Ning Rongrong had barely finished speaking.
The scene abruptly fell silent again.
Everyone's eyes swept toward Dai Mubai in unison.
"Boss Dai, is what she said true? Are you really on the ru-"
Ma Hongjun tried to ask in a low voice.
"Shut up!!"
Dai Mubai immediately grew frantic. Veins throbbed at his temples as he pointed at Ning Rongrong, his fingertip trembling with rage:
"Ning Rongrong, stop spewing such vicious slander!!"
Just as he was about to argue, Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward and declared:
"Everything Rongrong said is true! Dai Mubai fled here!"
"In the Star Luo Imperial Family, every prince must enter the competition upon turning twelve. After learning about it, he fled the Star Luo Empire alone overnight without even trying to compete!"
"Leaving alone was one thing, but he never even left me a letter! Under the rules, if he was eliminated, I would be eliminated along with him. With no other choice, I risked being hunted down by my family and fled alone to come here!"
"At first, I thought Dai Mubai was lying low, sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall to steel himself for the struggle ahead. But only after reaching Shrek did I discover that he spent his days drinking and womanizing, even consorting with prostitutes, without the slightest sense of duty or responsibility!"
At this point, a trace of undisguised disgust flashed through Zhu Zhuqing's eyes:
"Dai Mubai, you're a coward. You disgust me!!"
Her words left everyone stunned.
They had never imagined that Dai Mubai was this sort of person!
"You! You actually dare slander me like this!!"
Dai Mubai's chest heaved with rage, and the soul power around him surged uncontrollably.
"Zhu Zhuqing! Whatever you say, don't forget your place!"
"You and I are engaged. You were born to belong here, to be my possession!"
"Without me, you're nothing!"
As he spoke, he whipped his head toward Ning Rongrong and glared at her through gritted teeth:
"And you, Ning Rongrong! Whatever else I am, I'm still the legitimate Third Prince of the Star Luo Empire! Who are you to stand here passing judgment on me?!"
"A possession?"
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly laughed.
The smile never reached her eyes. Instead, the chill around her deepened.
"Dai Mubai, I, Zhu Zhuqing, am no one's possession! Nor do I need anyone to survive!!"
"As for the engagement? The imperial family and our families arranged that. I couldn't stop it before, but that doesn't make it fate!"
As she spoke, she drew the dagger she carried with her.
"Today, I, Zhu Zhuqing, swear here and now to cast aside our engagement and sever all ties with you, Dai Mubai, with a single cut!"
Swish!!
Before her words had faded, she raised a hand and seized a lock of her long hair.
The dagger swept lightly across it. The black strands parted and drifted into the dust.
With a flick of Zhu Zhuqing's fingers, the severed lock landed directly before Dai Mubai's feet. Her gaze was as cold as midwinter ice:
"Let this hair stand for our bond. I cut my hair to sever our ties. From now on, our engagement is void, and we have nothing more to do with each other!!!"
Dead silence filled the scene.
Everyone stood frozen.
Cutting her hair to repudiate her fiancé?!
A woman had publicly broken with and cast aside her fiancé.
Even throughout the soul master world, this would be considered a shocking defiance of convention!
"You're asking to die!!"
Dai Mubai's eyes nearly split with fury as he flew into an utter rage.
Three inches of cold gleaming claws instantly sprang from his tiger paws, and he slashed at Zhu Zhuqing with a fierce rush of wind.
He, a dignified prince, had been publicly cast aside by a woman. If word got out, how could he ever show his face again!
"Mubai! Don't be reckless!"
Flender hurriedly intervened, stopping Dai Mubai as he said quietly:
"With so many people watching, if you kill her, what will the others think, even if I want to keep you at the academy?"
Dai Mubai quickly understood the dean's meaning.
The dean supported him killing Zhu Zhuqing, but not openly.
Fine! I'll endure it! I'll assassinate her alone later!!
Seeing him calm down, Flender turned to Zhu Zhuqing and said coldly:
"Zhu Zhuqing, how can you treat marriage as a game? Surely this is inappropriate?!"
