The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect That Had Tried to Change

"Of course it wasn't a cost issue." Qian Ren Shuang shook his head. "It's just that those people weren't strong enough, so it ended up being four people protecting one Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciple. In the end, that Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciple became the punching bag for those four people instead—think about it. Four people protect one person. If they lose, the one being protected gets scolded; if they win, the credit goes to the four of them. Who could put up with that?" (Refer to team-based games, where supports get flamed in low-tier matches.)

He paused, then continued, "You're the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. I'd guess your father's thinking was: a Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda soul master should be the core of a team, and everyone else should revolve around you. But it turned out great, didn't it? They completely put the cart before the horse. So your father urgently halted the plan."

After Ning Rongrong listened, the expression on her face shifted from confusion to realization, then from realization into an emotion that was hard to put into words. She lowered her head and fell silent for a while, as if imagining what her father had looked like back when he made that decision.

"Qian Ren Shuang," she suddenly lifted her head, her voice a little softer than before, her gaze fixed straight on him, "you seem... to understand my father very well."

Qian Ren Shuang felt somewhat uncomfortable under her stare and looked away. "I lived in your house for so many years. I know a little."

As for the fact that Qian Ren Shuang had actually come from Spirit Hall, Ning Fengzhi had specifically instructed Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, the only two besides himself who knew, not to tell Ning Rongrong. If she asked, they were to casually say he was a beast martial soul master discovered among the commoners.

That excuse had indeed been enough to fool Ning Rongrong at first, but as she grew older and learned that the last "soul master with a detached beast martial soul" had broken through level twenty-nine at the age of fifty, that explanation no longer quite held up in her mind.

That was also why, during the meal last time, Ning Rongrong had not deliberately taken over the topic to introduce Qian Ren Shuang's identity.

At this moment, Ning Rongrong stared at Qian Ren Shuang for a while. There was a softness in her gaze that even she herself had not noticed. She suddenly remembered—through all these years that Qian Ren Shuang had lived in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, although nominally as a guard, her father had always treated him with courtesy, even with a few degrees more politeness than he showed some elders of the sect. Why?

She was just about to ask when the corner of her eye caught Xiang Ya, who was still obediently cleaning in the corner.

Ning Rongrong's gaze lingered on Xiang Ya for two seconds, and she suddenly felt a little blocked up inside.

She had not thought carefully about this before—Qian Ren Shuang had brought a woman back from the gambling den and said he had intercepted her from human traffickers, so she believed him.

But this woman followed by his side, cleaning her room...

"Xiang Ya, come here for a moment," Ning Rongrong suddenly said.

Xiang Ya raised her head, stood, and walked over. "Miss Rongrong, what are your orders?"

Ning Rongrong looked her up and down. This woman really was not bad-looking. Her features were proper, and there was a resilient strength between her brows and eyes that ordinary people did not have. Though she wore a plain dark-blue housekeeper's uniform, that efficient air about her could not be hidden.

"What did you do before?" Ning Rongrong asked casually, though there was a little something extra in her tone compared to how she usually spoke.

"A dealer at a gambling den," Xiang Ya answered frankly.

"A gambling den?" Ning Rongrong raised a brow and glanced at Qian Ren Shuang again. "Then how did you end up following him?"

"Young master brought me out of there." When Xiang Ya said this, her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Qian Ren Shuang, and there was even the faintest trace of a smile at the corner of her lips.

Ning Rongrong saw that trace of a smile clearly.

The blocked feeling in her heart suddenly became much more solid.

It was as if something were stuck in her throat, impossible to swallow and impossible to spit out.

She did not know what this feeling was—she had grown up in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and whatever she wanted, she had it. She had never needed to fight anyone for anything.

But now, as she looked at the position where Xiang Ya stood beside Qian Ren Shuang, she felt that position ought to be hers.

"All right, go tidy up first." Ning Rongrong waved her hand, her voice a little colder than before.

Xiang Ya acknowledged her and turned to leave.

Ning Rongrong stood where she was, watching Xiang Ya's back, then looking at Qian Ren Shuang as he lowered his head and said something to Guilmon. Suddenly, she felt somewhat irritated.

She did not know why she was irritated. She just felt—what right did that woman named Xiang Ya have to stand so close to him? What right did she have to wipe his claws? What right did she have to go wherever he went?

"Rongrong?" Qian Ren Shuang noticed she was standing there without moving and looked up at her. "What are you spacing out for?"

"Nothing!" Ning Rongrong's tone was a little sharper than usual. After saying it, she felt she had overreacted, so she lowered her head, kicked a small stone by her foot, and added gloomily, "...I'm just tired."

Qian Ren Shuang gave an "oh." Although he searched through his memories and classified Ning Rongrong's current state as "jealousy."

But knowing was one thing. Qian Ren Shuang could not be bothered to offer all kinds of comfort. Whether before or after crossing over, his own mother had not wanted him, so his attitude toward love between men and women had always been one of "not wanting to get too close."

At this moment, Qian Ren Shuang merely took Guilmon and turned to leave, neatly tossing this sort of emotional matter back to Ning Rongrong to resolve herself.

Ning Rongrong looked at his back as he turned away and bit her lip. That nameless anger burned even hotter.

At the entrance of Shrek Academy.

When Tang San came running back, he immediately saw his teacher Yu Xiaogang standing by the foot of the wall—his face a bloody mess, his entire neck crooked to one side, looking exactly like a rag doll fished out of a mud pit.

Tang San's pupils suddenly shrank, and his eyes unconsciously turned crimson as his breathing abruptly grew heavy. The Clear Sky Sect's ancestral "crimson eyes and panting like an ox" was unintentionally displayed by him. His fists clenched until they creaked. "Grandmaster! Who injured you so badly?!"

Yu Xiaogang was worried that this disciple of his would act impulsively and ruin the plan of his idol, Tang Hao, so he casually made up an excuse and waved his hand. "It's nothing. I slept in a bad position just now and fell."

It had to be said that while Yu Xiaogang was not much of a person, his talent for acting was truly impressive.

With his neck crooked, one hand supporting the back of it, he even squeezed out a "it's fine, it's fine, don't worry" smile on his face, his tone as relaxed as if he were saying the weather was nice today.

That "it's just a minor injury, not worth mentioning" manner of his—if not for the blood scabs still hanging on his face, Tang San almost would have believed him.

With this set of acting skills, he had been able to deceive both Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong back then, making two women unable to forget him. Fooling a teenage disciple was naturally no challenge.

Seeing that his teacher had said as much, Tang San could only rein in his temper. The redness in his eyes gradually faded, and he continued running while panting heavily.