You Scumbag, Get Lost!

Zhu Zhuqing stood in a corner of the arena, her face alternating between red and white.

She had thought she had made the right choice.

Yet that man had been going to the Rose Hotel twice a week.

Beside her, Ning Rongrong called softly, "Zhu Zhuqing..."

Zhu Zhuqing did not answer.

Only one thought kept circling in her head: What on earth have I been thinking these past two years?

On the stone platform, Dai Mubai pushed himself up on his arms.

He wiped his face, his eyes fixed on Qin Chuan's right hand.

Qin Chuan understood now. With this Soul Skill, he could lose too.

But he could increase his chances of winning by twenty percentage points, and improve them further by reading his opponent's expressions and movements.

This round, Dai Mubai threw rock, while Qin Chuan threw paper.

Paper won!

"How did you know I'd throw rock?" Dai Mubai roared. "You read me again?"

Qin Chuan slipped his hand back into his pocket. "Your shoulders told me."

The stands fell silent for a moment, then someone burst out laughing.

"His shoulders told him!"

"How are you supposed to play against that? He can even read your shoulders!"

"The White Tiger Prince got betrayed by his own shoulders!"

The power of the rules had only just released Dai Mubai from its restraints. His neck was still stiff, and when he tried to look down at his shoulders, the movement was painfully sluggish.

Qin Chuan turned and beckoned toward a corner of the arena.

"Zhu Zhuqing, come here."

Within the Game Domain, Qin Chuan's words carried a special soul-commanding effect that amplified the instinct to obey deep within his target.

Anyone who heard him would instinctively comply. Only those with great strength or a sufficiently firm will to resist could break free of that influence.

Zhu Zhuqing raised her head.

A moment ago, her gaze had been unfocused, settling on nothing.

At Qin Chuan's call, her eyes slowly regained their focus. They settled on Dai Mubai and stayed there.

She walked over.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing approach, Dai Mubai's voice immediately softened. "Zhu Zhuqing, listen to me. I stopped wanting to see those twins ages ago. They were the ones who kept pestering me. I..."

Zhu Zhuqing stopped in front of him.

She did not answer a single word.

She drew back her right fist, twisted at the waist, and punched.

Empowered by the domain's rules, this punch could bypass Martial Soul defensive barriers and strike the physical body directly.

The White Tiger Protection Barrier around Dai Mubai had been gleaming gold. When her fist struck, the shield failed to stop it for even an instant. Her fist passed straight through.

Bam!

Dai Mubai flew backward several yards. His back slammed into the glowing membrane at the domain's boundary, and he bounced off it, crashing onto the arena floor patterned like a game board.

Zhu Zhuqing shook out her wrist. A layer of skin had been scraped from the back of her hand. She glanced down at it, then looked up and spoke to Dai Mubai beneath the glowing membrane.

"Scumbag."

After a pause, she added one more word.

"Leave!"

The stands were silent for half a heartbeat.

Then the section of female Soul Masters rose first. A girl in a blue dress in the front row slapped the railing and shouted, "Nice punch!"

"Hit him again!"

"Well done, sister!"

"Men like that deserve a beating!"

Wave after wave of shrieks rose over one another. Several female Soul Masters clapped and stamped their feet. The male Soul Masters beside them hunched their shoulders, none daring to make a sound.

One man muttered to his companion, "When I get back, I'm going to take that lover of mine... Never mind, never mind."

[Ding! Congratulations, host. Emotion points +76. Source: Zhu Zhuqing. Heartbreak, relief.]

[Emotion points +241. Source: audience. Vindication, satisfaction.]

[Emotion points +33. Source: Dai Mubai. Humiliation, pain.]

Qin Chuan tallied it up in his head and felt quite satisfied.

He glanced at Zhu Zhuqing. She happened to be looking at him too. Their eyes met briefly, and she turned her head away first.

On Shrek's side, Ma Hongjun finally could not hold back any longer.

