Dai Huabin, You Have Chosen the Path to Death! (Eyes Bloodshot, Panting Like an Ox)

At Shrek Square, Mu Jin wanted to make the contrast between himself and Zhou Yi as stark as heaven and earth, so he did not even make Class Nine run.

The students wandered lazily around the square, chatting and laughing, perfectly at ease.

To avoid disturbing the other runners, Tang Qi took Huo Yutong and Xiao Xiao to the outermost edge. Even there, someone without eyes to see came charging straight at them.

A blond boy with a wickedly handsome face ran briskly against the flow, a breathless black-haired girl following behind him.

Both looked every inch the hero.

"Huabin, wait for me..." The black-haired girl could barely catch her breath, and there was a pleading note in her voice.

"Zhu Lu, I, Dai Huabin, won't wait for anyone on the road to power!" The blond boy looked back, his voice ringing with theatrical resolve.

Tang Qi, who had been chatting with the two girls, looked up at the sound. The next instant, the pair had rushed right up to them.

Tang Qi's eyes flashed. He took a light step forward.

Boom!

The ground suddenly heaved. Countless thick trunks of Blue Silver Wood burst through the earth, twisting around one another and rising in layer upon layer.

In the blink of an eye, a massive blue-green wooden shield rose from the ground. Fine patterns covered its face, while its roots anchored it firmly to the earth.

"Huabin, watch out!" Zhu Lu's pupils shrank, and she cried out.

Caught off guard, Dai Huabin slammed straight into the shield.

Bang!

After the dull impact, the shield did not budge an inch.

Dai Huabin bounced backward and hit the ground hard.

"Huabin, are you all right?" Zhu Lu hurried over and reached out to help him.

Dai Huabin angrily slapped her hand away and scrambled to his feet.

He moved past the shield, rubbing his nose, ready to unleash a furious tirade.

But when he saw Tang Qi's distinctive Pink-Blue Short Hair, he froze. "You?"

Tang Qi stood protectively in front of Huo Yutong and Xiao Xiao, staring at the blond brat in bewilderment.

This guy knows me?

The anger in Dai Huabin's eyes eased.

As one of only four Soul Elders among this year's freshmen, he had made a point of learning about the other three.

Ning Tian, young sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, was a support-type Soul Master. Nothing to worry about.

Xie Huanyue posed a limited threat.

Only Tang Qi had caught his interest. At eleven, he had already reached level thirty-seven, and his Martial Soul was the legendary Blue Silver Emperor.

He believed that his and Zhu Lu's talents far surpassed those of Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing ten thousand years ago.

And now Tang Qi had appeared, fitting the "Tang San mold."

Would that not make Ning Tian the Nine-Colored Goddess?

This was clearly a golden age!

His older brother, born of the same mother, did not even have a catgirl partner. How was he supposed to compete with him for the role of "Dai Mubai"?!

While Dai Huabin was lost in his own fantasies, his gaze suddenly fell on the girl behind Tang Qi.

The girl's body was taut, her face dark as frost, and a frightening aura radiated from her.

Her usually gentle eyes now burned with hatred carved into the bone. She clenched her fists, unaware that her nails had dug into her palms.

It was him.

It was him! He was one of the people who killed Mom!

"Yutong..."

Xiao Xiao was the first to notice something wrong. At a loss, she reached out and gently caught the girl's trembling wrist.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the sudden surge of violent emotion sent the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm tumbling out of her bed.

She scrambled up. Having examined Huo Yutong's memories before, she understood at once. "Little Yutong! Calm down for me!"

Dai Huabin narrowed his eyes. The longer he studied the girl's face, the more familiar it looked.

"Which lowly maid's daughter are you?!" he suddenly demanded.

Huo Yutong's body shuddered.

"How did a useless wretch like you get into Shrek Academy? Didn't I tell Mother to sell you off long ago?"

Dai Huabin's voice dripped with disgust and contempt.

Among the children of feudal nobles, the pecking order had always been legitimate children, then children of concubines, then children of maids, and finally children born to mistresses outside the household.

