Why Are You Following Me?

Oh, ho?

Looking at the young attendant before him, who had raised a hand and refused him with a serious expression, Liu Hao was rather stunned.

This little fellow's guts sure were plump and well-fed~

If he knew that the man he was turning down was the strongest man on this continent, would he cry from fright?

Ah, what a shame I'm far too kindhearted. I simply can't bring myself to bully the weak.

"Fine, then get me an ordinary room." Liu Hao tugged at the corners of his mouth, forcing a smile that never reached his eyes.

There was nothing he could do. He could forgive this weak, ignorant fellow for refusing his request.

But annoyance was still annoyance, so naturally, he couldn't smile sincerely.

Managing to bend the corners of his mouth into an upward curve was already the height of courtesy.

"Certainly, sir."

The attendant gave him a professional smile, one far more natural and pleasant than Liu Hao's.

After completing the formalities and paying, Liu Hao was led to the ordinary guest rooms on the first floor.

Once he had checked in, Liu Hao released his spiritual power and easily located Xiao Wu and Tang San upstairs, on the other side of the building.

They were quite far from him. Clearly, the hotel had been deliberately designed to keep its couples' suites away from its ordinary rooms.

Huh?

In the scene he observed, Tang San was holding a hammer and smashing a cloudy, yellowish-brown crystal.

When the crystal shattered, countless golden specks shot out and scattered throughout the room, making a dazzling, beautiful sight.

So it's the gold-threaded plate crystal he just bought from Flender. No wonder Tang San was in such a hurry to drag Xiao Wu back to the hotel.

The Dragon Whisker Needles within this plate crystal were rare treasures to Tang San, powerful natural hidden weapons.

Unfortunately, they were of little use to Liu Hao. He knew no hidden weapon techniques, nor did he need such things to fight.

Liu Hao let the two of them gather up the Dragon Whisker Needles, then watched what happened next.

If Tang San dared to share a bed with Xiao Wu, he would immediately appear to stop them and give them a "proper" reminder that they were brother and sister. Even if they weren't related by blood, they still weren't allowed to cross that line.

Unfortunately, Tang San restrained himself and actually cultivated on the floor until dawn.

Perhaps Tang San really did see Xiao Wu as his little sister at this point?

And he strictly observed the principle that men and women shouldn't touch?

It didn't matter. Whether Tang San was sincere or putting on an act, Liu Hao was determined to have Xiao Wu.

Those two had better stick to being brother and sister.

With that thought, Liu Hao also had the system simplify the difficulty of winning Xiao Wu over.

"Ding! The system has received the host's request. Simplifying the process of winning Xiao Wu over..."

"Consumed 1 simplification opportunity. Remaining opportunities: 51. Simplification complete. Methods of winning Xiao Wu over, including possessing specific personality traits, specific experiences, great wisdom, developing love over time, altering memories, and so on, have been simplified to: conversation.

Whenever the host converses with Xiao Wu, each conversation will increase her affection by 1 point. Maximum affection: 100. Xiao Wu's current affection: 30."

Liu Hao was secretly delighted. He hadn't expected this little rabbit's initial affection toward strangers to be so high. It seemed she would be fairly easy to win over.

The next morning, Tang San and Xiao Wu checked out of the hotel and headed toward Shrek Academy, leaving through the south of Suotuo City.

Naturally, Liu Hao followed behind them.

They hadn't gone far beyond the city when Tang San, who had trained in an assassin organization like the Tang Sect in his previous life, keenly sensed that something was wrong. He abruptly turned toward Liu Hao and asked, "Who are you? Why do you keep following us?"

At those words, Xiao Wu also grew wary, her gaze filled with hostility as she looked at Liu Hao.

Xiao Wu's affection -10. Current affection: 20.

What the hell?

You bastard, Tang San. One sentence from you cost me 10 points of Xiao Wu's affection.

I see you've already chosen the path to your own death!

"I'm going to enroll at Shrek Academy. What, does this road belong to your family? Am I not allowed to use it?" Liu Hao snapped.

The two of them froze at his reply. They truly hadn't expected to run into someone else heading to Shrek Academy to enroll.

Although Liu Hao looked a few years older than them, they didn't yet know much about Shrek Academy's rules and regulations. They could only harbor doubts, not immediately determine whether he was telling the truth.

"Then you go first." Tang San moved aside, shielding Xiao Wu. The hidden weapons concealed on his body were poised to strike as he watched warily and spoke coldly.

Xiao Wu was equally on guard, ready to fire the Silent Sleeve Arrow on her wrist at any moment.

"..."

Seeing their reaction, Liu Hao couldn't be bothered to say anything more.

After all, they now saw him as a stalker with sinister intentions. Any explanation would be useless and might even backfire.

So Liu Hao clasped his hands behind his back and strolled ahead, looking as calm as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze, as though he didn't care whether they launched a sneak attack.

In truth, he really didn't care. With his current physique, Tang San's hidden weapons couldn't even pierce his defenses. Why would he give them a second glance?

Watching Liu Hao walk off into the distance, Tang San frowned slightly.

He really left... Could he actually just be going the same way? Did I misunderstand?

"Brother, that guy's gone quite far. We probably really did misunderstand him. Let's get moving too. The sun's getting more and more fierce," Xiao Wu said, wrinkling her little nose.

"All right."

Perhaps Liu Hao's little interruption had unsettled them, and Xiao Wu kept feeling that someone was watching them. Unlike in the original story, she didn't cling to Tang San and ask him to carry her on his back. Instead, she simply walked ahead as usual.

In fact, Liu Hao really was watching them with his spiritual power.

He was specifically guarding against Xiao Wu asking Tang San to carry her, as she had in the original story.

If that happened, Liu Hao would definitely intervene, using his spatial ability to send them straight to Shrek Academy's entrance.

From the moment he saw Xiao Wu, Liu Hao had decided that he would never again give Tang San any chance to have close physical contact with her!

Perhaps this was love? (Possessiveness at work.)

The journey wasn't far, and before long, Tang San and Xiao Wu arrived at Shrek Academy, a small village.

Seeing the dilapidated sign and shabby surroundings, and even catching the faint stench of manure in the air, Xiao Wu was utterly repulsed.

"Brother, this place is way too run-down. Are we really going to study here from now on?"

Unfortunately, Tang San had already been thoroughly manipulated by Gangzi and placed unwavering trust in Grandmaster's advice.

"Xiao Wu, trust my teacher. If he told us to come study here, he must have his reasons."

"All right..."

Although Xiao Wu wasn't particularly happy, her feelings for Tang San left her no choice but to let the matter drop.

Just as in the original story, a long line stretched out before Shrek Academy's registration desk.

Naturally, Liu Hao was among those waiting, standing right in front of Tang San and Xiao Wu.

"Huh? Why are you two following me? Are you plotting something against me?"

Liu Hao suddenly turned around and looked at Tang San and Xiao Wu with a guarded expression.

???

The two initially froze, but then immediately realized that he was saying this on purpose.

He was getting back at Tang San for accusing him of following them earlier.

Tang San felt a little embarrassed, but he was indeed in the wrong. He pressed his lips together slightly and averted his gaze, choosing silence rather than responding.

Xiao Wu, however, wasn't that sort of person. Even if they had been in the wrong first, that didn't stop her from feeling that her Brother San was being mistreated.

"Why are you so petty? We only misunderstood you earlier. You could've just asked us to apologize. Did you really have to deliberately throw those words in our faces?"