Little Fireman Tang San

Tang San mechanically repeated at that critical moment:

"Such a pretty girl. Are you taking her place as my girlfriend? Come on! Hurry up and do it with me!"

"Tang San!!!"

Xiao Wu's scream tore through the air. She let go of his supporting arm and staggered back repeatedly, her beautiful eyes filled with shock and fear.

"Y-you... are you possessed? Or did Teacher Zhao beat your brain into mush?!"

She even began to wonder whether the person before her was really Tang San.

Ma Hongjun was also completely baffled by this bizarre parroting behavior. His face darkened so much it looked like water could drip from it.

"This is our business. Stop sticking your noses where they don't belong. Since you're not going to be my woman, get lost."

Tang San continued acting like a recorder. "This is our business..."

"Enough!"

Ma Hongjun finally flew into a rage. Soul power surged around him, and faint purplish-red flames flowed across his body. "If you don't move, my evil fire won't be able to hold back anymore—I'll take care of you myself!"

When Tang San repeated that threat word for word, an eerie silence fell over the scene.

Xiao Wu had already backed away more than three meters. She looked at Tang San as though he were carrying some contagious disease.

[ Ding! Mission completed! Charm +1! ] The system notification finally sounded.

Before Tang San could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard a loud boom as Ma Hongjun's martial soul erupted completely.

Purplish-red flames soared into the sky. Two yellow soul rings gleamed beneath his feet, while the phantom of a phoenix wreathed in fire appeared behind him.

"If I don't roast you, you damn recorder, until you're done today, then I'm not the Evil Fire Phoenix!"

Ma Hongjun roared and lunged forward.

"Stop!" A commanding voice suddenly rang out.

Zhao Wuji strode over with two dark bruises around his eyes. Though his gait was still somewhat awkward, the imposing aura of the Immovable Bright King remained.

Meanwhile, a heavenly notification sounded in Lin Jiang's mind not far away.

[ Ding! Detected that subsystem binder (Tang San) has successfully completed a mission! ]

[ Congratulations to controller Lin Jiang. Feedback reward obtained: Charm increased by 100! ]

A warm current instantly swept through his body. Lin Jiang could feel his features subtly shifting, his skin becoming smoother, and his entire temperament undergoing a complete transformation.

A passing middle-aged woman suddenly blushed, squeezed her legs together, and gave him several extra glances.

"This feeling..."

Lin Jiang touched his sharply defined chin and flashed a smile that could make young girls scream. "Not bad at all."

When Ma Hongjun saw Zhao Wuji approaching, he blurted out, "Fuck! Another pighead?!"

Ma Hongjun's mind short-circuited, and his anger and evil fire instantly burned away what little reason he had left.

He thought Zhao Wuji was Tang San's helper—an even bigger, brawnier pighead!

Old grudges and new resentments surged into his heart. How could he care about anything else now? His drake-like voice let out a strange shriek.

"Damn it! Is this a pighead meeting?! I'll beat you all up together!"

Before his words had faded, the first soul ring on his body suddenly lit up!

"Phoenix Fireline!"

He took a fierce breath, his round belly swelling as he opened his mouth and spewed out an incomparably scorching stream of purplish-red fire!

The flames did not travel straight. Carried by Ma Hongjun's wild fury, they twisted like an out-of-control fire python, sweeping toward both the wavering Tang San and Zhao Wuji, who had just rushed over!

"Fuck?!"

Zhao Wuji had only just made sense of the situation and had not yet had time to rebuke Ma Hongjun when a wave of evil fire rushed straight at his face!

His pupils contracted sharply. He instinctively roared as soul power burst from his body, and his fan-sized palm swung violently with fierce force behind it!

Bang!

Most of the fireline aimed at him was forcibly scattered, sending sparks flying everywhere!

But Zhao Wuji's lower body, which had already been faintly aching from yesterday's "injury to his vital area," was struck by the heat wave. The movement also pulled at his old injury.

The pain made the corner of his mouth twitch, and his pighead face seemed to swell another half size.

"Ma Hongjun! Are you fucking blind?! Look carefully and see who I am!"

Zhao Wuji clutched his aching lower abdomen. So enraged that his beard and hair stood on end, he roared in a voice like thunder, shaking the leaves on the nearby trees until they rustled.

Ma Hongjun shuddered at that thunderous roar and looked closer—

That signature burly build, that familiar bellow...

And that pighead face, swollen enough to rival Tang San's... Fuck! It was Teacher Zhao?!

"T-Teacher Zhao?"

Ma Hongjun was scared out of his wits. The flames he had been spewing instantly died out, and his small face turned pale.

"You still know I'm your teacher?!"

Zhao Wuji laughed in extreme anger. The smile on his swollen face looked especially savage and terrifying.

A thought flashed through his mind: that old bastard Flander was protective of his own, but aside from him, who else truly treated this little fatty like a treasure?

As long as he did not beat him to death, beating the life out of him would be a perfect way to vent yesterday's frustration!

However, amid that split-second chaos, Tang San on the other side was the one who really got unlucky!

He was already covered in injuries and moved sluggishly. Faced with Ma Hongjun's sudden Phoenix Fireline that made no distinction between friend and foe, he had nowhere to dodge!

"Ah—!"

He only had time to let out a brief scream before that purplish-red evil fire engulfed him solidly!

Sizzle—!

Tang San's already tattered blue combat outfit instantly caught fire!

His dry hair was like dead grass meeting a spark, bursting into open flame with a whoosh!

The smell of scorched flesh mixed with the pungent stench of burning cloth spread through the air!

"Little San—!"

Xiao Wu's scream was heartrending!

She had still been immersed in shock and disappointment over Tang San's "parroting" just moments ago, but when she saw him swallowed by flames, all those emotions turned into boundless terror and heartbreak!

She no longer cared about being angry. Like a frightened rabbit, she threw herself toward him!

Crazy or not, this was her Third Brother! How could she stand by and watch him burn to death?!

"Quick! Put out the fire!"

Xiao Wu was so frantic that tears nearly spilled from her eyes. In a fluster, she tried to beat out the flames on Tang San's body with her hands, only to pull them back after the scorching heat burned her.

At that critical moment, a figure rushed over carrying a bucket! It was Lin Jiang!

"Move aside!"

Lin Jiang shouted and swiftly dumped the bucket of cold water he had just scooped from the water vat beside the pancake stall over the head of Tang San, the "fireman" rolling and wailing on the ground!

Splash—!

The cold water hit the flames with a piercing hiss, sending up a huge cloud of white steam.

The flames struggled a few times before finally going out unwillingly.

Looking at Tang San lying on the ground, smoking all over like he had been roasted, Lin Jiang inwardly cried out in relief.

That was close, that was close. Tool Number One nearly got himself killed! Looks like I need to give him some simpler, safer daily missions lately.

Keeping the sheep alive so I can keep shearing it is the true way. If I get him killed, that'll be a huge loss.

Looking at Lin Jiang, who had appeared just in time and decisively saved Tang San, Xiao Wu felt a powerful wave of gratitude rise in her heart.