"Besides, if you leave Shrek and Mubai's protection, with your identity and current cultivation, you'll struggle to take a single step on the Douluo Continent!"
"I advise you to think twice. Don't ruin your future on an impulse!!"
Every word, spoken or implied, said that she would have nothing without Dai Mubai.
Zhu Zhuqing raised her eyes, her gaze clear and resolute. Every word rang out with weight:
"I will prove that even without Shrek, even without Dai Mubai, I, Zhu Zhuqing, can still forge my own path."
"The river flows east for thirty years and west for thirty more. Don't scorn a girl for being poor!!"
Her voice was not loud, but its tenacity made their eardrums tremble.
Everyone froze, never expecting such stirring words from her.
Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. She immediately linked her arm through Zhu Zhuqing's and declared:
"Well said! Zhu Zhuqing, if you have nowhere to go, come back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with me!"
"Our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect stands supreme beneath the heavens, unmatched by anyone! We have plenty of top instructors and cultivation resources, a hundred times better than this ramshackle Shrek!!"
"With our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect protecting you, you won't have to worry about being hunted by those families in the Star Luo Empire anymore!"
A trace of warmth flashed through Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. Thinking of how she had nowhere to go, she nodded without hesitation:
"All right! I'm willing to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!!"
With that, the two turned to leave Shrek.
Everyone froze again. They were actually leaving!
Flender was also somewhat taken aback.
If Zhu Zhuqing really joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Star Luo Imperial Family probably would not do anything to her.
After all, Zhu Zhuqing was not a prince like Dai Mubai. The Star Luo Empire would not offend the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect over a woman who posed no threat to the throne.
"Ning Rongrong! Don't you dare!!!"
Dai Mubai panicked at the sight as well. He blocked their path, his furious roar echoing across the scene:
"If you really dare let her join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I'll rape and kill you right now!!"
"Rape you, then kill you, then rape and kill you again! I'll leave you unable to live or die, no matter how you beg!!!"
As he spoke, he unleashed his White Tiger Martial Soul with a boom, sending a terrifying pressure sweeping outward.
"Don't you dare!"
Zhu Zhuqing shielded Ning Rongrong behind her and activated her martial soul to face off against him.
"Oh~~"
Ning Rongrong laughed instead. She strode forward, thrusting out her chest, her face filled with disdain:
"A useless prince dares boast so shamelessly here? Come on, then. Kill me!"
"I'm~ so~ very~ scared~~~"
Ning Rongrong's taunts sent Dai Mubai into a complete frenzy.
"I'll kill you!!!"
His White Tiger Martial Soul erupted with a boom, and he brandished his tiger claws, about to pounce and kill her.
Flender's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly moved across his path and pinned him firmly in place, saying urgently under his breath:
"She's the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's only daughter! If you hurt her openly, all of Shrek will have to be buried with you!"
"If you want to act, wait until they leave the academy. There'll be plenty of chances to do it in secret!"
Dai Mubai had already lost all reason and insisted on attacking then and there, no matter what Flender said.
But Flender held him down firmly. After struggling for a long while without breaking free, he had no choice but to give up.
"Ning Rongrong! Zhu Zhuqing! Just you wait, you filthy bitches!!!"
In the end, Dai Mubai gritted his teeth, withdrew his martial soul, and settled for a threat.
"Don't dare attack now, do you? What a waste! Want revenge? I'll be waiting!"
Ning Rongrong sneered disdainfully and moved to leave with Zhu Zhuqing.
Everyone had thought the disturbance would end there.
But Xiao Wu suddenly stepped forward and said earnestly:
"I, Xiao Wu, want to leave Shrek Academy too!!"
She recalled how, in the Sky Screen, Da Ming and Er Ming would become Tang San's soul rings in the future.
Then she thought of how Tang San had sided with someone else when she was being insulted just now.
Taken together, these things had already left her heart half cold.
She wanted to see whether Tang San would ask her to stay!