Tang San: Not Good, My Little Sister Can't Be Led Astray

Guilmon followed excitedly at Qian Ren Shuang's side like a child out for a walk with an adult, answering with perfect confidence, "Aside from only being half full right now, everything else is fine!"

The corner of Qian Ren Shuang's mouth twitched. Half full—now that was the honest truth.

Once they reached the street outside and the night wind blew over them, the lazy look on Qian Ren Shuang's face vanished completely. He immediately ordered Guilmon, "End this fast! Soul Skill Switch, Super Evolution Component S!"

The purple fourth soul ring lit up, its glow sinking into Guilmon's body.

"EVOLUTION—Guilmon digivolve! Growlmon!"

That familiar mechanical voice rang out again. In just a few breaths, the shoulder-high Guilmon had turned into a Growlmon as towering as a tall building.

The two vertical pupils that marked it as a predator gleamed with a cold, eerie light in the night, and its two scythe-like forearms shone with a chilling glint beneath the moonlight.

Ye Zhiqiu had only just come out of the restaurant and had not even had time to take his stance when he saw a moving mountain of flesh suddenly appear in front of him.

For a moment, he was completely dumbfounded. His mouth opened, and his mind was still processing the information of "Wasn't this thing a little dinosaur just now? How did it suddenly get this big?"

Then Growlmon sent him flying with one sweep of its tail.

That tail strike was clean and efficient, without the slightest flourish, as casual as swatting away a fly.

Ye Zhiqiu flew up into the air, tracing a beautiful parabola across the night sky, farther and farther away, farther and farther away, until at last he became a tiny black dot at the end of the distant street and disappeared into the darkness.

The members of Shrek Academy stood where they were, keeping their heads raised as they watched Ye Zhiqiu fly into the distance.

It was quiet for two seconds.

"..." Dai Mubai.

"..." Tang San.

"..." Ma Hongjun.

"...He really flew far," Oscar said, breaking the silence first.

When the students of Pale Radiance Academy saw their teacher get whipped out of sight by a single tail strike, the expressions on their faces changed from shock to terror, then from terror to panic.

They did not even dare leave behind a harsh word. Very sensibly, they supported one another and slipped away as if their feet had been greased.

Qian Ren Shuang watched the direction they disappeared in and did not give chase. It had only been a minor conflict to begin with; there was no need to wipe them out.

Early the next morning, Zhao Wuji led everyone running all the way back to Shrek Academy.

It was worth mentioning that on the way back, Qian Ren Shuang did not activate his fourth soul skill to have Guilmon turn into the tall and mighty Growlmon to carry everyone back.

The reason was simple—after sending Ye Zhiqiu flying with one tail strike last night, when Guilmon devolved from Growlmon form, the energy from the transformation had directly burst apart the bandages and braces on its two forelimbs.

Its forearms had already been cracked, and after being stretched like that, the injuries worsened another degree.

Aside from Guilmon and Qian Ren Shuang, the most miserable person in the whole group was Oscar.

First, in the Star Dou Forest, because of the Titan Giant Ape's sudden interruption, he had failed to obtain his soul ring. Then, after returning to the inn at night, before he could even catch his breath, Qian Ren Shuang had demanded he work overtime making recovery sausages—for Guilmon to eat.

And so Oscar worked overtime in the inn until midnight, and every recovery sausage he made went into Guilmon's stomach.

Guilmon's forearm fractures had yet to fully recover, while Oscar was already exhausted like a dog.

So the situation of the whole group on the way back was like this:

Xiao Wu carried Qian Ren Shuang on her back.

Tang San carried Guilmon on his back. Guilmon was much heavier than Qian Ren Shuang, and Tang San was sweating buckets from carrying it.

Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai supported Oscar—Oscar had been wrung dry of soul power and stamina by Qian Ren Shuang, and he was even swaying as he walked, looking utterly drained.

Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun, and Zhao Wuji walked silently on their own.

Among them, Zhao Wuji walked at the very back, his expression rather unpleasant, looking weighed down by his thoughts.

Compared with the original text, the whole group's travel speed was nearly three-fifths slower. What had originally been a little over half a day's journey was dragged out into an entire day, from early morning to midnight.

"Brother Shuang," Tang San said as they walked. After hesitating for quite a while, he finally could not help speaking up. "Can you and Guilmon switch? I mean... I'll carry you, and Xiao Wu can carry Guilmon."

He looked at the sight of Xiao Wu carrying Qian Ren Shuang on her back, and for some reason, it did not sit right with him.

He could not say what the feeling was. He just felt uncomfortable—how could Xiao Wu's back let another man lie on it?

Qian Ren Shuang was lying on Xiao Wu's back with his eyes closed, resting. Hearing this, he did not even lift an eyelid. "Didn't you see that defiant attitude of hers earlier? Handing Guilmon over to her? I'm not reassured."

He truly was not reassured. He had seen Xiao Wu's unconvinced expression clearly last night. This girl still had a knot in her heart toward him and Guilmon.

Guilmon's two front claws were injured right now. If Xiao Wu "accidentally" dropped it, or tripped it up a little on the road, who would he go to for justice?

"But..." Tang San gritted his teeth and squeezed out, "But men and women shouldn't have such close contact."

Qian Ren Shuang finally opened one eye and glanced at Tang San, then closed it again. "Then ask Fatty and Ning Rongrong which of them is willing to replace Xiao Wu and carry me."

Before Tang San could even ask, Ma Hongjun had already darted over in a single stride. "I'll do it!"

He came to Xiao Wu's side, bent down, took Qian Ren Shuang from Xiao Wu's back, and steadily carried him on his own.

Xiao Wu shook out her numb shoulders, let out a long breath, then bounced over to Tang San's side.

The group continued forward.

As they walked, Tang San suddenly cried out with a red face, "Xiao Wu! Why are you hugging my waist?!"

At some point, Xiao Wu had already wrapped both hands around Tang San's waist, and her fingers were rather restless as they pinched here and there. She stuck out her tongue and acted cute with an innocent face. "Hehe, Brother San, I was just comparing whose waist feels better to touch, yours or Brother Shuang's."

Tang San's face turned even redder, all the way to the tips of his ears. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask but not daring to, and after struggling for quite a while, he still could not hold back. "...Who's better?"

He both wanted to know the answer and feared it—what if Xiao Wu disliked how his waist felt to the touch?

Xiao Wu thought about it seriously, then pinched him twice more and gave a rather fair assessment. "Hmm... As far as how it feels, Brother San, your waist is slimmer, but it's easy to feel the bones. So next time you should fatten up a bit. Then it'll feel better to touch."

She had not noticed the little hidden thought in Tang San's tone at all. She was purely comparing the facts as they were, and even offered a suggestion for improvement at the end.

If they were really talking about waists, how could Tang San compare to Qian Ren Shuang?

Before Tang San turned six, Tang Hao had raised him so poorly that his growth was stunted, and his whole body was as thin as a bamboo pole. Later, during his time as a work-study student, although Yu Xiaogang gave him special meals, his foundation was what it was, and it could not be made up for in such a short time.