And in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, Huo Yutong was a maid's child.

In name, a maid's child ranked above one born to a mistress outside the household. But at least the latter did not live in the mansion and suffer these people's daily torments.

How could Dai Huabin tolerate a lowly maid's daughter studying at the same academy as him?

Huo Yutong bit down hard on her lower lip until blood seeped from it. A scarlet light flickered in her eyes.

I can't cause trouble for Brother Tang Qi.

"I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?" His voice rose sharply, his face twisting with anger.

Tang Qi seized Dai Huabin's wrist.

"What did you just call her?"

His voice was ice-cold.

"Lowly—"

Dai Huabin opened his mouth by reflex, but he never finished the word.

Smack!

A resounding slap landed squarely across his face.

Dai Huabin staggered back two steps. Half his face swelled and reddened before their eyes.

"You hit me for her?" Dai Huabin held his cheek, his face full of disbelief.

Oi, don't say things people could misunderstand so easily.

Tang Qi's eyes had been bloodshot and his breathing as heavy as an ox's, but at those words, he was left utterly speechless. "Do I fucking know you? Who the hell are you?"

The shock in Dai Huabin's eyes gave way to rage. He glared viciously at Tang Qi.

"Huabin, how dare he hit you!" Zhu Lu came closer, her face full of concern, and reached toward his swollen cheek.

"Get lost!"

Dai Huabin shoved her away.

He had cast himself as Dai Mubai, imagining that he and Tang Qi, his "Tang San," might write a new chapter for the original Shrek Seven Devils.

But now...

"Third Soul Skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"

Dai Huabin roared. His muscles bulged, white fur sprouted through his skin like steel needles, and his body swelled by a full size.

Before he could swing his claws, a dark shape struck at him even faster.

Scarlet light swirled with purple-black patterns as a Clear Sky Hammer appeared in Tang Qi's hand without warning.

"Aagh!"

A shrill scream tore across the square.

Dai Huabin flew backward in an arc and crashed heavily to the ground. He was out cold.

"Huabin!" Zhu Lu cried out, then turned an angry glare on Tang Qi.

But all that met her were a pair of cold, indifferent eyes.

Zhu Lu felt as if she had been thrown into an ice cave in the Far North.

Trembling uncontrollably, she fled to Dai Huabin where he lay on the ground.

"The nerve of you." Tang Qi curled his lip and casually put away the Clear Sky Hammer.

Never mind Dai Huabin. Even if his ancestor Dai Mubai had dared insult Xiao Wu to Haji San's face, what would have happened?

Did he really want to force that old jailbird to awaken the Tang family bloodline and serve up a taste of the path to death before he learned his lesson?

The next instant, a soft, delicate figure threw herself into his arms.

Huo Yutong buried her face against his chest. Her stifled sobs came in broken bursts, like the whimpers of a wounded animal.

Tang Qi was silent for a moment, then reached out and gently stroked the girl's head.

This round, I should start with her family.

"The Clear Sky Hammer..."

In the distance, Ning Tian stared blankly at Tang Qi, her beautiful eyes wide and her face filled with disbelief.

Behind her, Wu Feng, who had once dared hiss at Tang Qi, had wilted completely. Not a trace of her "Spinosaurus Form" remained.

"Tang Qi, you really have given me an enormous surprise." Ning Tian murmured, unable to keep the excitement and fervor from her voice.

"Tang Qi, I'm going to have you!"

"Young Master... you?" Wu Feng opened her mouth hesitantly.

Ning Tian turned toward her, eyes blazing. "When the crucial moment comes, you have to join in too!"

"I... I have to?" Wu Feng's eyes widened, the tips of her ears turning faintly red.

Would that count as sharing life and death with the Young Master, and growing old together?

While Wu Feng's thoughts drifted far away, Ning Tian suddenly looked around. Her brows drew together, and she shook Wu Feng.

"Where did he go?"

Wu Feng came back to herself and looked around blankly. "I don't know?"