"Tang San, come out."
Zhao Wuji's footsteps stopped outside the door. He shoved it open, slamming it against the wall and sending dust drifting down.
Xiao Wu immediately stepped in front of the bed, planted her hands on her hips, and glared at him. "What do you want now? You said we passed. You can't go back on your word!"
Zhao Wuji's eyes were swollen and bruised, and his expression was frighteningly dark.
Flender followed him in. At the sight of Tang San lying on the bed, he glanced at Zhao Wuji, barely holding back a smile.
"Old Zhao, you attacked a new student and ended up looking like that. It wouldn't sound good if word got out."
Zhao Wuji turned and roared, "Flender, spare me the snide remarks!"
Oscar poked his head around the door, pushing a cart and eager to watch the commotion, but one glare from Zhao Wuji sent him back.
"You get lost too."
Oscar promptly ducked back out and muttered, "I only wanted to ask if anyone needed a Recovery Sausage."
Ning Rongrong stood in the corner, brushing dust from her skirt in disgust.
"Are all the teachers here this fierce? Coming to settle scores with students right after an exam?"
Zhao Wuji looked at her and snorted.
"Little girl from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, don't parade your family's ways in front of me."
Ning Rongrong's expression changed. She was about to retort when Zhu Zhuqing rose from her place against the wall and stared coldly at the doorway.
Dai Mubai hurried between them.
"Zhao Wuji, Tang San really can't take any more. If you want to ask about the Hidden Weapons, wait until he wakes up."
Tang San tried to sit up, but the moment he moved, he felt a hollow emptiness in his chest.
Ji Yuan gave a gentle tug at the edges of his meridians, drawing away most of the Mysterious Heaven Skill Inner Force he had just gathered and leaving him looking weak.
Tang San coughed, his face turning paler still.
Xiao Wu grew anxious and pressed a hand to his shoulder.
"Stay down! Don't push yourself!"
Seeing Tang San like this, Zhao Wuji's anger lodged in his throat.
Winning had cost him face. Losing had cost him even more. Now, even demanding an explanation looked like bullying an injured student.
Flender adjusted his glasses and finally spoke.
"Old Zhao, if you really want to know what happened with the Hidden Weapons, ask tomorrow."
Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth and held out his hand to Tang San.
Several Dragon Beard Needles he had pulled out lay in his palm.
"Tomorrow, you're going to explain these to me."
Tang San nodded, his voice hoarse.
"I will."
Zhao Wuji stared at him for a while, then suddenly frowned.
"Why is your Soul Power in such a mess? Did you use something you shouldn't have?"
Tang San's heart tightened slightly.
Hidden in a compartment in the sole of Tang San's shoe, Ji Yuan held his roots still in the soil instead of pushing on toward the well.
The underground detection array was still running. If he moved now, a Soul Saint like Zhao Wuji might not find the source, but Flender was here too, doubling the risk.
Xiao Wu spoke first.
"You have the nerve to ask? A Soul Saint took on a handful of Soul Grandmasters. Of course he pushed himself too far!"
Ning Rongrong gave a cold snort.
"If we hadn't held out, would you be telling us our bones weren't hard enough?"
The two young girls' retorts made Zhao Wuji's face twitch.
"Fine, fine. Every last one of you has a sharp tongue."
Flender, however, looked toward Tang San's feet.
Ji Yuan immediately drew his thin probing root back into the crack in the shoe sole, letting its outer layer dry into what looked like ordinary grass debris.
Flender's gaze lingered only a moment before moving away.
"Mubai, get them settled and have their meals brought to the dormitory."
Dai Mubai nodded.
"Got it."
Zhao Wuji turned to leave, then glanced back at Tang San from the doorway and glared.
"Kid, if you can't explain yourself tomorrow, I'll train with you personally."
Xiao Wu immediately blocked his view.
"We'll deal with tomorrow when it comes."
Zhao Wuji laughed in exasperation.
"Rabbit girl, don't think you can hide either. You're joining us tomorrow."
Xiao Wu fell silent and turned to Tang San.
Tang San managed a faint smile.
"It's fine."
Only after Zhao Wuji and Flender left did the pressure in the room lift.
Ning Rongrong sat on the edge of a wooden bed, then stood again with a frown at how hard it was.
"How is anyone supposed to sleep on this?"
Zhu Zhuqing had already closed her eyes to regulate her breathing.
"Lie down and sleep."
