Tang San's Lack of Confidence

Lin Yuan feigned surprise and stopped in his tracks, subtly sizing them up.

Two years had passed, and Xiao Wu and Tang San had changed considerably in appearance. Both stood around 1.7 meters tall, but Xiao Wu's scorpion braid and rabbit-ear hair ornaments, along with Tang San's unremarkable face and the highly distinctive Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night at his waist, made them easy to recognize.

So Lin Yuan recognized them at a glance.

Xiao Wu was utterly astonished. She stepped in front of Lin Yuan and looked him up and down repeatedly, exclaiming again and again:

"Wow, Lin Yuan, it really is you! Just now, I only thought your back looked a little similar. I thought I had mistaken you, but it really is you!"

"Where have you been all these years? I asked the teachers at the academy, and they said you had already left."

"Little San and I went to your house to look for you, but we found that the apothecary had already closed down. I thought you had already..."

Xiao Wu launched into a torrent of words like a chatterbox.

From her words, Lin Yuan could hear the concern she felt for him.

A faint warmth rose in his heart.

But Xiao Wu's next words made alarm bells ring in Lin Yuan's mind and caused Tang San beside her to lose his composure completely:

"And another thing—how did you grow over the years? Back then, you were only a little better-looking than Little San, and you weren't much taller than him either. How did you suddenly grow so tall and handsome?"

Tang San said sourly from the side, "Xiao Wu, don't you think that's a little too blunt?"

"What? Lin Yuan really is very handsome now, and he's much taller than you. If you don't believe me, let Lin Yuan see for himself."

As she spoke, Xiao Wu pulled a small mirror from a Soul Tool whose origins were unknown and shoved it in front of Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan was slightly stunned when he saw his own reflection.

For nearly three years, he had remained in darkness and had paid little attention to his appearance.

Now that he took a look, he had to admit that he was indeed quite easy on the eyes.

His thick, tousled black hair, pure black eyes without a trace of impurity, tall and handsome nose, and fair skin formed by years of wearing black robes and rarely being exposed to sunlight made him fully worthy of being called a handsome and refined young man.

Lin Yuan could not help feeling slightly annoyed. Being handsome was certainly a good thing, but in an environment like this, it was not necessarily advantageous.

It seems Xiao Wu didn't actually recognize me. She only noticed that my back looked somewhat like it did when I was a child...

With that thought, Lin Yuan pretended to have only just realized something and asked in confusion, "Do you two know me?"

"What? Have you forgotten us?" Xiao Wu asked angrily.

Lin Yuan nodded and solemnly spouted nonsense. "I've indeed never seen you before."

Tang San had been scrutinizing Lin Yuan from beginning to end. Or rather, ever since Lin Tian, he had remained wary of any male who struck up a conversation with Xiao Wu.

Seeing that Lin Yuan did not look like he was lying, he asked tentatively, "You're not Lin Yuan? Lin from forest, Yuan from abyss?"

Lin Yuan knew that Tang Hao was nearby, so he naturally could not admit it. "Then it seems you really did mistake me for someone else. My name is Ling Yuan, not Lin Yuan. Ling as in overbearing, not forest. Yuan as in source, not abyss."

"Then I'm truly sorry. We mistook you just now." Tang San apologized.

Lin Yuan waved his hand, turned around, and left without looking back.

"Xiao Wu, I told you that you had mistaken him. The Soul Power fluctuations of that person just now weren't weak. He was already very close to the level of a Soul Grandmaster. With Lin Yuan's innate third-rank Soul Power talent, it would be impossible for him to cultivate to that level at his age."

Only after watching Lin Yuan leave did Tang San finally relax and turn toward Xiao Wu.

To be honest, he had truly feared that the other person was Lin Yuan, which would have led to him becoming involved with Xiao Wu.

Over the past five years, Xiao Wu had never said anything about it.

But Tang San could tell that because of Lin Tian's death, Xiao Wu had always felt guilty deep down.

As a result, she had also grown concerned about the disappearance of Lin Yuan, Lin Tian's former junior brother.

If that person really was Lin Yuan, and he had even cultivated to the Soul Grandmaster level while looking so handsome, then for Tang San, who only wanted to remain alone with Xiao Wu, it would certainly be no good.

Hearing Tang San say this, Xiao Wu also became uncertain. "What? He obviously was Lin Yuan. Could I really have mistaken him...?"

As their conversation faded into the distance, Lin Yuan stopped listening.

He found a fairly decent restaurant, ordered a tableful of dishes, and began eating on his own.

While eating, he listened to the conversations of the passing diners.

He finally learned why so many people had come to Suotuo City.

Apparently, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had gone missing, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had offered a bounty of two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to find her.

That was one version of the story.

Another version claimed that the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had eloped on the day of her engagement to her fiancé.

To find her, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had offered a bounty of two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Because someone had seen her in Suotuo City before, countless people had rushed there to claim the reward.

That was why so many people had gathered in Suotuo City.

In the original story, Ning Rongrong left in a huff, with people secretly following her the entire time. But now the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has offered such a huge bounty. It looks like the second version is probably the truth.

That does fit Ning Rongrong's little-demon personality. But that poor fellow who became her fiancé...

Whenever Lin Yuan imagined that transmigrator's furious expression after Ning Rongrong eloped, the corners of his lips involuntarily curled into a schadenfreude-filled smile.

Just then, someone in the crowd shouted, "Ning Rongrong is over there! Hurry, stop her..."

In an instant, everyone in the restaurant—even people from the entire street—rushed over.

Before long, the restaurant, which had been packed with people, was nearly empty.

Lin Yuan ignored them and continued eating at his own pace. After finishing and paying, he headed toward Shrek Academy.

But when he passed a secluded, deserted alley, a little beggar called out to him. "Hey, big brother, come over here..."

Although the little beggar was filthy from head to toe, her face was exceptionally adorable. More importantly, the Soul Power fluctuations around her were not weak at all, reaching at least the level of a Soul Elder.

There was also a noble air about her that could only be built up with an enormous amount of money.

This allowed Lin Yuan to roughly guess her identity.

"Is something wrong?" Lin Yuan glanced at her unusually fair neck. Suppressing a laugh, he pretended to be surprised as he asked.

"Mm-hmm. Come over here. I have something to discuss with you." The little beggar spoke mysteriously.