Their leader had been sent flying, Tang San was lying in a crater, and the others were each more miserable than the last. As a grown man, he could hardly hide in the back and watch.

He thought, I'm an Evil Fire Phoenix, after all. That kid is a support type. As long as I get close, one blast of fire will burn him half to death.

Ma Hongjun charged forward, spreading the fiery wings on his back and spewing Phoenix Flame from his mouth. "Here comes your Lord Fatty!"

The flames surged toward Qin Chuan's back.

Qin Chuan did not turn around.

With a flick of his fingers, the gold coin appeared between them again.

"First Soul Skill, Coin of Fate!"

The [Clown Dwarf] appeared and explained the rules. "Target: Ma Hongjun. Please give your answer within ten seconds. Guess correctly, and you will be revived at full health. Guess incorrectly, and you will be struck by lightning. The countdown begins."

Sweat broke out on Ma Hongjun's forehead.

He looked at Tang San lying in the crater, then at Dai Mubai leaning beneath the glowing membrane with a hand over his mouth.

Fifty-fifty.

He thought, That kid guessed heads himself just now, and he got it right. Maybe this thing favors heads. I'll guess heads too.

"I choose heads!"

Qin Chuan flicked his finger, sending the gold coin flying.

As it rose, Qin Chuan made a mental adjustment. Tails-up by ten percentage points.

The coin spun through the air, its smiling and crying faces flashing in turn. Ma Hongjun's eyes followed it up and down as he muttered, "Heads, heads, heads..."

The coin hit the ground.

It bounced twice and lay flat.

The crying face was up.

Ma Hongjun stared at that crying face, his mouth hanging open.

"Tails..."

There had not been a single cloud in the sky.

With a crash, a bolt of white lightning struck from directly overhead, hitting Ma Hongjun squarely on the crown of his head.

Smoke and dust billowed high. Many people in the stands instinctively recoiled.

The smoke slowly cleared.

A pitch-black shape stood in the arena. Ma Hongjun was charred all over, a wisp of smoke rising from his head. Every feather on his fiery wings had been singed off, leaving not a single one.

He swayed twice, opened his mouth, and spat out a puff of black smoke.

Then he fell facedown.

Silence.

Then someone in the stands shouted, "Roast... roast chicken?"

Laughter exploded.

"Roast chicken! Hahahaha!"

"All his feathers are gone! Every last one!"

"You call that an Evil Fire Phoenix? That's a charcoal-grilled phoenix!"

"Did anyone bring salt?"

Someone laughed so hard they slid off their seat, and the person beside them could not pull them back up.

[Ding! Congratulations, host. Emotion points +298. Source: audience. Roaring laughter.]

The corner of Qin Chuan's mouth twitched, but he kept himself from laughing.

Only Oscar and Ning Rongrong remained on Shrek's side.

Oscar stood where he was. He looked at Tang San in the crater, Dai Mubai beneath the glowing membrane, and the smoking Ma Hongjun on the ground. Then he looked at Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing standing beside Qin Chuan.

Two girls-one from Shrek, and the other from Shrek too. Now both had gone over to the opposing side.

Oscar had only one thought: This guy can make people tell the truth, play Rock-Paper-Scissors, and toss coins to strike people with lightning. What can a food-type Soul Master like me do up there? Offer him a sausage?

He raised his hand. It was trembling.

"I... we surrender."

Ning Rongrong said nothing. The light of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in her palm dimmed, and she withdrew it.

The referee crawled over from the edge of the arena. He had been lying flat all this time, too afraid to get up. He straightened, his voice trembling, and had to shout twice before the words came out clearly:

"Shrek surrenders! The champion of this year's Continental Soul Master Tournament is Spirit Hall!"

The stands fell silent for two heartbeats, then erupted with a roar.

The entire Spirit Hall section rose to its feet. Some threw their hats into the air; others hugged the people beside them, jumping up and down. All the tension they had held in throughout the match came pouring out of their throats.

"Spirit Hall!"

"Qin Chuan! Qin Chuan!"