Hero Saves the Damsel?

The thugs' filthy words still echoed through the air, but the surrounding onlookers had already spontaneously formed a circle around them. Some looked unable to bear it, some shook their heads and sighed, while others quietly clenched their fists, ready to step in at any moment.

Although he suspected this was a setup, Xiao Cheng still quietly slipped into the crowd with Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai. However, he did not rush to intervene. Instead, he first observed the situation.

Xiao Cheng's gaze passed over the crowd and landed on the girl being surrounded.

The girl looked about eight or nine years old, roughly the same age as Leng Yulai. Her long dark green hair glowed softly in the lingering light of the setting sun. Her features were delicate and beautiful, and there was a calmness between her brows that did not belong to someone her age, as though the predicament before her could not make her panic.

She wore neat casual clothes, neither luxurious nor plain. But Xiao Cheng noticed that she stood steadily and breathed evenly. Faced with a group of vicious-looking thugs, she did not show much fear.

Interesting, Xiao Cheng thought.

What had happened was actually quite simple—the thugs had carried their food over and deliberately bumped into the girl. Although she had dodged in time, the thug still forcibly used the excuse that "his food had been knocked over" to demand compensation from her.

However, anyone could see that this so-called demand for compensation was merely an excuse. If the girl proved easy to bully and paid them, these thugs would only become even more unscrupulous.

The surrounding spectators naturally understood the truth as well, but these thugs had always been notorious in this area. They also seemed to have some special backing, so the crowd only dared to whisper among themselves. Few dared to openly stop them.

The girl clearly understood this too. Rather than waste words with the thugs, she directly released her Martial Soul—

Two purple Soul Rings rose beneath her feet and circled around her body. Behind her, two pairs of luminous white angel wings slowly unfurled. A soft pale golden glow haloed the edges of the wings. The feathers did not have a cold, hard texture; instead, they resembled cotton soaked in life energy, radiating a gentle, vibrant aura.

"Holy Angel Martial Soul?" Xiao Cheng was slightly taken aback, but he quickly shook his head. "No, not a Holy Angel. Its aura leans toward healing and support, not combat."

As the girl released her Martial Soul, she also took out a Soul Tool gun from her Storage Soul Tool. The gun was silver-white all over, with faint Soul Power fluctuations flowing across its body. It looked to be of a fairly high grade. She raised it at the lead thug. Though she said nothing, the threat was unmistakable.

Yet the lead thug merely grinned and released his own Soul Rings—two yellow and two purple, four Soul Rings in total!

A Soul Ancestor!

As the thug released his Soul Rings, a powerful aura pressed toward the girl. Her own aura was instantly suppressed. She gripped the Soul Tool gun tightly, her delicate hand turning slightly pale. She was clearly nervous now, but she still did not retreat. The muzzle remained steadily aimed at the thug.

"Little sister, playing with guns is dangerous." The thug sneered as he advanced step by step. "What if it goes off and hurts you? That wouldn't be good."

The girl said nothing and only tightened her grip on the gun.

When the thug was still three steps away from her, he suddenly swayed and made a feint!

The girl instinctively pulled the trigger. A Soul Tool beam skimmed past the thug's shoulder and struck the ground!

"Now!" A gleam of triumph flashed through the thug's eyes as he unleashed a long-range Soul Skill, striking the Soul Tool gun in the girl's hand with perfect accuracy!

Bang!

The Soul Tool gun flew from her hand, landed on the ground, and rolled twice.

The girl's expression finally changed, and she instinctively took a step back.

"Heh heh, let's see what tricks you've got left now." The thug grinned viciously and reached for the girl's shoulder—

"Stop!"

A sharp cry rang out, accompanied by a crimson-gold figure wreathed in flames that streaked through the crowd like a meteor and charged straight at the thug!

At the same time, an identical shout came from another direction—

"Stop!"

A boy rushed out of the crowd, holding a blazing white spear. Soul Rings flashed around him as he likewise charged at the thug!

They were Leng Yaozhu and Yun Ming!

The two had shouted "stop" almost simultaneously, but Leng Yaozhu's body moved faster than her mouth, and she was faster as well! With a spread of phoenix wings, she had already appeared in front of the girl. Phoenix Feather blazed with scorching flames as it slashed toward the thug!

The thug's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly raised an arm to block—

Clang—!!!

With a deafening crash, the thug was sent flying and staggered several steps across the ground before barely stopping. His arm had strong defensive power after Martial Soul Possession, but Phoenix Feather's sharpness was no joke. A deep sword wound had been carved into his arm, blood pouring from it as he let out a miserable scream.

Leng Yaozhu stood with her sword in hand, shielding the girl behind her as she coldly stared at the thugs. "A bunch of grown men bullying a little girl. Have you no shame?"

Yun Ming had also rushed over by then, but when he saw that Leng Yaozhu had already resolved the crisis, he froze in place. The Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear in his hand was poised to strike, but the target had already been dealt with. He had no idea where he was supposed to thrust it now.

For a moment, the scene became rather awkward.

Seeing this from within the crowd, Xiao Cheng could not help smiling.

Yun Ming's appearance was most likely not a coincidence. With Yun Ming's personality and status, there was nothing particularly strange about him being here. After all, this snack street often had Shrek Academy students passing through it. Shrek Academy students might all be exceptional people, but when they encountered something like this, most would choose to step in. Still, there were far too many suspicious details.

