At the sound of Lan Yu's voice, Zhu Zhuqing shuddered as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her. She hurried to explain.
"Lord Sage, please don't misunderstand. I, I..."
"There's no need to explain. If you still want to rely on that blond, I won't stop you. But I'll take back the power the Sage Lord granted you and erase your memories of him."
"No! Please, don't! I was wrong. I really was wrong!"
Zhu Zhuqing's voice was already choked with tears, drawing the attention of the other people in the hotel.
Lan Yu frowned and quickly took Zhu Zhuqing upstairs to the room he had booked.
Quite a few men watched enviously. After all, a beauty with Zhu Zhuqing's figure and face was a rare sight in Suotuo City.
Back in the room, Zhu Zhuqing's face burned scarlet at the intimate atmosphere created by its decor.
"Stop letting your imagination run wild. I'm not interested in playing romantic games with you right now. Instead, tell me this: how will you prove your loyalty to the Sage Lord?"
The crimson drained from Zhu Zhuqing's face in an instant. The consequences of being deemed disloyal by a god were unimaginable.
"Lord Sage, please, give me another chance. I'll never make this mistake again."
Lan Yu hadn't expected Zhu Zhuqing to drop to her knees.
Looking down at her from above, Lan Yu found himself with quite an appealing view.
"Ahem. I can give you a chance, but I have one condition..."
Zhu Zhuqing gritted her teeth and nodded. "All right. Whatever your condition is, I agree. But could you let me take a bath first?"
"Huh? Are you overthinking things again? You're so young, yet your mind's already that dirty. My condition is that while you're in Suotuo City, you beat Dai Mubai up every time you see him. Can you do that?"
Zhu Zhuqing's face flushed bright red, and steam practically rose from the top of her head.
"Understood..."
Then she hurried straight into the bathroom.
"Heh. She may have grown up among nobles, but she's still just a little girl."
That night, although there was only one bed, it was large enough for two people.
The next morning, however, the dark circles under Zhu Zhuqing's eyes had grown a little deeper.
Lan Yu went out to continue laying the Mycelium Network throughout Suotuo City, gathering information from the streets and alleys along the way.
False rumors about Shrek Academy had already begun to spread.
An academy that only accepted monsters, whose graduates had become the youngest elders in Spirit Hall—what utterly shameless boasting.
What was more, Flender had bribed the officials at Suotuo City's Spirit Hall branch to keep silent on the matter.
To the parents making inquiries, that silence amounted to confirmation.
"No wonder so many people showed up to enroll that day. Flender really went to great lengths to swindle those registration fees."
Suddenly, Lan Yu sensed someone through the Mycelium Network.
"Tang Hao! So Tang San and Xiao Wu have arrived too."
At the Rose Hotel, events still unfolded as they had in the original story. Dai Mubai came in with his arms around a pair of twins and tried to fight Tang San over a room.
Before they could come to blows, however, Zhu Zhuqing rushed out. Without a word, she activated Martial Soul Possession and attacked Dai Mubai.
Dai Mubai didn't recognize Zhu Zhuqing, but once her nether civet martial soul appeared, even he wasn't stupid enough to miss who stood before him.
"Hell Spirit Cat! You're Zhu Zhuqing!"
Zhu Zhuqing ignored him completely, slashing her sharp claws toward his throat.
Her actions angered Dai Mubai as well.
"You're asking for death! Martial Soul Possession!"
Dai Mubai summoned his white tiger martial soul and blocked Zhu Zhuqing's claws.
"Zhu Zhuqing, calm down. Let's talk this through."
Zhu Zhuqing still said nothing. She raised her leg and kicked straight at his groin.
"First Spirit Ability: White Tiger Barrier!"
A white shield appeared and blocked her kick, but cold sweat still broke out on Dai Mubai's back.
"Zhu Zhuqing, you..."
Before Dai Mubai could finish, a crack rang out. His White Tiger Barrier had shattered—Zhu Zhuqing had smashed it with a punch.
Watching from the side, Tang San's expression changed. "Such tremendous physical strength. Was she born with superhuman strength?"
Xiao Wu sniffed the air, thinking, Why does this girl have such a familiar scent?
Dai Mubai was just as surprised, but he reacted faster, retreating to evade Zhu Zhuqing's fist.
"Looks like I'll have to show you what I'm capable of! Third Spirit Ability: White Tiger Vajra Transformation! Roar..."
Dai Mubai activated White Tiger Vajra Transformation, and his aura surged dramatically.
"First Spirit Ability: Hell Stab!"
Zhu Zhuqing activated her First Spirit Ability, her speed abruptly increasing as she charged at Dai Mubai.
"You're taking me head-on? You really have a death wish, woman!"
Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai clashed head-on, but the result left everyone stunned.
Dai Mubai was sent flying by Zhu Zhuqing, who immediately chased after him.
"Second Spirit Ability: Netherworld Hundred Claws!"
A flurry of attacks shredded Dai Mubai's luxurious clothes and covered his body in countless wounds.
With a thud, Dai Mubai hit the floor, completely unconscious.
Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Dai Mubai, then at the twins he had brought with him. They clung to each other, trembling.
"Tell him he'd better stay out of my sight. Otherwise, I'll beat him up every time I see him."
"Heh. Well done. You didn't disappoint me."
Lan Yu walked into the Rose Hotel and went straight to Zhu Zhuqing without so much as a glance at Dai Mubai.
"Thank you!"
After beating Dai Mubai up, much of the resentment weighing on Zhu Zhuqing's heart had dissipated. She knew perfectly well that she had only defeated someone of a higher rank because of the power granted to her by the Sage Lord of Fungi.
Lan Yu then glanced at Tang San and Xiao Wu. Tang San frowned slightly; Lan Yu was far more handsome than he was.
Tang San had completely forgotten Lan Yu, but Xiao Wu's eyes visibly lit up. She recognized him.
Lan Yu didn't greet them. He took Zhu Zhuqing straight upstairs.
"Hey, Xiao San, are they going to enroll at that Shrek Academy too?"
"Probably!"
Afterward, Xiao Wu and Tang San checked into the Rose Hotel. Naturally, they took two rooms rather than one. After the fight just now, the receptionist didn't dare play any more tricks.
In his room, Lan Yu used the Mycelium Network to keep a rough sense of Tang San and his father's movements.
"So you went to Flender's shop after all. Well, good luck."
Flender gave the Crystal to Tang San. After returning to his room, Tang San took out a hammer and smashed it open.
However, the Dragon Whisker Needles inside the Crystal suddenly shot out in every direction. Even though Tang San reacted as quickly as he could, one still pierced his body.
He hurriedly used his technique to extract the curled Dragon Whisker Needle from his body.
The pain left Tang San drenched in cold sweat.
"How could this happen? Hair Gold shouldn't activate on its own. Could it be that, because these are two different worlds, things that look identical aren't actually the same at all?"
Tang San gathered the remaining Hair Gold, only to discover that it was already ruined.
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