Was Erlong Thinking of Me This Time?

The next morning.

On their way back from breakfast, they passed a small village outside the city.

Two people stood at the village entrance. One was a fat boy in red clothes, with messy hair and two thin, curved wisps of mustache. The other was a girl in plain farm clothes. Her eyes were swollen, and tear tracks still marked her ordinary face.

"Ma Hongjun, don't come looking for me anymore. I won't be with you." Cuihua's voice trembled with tears.

Ma Hongjun spoke in a strange, affected tone. "Cuihua, haven't I treated you well? Why are you breaking up with me?"

Cuihua flushed, and a trace of fear entered her eyes.

"You have treated me well, but I really can't bear it. We're not right for each other. Find someone else. Besides, I'm several years older than you. Please, don't come looking for me again."

Ma Hongjun snapped, "What do you mean, you can't bear it? Fine, we can break up. Do it with me one more time, and I'll let you go. Otherwise, no chance."

As he spoke, he reached for Cuihua. She backed away in terror, but he caught her anyway. He grabbed her and started dragging her toward a wooden hut nearby.

Cuihua pleaded through her tears, "No, don't! Ma Hongjun, please let me go, all right?"

Xiao Wu could not watch any longer. She leaped forward.

"Stop!"

Ma Hongjun and Cuihua both froze. The fat boy turned and saw Xiao Wu. His eyes went round.

"What a pretty girl. What, want to take her place as my girlfriend? Sure, no problem. I accept."

"Bullshit!" Xiao Wu kicked his hand away from Cuihua. "You little hooligan! So young and already up to no good. Are you going to abduct a girl in broad daylight?"

Ma Hongjun's face darkened.

"This is between us. Mind your own business. If you're not going to be my woman, get lost."

Cuihua seized the chance to pull free. She glanced at Ma Hongjun, then at Xiao Wu. Biting her lip, she turned and ran.

Ma Hongjun watched Cuihua flee. He raised a hand, then let it fall. When he turned back, he spotted two more girls.

Zhu Zhuqing stood by the roadside, morning light falling across her face. Ning Rongrong stood beside her, brows slightly furrowed. Ma Hongjun walked over, rubbing his hands. His gaze swept over all three girls before settling on Zhu Zhuqing.

"Well, where did you girls come from? You're a real beauty—especially this one. What's your name?"

Zhu Zhuqing turned her face away.

Ma Hongjun reached for her shoulder.

He had not touched her yet.

Smack! A palm struck his face, the sharp sound echoing through the village entrance. Ma Hongjun flew three meters and slammed into a crooked tree. Leaves showered down.

Lin Yuan withdrew his hand and wiped it on his pants.

"Let's go."

He turned and headed back. The three girls followed. As Xiao Wu passed Ma Hongjun, she looked down at him. He clutched his face, one cheek swollen high.

"Serves you right."

Zhu Zhuqing paused for a step as she passed Ma Hongjun, then kept walking.

Still holding his face, Ma Hongjun stared after them. His fingers gouged several lines into the dirt.

Shrek Academy. The training ground.

Ma Hongjun stood beside Dai Mubai and Tang San, holding his swollen cheek. The left side of his face had puffed up so badly that his words came out muffled.

"That's him. He hit me without a word. All I did was say hello."

"You call that saying hello?" Ning Rongrong looked disgusted.

Dai Mubai looked across the training ground. Lin Yuan stood on the far side, talking with the three girls. Zhu Zhuqing stood beside him, her profile turned their way.

Dai Mubai gritted his teeth.

"Lin Yuan!" he called.

Lin Yuan turned.

"Dare to fight the three of us without using your Martial Soul?"

The training ground fell silent for a moment.

Xiao Wu was the first to explode.

"Why should he? Three against one, and you want him to give up his Martial Soul too?"

Ning Rongrong nodded hard beside her.

"Why not just tell him to stand still and let you hit him? Your skin's thicker than a city wall."

Dai Mubai stared at Lin Yuan, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Afraid?"

Lin Yuan smiled. He gently moved Xiao Wu aside, took two steps forward, and stood in the center of the training ground.

"Fine. I won't use my Martial Soul."

"Be careful," Xiao Wu said beside him.

"I will," Lin Yuan said.

Dai Mubai flexed his wrist, his joints cracking. Ma Hongjun rubbed his swollen cheek as Phoenix Flame flickered at his fingertips. Tang San stood behind them, Blue Silver Grass spreading from his palm.