Looks like this really is a setup, Xiao Cheng thought. But it wasn't arranged for us. It was arranged for that girl.

His gaze settled on the dark green-haired girl as his mind rapidly searched for information about her.

Dark green hair, a Four-Winged Angel Martial Soul, healing type, eight or nine years old...

Ya Li, Xiao Cheng silently recalled the name.

If he remembered correctly, this girl should be the future Holy Spirit Douluo from the original story—Ya Li. She would become the first healing-type Limit Douluo in the history of the Douluo Continent, as well as Yun Ming's future wife.

According to the original story, she had already begun displaying her formidable talent and had received official Federation training. Why would she be alone in Shrek City? The Federation officials were not fools. The only possibility was that someone had arranged a trap for her.

Since it's Ya Li, the purpose of these thugs is obvious, Xiao Cheng realized.

If he had guessed correctly, these thugs had been ordered to deliberately cause trouble for Ya Li. Yun Ming's appearance, meanwhile, was meant to let him "save the damsel" and become acquainted with her.

As for who had given the orders behind the scenes, that was impossible to guess. Everyone in Shrek's Sea God Pavilion was suspicious. They were all old bastards willing to do anything for Shrek's so-called glory. Xiao Cheng even suspected that Bei Dexun had personally orchestrated this. Ya Li did have something special about her, but it had not yet revealed itself. There were not many people capable of noticing it.

This method really is... clichéd, but effective, Xiao Cheng grumbled inwardly.

While he was thinking, the situation on the scene had already changed.

The thug leader who had been sent flying climbed to his feet, clutching his bleeding arm as he viciously glared at Leng Yaozhu. "Where did this little brat come from? How dare you meddle in my business? Do you know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are!" Leng Yaozhu pointed Phoenix Feather at him, its tip aimed straight at his throat. "Get lost if you know what's good for you, or don't blame me for getting rough!"

"You—!" The thug leader's face alternated between green and white. He wanted to lash out, but he was wary of Leng Yaozhu's strength. He could tell that this little girl, who looked only eight or nine years old, was actually stronger than him, a Soul Ancestor! If he had not reacted quickly to that slash earlier, his entire arm might have been cut off!

But they had not completed the task assigned by their superiors. If they slunk back like this, then...

"Boss, maybe... we should pull back first?" One of his lackeys came over and whispered.

"Pull back my ass!" The thug leader slapped the lackey across the face. "I'm going to teach this ignorant little brat a lesson today!"

As he spoke, his Soul Rings lit up, and he prepared to attack.

However, before he could make a move, a cyan figure had already appeared before him.

"I advise you to behave yourself." Holding the Azure Sky Divine Spear, Xiao Cheng looked at him calmly. "Otherwise, you'll bear the consequences yourself."

His tone was calm, but the faint pressure emanating from him made the thug leader feel a chill rise from the depths of his heart.

He could sense that this boy, who looked around the same age as the red-haired girl, was even more unfathomably powerful!

"Y-you... who are you people?" the thug leader asked with a stammer.

"The Spirit Pagoda," Xiao Cheng said flatly. "Although Shrek City bears Shrek Academy's name, if the Spirit Pagoda wants to deal with a few thugs, Shrek Academy won't say anything."

The thug leader's face instantly turned deathly pale.

"Retreat... retreat!" Without another word, the thug leader turned and ran.

Seeing that their boss had fled, the other thugs hurriedly scattered after him.

When the onlookers saw the thugs being driven away, they began applauding and cheering.

"Good! Well done!"

"Someone should have dealt with those little punks a long time ago!"

Leng Yaozhu put away Phoenix Feather, turned to the dark green-haired girl, and asked with concern, "Are you all right?"

The girl shook her head and revealed a grateful smile. "I'm fine. Thank you." Then she bent down, picked up the Soul Tool gun from the ground, and stored it in her Storage Soul Tool.

"No need to be polite. When you see injustice, you lend a hand!" Leng Yaozhu waved her hand, then asked curiously, "By the way, what's your name? Why are you here alone? Where are your family?"

"My name is Ya Li," the little girl said. "I came to Shrek City with my 'family.' I accidentally got separated from them just now. Then... I ran into those people."

As she said this, a trace of sadness flashed through her eyes, but it quickly faded.

"Ya Li..." Leng Yaozhu repeated the name, then smiled. "What a nice name! I'm Leng Yaozhu, from the Spirit Pagoda. If you run into any trouble, you can come find me."

"Thank you, Sister Yao Zhu," Ya Li said obediently.

At that moment, Xiao Cheng and Leng Yulai also walked over.

"Sister, are you all right?" Leng Yulai asked.

"What could possibly happen to me?" Leng Yaozhu lifted her chin. "Those little thugs weren't even enough to warm me up!"

Xiao Cheng smiled, then looked at Ya Li and asked, "Ya Li, you said you got separated from your family? Do you know where they are? We can take you there."

Ya Li thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know where they are either. But it's fine. They can find me. I just need to wait here for a while."

"That won't do," Leng Yaozhu said. "It's already getting dark. It's not safe for a little girl to be outside alone. How about this? We'll take you to the Spirit Pagoda first. Didn't you say your family can find you? It'll be safer there."

Ya Li hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Then I'll trouble you."