up just now. I'm starving."
Zhu Zhuqing froze.
That was it?
He'd saved her life, and all he wanted was a meal?
Looking at Su Chen's utterly unapologetic expression, her cheeks flushed faintly.
Her thoughts really were impure. How could she think such things about the person who'd saved her life?
She nodded. "All right...I'll treat you."
Su Chen clapped his hands, satisfied. "Great! Come on, it's still early. Let's get out of the forest."
Xiao Wu finally caught on.
She circled Su Chen, eyeing him suspiciously. "Boss, come clean. Did you come to Star Dou Great Forest specifically for her?"
Xiao Wu wasn't very bright, but that didn't mean she was stupid.
Su Chen was at a loss. This rabbit's intelligence seemed to swing from high to low.
She was getting a little hard to fool.
"How could that be?" Su Chen said righteously.
"I'm a proper gentleman. I came to Star Dou Great Forest to admire the scenery. Who could've known I'd run into a beautiful girl being attacked on the roadside?"
The suspicion on Xiao Wu's face only deepened.
"Didn't you say you were here to take care of something important?"
He'd said they were coming to Star Dou Great Forest for something important, yet after rescuing this woman, they were leaving. It was hard not to be suspicious.
As she muttered, she followed Su Chen's gaze from earlier and looked at Zhu Zhuqing.
Her eyes stopped dead.
She'd been so caught up in the fight that she'd only now noticed the two big Martial Souls on Zhu Zhuqing's chest.
She looked down at herself, and immediately felt unhappy.
Damn it!
Why did this woman come out with two giant watermelons attached to her?
Xiao Wu's alarm bells went off at once, and her sense of crisis exploded.
She was sure her guess was right. Boss had definitely fallen for that big milk cow!
"You're lying!" Xiao Wu pointed at Zhu Zhuqing, fuming. "You just fell for that big milk cow, didn't you?"
Zhu Zhuqing's cheeks flushed scarlet all the way to her ears.
Why did this little girl have to be so blunt?
Big milk cow? She wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Su Chen was equally dumbfounded. This rabbit was something else.
To keep Xiao Wu from going off the rails again, he decisively deployed the art of changing the subject.
"All right, all right, what are you imagining? Let's find a hotel, have a good meal, then get a nice, comfortable night's sleep. Tomorrow, we'll head straight to Suotuo City."
At the mention of a hotel, Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. She grabbed Su Chen's arm. "Boss, I want to share a room with you!"
"Forget it. You snore and grind your teeth in your sleep. You can sleep by yourself!"
"No! I want to sleep with you. I promise I won't grind my teeth tonight!"
"That's what you said last time."
"Then I'll grind them a little less tonight!"
The two bickered as they walked on.
Zhu Zhuqing was left standing there, utterly bewildered.
She looked at the bodies strewn across the ground, then at the two oddballs up ahead.
Were they really the ones who'd just pinned a Soul Emperor to the ground and beaten him?
But as she watched them walk away, laughing and joking,
an inexplicable pang of envy rose in Zhu Zhuqing's heart.
Laugh when they wanted to, make a fuss when they wanted to.
If only she could be carefree like them, without her family hunting her down or that cruel fate hanging over her. How wonderful that would be.
Suotuo City?
That coward Dai Mubai, the one who'd run away from his responsibilities, was in Suotuo City too, as far as she knew.
She'd heard he was at some Shrek Academy.
Zhu Zhuqing stopped thinking, took a deep breath, and hurried after them.
The farce on the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest came to an end in an utterly absurd fashion.
The three left the forest and, after half a day, arrived at a new location.
This was the small town where Shrek Academy and Canghui Academy fought in the original story.
It wasn't far from Suotuo City. Soul Masters came and went in droves, and taverns and inns lined the streets.
Su Chen picked what looked like the grandest hotel in town and swaggered inside with the two girls.
As soon as he sat down, he picked up the menu and launched into a spiel.
"Waiter, it's Thursday. Do you have a Crazy Thursday fifty Gold Soul Coin combo?"
The waiter stared at him blankly. "Sir, what's Crazy Thursday?"
"You don't even have that? What's the point of keeping your place open?"
Su Chen rolled his eyes. "Forget it. Bring out every expensive dish on your menu! Braised Wind Baboon, steamed Soft Bone Rabbit—bring it all out!"
Xiao Wu slapped the table, furious. "You're not allowed to eat bunnies! Bunnies are so cute—how could you eat bunnies?"
"No rabbit dishes, then. Bring me five spicy rabbit heads."
The waiter immediately nodded.
Su Chen was utterly speechless. Did this rabbit have two brains arguing with each other?
What was the difference between bunnies and rabbit heads? Weren't they both rabbits?
If you really wanted to split hairs, one was a whole rabbit, and the other had only its head left.