"Come on."

Dai Mubai moved first. With White Tiger Vajra Transformation active, he drove a fist at Lin Yuan's face. The punch howled through the air. Lin Yuan turned sideways, letting it skim past his nose, then caught Dai Mubai's wrist and twisted it down.

Crack.

Dai Mubai grunted and was wrenched to the ground. Lin Yuan planted a foot on his back. Dai Mubai struggled but could not get up.

Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Fire Line came next. A stream of scarlet flame surged toward Lin Yuan, its heat washing over him. Lin Yuan raised a hand and scattered the flames with one slap.

He caught Ma Hongjun by the collar and yanked him down. Ma Hongjun's face struck the ground, and blood sprayed from his nose.

Tang San moved.

The Sleeve Arrow fired first. Three cold glints shot from his cuff straight at Lin Yuan's face. Lin Yuan tilted his head, and the short arrows grazed past his ear before burying themselves in the wooden fence behind him.

The Tight-Backed Crossbow followed. Tang San bent slightly, a mechanism snapped open behind his back, and a bolt tore through the air toward Lin Yuan's throat. Lin Yuan raised his hand and caught it between two fingers. Its tip stopped an inch from his throat. He glanced at the dark blue poison on it and tossed it aside.

The mechanism of the Godly Zhuge Crossbow clicked. Sixteen bolts fired at once, their cold gleam merging into a single sheet. Lin Yuan advanced instead of retreating, slipping through the rain of bolts. Each step landed in a gap between them. One bolt grazed his coat and tore a slit in it.

Sand-Containing Shadow.

Tang San raised his hand. A Hidden Weapon shaped like a flashlight spat out thirty-six steel needles amid a cloud of hallucinogenic poison. The needles spiraled through the air with a piercing hum. Lin Yuan turned sideways, letting them graze past his chest. As the poisonous mist spread before him, he held his breath and stepped clear.

Blue Silver Grass wound up from beneath his feet, strand after strand wrapping around his ankles and climbing to his knees. Faint purple patterns marked every blade. Mandala Snake poison.

Lin Yuan glanced down at the Blue Silver Grass around his legs and lifted his foot—

Rrrip. Every strand snapped, the breaks clean and even. Lin Yuan bent, picked up a severed blade, and held it before his eyes.

"Blue Silver Grass."

He looked up at Tang San.

"Why would you add poison to perfectly good Blue Silver Grass?"

Tang San's expression changed.

"With a plant-type Martial Soul, you ignored toughness and life attributes and absorbed a poison Soul Ring. Who taught you that?"

Tang San said nothing. The Blue Silver Grass vanished from his hand.

The Sleeve Arrow. The Godly Zhuge Crossbow. Sand-Containing Shadow. The Tight-Backed Crossbow. He had used every Hidden Weapon he had.

His Blue Silver Grass could not hold his opponent for even an instant.

Tang San lowered his head.

An image flashed through his mind: Yu Xiaogang sat in that little room at Nuoding Academy, surrounded by old books. His hair was a mess, tea stained his worn robe, and he leafed through yellowed notes as he spoke. "Little San, Blue Silver Grass is inherently lacking. You must make up for it with poison. The Mandala Snake is the best choice. Look, back when Bibi Dong—cough, cough."

Then he set down his teacup and patted Tang San on the shoulder.

"Just trust your teacher. This is the best approach."

Tang San had always believed him. From the day he became his disciple, he had never doubted him.

But now someone was telling him that his teacher had been wrong from the start.

Tang San turned and walked toward the dormitory.

Nuoding Academy. The little room piled with old books.

Yu Xiaogang was leafing through his yellowed notes when he suddenly sneezed.

"Achoo—"

He rubbed his nose and chuckled twice.

"Was Erlong thinking of me this time?"

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, set it down, and went back to his notes.

Dai Mubai scrambled up, his pride stung. With an angry roar, he charged and swung a White Tiger fist at the back of Lin Yuan's head. Lin Yuan did not even turn. He punched backward. Their fists collided, a dull crack came from Dai Mubai's arm, and he flew off again, slamming into the fence.

Ma Hongjun lay face down in the dirt, motionless.

Lin Yuan dusted off his hands. "You three aren't much good." He turned and walked back.

Xiao Wu opened her mouth, then looked at the two on the ground.

"Three against one, and that's all you've got?"

Ning Rongrong shook her head.

"Too weak."