When It Is Fated to Be, It Will Be

Xiao Wu thought to herself: Er Ming grabbed me only because he missed me too much. If Qian Ren Shuang and his Growlmon hadn't suddenly come charging in, I wouldn't have been thrown away at all, and naturally I wouldn't have been scratched by the branches.

She had taken quite a few falls along the way, and her clothes had been torn open in several places by branches.

She blamed all of it on that Guilmon, and by extension, she had no pleasant expression for Qian Ren Shuang either.

Faced with Xiao Wu's unconvinced expression, Tang San could only smile apologetically and smooth things over. "My little sister doesn't know any better. Please don't hold it against her."

He said it so lightly, just like those parents who indulged their bratty kids with the excuse of "he's still just a child."

Dai Mubai said nothing. Ma Hongjun said nothing either. Oscar lowered his head. Zhu Zhuqing looked at Xiao Wu expressionlessly, then withdrew her gaze.

Several of them turned in tacit agreement to look at Qian Ren Shuang and Guilmon.

Qian Ren Shuang had both hands in casts, suspended around his neck, while Guilmon's two forearms were also wrapped in bandages and held up. One man and one beast sat there, looking exactly like two wounded soldiers who had just come off the battlefield.

In terms of age, they were the oldest ones present; in terms of injuries, theirs were also the worst. And for whose sake had they gotten hurt? To help Tang San and Xiao Wu hold off the Titan Giant Ape, ending up with fractures in their forearm bones.

And now Tang San wanted to brush it all aside with one line, "My little sister doesn't know any better. Please don't hold it against her"?

The atmosphere turned a little delicate, but no one spoke first.

"All right, all right." Qian Ren Shuang spoke, his tone neither heavy nor light, as if he were putting an end to the matter. "Tang San, you and Xiao Wu will carry me and Guilmon back to the academy tomorrow, and we'll call this over."

As Qian Ren Shuang saw it: for Tang San and Xiao Wu to return from the Titan Giant Ape completely unharmed, there had to be some secret he didn't know about.

Before their trump cards were revealed, falling out with the two of them was truly unwise.

"Of course, of course." Tang San nodded repeatedly, as if afraid Qian Ren Shuang would change his mind. It was only carrying someone while walking. This punishment was much lighter than he had expected.

At dinnertime, the group walked into the restaurant, and sure enough, ran right into the people from Pale Radiance Academy.

The two academies could originally have minded their own business. Each could eat their own meal, return to their own rooms, and keep out of each other's way. But Ma Hongjun was the sort of person who seemed born to cause trouble.

As soon as he sat down, his tiny eyes began sweeping all over the hall. When they swept to Pale Radiance Academy's table, they suddenly froze—among that group of eight, there was a young woman who really was rather pretty.

Ma Hongjun's eyes instantly lit up. How to describe that light? It was like a pervert who hadn't seen a woman in eight lifetimes.

He stared fixedly at that young woman, even letting a creepy smile curl at the corner of his mouth, and said in that sleazy tone that made people want to beat him up, "That chick's pretty good-looking. Boss Dai, those guys should be from Pale Radiance Academy, right?"

Dai Mubai glanced over there, curled his lip, his tone full of disdain. "It's just some tiny Pale Radiance Academy. What the hell are they showing off for?"

Oscar had a sly smile on his face. Sitting beside Tang San, he seemed full of anticipation for what was about to happen. He lowered his voice and said to Tang San, "Heh heh, looks like there's going to be a good show."

Tang San frowned slightly and turned to look at Oscar, confusion in his eyes. "What good show?"

Oscar leaned a little closer, lowering his voice even further, like a child sharing a secret. "This is also part of our training. Dean Flender said that a soul master who doesn't dare cause trouble isn't a good soul master. As the saying goes, those who don't dare cause trouble are mediocrities. Besides, provoking people from soul master academies is the safest. At most, it's just a fight."

When Qian Ren Shuang heard this, he frowned. He quietly leaned to Ning Rongrong's ear, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear. "Rongrong, you come from a great clan. Don't let these people lead you astray."

Ning Rongrong nodded lightly, her tone soft but certain. "Okay."

To her, Qian Ren Shuang was half family—the kind who had watched her grow up since she was little, and on top of that, he was her guard. As for the other classmates? They were merely classmates. Whom she should listen to was far too obvious.

On the other side, the eight people from Pale Radiance Academy had already sat down, with two tables separating them from Shrek's side.

From the corner of his eye, Tang San noticed that the middle-aged man who was clearly their teacher was whispering something into a young man's ear. Before he had said more than a few words, that young man stood up from his seat and walked toward Shrek Academy's table. Judging by the route he took, he was heading straight for Dai Mubai.

Qian Ren Shuang sighed, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness. "Dai Mubai, next time before you start trouble, check your own condition first. Not counting Oscar and Ning Rongrong, who don't have direct combat ability, among all of us right now, only Tang San is close to full condition."

Dai Mubai smiled dismissively, his face full of pride. "Brother Shuang, don't worry. Our current condition is more than enough to teach them a lesson."

"With just your table?" The young man from Pale Radiance Academy had already reached them, clearly having heard every word of their conversation.

His gaze swept over Dai Mubai, then over Qian Ren Shuang's cast-suspended arms, then over Guilmon's bandaged front claws. The corner of his mouth pulled into a mocking curve. "Some wounded, some crippled—a bunch of invalids, and you still want to teach us a lesson?"

At first, he had only walked over intending to argue a few words. After all, it was his academy's female student who had been harassed. But after hearing Dai Mubai's words, his temper flared up at once. Too lazy to waste any more breath, he lashed out with a whip kick straight toward Dai Mubai's waist.

Bang!

Dai Mubai raised his leg and blocked the kick.

The young man from Pale Radiance Academy only felt as if his kick had struck an iron plate. His entire calf went numb from the shock, a sharp, sour ache shooting straight up to the crown of his head. He cried out in pain on the spot, his expression twisting for an instant.

Dai Mubai himself was not having an easy time either.

The power of that whip kick, under normal circumstances, would have been mid-level to him—not painful, not even worth noticing.

But he was already injured right now. His muscles and bones had not recovered to their best condition, and after taking that kick, a dull pain throbbed through the injured area.

However, to preserve his dignity as the "big brother" among all the students, of course he would not let any expression show over such a bit of pain. Without changing expression, he raised his hand and slapped back.

That slap was crisp and loud. The young man from Pale Radiance Academy was slapped so hard he spun in place, then fell to the ground with a "thud," half his face swelling at a visible speed.

Dai Mubai even tossed out an extremely showy line: "Can't withstand a single blow."

Sitting to the side, Qian Ren Shuang rolled his eyes. He knew very well that today's matter probably could not end peacefully.