When the Young Are Beaten, Will the Old Come Out? Flanders Prepares to Step In?

Dai Mubai gritted his teeth and struggled to sit up, but the moment he moved, he tugged at his injuries and gasped sharply in pain.

"Hiss..."

Ma Hongjun was even more straightforward. The moment he saw Flanders, it was as though he had suddenly found someone to lean on. He scrambled over and threw himself at Flanders, wrapping his arms around Flanders's leg.

"Teacher! You finally came!"

"You have to avenge me!"

"That bastard hit way too hard! Look at my face—it's practically been beaten to a pulp!"

As he spoke, Ma Hongjun even deliberately raised his head, showing Flanders his swollen, bruised face.

Flanders looked down at him, the corner of his mouth twitching violently. Somewhat speechlessly, he said,

"That's enough!"

"Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"

With that, he impatiently kicked Ma Hongjun away from his leg.

"We'll talk about it when we get back to the academy. With so many people standing around watching, how long do you two plan to keep lying there?"

Hearing that, Ma Hongjun opened his mouth, clearly reluctant.

"But, Teacher..."

Flanders glared at him and snapped,

"Shut up. We're going back first!"

Seeing that Flanders was clearly angry, Ma Hongjun finally shut his mouth obediently. Oscar hurried forward instead.

"Bosses, have a sausage first."

As he spoke, two yellow Soul Rings slowly rose beneath his feet.

"I have a big sausage!"

A flash of soul power passed, and soon, two Recovery Sausages appeared in Oscar's hands. He handed one to Dai Mubai and the other to Ma Hongjun.

At that point, Ma Hongjun clearly had no time to be disgusted by the incantation. He snatched it and stuffed it into his mouth. After swallowing several bites, the pain throughout his body finally eased somewhat.

Dai Mubai also ate the Recovery Sausage. With Oscar supporting him, he slowly rose from the ground. Before leaving, however, he could not help turning back to glance toward the other side of the street.

Clearly, this matter... was far from over!

Half an hour later.

Shrek Academy, inside a dormitory room.

Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun lay on separate beds, with bandages wrapped around quite a few places on their bodies.

Ma Hongjun in particular had a strip of white cloth wound around his head, leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed. He looked rather comical.

Flanders sat nearby, and Yu Xiaogang was there as well.

Besides them, Tang San and Oscar stood in the room too.

At this moment,

Ma Hongjun had just recounted everything that had happened that night from beginning to end. When he reached the part where he had gone over to lift Ye Lingling's veil, he became noticeably vaguer.

"That was more or less what happened."

"That woman was wearing a veil. I just wanted to go over and see what she looked like, but that kid in black suddenly grabbed my hand. After that, I really couldn't take it anymore, so I fought him."

"Boss Dai only came over to help when he saw me getting beaten."

As he said this, Ma Hongjun's face filled with indignation.

"That kid was way too arrogant. Not only did he beat Boss Dai and me, he even insulted Shrek Academy, saying our teachers were rotten at the top and crooked at the bottom! Teacher, can you stand that?"

Hearing this, Flanders's brows furrowed slightly, but he did not immediately speak. He might have been protective of his own, but after living so many years, he was not an idiot.

How could he not know what Ma Hongjun was like?

So, he turned to Oscar and asked in a low voice,

"Little Ao, is what Hongjun said true?"

Oscar's expression immediately turned a little awkward.

"Well..."

Ma Hongjun instantly glared at him.

"Little Ao!"

Oscar shrank back, but in the end, he still said,

"More or less. It's just that Fatty said at the beginning... that he wanted to lift that young lady's veil and take a look. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

Hearing that, Flanders fell silent for a moment. Then he turned toward Ma Hongjun on the bed, his expression visibly darkening as he said in a deep voice,

"Hongjun, you were indeed in the wrong first in this matter."

"However, Shrek Academy has always believed that those who dare not cause trouble are mediocre."

"Your fault is one matter, but them beating the two of you into this state is another. They hit far too heavily. That was a little excessive."

"At Shrek Academy, when the young are beaten, the old will naturally step forward!"

Upon hearing that,

Ma Hongjun seemed to regain his confidence and hurriedly said,

"Exactly! Teacher, you have no idea how arrogant that kid was! Not only did he beat Boss Dai and me into this state, he insulted Shrek Academy in front of so many people!"

"He even said we were rotten at the top and crooked at the bottom!"

"He was obviously looking down on Shrek Academy!"

Just then, Tang San seemed to think of something. He raised his head and exchanged a glance with Yu Xiaogang beside him.

The next moment, Yu Xiaogang frowned and asked,

"Wait. You said the person who injured you had the Bone Dragon Martial Soul? And he was only around twelve years old?"

Dai Mubai was slightly stunned. Though he did not know why Yu Xiaogang was suddenly asking this, he still nodded.

"That's right."

"He looked about our age, twelve or thirteen at most."

Ma Hongjun hurriedly added from the side,

"His Martial Soul was definitely the Bone Dragon. After he possessed it, the phantom of a massive white Bone Dragon appeared behind him. His arms were also covered in a layer of bone armor. There's no way I could be mistaken."

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaogang's expression became somewhat strange.

"Bone Dragon..."

"Around twelve years old..."

Tang San had clearly guessed something as well, his eyes carrying the same surprise. After Yu Xiaogang fell silent for a moment, he finally spoke in some astonishment.

"Could it be him?"

Flanders frowned upon hearing this and looked at Yu Xiaogang in confusion.

"What is it, Xiaogang?"

"Do you know that kid?"

Yu Xiaogang did not answer immediately. He frowned in thought for a while, then slowly shook his head. "I can't be certain yet, but..."

At this point,

he turned to look at Tang San beside him.

"Back when Little San and I were still at Notting Academy, Little San had a classmate whose Martial Soul happened to be the Bone Dragon. His age also matches what you described."

Flanders immediately became interested.

"Oh?"

"Could there really be such a coincidence?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression, however, visibly darkened. He had clearly recalled some unpleasant experiences from those days as he continued,

"That child was called Gu Ling."

"His talent was excellent. He had innate soul power at level ten."

"However, he had always been rather stubborn. Back at Notting Academy, he often talked back to me and questioned my Martial Soul theories."

"On several occasions, he even directly refuted my views in front of many teachers and students at the academy. He also had some conflicts with Little San, and the two of them had fought before."

Flanders's face immediately sank when he heard this.

"So... that kid had never gotten along with you and Little San?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded without denying it.

"But I still can't be certain that the person Mubai and the others encountered tonight was him. The Bone Dragon Martial Soul may be rare, but we can't draw a conclusion based solely on a Martial Soul and age."

Flanders did not think that much about it. He looked at Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun lying in bed with bruised, swollen faces, then thought of how Gu Ling had often talked back to Yu Xiaogang in the past. The anger in his heart grew even stronger.

"If it really was this kid named Gu Ling, then we need to find him even more."

"It would have been one thing if he only talked back to you before, but now that he has come to Soto City, he has beaten Mubai and Hongjun into this state and even dared to insult Shrek Academy in the street."

"Does he think that having a little talent means he can look down on everyone?"

"It may not be a good thing for young people to be so arrogant. Letting him suffer a little and learn that there are always greater people and higher heavens might even be a good thing for him."

After saying that,

Flanders rose from his chair and turned toward the dormitory door.