Shrek Reduced to a Sorry State, Flender Furiously Tears into Yu Xiaogang!

In bustling Suotuo City, the Shrek group crowded into a dark, cramped alley.

They had fled here in utter disarray, panting heavily, their faces still etched with terror.

Suddenly, with a muffled bang, Tang San slammed his fist into the wall, drawing bright red blood.

Hatred surged sky-high within Tang San. His eyes were bloodshot, and his clenched teeth ground audibly.

"Father..."

He had watched his own father turn to dust beneath the enormous sword Lin Ye summoned with a flick of his finger, without even the slightest chance to resist.

Yet all he could do was flee for his life. He could do nothing else.

The sight of his father's death seared his soul like a red-hot branding iron.

It hurt. It hurt so much!

"Lin Ye... if I don't avenge this, I'm not worthy of being human!"

Ma Hongjun slumped in a corner, his face as white as paper. A wet patch stained his crotch, giving off a faint stench of urine.

"Gone... it's gone... all blown to pieces... too terrifying... waaah... that sword... that huuuge sword... scared me half to death..."

Oscar stood leaning against the wall, his brows tightly furrowed, none of his usual liveliness left on his face.

"What do we do... the academy's gone... everything we owned is destroyed... even getting food will be a problem now... my sausage stall hadn't even broken even yet..."

Dai Mubai crouched against another wall. The pride that had once belonged to a prince of the Star Luo Empire had vanished from his eyes, leaving only profound dejection and despair.

He held his head, fingers buried deep in his hair, and muttered with vacant eyes, "A Titled Douluo... and the Clear Sky Douluo, at that... even he was... couldn't withstand a single sword strike... what can I possibly compete with? What can I fight with? The gap... is too vast... there isn't a glimmer of hope..."

It was the despair of knowing that even his utmost effort could never bring victory.

Xiao Wu knelt beside Tang San, tightly holding his hand, which he had clenched so hard in his hatred that it bled. Her heart ached for him.

She looked at his face, twisted with hatred, and tried to comfort him.

"Brother... you... don't be like this... your father..."

Yet at the thought of Tang Hao, a sliver of icy suspicion quietly took root deep within Xiao Wu's heart. San's father was actually a Titled Douluo. Did that mean he had already...

And Lin Ye was so terrifyingly powerful. Had he, like Tang Hao, already seen through my identity?

The thought sent a chill through Xiao Wu, but seeing Tang San in such unbearable agony, she could only force down her rising fear and devote all her attention to the boy who had lost his closest family.

She remembered her mother, who had also died a horrific death. That pain, sunk deep into her bones, let her understand Tang San's despair all the more.

"Brother, you still have me..."

"It's all because of you! Yu Xiaogang! It's all because of you!!"

Flender was like a powder keg set alight. He could no longer contain the anger he had suppressed for so long.

He spun around, his eyes crimson, and stared fixedly at the ashen-faced Yu Xiaogang.

"Twenty years! Do you know how I spent these past twenty years?"

Flender's furious roar made Yu Xiaogang lower his head.

"Twenty whole years of blood and sweat! You've buried every last bit of it!"

"Lin Ye was perfectly fine staying here! However arrogant he was, however reckless, he was still in the academy! The benefits he brought us were real!"

"If it weren't for you! If you hadn't insisted on inspecting his Soul Rings like some buffoon dancing for attention! If your pathetic pride and disgusting jealousy hadn't driven you to provoke him! To goad him! How could things have come to this?! How could the academy have been destroyed in a single stroke?!"

"The school buildings, the training grounds, the books I collected, my money! Gone! Every last bit of it is gone!!"

Flender roared himself hoarse. Though he seemed to be berating Yu Xiaogang, he was also giving voice to his own helplessness.

Yu Xiaogang's expression was deeply strained, for every accusation Flender hurled was like a heavy hammer, pounding again and again at what little dignity he had left.

"I... I..."

Yu Xiaogang shut his eyes in anguish. When he opened them again, tears immediately spilled out.

Suddenly, he dropped to his knees before Flender with a thud, pounding the ground with both fists as he wailed in despair.

"I'm sorry! I've wronged you! It was my fault! I was stupid! I was ignorant! I was arrogant! I destroyed everything!! Aaaah!!"

His wails sounded heartfelt and sincere, as though he truly were repenting.

Looking at Yu Xiaogang kneeling and sobbing, Flender felt no satisfaction whatsoever, only a deep, wrenching pain.

But...

Flender bent down, seized Yu Xiaogang by the collar, and hauled him up to face him, questioning him in a hoarse voice.

"Now you know you were wrong?! Too late! It's all too late! After all these years! Yu Xiaogang! Tell me, besides making a mess of things, what have you ever accomplished?!"

The more Flender spoke, the more agitated he became.

"Back then! For you and Erlong! I, Flender, stepped aside without a word! I willingly watched her marry you! I wanted you two to be happy more than anyone! I thought I would get to see my best brother and the woman I loved finally become husband and wife! And what happened?!"

"And you?! You coward! You irresponsible bastard! On your wedding day! In front of everyone! You actually ran away! You left Erlong alone! Left her clinging to the empty shell of a wedding that existed in name only! For decades!! Huh?! Tell me! Was it your theory that 'there are no useless martial souls, only useless Soul Masters' that guided you into making such an utterly useless decision?! You selfish coward!!"

The barrage left Yu Xiaogang's head spinning, and even his excuses sounded feeble. He looked pleadingly at Flender.

"Boss Fu... don't... don't say any more... Erlong and I... we... we're cousins! That's... **... how could I face that..."

This excuse enraged Flender once more.

"Cousins?! Bullshit!"

Flender spat viciously.

"Blood ties? Did you ever verify them?! Or was your cowardly heart simply unable to bear the world's judgment? You've used that as a shield for decades. Haven't you played dumb long enough?! All you care about is your pathetic reputation and pitiful pride! When have you ever truly considered Erlong's feelings?! Or the sacrifice I made?!"

"Headmaster! Calm down!"

Dai Mubai stepped forward, steeling himself as he grabbed the arm of the out-of-control Flender. In a low voice, he said, "Headmaster! Grandmaster already knows he was wrong. He's suffering more than anyone right now! Blaming him any further won't help! We have to find a way to survive!"

Ma Hongjun, too, was stunned by their clash. He huddled in the corner, not daring to breathe loudly.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wu watched Tang San anxiously, afraid he would get dragged into this pointless quarrel.

Flender panted heavily, his chest heaving. He looked at the arm Dai Mubai was holding, then at Yu Xiaogang's face, smeared with tears and snot. Looking at these students, equally bedraggled and facing an uncertain future, he felt as though a basin of cold water had been poured over his boiling rage.

He abruptly shook off Dai Mubai's hand. The crimson gradually faded from his eyes, leaving only profound exhaustion.

After a long while, he looked at Yu Xiaogang, trembling on his knees, and his gaze grew a little more forlorn.

He opened his mouth, but in the end, all that emerged was a long sigh.

"S-sorry, Xiao Gang... I... I got too worked up. It's... it's all in the past."

However furious he truly was, he could not bring himself to abandon his brother of so many years, even if the man had poked a hole in the sky.

Hearing Flender's apology, Yu Xiaogang trembled and raised his head, his face filled with profound guilt and gratitude.

His lips moved, but he could no longer utter a single word.

Silence settled over them once more, broken only by Flender shaking his head and sighing...