Xiao Xiao didn't slow down for a second.
Her petite legs carried her along at a rapid clip.
When she reached the dormitory building, she asked someone to pass along a message.
It didn't take long for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong to come out of the building.
A hint of confusion showed on Huo Yuhao's face. He clearly didn't understand why Xiao Xiao had suddenly called them out.
Wang Dong walked beside Huo Yuhao, but her expression was far less pleasant.
The corners of her mouth drooped slightly, and irritation at being disturbed showed in her eyes.
If Xiao Xiao weren't her teammate, she would have turned and walked away already.
Even so, her tone was less than friendly.
"Xiao Xiao, what is it? We still have to cultivate." Wang Dong folded her arms.
Huo Yuhao stood beside Wang Dong.
He didn't scowl like Wang Dong, but he spoke much faster than usual.
He sounded quite impatient.
"Xiao Xiao, whatever it is, hurry up and tell us. We don't have much time."
It wasn't that he had anything against Xiao Xiao. Their next match was against Dai Huabin.
Someone from the White Tiger Duke Mansion.
He had to use every moment he could to cultivate. He absolutely couldn't lose to that family.
Perhaps because Ning Tian and Wu Feng had already left Shrek Academy, they hadn't even run into Xie Huanyue before they crossed paths with Dai Huabin's team.
Xiao Xiao looked at the two people in front of her.
Suddenly, she lost confidence in what she was about to say.
She pressed her lips together and thought it over, but in the end, she decided to speak.
They had been fighting side by side for so long, after all.
She wouldn't betray them so easily, nor would she betray Shrek Academy.
At the same time, she wanted to know the answer.
Xiao Xiao's face was full of uncertainty. Just as Wang Dong was about to lose patience, she finally spoke.
"Teacher Zhou Yi told me to add a Soul Ring to my Second Martial Soul to support us in the upcoming matches."
"I don't know whether I should do it."
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong exchanged a glance.
Without even thinking, they answered in unison.
"If Teacher Zhou Yi said so, just do what she told you."
"Do you really need to ask us about something so trivial?"
Huo Yuhao sounded as if it were only natural.
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had fallen into a deep sleep, and he had no way of learning anything about Twin Martial Souls right now.
Back at the White Tiger Duke Mansion, he'd had precious little access to Soul Master knowledge.
He hadn't been at Shrek Academy for long, either.
And now the freshman assessment had arrived. He had never studied the theory of Twin Martial Souls.
Teacher Zhou Yi was so capable. She must have had her reasons.
In Huo Yuhao's eyes, Zhou Yi was the perfect teacher.
The students only needed to do what their teacher said.
Wang Dong either couldn't be bothered to deal with this or simply didn't consider it important.
Either way, Zhou Yi had asked Xiao Xiao to do it. What did that have to do with Wang Dong?
She waved a hand, her tone casual.
"Okay, okay. You came all the way here just for that? Go on, hurry up."
Xiao Xiao froze in place.
She looked at the two people before her as the light in her eyes slowly faded.
If she hadn't met Gu An, if she hadn't heard those words from a stranger, she wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong with this.
Teacher Zhou Yi had said it, and the class monitor and Wang Dong agreed. So she should just do it.
But...
A moment ago, a complete stranger had shown concern for her.
And the people she thought of as teammates, the ones who had fought beside her for so long...
They hadn't even asked her one more question.
The contrast was too stark. She couldn't accept it.
Xiao Xiao pressed her lips together, worked up the courage, and tried asking one more time.
"Do you... know what might happen if I put a Hundred-Year Soul Ring on my Second Martial Soul?"
Huo Yuhao had already turned to leave. When he heard her, he paused and looked back.
His face showed clear confusion, along with a hint of displeasure.
"Xiao Xiao, Teacher Zhou Yi already told you to go. Just hurry up and do it."
"The elimination matches start tomorrow. We really don't have time."
