Flender held up the empty bowl, looking utterly innocent. "I really don't know what that dog ate..."
"I need water! Get me water!"
After a flurry of chickens flying and dogs leaping, Yu Xiaogang gulped down three bowls of cold water and finally quelled the burning in his chest.
He slumped in his chair, panting heavily, his glasses askew, looking as though he had just made a round trip through the gates of hell.
Tang San stood beside him with concern on his face, but inwardly, he sighed.
Oh, teacher. You were like this in my last life, too-never enough to accomplish anything, but more than enough to ruin it. You haven't changed one bit in this life.
Even a bowl of dog milk could knock you flat, and you wanted to devise three strategies?
Only after recovering for quite a while did Yu Xiaogang sit upright again and straighten his glasses. He squeezed a few words through his teeth. "Then what do you suggest? We just let this go?"
"Let it go?" Tang San's lips curved slightly. "Of course not."
He walked over to the table and tapped his fingers against its surface.
"Move the academy."
Flender froze. "Move? Where?"
"Heaven Dou City," Tang San said. "Blue Tyrant Academy."
Yu Xiaogang jerked his head up.
Blue Tyrant Academy?
Flender's eyes lit up as well, but he soon frowned again.
"Xiaogang, Blue Tyrant Academy... that's Erlong's place."
Blue Tyrant Academy's dean was Liu Erlong, one of the Golden Iron Triangle.
"Dean, you have an old friendship with Senior Liu Erlong, so you're the best person to approach her about this. Besides, Blue Tyrant Academy is an advanced Soul Master Academy that exclusively accepts commoners' children, and it has a good reputation. If we move Shrek there, we'll have somewhere to settle down, and we can use Blue Tyrant's shell to keep growing."
Flender fell silent for several seconds, then slowly nodded.
Although Liu Erlong had cut ties with them over a decade ago, their old friendship might still make this possible.
"All right. I'll talk to her."
Yu Xiaogang's expression eased somewhat, but he still couldn't accept it. "Then we just let things here in Suotuo City go? The foundation we worked so hard to build..."
"Of course not." Tang San's smile deepened. "Before we leave, we'll stir up some trouble."
Ma Hongjun leaned closer. "Brother San, what kind of trouble?"
Tang San turned his head, his gaze settling on Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Dai Mubai.
"If we can't kill them, we can at least make them sick."
Yu Xiaogang frowned. "How?"
"Rumors," Tang San said. "The bigger the uproar, the better. Take it right to Dream Academy's gates. Make sure everyone in Suotuo City sees it. If they can tear down our academy, we can tear down their reputation. By the time they're scorched from head to toe trying to deal with it, we'll already have established ourselves in Heaven Dou City."
Yu Xiaogang considered this, and his brow slowly relaxed.
"Good."
"But we can't do this on our own." Tang San looked at Dai Mubai. "Boss Dai, you're a prince of the Star Luo Empire. You're the best person to handle this."
Dai Mubai blinked. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Write a letter," Tang San said. "Write to the Star Luo Imperial Family. Tell them Zhu Zhuqing and Zhu Zhuyun have questionable relationships with Shi Meng at Dream Academy, disgracing the imperial family. Zhu Zhuyun is Dai Weisi's fiancée. Once word gets to Dai Weisi, Shi Meng will have a bitter cup to swallow."
Dai Mubai's eyes lit up at once.
Zhu Zhuyun was Dai Weisi's fiancée.
If Dai Weisi learned that his fiancée was entangled with another man-and a twelve-year-old brat at that...
Just imagining the scene made Dai Mubai grin.
"All right. I'll write it."
Tang San then looked at Ma Hongjun and Oscar. "You two..."
Ma Hongjun rubbed his hands together. "Brother San, just say the word..."
Tang San smiled mysteriously. "You'll do this and that, then such and such."
Ma Hongjun slapped his big belly. "Brother San, that brain of yours is incredible!"
On the streets of Suotuo City, rumors spread as though they had grown wings.
"Have you heard? That Shi Meng at Dream Academy is only twelve, but he abducts ordinary women and goes after men and women alike!"
"No way! He's only twelve!"
"That's exactly why he's such a pervert! You don't know the half of it. He throws his weight around as Spirit Hall's Holy Son and snatches up anyone he sees. He doesn't even spare men!"
"My neighbor's little girl was so young she hadn't even awakened her martial soul, and he ruined her! The poor thing!"
"There's worse! Old Li's son over in the east of the city was dragged off to be used as an ingredient for pill refining. He was refined alive! Old Li went to demand his son back, and Shi Meng's men broke his legs. He's still bedridden!"
"Widow Wang's daughter from Southside was tricked into joining the academy. He said she'd be a student, but she was actually used as a cultivation cauldron! After three months inside, she was as thin as a bamboo pole, and she came out insane!"
"Dream Academy is a den of demons! Whatever you do, don't go there!"
The rumors grew more outrageous with every telling. Within three days, all of Suotuo City was talking about Shi Meng.
At Dream Academy's gates.
Shi Meng returned from the Star Dou Great Forest with Hu Liena, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuyun, Qian Renxue, and four Titled Douluos.
As soon as he reached the academy gates, Shi Meng stopped in his tracks.
A dense crowd of over a hundred people surrounded Dream Academy's entrance.
There were commoners, soul masters, spectators, and several middle-aged women in ragged clothes sitting on the ground, wiping away tears.
A burly man with a face full of menacing flesh stood at the front of the crowd, holding a wooden sign bearing a few large, crookedly written words.
"Shi Meng of Dream Academy abducts innocent women! Heaven will not tolerate this!"
Shi Meng looked at the sign, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
"What's going on?" Hu Liena frowned at the scene.
Ma Hongjun and Oscar had disguised themselves as burly men and mingled with the crowd. When he saw Shi Meng return, Ma Hongjun immediately signaled to someone beside him with his eyes.
A middle-aged woman immediately lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Shi Meng's leg.
"You damned monster! Give me back my daughter! My daughter hadn't even awakened her martial soul! After you defiled her, she threw herself into the river! Give me back my daughter!"
Shi Meng glanced down.
The woman's tears were real, but her acting was terrible.
The way she clung to his leg was too deliberate, and she kept sneaking glances at him from the corners of her eyes as she cried.
Shi Meng sighed.
"You're saying I defiled your daughter?"
"Yes! It was you! You used your status as Spirit Hall's Holy Son to abduct innocent women! You don't even spare men!"
Someone in the crowd immediately shouted along.
"That's right! I saw it with my own eyes! He wouldn't even spare an old man selling vegetables by the roadside!"
"He abandoned three pregnant young wives! Three!"
As Shi Meng listened to these rumors, his helpless expression slowly gave way to amusement.
He took a step forward, and the woman instinctively loosened her grip.
"First, you said I defiled your daughter. Then let me ask you: what's your daughter's name?"
The woman froze. "M-my daughter's name is..."
"What is it?"
"It's... it's Xiaohua!"
Shi Meng nodded. "All right, Xiaohua. Then tell me, what day did this happen?"
"L-last month!"
"What day of last month?"
"I... I can't remember!"
"Your own daughter was defiled, and you can't even remember the date?"
The woman opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Shi Meng turned toward the crowd:
Before you continue