Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu

[Next was Zhu Lu's turn; she was the last person to take the assessment.]

Her eyes were red and swollen, and her face still bore traces of tears, yet she stubbornly put on a brave face.

Following the same unchanging procedure, after she answered the first few questions smoothly, Tang San looked at her and asked, "The person you love most is Dai Huabin, right?"

Zhu Lu nodded.

"So you heard what he just said? That you're not the person he loves most. How do you feel right now?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhu Lu's tears, which she had just been holding back, welled up again.

She has been crying ever since Dai Huabin mentioned Wang Qiu'er's name, and the tears haven't stopped even now.

She looked up at Tang San in the void, and cried out in a sob, "He's a bastard! The biggest bastard in the world!"

Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, Female Dormitory.

Ju Zi saw this passage in the diary, a cold, mocking smile curled at the corner of her lips.

She leaned against the windowsill, her tone disdainful. "Tang San is really getting more and more shameless, actually using such a question to poke at a girl's sore spot."

However, Zhu Lu is really foolish. Knowing that the other person doesn't have feelings for her, she's still so devoted. Sigh, love...

Tang San remained unmoved by Zhu Lu's weeping, as if the girl crying her heart out was no different from a stone on the roadside.

He asked in that same mechanical tone, "Do you still love him?"

Outside, Dai Huabin clenched his fists instantly upon hearing this question.

He stared nervously at Zhu Lu on the assessment platform, his heart pounding like a drum, his breathing becoming rapid.

Zhu Lu stood there, silent for a very long time.

She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, and tears fell to the ground drop by drop.

Five minutes passed before she slowly raised her head, her eyes filled with a resolute determination, and nodded gently, saying in an almost inaudible voice, "Love."

Star Dou Forest, at the bottom of the Lake of Life.

Upon hearing Zhu Lu's reply, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion merely flicked its tail, not even lifting its eyelids, its tone full of helplessness. "Human emotions are truly inexplicable. Knowing full well that there's no response, they still plunge headlong into it, only to end up battered and bruised. Is it really worth it?"

Tang San seemed to have anticipated this answer. He continued expressionlessly, "Since you're not the one he loves most, why do you still love him?"

This question completely ignited Zhu Lu's anger.

She abruptly raised her head, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Tang San in mid-air, and roared angrily, "What kind of bullshit question is this? My love for him is my own business, what does it have to do with whether he loves me or not?"

Even if he dumps me tomorrow, even if he never loves me in this lifetime, I will still love him!

I love him, what does that have to do with him? What right do you have to question me with such a question?

No sooner had she finished speaking than a jet-black whip suddenly shot out from the void, whistling through the air, and lashed out at Zhu Lu.

Zhu Lu screamed in pain and curled up on the ground, rolling around in agony.

The whip, made of some unknown material, lashed her so hard that her skin was torn and blood instantly soaked through her clothes.

Dai Huabin outside instantly turned red in the eyes. He rushed towards the assessment platform like a madman, but was blocked by an invisible barrier.

He pounded the barrier with his fists, roaring hoarsely, "Come at me! Take it out on me! Don't hurt her! Do you hear me! Don't hurt her!"

Shrek Academy, Female Dormitory.

Seeing Zhu Lu being whipped, Ning Tian's eyes were filled with shock and heartache. "How could they do this? She was just speaking her mind! Is telling the truth wrong?"

Tang San ignored Dai Huabin's roar and didn't even glance at Zhu Lu, who was struggling in pain on the ground.

He waited quietly until Zhu Lu's screams gradually subsided before slowly withdrawing the whip.

Zhu Lu lay on the ground, covered in blood, her face as pale as a sheet of paper, too weak to even move a finger.

She was panting heavily, her forehead covered in cold sweat, but her eyes still held a hint of stubbornness.

Tang San looked at her and said a few words of evaluation, such as "fierce-tempered, but too stubborn," before waving his hand to let her pass.

After all, in Tang San's plan, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu weren't even considered pawns.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er were at least the main characters he used to pave the way, while these two were just extras to make up the numbers.

Sent them to this assessment merely to make Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry appear more like a true place of divine inheritance, so that his plan could proceed smoothly.

Alright, this part of the Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry storyline is almost over.

The farce that Tang San orchestrated in the Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry was steeped in scheming and bloodshed from beginning to end.

But even in his meticulously designed game, there are bound to be some unexpected gifts.

Putting aside the pain and separations he deliberately created, those who ultimately survived and left the Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry all gained some benefits that were enough to change their fate.

Now let's take stock of everyone's final outcome and gains in this assessment.

Star Dou Forest, at the bottom of the Lake of Life.

Gu Yuena's purple-gold eyes flickered slightly as she read the first sentence in the diary, a mocking smile playing on her lips, "Benefits? They're nothing more than scraps he casually tosses away to make his pawns sharper. The more these people get, the more thoroughly he'll squeeze them dry in the future."

First, there are the three people whose fates were the most tragic in this trial; they are also the three most crucial pieces in Tang San's entire plan.

Huo Yuhao watched as Wang Dong'er, in response to the question, "Would you be willing to die for him?", plunged a dagger into her own heart without hesitation right in front of him.

This fatal blow completely shattered his mental defenses, driving him into a state of madness on the spot.

Because he lost control of his emotions throughout the process and failed to complete any of the formal tests, Huo Yuhao received no reward and left with only injuries all over his body and a broken heart.

Not only that, he also had to travel to resurrect Wang Dong'er, passing the trials of the Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry, and facing other trials as well.

Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, Female Dormitory.

Ju Zi saw Huo Yuhao's fate, a complex and unfathomable emotion flashed in her eyes.

Walking alone to the window, gazing at the rolling mountains outside the campus, he murmured, "It's ridiculous. The person he tried his best to protect in his entire life died because of him."

Without Wang Dong'er as a weakness, Tang San can better control Huo Yuhao and manage his life.