Yu Xiaogang and Tang San Flee Shrek!

Tang San had thought a great deal over the past few days.

His trust in Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang was no longer as unshakable as it once had been.

But compared to the people at Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang was undoubtedly more trustworthy.

Despite all his doubts, despite sensing unknown dangers ahead, he chose to listen in the end.

His teacher surely would not harm him. At least, he would not deliberately harm him now.

Perhaps he truly had reasons he could not explain. Perhaps even the faintest hope of healing his eyes was worth the risk.

He nodded and felt around for the blanket, pulling it back. Unaccustomed to the darkness, his movements were clumsy and slow.

Yu Xiaogang hurried to steady him and helped him into his coat and shoes. He worked quickly but as gently as he could, as though afraid of alerting someone.

From his luggage, he took a broad-brimmed bamboo hat and carefully placed it on Tang San's head. It hid most of his face, especially his tightly shut eyes, which occasionally seeped cloudy fluid.

"Let's go," Yu Xiaogang whispered, supporting Tang San.

They opened the door and went out.

Xiao Wu was pacing anxiously in the courtyard. The moment she saw them, she hurried over. "Grandmaster, Xiao San, you two..."

"Xiao Wu, we're going out for a while. We'll be back soon." Yu Xiaogang cut her off, keeping his voice as calm as possible. "Stay at the academy and wait for word from us."

"I'm coming with you!" Xiao Wu said, worried.

"No!"

Yu Xiaogang refused flatly, his voice growing sharper despite himself. "That... old Soul Master will only see the patient and the person bringing him. If you come, you'll only make things worse. Listen to me!"

Startled by Yu Xiaogang's rare severity, Xiao Wu's eyes reddened again. But she looked at Tang San's face hidden beneath the hat and his silent figure, then bit her lip and nodded. "Then... you have to be careful. Come back soon."

"Mm." Yu Xiaogang gave a vague reply. He dared not linger. Supporting Tang San, he hurried toward the academy's back gate, taking quiet paths that avoided the training grounds and main buildings.

Flender was sorting through accounts in his office, one of his few pleasures. Hearing footsteps outside, he looked through the window and saw Yu Xiaogang helping Tang San away. He was still worried, but since they were going to seek treatment for Tang San's eyes, all he could do was silently wish them well.

Oscar and Ma Hongjun were engaged in a "brutal" sparring session in the courtyard, which mostly consisted of Ma Hongjun chasing Oscar around and breathing fire at him. They glanced curiously at the departing pair, then thought nothing more of it.

Dai Mubai was cultivating in his room, Zhu Zhuqing was at the cottage on Back Mountain, and Ning Rongrong was probably in her room studying the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support techniques...

No one realized what secret lay behind this seemingly ordinary trip to seek treatment.

Once they passed through Shrek Academy's dilapidated back gate, Yu Xiaogang visibly relaxed, but he walked even faster.

An unmarked, utterly ordinary-looking carriage he had hired was already waiting a short distance down the road.

The driver was a taciturn middle-aged man. He took the money without asking questions. Once they were seated, he cracked his whip and drove toward Suotuo City.

The carriage jolted along, its interior smelling of wood and leather.

Tang San sat in silence, his face shadowed beneath the hat.

Yu Xiaogang nervously lifted a corner of the window curtain and watched the road outside, afraid someone might be following them.

"Teacher."

After the carriage had traveled some distance, Tang San finally spoke, his voice dry. "Where... are we really going? Who are we meeting?"

Yu Xiaogang let the curtain fall and turned toward the outline of his disciple beneath the hat. A tangle of emotions rose in him. He drew a deep breath, knowing it was time to explain.

"Xiao San."

His voice trembled with barely suppressed emotion and a trace of hatred. "We aren't going to see an old Soul Master. We're... going to see your father."

"Father?!"

Tang San jolted so hard he nearly leaped to his feet!

Father? Tang Hao?!

He's nearby?!

The shock left him speechless for a moment, his heart pounding wildly!

Father... is in Suotuo City?!

Yu Xiaogang nodded. "That's right. Your father, His Excellency Tang Hao, the Clear Sky Douluo."

"Clear Sky Douluo?" Tang San froze.

Father is a Titled Douluo???

Before Tang San could say anything more, Yu Xiaogang pressed on, speaking rapidly. "He's in Suotuo City. He... he's injured too. Badly."

"Injured? What happened?" Tang San asked urgently.

"Cao Kun!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice rose sharply, filled with anger and resentment. "Cao Kun is behind all of this! He isn't an ordinary student at all! He's a Titled Douluo who has concealed his identity all this time! His strength is terrifying beyond imagination!"

"A few nights ago, your father went to confront Zhao Wuji over your injuries during the assessment. Cao Kun ambushed him and gravely wounded him in just three moves!"

"Your father fought desperately, even using a secret technique of the Clear Sky Sect, but he still couldn't win. In the end, he escaped with grave injuries!"

"And you didn't suffer a cultivation backlash because of conflicting techniques! I'm certain Cao Kun secretly attacked you!"

"He resented your father for injuring Zhao Wuji, or perhaps he simply disliked you. So he used some strange method to destroy your eyes, then made it look like a cultivation backlash to fool us all!"

Yu Xiaogang's words battered Tang San's understanding like a barrage of blows.

Cao Kun is a Titled Douluo?

He gravely wounded Father in three moves?

He's the reason I lost my sight?!

Each revelation was more shocking and harder to believe than the last!

Most of all, could his inexplicable blindness really have been someone's scheme?!

"How... how is that possible..." Tang San murmured, torn and confused.

Cao Kun had certainly seemed unfathomable to him, but a Titled Douluo?

And he had ambushed his father and gravely wounded him?

Blinded Tang San himself?

"Why wouldn't it be possible?"

Yu Xiaogang spoke heatedly. "Your father told me himself! His wounds still haven't healed, all because of Cao Kun!"

"He doesn't dare approach Shrek Academy while Cao Kun is there!"

"That's why he asked me to bring you out. He wants to take you away and find somewhere else, somewhere with a real way to heal your eyes!"

"If you stay at Shrek with Cao Kun there, you'll never recover. Your life could even be in danger!"

Father told him himself...

Tang San fell silent. His trust in Yu Xiaogang, combined with his bond with his father, began to outweigh his vague, complicated impression of Cao Kun.

If Cao Kun really hurt Father and me... then I can't stay at Shrek Academy.