"Wang Dong and I still have to go back and cultivate."
Wang Dong chimed in beside him.
"Exactly. Go on, stop dawdling."
After that, the two of them turned and headed back toward the dormitory together.
Wang Dong walked in front, with Huo Yuhao beside her. Their figures soon disappeared through the dormitory entrance.
Xiao Xiao was left standing alone where she was.
A breeze swept past, carrying the chill of evening and a desolate stillness.
Xiao Xiao stared blankly in the direction they had gone.
She felt as if a red nose had sprouted on her face.
She was a complete clown.
An inexplicable emotion welled up inside her. Her eyes began to burn, and her vision blurred.
Just then, another line echoed in her mind.
"When you graduate, will your team really stay stuck together all day? Won't you end up on your own anyway?"
"So the only real strength is your own."
"Anything that stakes your future on someone else is foolish."
She squeezed her eyes shut and blinked hard.
Great big tears spilled from her eyes, slid down her cheeks, and gathered beneath her chin before dripping onto the front of her clothes.
She raised a hand and wiped her face roughly with the back of it.
"Gu An... was right!"
Without another word, she turned and walked toward the academy gates.
She didn't understand.
They had fought side by side for so long, and won so many matches together.
Why were they worse than a stranger?
Why had a stranger been willing to stop and show concern for her, while her teammates couldn't even bear to listen to one more thing she had to say?
Everything that person said was right.
She, Xiao Xiao, was the one who shouldn't have been there.
Those two were all lovey-dovey. They were a couple.
The Light Goddess Butterfly was a Martial Soul only women could awaken.
Wang Dong was a girl.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were the ones who belonged together.
And there she was, a fool who didn't even know something so basic, blindly throwing herself in with them.
She was only a foil, an unnoticed foil.
Xiao Xiao left Shrek Academy and hurried down the street.
Tear tracks still streaked her face.
She found Gu An near the street where she'd seen him earlier.
Gu An and Leng Yaozhu were seated by the window in a teahouse.
When Gu An saw Xiao Xiao run over with red eyes, he set down his teacup.
Xiao Xiao came to a stop in front of him. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, tears fell again.
"Waaaah..."
She threw herself into Gu An's arms and burst into unrestrained sobs.
Gu An looked helpless. Sure, he was handsome, but that didn't mean she had to act like such a lovesick girl.
No one knew what the two of them talked about afterward, but once her emotions had settled, Xiao Xiao walked out of the teahouse.
She headed straight for the gates of Shrek City.
She was going home.
Her home was in a small city near Shrek City.
Gu An stood at the entrance of the teahouse, watching Xiao Xiao's back disappear at the end of the street.
Leng Yaozhu walked up beside him and glanced down at him.
"Got what you wanted?"
Gu An looked at her speechlessly. "The way you put it makes me sound like I'm stirring up trouble."
"I'm saving a young girl from going astray!"
"She can't afford to take the wrong path!"
The next day.
Shrek Academy, at the elimination match venue.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong stood in the waiting area beside the Soul Fighting Platform. Neither of them looked happy.
Wang Dong rose onto her toes and craned her neck toward the entrance, muttering nonstop.
"Where's Xiao Xiao? Why isn't she here yet?"
Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows, his expression grim.
Xiao Xiao was already late today. The elimination match was about to start, and she was nowhere to be seen.
Wang Dong turned to look at Huo Yuhao.
"Didn't she say yesterday that she was going to add a Soul Ring to her Second Martial Soul? Even if she went to get one, she should be back by now."
Huo Yuhao didn't say anything. He only shook his head.
He had a bad feeling.
Zhou Yi stood behind them with her hands clasped behind her back. Her expression was dark enough to drip water.
A vein at her temple twitched faintly.
Her class. Her team. With the elimination matches about to begin...
One of them was missing.
"Damn it! Xiao Xiao! When you get back, you'd better have a good explanation..."