"Why?"
Tang San shouted furiously. Of course he knew what Zhao Wuji was thinking.
But he refused to accept it!
He did not think he had done anything wrong.
Was it not enough that he wanted to enter this place through his own strength?
Just because he and Bai Ye did not get along?
Just because Bai Ye had become a Soul Ancestor at twelve?
Just because Bai Ye's Soul Rings were purple, purple, black, black?
The teachers at this academy were truly snobbish.
At that moment, he could not help doubting whether his teacher had been right to send him here.
But there was no denying that Zhao Wuji's actions had left him with an extremely poor first impression of Shrek.
Faced with Tang San's questioning, Zhao Wuji said nothing. He merely stared into Tang San's eyes, trying to make him retreat in the face of difficulty.
After all, he was a Soul Sage. He still had some psychological reservations about attacking a child.
Seeing that the atmosphere was off, Xiao Wu hurriedly said, "Teacher Zhao, Little San is still young. Please don't lower yourself to his level."
As she spoke, she gave Tang San a look.
After all, Tang San had been her little brother for six years.
Seeing Sister Xiaowu worry about him, Tang San calmed down somewhat. But when he saw Sister Xiaowu give Bai Ye another look, his eyes seemed to spit fire as he roared inwardly, Sister Xiaowu, don't beg him! At worst, I'll leave!
At that moment, Dai Mubai and the others all looked toward Bai Ye.
If anyone could make Zhao Wuji change his mind, it could only be Bai Ye, a monster among monsters.
"Teacher Zhao, since Little San has said so much, give him a chance." Bai Ye spoke calmly. In the original story, Tang San had been able to defeat Zhao Wuji with hidden weapons alone.
Of course, Zhao Wuji had not been serious. If he had, it would not have been called the fourth test.
Moreover, Bai Ye had another purpose in coming to Shrek: he would not let Tang San obtain the External Soul Bone.
If Tang San did not join Shrek, who knew whether he might encounter some other great opportunity? Keeping him within his sight and having things proceed more or less as they had in the original story was the correct choice.
As for getting overturned, Bai Ye was confident that would not happen.
"Fine." Zhao Wuji smiled at Bai Ye and agreed, then turned to look at Tang San with a stern expression.
"Resist my attacks for the time it takes an incense stick to burn." Zhao Wuji's voice turned cold.
As he spoke, he lit an incense stick and planted it in the ground.
Clearly, the test had begun.
Tang San immediately readied himself. Although the injuries Bai Ye had inflicted had not fully healed, he was still confident he could hold out with his hidden weapons.
Yet in the next instant, something none of them had expected happened. Zhao Wuji showed not the slightest mercy, using the strength of a Soul Sage to slap Tang San flying.
Tang San was dumbfounded as he flew through the air.
Bullying the weak with the strong was one thing, but he was actually using his full strength?
If he really did not want Tang San to join, he could have just said so. Why did he have to do this?
Was this not bullying an honest man?
Two and a half seconds later, Tang San hit the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood before glaring viciously at Zhao Wuji.
"This isn't fair!" Tang San shouted with all his strength. Dai Mubai and the others felt the same way.
Even Bai Ye felt Zhao Wuji had gone a little too far.
He had clearly made his stance known and allowed Tang San to join, yet Zhao Wuji still acted this way. Was he not slapping Bai Ye in the face?
That thought arose in Bai Ye's mind, but he quickly dismissed it. He could tell Zhao Wuji cared greatly about his opinion. There was only one explanation for this situation: Zhao Wuji had misunderstood the meaning behind his earlier words.
"Fair? You think you deserve to talk about fairness?" Zhao Wuji sneered as he walked up to Tang San. "Let me tell you, there is no fairness in this world. Or rather, only those with the bigger fists get to talk about fairness."
As he said this, Zhao Wuji waved his enormous fist.
At that moment, Tang San wanted nothing more than to kill Zhao Wuji.
If Tang Hao had seen this from the shadows, perhaps he really would have helped Tang San fulfill that wish.
But Tang Hao was currently being beaten by three Titled Douluo working together, and no one knew where he had fled off to before passing out.
"Zhao Wuji, you refuse to let me join Shrek because you think I'm trash compared to him. If not for my teacher's arrangements, I would never have come here."
"You say Shrek Academy is powerful, but I'm still young. I have plenty of time! Yes, I may indeed be considered trash right now, but what makes you think I cannot turn things around in the years ahead? For my teacher's sake, I'll offer you a few words of advice: thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—do not bully the poor young man!"
Tang San climbed to his feet and stared into Zhao Wuji's eyes as he spoke.
Zhao Wuji's face darkened, then he burst into laughter. "Good! Very well said. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—but what if you don't live to see thirty years from now?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Wuji's smile vanished, and he moved to kill Tang San.
Tang San had just made such a bold declaration, but when faced with a life-and-death crisis, he was still overwhelmed by terror and instinctively cried out.
"Dad, save me!"
Just then, a voice rang out and stopped Zhao Wuji's next move.
"Stop!"
Looking over, they saw a middle-aged man with a stiff face and a flat haircut standing nearby.
The newcomer was Tang San's teacher, Yu Xiaogang.
"Are you his father?" Zhao Wuji halted and looked warily at Yu Xiaogang. Since he did not know how much Soul Power Yu Xiaogang possessed, he instinctively regarded him as an opponent of the same level.
"I'm his teacher." Yu Xiaogang shook his head, then quickly walked over to Tang San and shielded him behind himself.
Before Zhao Wuji could question him, Yu Xiaogang seized the initiative.
"Does Flender know you're doing this?"
As he spoke, he swept his gaze over everyone present. When he saw Bai Ye, his expression became extremely unnatural. On the way here, he had heard everyone discussing it.
At first, he had not believed them. But seeing Tang San's miserable state now, how could he still fail to understand?
"Teacher." Tang San hugged Yu Xiaogang, tears in his eyes and grievance written all over his face.
Yu Xiaogang's heart ached at the sight, for he had already come to regard Tang San as his own son.
"Who are you?" Zhao Wuji answered with a question.
"Everyone calls me Grandmaster." Yu Xiaogang suppressed his anger and replied.
"What Grandmaster? Never heard of you." Zhao Wuji relaxed.
"You!" Yu Xiaogang was enraged, but Zhao Wuji was angry as well.
So Zhao Wuji attacked again and beat Yu Xiaogang into a pig-headed mess.
Honestly, it was only because Zhao Wuji took into account that Yu Xiaogang knew Flender from the original story that he held back. Otherwise, he would have hit even harder.
"Take your disciple and get lost. Shrek does not welcome either of you!" Zhao Wuji said coldly. Then, as if recalling something, he added to Tang San,
"Little San, I'll be waiting for you to come find me in thirty years."
Tang San's face twitched furiously, and Yu Xiaogang did not look much better.
"What's going on?"
Just then, Flender arrived. At a glance, he recognized Yu Xiaogang, who had been beaten into a pig-headed mess.
"Xiaogang, why are you here?"
"And who did this? Who beat you into this state?"