He was different~

After everyone finished their soul fighting matches, Flender was nowhere to be seen.

Ma Hongjun's mind turned, and he immediately stepped forward and said to everyone:

"Tang San, take the girls back to the academy first. Qian and I will go look for Dean Flender."

Beside him, Lu Qian could have figured out what Ma Hongjun was thinking with his knees.

He gave Ma Hongjun an exasperated glare, then said flatly:

"You can go look for Dean Flender yourself. I'm not interested."

Although Lu Qian understood what Ma Hongjun had in mind, that did not mean everyone else did. The relatively innocent Xiao Wu, for instance, said to everyone with utter naivety:

"Why don't we all go look for the dean together?"

"Hey! All right, all right, I'll go myself."

Ma Hongjun hurriedly put a stop to Xiao Wu's idea.

"Haha, you rascal. I'm off!"

Lu Qian mercilessly mocked Ma Hongjun, then left the Soto Great Soul Arena outright, with Tang San and the others following close behind.

Lu Qian also heard Xiao Wu quietly asking Tang San why they were not going with Ma Hongjun to look for Flender.

Tang San had more or less guessed Ma Hongjun's intentions too, so he simply told Xiao Wu to keep her distance from Ma Hongjun.

At this point, Lu Qian had to step forward and speak up for Ma Hongjun, explaining directly to the others:

"Ma Hongjun's martial soul is a mutated martial soul. I'm sure you all know about the power and shortcomings of mutated martial souls."

"Aside from needing to put out his fire regularly, Ma Hongjun's Fire Phoenix Martial Soul is practically one of the most formidable beast martial souls. Besides, he counts as the dean's personal disciple. We can't exactly make him give up cultivating or watch his body explode and die."

"Besides, since brothels exist in this world, there's a reason for their existence. What Ma Hongjun's doing counts as ordinary spending, too, so you shouldn't isolate him without distinguishing right from wrong."

Tang San realized Lu Qian was talking about him. Since Lu Qian had also explained why Ma Hongjun needed to visit brothels, he finally said, somewhat embarrassed:

"So that's how it is. It looks like I misjudged him."

"Hmph, not a single man who visits brothels is any good!"

Suddenly, Zhu Zhuqing erupted. Clearly, she had thought of that fellow Dai Mubai, and it was more than she could bear.

For a moment, the whole atmosphere became awkward, especially for Lu Qian, who had just been rattling on, lecturing Tang San. Now even his expression froze.

But perhaps that was not the most awkward part, because Ning Rongrong immediately said to Zhu Zhuqing:

"Lu Qian's been there too! He even took me with him!"

"What?!"

Tang San and Xiao Wu exclaimed in unison, as though they had just been served some earth-shattering gossip.

At that moment, Lu Qian wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it. This was simply too embarrassing!

Whatever Lu Qian's reasons for visiting a brothel, the excuses he had just made for Ma Hongjun sounded like explanations for his own actions.

Lu Qian started to speak several times, then stopped. But thinking that the more he tried to paint it over, the blacker it would become, he simply sighed softly, turned, and headed toward the academy.

Tang San and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance and followed, but Xiao Wu tugged at Tang San and whispered:

"Then you keep your distance from them too, okay?"

Though her voice was very quiet, Lu Qian had strengthened his hearing, so he still heard her with perfect clarity.

Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong could not help asking Zhu Zhuqing:

"Aren't you angry with Lu Qian?"

Hearing this, Lu Qian hurriedly held his breath, awaiting Zhu Zhuqing's answer.

He heard Zhu Zhuqing say softly:

"He's different."

Suddenly, Lu Qian felt the whole world brighten!

At that moment, Lu Qian felt that even dying for Zhu Zhuqing would be worth it!

But Ning Rongrong, who was right there, could not help rolling her eyes and thinking:

Zhu Zhuqing, oh, Zhu Zhuqing, just what bewitching potion has Lu Qian poured down your throat?!

And isn't that far too much of a double standard?!

Hopeless, utterly hopeless!

And so, the five returned to Shrek Academy, each with their own thoughts.

Lu Qian had wanted to explain things to Zhu Zhuqing, but Ning Rongrong interrupted him, leaving him no choice but to drop it.

Two days later, Dai Mubai was more or less able to get out of bed and walk, while Oscar still needed someone to support him.

Even so, Flender did not let either of them off, and all the students assembled on the training field.

Lu Qian thought it over. What had to come would come eventually. This time, no one could escape.

As though confirming Lu Qian's thoughts, Flender announced the lesson's content outright. It was very simple: everyone had to eat two of Oscar's sausages, and they would be done.

Xiao Wu already found Oscar's sausages extremely repulsive, so she immediately said to Flender:

"What? Dean, what kind of lesson is this?"

But Flender replied very seriously:

"This is called adaptation training. Let me ask you: is your life more important, or your dignity? When you can only choose one, which will you choose? Oscar's soul incantation may be a little obscene, but the soul power sausages he produces are the best food-type martial soul I've ever seen!"

"Besides, during your time at the academy, he is one of you. You'll undergo trials together. If you can't cooperate with him, you'll be wasting your best support partner."

By this point, everyone more or less understood what Dean Flender meant. They simply still found it a little hard to get past their discomfort.

Some, however, were not bothered at all, such as Dai Mubai. During his lap-running contest with Lu Qian a few days earlier, he had practically squeezed Oscar dry. Now there was even less to say: he simply ate two and withdrew.

Next came Tang San. Since he had eaten them before too, he adapted very quickly this time.

As for Xiao Wu, when Tang San told her that she had also eaten Oscar's soul power Big Sausage while unconscious, her expression changed instantly.

In the end, with the abandon of someone smashing an already cracked pot, she ate two soul power sausages. But as she viciously ate them, the person she stared at was not Oscar, but Lu Qian!

That was because Tang San had told Xiao Wu that Lu Qian had force-fed them to her.

Watching Xiao Wu bite straight through a soul power sausage in one bite, Lu Qian could not muster a single dirty thought. Instead, his backside clenched, and a chill ran through his crotch!

Though Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were extremely reluctant too, since even Xiao Wu had eaten them, they could only suppress their nausea, close their eyes, and swallow them.

Last came Lu Qian. He looked at Flender with a grin and asked softly:

"Dean, can I skip eating them?"

"Sure. Two rats instead!"

This time, Flender had clearly set his heart on feeding Oscar's sausages to every single person. Lu Qian simply stopped struggling, took two Little Sausages, and stuffed them into his mouth.