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This was not the explosive burst of speed driven by soul power, but an incredibly bizarre acceleration, as if an invisible force were pushing her forward in a glide. Her legs were still running, yet every step covered three to four times the normal distance. Her skirt flared behind her, and her short hair streamed backward in the wind.

Oscar's eyes widened.

Ning Rongrong's back shrank in his field of vision at an unreasonable speed. In just three seconds, she had become a tiny white speck in the distance.

"What kind of speed is that?" Oscar stopped short, his mouth wide enough to stuff one of his own sausages into.

He was a support-type Soul Master and was highly sensitive to speed. What Ning Rongrong had just done was definitely not something simple soul power could achieve. That gliding sensation, that high-speed movement that barely consumed any stamina—it was nothing like what a level twenty-six Grand Soul Master should have been capable of.

But he had no time to think.

Because Ning Rongrong had already vanished from sight.

First lap.

Second lap.

Third lap.

Maintaining Wind Empress Qimen's support state, Ning Rongrong sped around the outskirts of the village. The wind howled past her ears, while the ground beneath her feet felt like a smooth slide. She even had the leisure to admire the scenery along the way, counting how many colors the wildflowers by the roadside came in.

On the fifth lap, she caught up to Oscar, who was still on his first.

As she swept past him, Ning Rongrong even waved at him.

Oscar looked as though he had seen a ghost.

Tenth lap.

Ning Rongrong stopped.

Not because she was tired.

She was bored.

Running had already lost all training value for her. With Wind Empress Qimen reducing resistance and enhancing her glide, her stamina consumption was negligible. Continuing would be nothing but a waste of time.

She stood by the roadside and waited for Oscar to jog over at a leisurely pace.

Oscar was panting heavily and drenched in sweat. Seeing Ning Rongrong standing there calmly waiting, his expression became incredibly complicated.

"You finished?"

"Ten laps." Ning Rongrong held up her fingers and smiled openly.

"Ten laps?" Oscar's eyes nearly popped out. "I haven't even finished my second lap."

Ning Rongrong tilted her head at him, then suddenly said, "Oscar, want to go stroll around Soto City together? It's still early."

Oscar's legs went weak. "Are you crazy? The dean will kill us."

Ning Rongrong shrugged. "Then keep it secret for me. I'm leaving after only ten laps, so don't tell the dean."

Oscar looked at her smiling face. The twelve-year-old girl looked gentle and harmless at that moment, but what she was saying clearly meant she wanted him as an accomplice.

"You're not finishing the remaining ten laps?"

"No." Ning Rongrong answered crisply. "There's no point."

Oscar opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but under Ning Rongrong's beautiful gaze, the words at his lips took a turn.

"Fine." He waved a hand in resignation. "But if we get caught, don't say I knew."

Ning Rongrong nodded in satisfaction, then turned and ran toward Soto City. Wind Empress Qimen activated beneath her feet again, and her white figure disappeared at the end of the road in the blink of an eye.

Oscar stood where he was, staring in the direction she had disappeared, muttering to himself.

"A support-type Soul Master can run like that? Is there any justice in this world?"

He shook his head and continued his miserable long-distance run.

After entering Soto City, the first thing Ning Rongrong did was not go shopping.

She turned into that familiar shabby alley.

The wooden shack Yang Xing had rented was still there. The cracks in the door, the hole in the window, the crooked doorframe—everything was the same as before.

Ning Rongrong pushed open the door.

Empty.

The bed was bare. The shards of the crude clay cup were still on the floor, but the "Uncanny Foresight" sign was gone. Yang Xing's bundle, his palm-leaf fan, the broken chair he had sat on—everything was gone.

Ning Rongrong's heart sank sharply.

He ran away?

That scammer Master had run away?!

He had taken her as a disciple, taught her Wind Empress Qimen, then packed up and fled while she was off enrolling?!

Ning Rongrong's face turned ashen in an instant. The fire in her chest surged up, and her hands clenched into fists.

She knew it! She knew that scammer couldn't be trusted! What Master Talisman, what "shout 'Master, Master' three times"—it was all a lie!

Ning Rongrong was so angry that she paced around the room twice, her short hair nearly standing on end.

Then she saw a note pinned beneath something on the table.

The handwriting was messy, as though it had been scribbled down casually.

"Moved. The new place is in central Soto City, on the third street beside the City Lord's Manor, a three-courtyard residence with two big locust trees at the entrance. Don't worry, I didn't run."

There was even a crooked smiley face at the end.

Ning Rongrong stared at that smiley face for three seconds.

Her temples twitched twice.

Beside the City Lord's Manor? A three-courtyard residence?

How had that penniless scammer suddenly moved into a three-courtyard residence beside the City Lord's Manor?

Several thoughts ran through Ning Rongrong's mind. She wanted to go take a look, but the address was on the other side of Soto City, and a round trip would take quite a bit of time. She had snuck out and needed to hurry back.

If that shoe-faced dean discovered she was missing from the academy, the gentle and refined image she had worked so hard to maintain would be completely ruined.

Ning Rongrong hesitated for a few seconds.

Then she lowered her head and looked at her right palm.

The Master Talisman was still there. The thumbnail-sized white talisman mark rested quietly in the center of her palm, its fine patterns still flowing with a faint glow.

She tried channeling a trace of soul power into it.

The talisman mark lit up.

Soft white light bloomed in her palm before gathering again, as though responding to her touch.

Ning Rongrong's heart settled.

If it was glowing, that meant he was still around. That scammer had not run away.

She withdrew her hand and glanced twice in the direction written on the note.

"Just wait." She squeezed out the words through gritted teeth. "Tomorrow, this young lady will definitely come find you. Then we'll see how I deal with you. You moved without even telling your disciple—what kind of Master are you?"

After muttering to herself, Ning Rongrong turned and left the shabby house.

For some inexplicable reason, her mood had improved.

Since her scammer Master had not run away, there was no need to rush.

Over the next two hours, Ning Rongrong practiced all kinds of fine control with Wind Empress Qimen on Soto City's streets while eating and browsing.

She tried changing the elasticity of the ground beneath her feet to jump higher, gathering tiny whirlwinds at her fingertips to sweep up fallen leaves by the roadside, and raising the air temperature within three inches around herself by two degrees to ward off the cool afternoon breeze.

Every successful bit of fine control made her beam with excitement.

She also bought three large bags of pastries and snacks in all kinds of varieties, carefully wrapped them in oil paper, and tucked them into her clothes.

By the time she returned to Shrek Academy, it was noon.

Ning Rongrong pushed open the dormitory door. Xiao Wu was sitting cross-legged on her bed, listlessly braiding her scorpion braid.

The moment she saw Ning Rongrong enter, her lively eyes immediately lit up.

But they were not shining because of Ning Rongrong.

They were shining because of the three large fragrant oil-paper packages in her hands.