Gathering Together

Mu Feng froze for a moment. He remembered that although the two of them had had some friction the last time they met, her attitude had not been nearly as cold as it was now.

"No."

Bi Ji kindly offered, "Since we're headed the same way, I'll take all of you there."

"Hiss..." Mu Feng found himself in a difficult spot. Since Bei Bei and Tang Ya had not shown up, the Huo Yuhao in his hands was a hot potato. Still, he could only bring Huo Yuhao to Shrek City first and think of another solution afterward.

Just as Mu Feng was about to agree, Bei Bei and Tang Ya suddenly popped out from another direction.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao, who was unconscious beside the tree, had his eyelashes tremble. After being unconscious for so long and having a wonderful dream, he was about to wake up.

Mu Feng was at a loss for words. He must not have checked the almanac before leaving today. He had only wanted to conveniently pick up an opportunity, so how had he ended up in such a troublesome situation?

Seeing Huo Yuhao leaning against the tree without moving, the two hurried over and anxiously asked, "Junior Mu, what happened to Little Brother Huo?"

Bi Ji had long sensed the auras of those two youngsters. Watching the three converse, she softly said to Di Qiuli, "Don't you think that high-ponytailed girl in blue is very pretty? I didn't expect this little fellow to be so popular."

Anyone with eyes could see that Tang Ya and Bei Bei's actions were quite intimate. Bi Ji had deliberately worded it that way to tease Di Qiuli.

Di Qiuli turned her head away and remained silent. Bi Ji had never teased her like this before. She did not know what was going on today, but it felt as though Bi Ji was "provoking" her.

Having seen through Di Qiuli's little thoughts, Bi Ji merely found her like this quite interesting. She was far more fun than she had been in the Star Dou Great Forest, which was why Bi Ji had playfully teased her a few times.

Just as Mu Feng finished explaining the whole situation to Bei Bei, the unconscious Huo Yuhao smacked his lips twice and slowly opened his eyes.

Before he had fainted, there had not been a single person around him. Why was it so noisy when he woke up, like a marketplace? There were even two people he did not know.

Hearing Huo Yuhao stir, Bei Bei happily said, "Little Brother Huo, you're awake."

"Big Brother Bei, this is—" Huo Yuhao was somewhat confused. After he woke up, the big bug instead fell silent. Judging from Bi Ji's reaction earlier, she had not discovered him. As long as he did not speak up to remind Huo Yuhao, and Huo Yuhao reacted naturally, Bi Ji would be even less likely to grow suspicious.

"Brother Sky Dream, Brother Sky Dream," Huo Yuhao instinctively sought help from Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, unable to make sense of the situation.

But no matter how long he called, he received not the slightest response. They had been chatting so happily in the dream just now, so why was Brother Sky Dream ignoring him after he woke up? Could that really have only been a dream?

Huo Yuhao's gaze wandered as Bei Bei repeated Mu Feng's explanation to him from the side.

The situation was nearly becoming a complete mess, and Mu Feng had already obtained what he wanted. He could not be bothered with what came next, so after bidding everyone farewell, he ran over to Bi Ji's side.

From what Bi Ji had said, it seemed she no longer intended to capture him. Shrek City was still quite a distance away, and catching a ride would be very convenient.

"Senior, let's go."

"Who are they?"

Mu Feng glanced at Bei Bei and Tang Ya. "They're students from Shrek Academy's Outer Court. They came out today to obtain soul rings, and we only met not long ago."

Bi Ji nodded, while Huo Yuhao only learned from Bei Bei's account that, while he had been unconscious, Mu Feng had fought soul beasts alone for quite some time in order to protect him.

Huo Yuhao looked at the corpses of the soul beasts around them. He had found even dealing with a single Wind Baboon extremely difficult, yet Big Brother Mu had fought so many soul beasts in order to protect him.

Bei Bei instinctively believed that Mu Feng was merely a novice Soul Grandmaster. Facing so many soul beasts alone could not have been easy for him, so he embellished the story somewhat while recounting it.

In Bei Bei's account, even though Mu Feng had been in a terrible state, he had refused to let those soul beasts harm him in the slightest. Thinking of this, a wave of bitterness suddenly welled up in Huo Yuhao's heart. This was the first time he had experienced the feeling of being protected.

Although his mother had taught him to reveal only thirty percent of what he thought to others and never give away his whole heart, he had merely grilled Big Brother Mu a fish, yet Mu Feng had helped him so much. Huo Yuhao was deeply moved.

Mu Feng had already gone over to Bi Ji's side. When Huo Yuhao wanted to thank him, Mu Feng only left behind the words, "See you at Shrek Academy," before disappearing into the forest on his ride.

"Shrek Academy?" Huo Yuhao's heart sank somewhat. With his talent, it was absolutely impossible for him to enter the continent's finest academy. And that beautiful older sister beside Big Brother Mu had been able to make the two of them disappear instantly—her strength had to be extraordinary.

I must become stronger. Only then can I help more people like Big Brother Mu, Huo Yuhao silently resolved.

The already distant Mu Feng naturally had no idea that, under Bei Bei's exaggerated account and Huo Yuhao's own imagination, he had become a noble and righteous hero.

To prevent her aura from being detected by Shrek's higher-ups, Bi Ji brought the two of them to a plaza outside Shrek City's eastern gate. The registration assessment was held there.

Even though the earliest registration date had long since passed, the plaza was still packed with people.

Vendors with sharp noses had long claimed favorable spots, endlessly calling out to sell their wares to passing applicants.

One was a shut-in who had spent years cooped up in the underground city of the Evil Demon Forest, while the other had never once left the Star Dou Great Forest. On their first visit to Douluo Continent's great metropolis, both were deeply curious about everything around them.

Feeling that the atmosphere had been somewhat cold along the way, Mu Feng tried bringing up several topics, but Di Qiuli's rather indifferent replies shut every one of them down. Mu Feng consequently gave up trying to communicate with this humanoid ferocious beast.

"We got along pretty well last time. How did she become like a completely different person after just one year?" Mu Feng glanced at Di Qiuli, who was browsing the shops with great interest, and silently complained, A woman's heart is as deep as the sea.

What Mu Feng did not know was that he was entirely an innocent victim. Bi Ji had teased her countless times about him along the way. Unable to do anything to Bi Ji, she could only vent all her pent-up frustration on Mu Feng.

By deliberately refusing to respond to Mu Feng's topics, she took a small measure of "revenge" on him. It had indeed worked well at first, but after much of her anger had faded, Mu Feng suddenly stopped speaking altogether, leaving her somewhat uneasy.

She worried that Mu Feng might be angry because of it, but she was too embarrassed to ask. Whenever she secretly glanced at him, she found that his attention remained fixed on the little shops on both sides of the street. Her excited mood was instantly doused with a bucket of cold water.