Ning Rongrong looked at her and could not help asking, "Doesn't the dirt bother you?"
Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes, her tone cold and blunt.
"It won't help if it does."
Ning Rongrong had no answer. She turned to Dai Mubai.
"This is the girls' dormitory?"
Dai Mubai spread his hands.
"This is what Shrek Academy can offer. If you're not satisfied, you can go back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Ning Rongrong's expression darkened.
"I came here, and I'm not leaving."
Xiao Wu had no patience for their argument. She only looked down at Tang San.
"Where does it hurt? Do you want one of those sausages?"
Tang San shook his head.
"I'll be fine after I regulate my breathing for a while."
Outside, Oscar heard the word "sausage" and poked his head in again, pushing his cart.
"Xiao Wu, I'm not bragging, but my sausages are first-rate for recovery. One sausage now, and Tang San's guaranteed to feel better."
Xiao Wu remembered his incantation, and her face turned green.
"If you dare say it, I'll overturn your cart."
Oscar looked aggrieved as he turned to Dai Mubai.
"Boss Dai, do something."
Dai Mubai patted him on the shoulder.
"Go make dinner first. They can't deal with you right now."
Oscar sighed and pushed his cart away.
Ji Yuan's senses followed him for a while.
Food-type Soul Power and life-restoring energy were indeed worth cultivating.
But not yet.
First, he needed to turn all of Shrek Academy into his territory.
As night fell, the dormitory finally grew quiet.
Tang San lay on the bed, the Mysterious Heaven Skill circulating on its own as it tried to heal the day's injuries.
Ji Yuan did not rush to draw it away.
He first released a little gentle wood-attribute Soul Power, guiding it once through Tang San's meridians to soothe his visible injuries and help him sleep more deeply.
Then he extended a root through the crack in the shoe sole and followed the bed leg down into the soil.
The underground detection array was still there, but its patterns had weakened since Zhao Wuji and Flender left during the day.
Ji Yuan did not force his way through.
He split his root into several strands. One followed the damp layer of soil, another skirted the strongest concentration of Soul Power, and a third deliberately touched the edge of an array pattern.
The pattern glowed faintly.
Tang San frowned in his sleep.
Ji Yuan immediately drew away the Inner Force Tang San had just produced, faking a reaction to pain in his meridians.
Tang San rolled over and murmured, "Don't..."
Xiao Wu, asleep in another bed, raised her head at the sound.
"Tang San?"
Tang San did not wake.
Xiao Wu got up to check on him. Finding him merely restless, she lay down again.
Ji Yuan waited until her breathing steadied before continuing.
Tang San's meridian fluctuations had masked the array's reaction just now.
Good.
If anything stirred in the future, he could pin it all on Tang San.
The root slipped past the detection array and headed for the well at the center of the academy.
The bottom of the well was cool and full of moisture.
After Ji Yuan's root entered a crack in the well wall, tiny dark-red pores opened across the Demon Vine's body, releasing a great mass of dormant spores into the water.
The spores were colorless and odorless. They dispersed in water, and their Soul Power fluctuations were almost nonexistent.
Anyone who drank them would not immediately grow weak.
They would feel no pain.
They would suspect nothing.
They would simply be marked by him.
Ji Yuan did not get greedy. As soon as he finished releasing the spores, he severed the root, leaving only a distant sensory thread.
Near dawn, Dai Mubai was the first to come to the well to wash up.
He had felt drained again last night and wanted to splash some water on himself to wake up.
"Strange. Why have I been so tired lately?"
He scooped up a ladle of well water and tipped it into his mouth.
As the spores reached his stomach, they immediately connected with the White Tiger spores in his ankle.
The ladle wavered in Dai Mubai's hand, and he frowned.
"Again?"
He circulated his Soul Power to check, but all he felt was a little warmth in his White Tiger meridians, as though yesterday's injuries had not fully healed.
Inside the dormitory, Ji Yuan silently tightened his root.
White Tiger node reinforced.
Then the kitchen fires were lit, and well water was poured into the pots.
Oscar passed the well with a yawn and took a drink.
Ning Rongrong approached with a teacup in hand.
Zhu Zhuqing stopped beside the well carrying a kettle.
Xiao Wu rubbed her eyes and called out, "Is Tang San awake? I'll get him some water."
Points of light spread across Ji Yuan's sensory web.
The academy's entire water supply had become his throat.
And the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was bringing the next mouthful to her lips.
Before you continue