Friendship's Boat Capsizes Just Like That

After taking a deep breath, Xu Tianming tried to keep his tone calm:

"So the dozen or so of you are all the members lying in wait within the Evil Demon Forest?"

"How could that be possible? We're only one squad. The Evil Demon Forest is so vast—how could one squad possibly cover it all? As far as I know, there are at least three other squads in the outer region whose strength is not much different from ours."

"How do you usually keep in contact?"

This question made the evil soul master sigh first, then shake his head as he looked toward the Level 75 evil soul master not far away, whom Xu Tianming had just finished off:

"The signal flare for contacting the other squads was on that man. Who would've thought that before he could even make a move, you'd cripple him first? If only you'd given him a little more time to react and call the other squads over, then today you..."

At that point, the evil soul master suddenly realized that he seemed to have said too much. Especially after sensing the intense killing intent in Zhang Lexuan's eyes, he hurriedly shut his mouth and swallowed the words he had yet to say.

Xu Tianming had already gotten the answers he wanted.

He truly hadn't expected his value in the eyes of those mad dogs from the Holy Ghost Cult to be so high that they would dispatch hundreds of high-level evil soul masters at once just to uncover his exact circumstances.

But what alarmed him even more was the Holy Ghost Cult's intelligence network.

They actually knew that he would be going out to hunt for a soul ring within the next few days!

Only a few people close to him had known about this in advance. Even Ye Yulin, who was responsible for ensuring his safety, had only received the assignment early that morning.

Xu Tianming simply could not imagine how the Holy Ghost Cult had obtained this information.

Could there be a mole among those close to him?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Xu Tianming had always trusted those few people completely. Rather than suspecting them of being moles, it was more likely that the Holy Ghost Cult had accidentally overheard something during one of their casual conversations...

But now was not the time to dwell on such headache-inducing questions.

Although Ye Yulin's protection made it almost impossible for anything dangerous to happen on this trip, one could never be too careful. Knowing that the core region of the Evil Demon Forest was the Holy Ghost Cult's headquarters, Xu Tianming did not dare take too many risks.

Withdrawing the hand resting on Zhang Lexuan's back, Xu Tianming said bluntly:

"I've finished asking what I wanted to know. How you deal with this person is up to you."

The instant the boy's palm left her back, the cool, pleasant sensation within Zhang Lexuan's body vanished. The endlessly surging soul power lost its source as well, and even her martial soul became slightly restless, as though it had suddenly been deprived of some incomparably delicious tonic and was voicing its intense dissatisfaction.

Under the influence of all these factors, Zhang Lexuan felt an odd emptiness in her heart. She longed for the boy to place his hand on her again. So long as she could experience that cool, pleasant feeling once more, she would not mind paying some price for it.

However, as a woman already eighteen years old, her innate reserve temporarily restrained her from voicing that thought. To distract herself, she turned her gaze back to the evil soul master she had suppressed with her soul power:

"I have nothing to ask you. Are you ready to face your death?"

The junior brothers and sisters who had come on this mission with her had all been killed by these evil soul masters. Naturally, Zhang Lexuan had to avenge them and comfort their spirits in heaven. Otherwise, she would never find peace.

Upon hearing this, the seven-ringed evil soul master immediately revealed a terrified expression:

"No! You can't kill me! We agreed that as long as I answered your questions truthfully, you'd spare my life! Are the people of Shrek Academy all so untrustworthy?"

Zhang Lexuan hesitated at those words, but Xu Tianming's response was extremely straightforward:

"Please get this straight. I only promised that I would spare your life. Whether this woman wants to let you go has nothing to do with me. After all, I don't even know her."

Hearing Xu Tianming's words, Zhang Lexuan was stunned for a moment before she could not help but chuckle.

Realizing that she had apparently lost her composure, she quickly suppressed her smile. Then, decisively mobilizing her soul power, she gave the evil soul master a swift and clean death, considering that he had been fairly honest in answering their questions.

After that, she took the initiative to speak:

"My name is Zhang Lexuan. Thank you very much for helping me. May I know your name? I swear in Shrek's name that I will repay this kindness someday!"

Seeing Zhang Lexuan take the initiative to get acquainted with him, Xu Tianming could not help but sneer.

"Want to know my name? I advise you to give up that thought as soon as possible. If you don't know who I am, you might still have a chance of returning to Shrek Academy in one piece. But if you learn my identity, whether you can make it back to Shrek Academy safely is another matter."

Hearing the hostility in Xu Tianming's tone, Zhang Lexuan was utterly bewildered.

What was going on?

Hadn't this boy just fought alongside her?

In her understanding, two people who had gone through a life-and-death ordeal together might not immediately become companions who trusted each other without reservation, but they should at least become good friends.

Why did this boy seem so hostile toward her?

Unable to figure out the issue, Zhang Lexuan simply asked directly:

"I only wanted to be friends with you. What do you mean by saying all that? Why are you speaking so coldly? We just survived a life-and-death crisis together. Isn't that enough for us to become friends worthy of each other's trust?"

Zhang Lexuan had nearly moved herself with her own words, but the coldness on Xu Tianming's face only deepened.

"Heh, survived a life-and-death crisis together? You actually have the nerve to say such bullshit? Why don't you use that brain of yours and think carefully about why I was forced to go through a life-and-death crisis with you just now?"

"If you hadn't led those evil soul masters right in front of me, why would my sister and I have been put in such danger? Do you know how great a price I paid just now to deal with those evil soul masters?"

"If I hadn't been so capable, my sister and I might have been killed by you, you wicked woman, today! After doing something like that, you still dream of becoming friends with me? I can't believe someone as shameless as you exists. Pah!"

Faced with his well-reasoned rebuke, Zhang Lexuan's pretty face instantly turned red.

Because after thinking it over carefully, it really did seem to be exactly as he said.

But at the time, she had truly had no other choice. Trapped in a desperate situation, she could only do that to survive...