Xiao Wu Arrives in Force!

"Guest elder? I don't give a damn what kind of elder you are!"

Tang Hao glared at Yu Xiaogang, spraying spittle across his face.

"You want to trick my daughter into becoming your disciple? Go piss in a puddle and take a look at yourself! Stay away from my daughter, or I'll smash your skull with my blacksmith's hammer!"

With that, Tang Hao flung Yu Xiaogang to the floor like a piece of trash.

"Ow!"

Yu Xiaogang landed on his backside, his head spinning.

The instant Yu Xiaogang fell, Tang Hao's gaze swept over his waist. His rough hand moved with apparent casualness, but it struck like lightning, yanking free the belt set with twenty-four pieces of jade.

"This lousy belt looks worth a few Copper Soul Coins. Call it compensation for frightening my daughter! Let's go!"

Tang Hao gave a cold snort. Without giving Yu Xiaogang a chance to react, he stuffed the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges into his coat, took Tang Sanmei by the hand, shot Huo Yuhao a glare, and swaggered out of the office.

The whole thing flowed as smoothly as running water. He was more practiced than a bandit.

Only when the footsteps of Tang Hao and the other two had vanished down the corridor did Yu Xiaogang clutch his throat and struggle to his feet, coughing violently.

"Cough, cough... Barbaric! Absolutely barbaric! That was robbery in broad daylight!"

Fuming, Yu Xiaogang reached for his waist. Sure enough, his most precious Soul Tool was gone. His heart bled at the loss.

He was about to run out and shout for someone to catch the thief when he stopped dead.

Yu Xiaogang rubbed his dizzy head. Recalling the name the blacksmith had bellowed when he burst in, he drew his brows tightly together.

"Tang Hao? He said his name was Tang Hao?"

A flicker of alarm crossed Yu Xiaogang's eyes as he turned the name over and over in his mouth.

"Strange... Why does that name sound so familiar?"

Yu Xiaogang sank into deep thought.

The name seemed to have surfaced somewhere in the depths of his memory, but for the moment, he couldn't catch hold of it.

"Could it be him? No, impossible..."

Yu Xiaogang shook his head sharply and dismissed the thought.

"That man vanished years ago, but how could he have fallen so far as to become a drunken blacksmith in some backwater? And fathered a daughter with Twin Martial Souls? It must be a coincidence. They just share a name."

Despite what he said, a trace of wariness remained in Yu Xiaogang's eyes.

Half an hour later, outside Dorm Seven at Notting Academy.

With the work-study certificate issued by the academic affairs office in hand, Tang Hao pushed open the door to Dorm Seven.

"Oh? Another new student?"

The moment the door opened, a pungent mix of sweat, stinking feet, and moldy bedding hit them in the face.

Inside, a dozen or so filthy boys with bare chests were roughhousing. At the sight of the three newcomers, they all stopped.

Tang Hao's face turned black as the bottom of a pot.

"No! Absolutely not!!!"

Tang Hao spun around and gripped Tang Sanmei's hand. His roar echoed down the corridor.

"I don't care how poor I am! I will never let my delicate daughter sleep in the same room as this bunch of stinking boys! Sanmei, come with me! I bought a smithy across from the academy. You can come home with me every day!"

He had been on guard against that little wild boar Huo Yuhao from the start. Now he saw that boys and girls slept in the same room!

How could he allow that?

"But Dad!"

Tang Sanmei panicked. She clung to the doorframe with both hands, refusing to leave, her face full of worry.

"Cousin still hasn't fully recovered! If I'm not here, who'll fetch water so he can wash up at night? Who'll wash his clothes? I swore I'd take care of his daily needs. I can't leave!"

"Doesn't he have hands? Doesn't he have legs?"

The sight of his daughter like this nearly gave Tang Hao a heart attack.

"It's all boys in there! What kind of propriety is there in a girl living here?"

While father and daughter remained locked in a standoff at the door, a clear, curious girl's voice suddenly sounded behind them:

"Excuse me, is this Dorm Seven?"

All three turned at once.

A little girl stood there in a pink outfit, her hair in a scorpion braid and an adorable pink rabbit-ear headband on her head. She blinked her big red eyes at them with curiosity.

The hundred-thousand-year-old rogue rabbit, Douluo Continent's originally intended heroine Xiao Wu, had made her dazzling entrance!

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up the instant he saw Xiao Wu.

Tang Sanmei reacted even faster. As though she had seized a lifeline, she shook off Tang Hao's hand, pointed at Xiao Wu, and cried:

"Look, Dad! Who said it was all boys? There's a girl right here!"

Tang Sanmei ran over excitedly and grabbed Xiao Wu's hand. Then she turned back to Tang Hao and declared with perfect confidence:

"If a girl lives here too, there's nothing improper about it! With this little sister to keep me company, I can stay here and take care of Cousin at the same time! You can't argue with that, can you?"

"I..."

Tang Hao looked at Xiao Wu, who was also a work-study student, then at his daughter, who refused to let go. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

He had planned for everything, yet he had never imagined this damned Dorm Seven would actually get another work-study girl!

"Oh, don't worry, mister! I'll live with this big sister. Nobody will bully us!"

Xiao Wu still had no idea what was going on, but she was friendly by nature and immediately grinned as she spoke up for Tang Sanmei.

Looking at the two little girls who had formed a united front, Tang Hao felt his vision go dark.

Huo Yuhao, who had said nothing so far, swept his gaze around Dorm Seven and frowned deeply.

What kind of joke was this?

The living conditions at Shrek Academy's outer school ten thousand years from now were rough too. Hundreds of new students often fought over a single toilet. But at least the place was clean and tidy, and everyone had bedding!

I finally got a second shot at life. If I turn down a decent place to live just to suffer here, I'd be an idiot!

"Sanmei, pack your things."

Huo Yuhao spoke without hesitation.

"We're not staying here. Didn't your father buy a place across the street? We'll stay with him."

Tang Sanmei froze for a moment, then nodded without hesitation:

"Yes! Whatever you say, Cousin!"

As long as I'm with Huo Yuhao, what does it matter where we live?

If we stay at the place Dad bought, it'll definitely be better than this, no matter how you look at it!

Tang Hao heard their exchange. He should have been happy that his daughter would not have to live in a boys' dormitory.

But one sentence from Huo Yuhao had worked better than all his painstaking persuasion. His teeth itched with irritation.

"Wait! If you two leave, what am I supposed to do?"

Xiao Wu, standing nearby, suddenly grew anxious.

I just spoke up for you, and now you're leaving?

Weren't we supposed to be sisters for life?

She peeked into Dorm Seven. The bare-chested, drooling boys and that pungent smell made the little rabbit shudder.