She wanted to know just what sort of person this boy who made Tang San wary really was.
At the far end of the second floor of the classroom dormitory building.
Luo Chen pushed open the door and entered his single room.
After two months away, a thin layer of dust had settled over the room, but it was still fairly tidy.
He put down his bundle and was just about to clean up when, suddenly,
A knock sounded at the door.
"Excuse me, is Luo Chen here?"
Puzzled, Luo Chen opened the door. A girl with a scorpion braid and a rabbit-ear headband stood outside, her large eyes studying him curiously.
"You are...?"
"My name is Xiao Wu, Wu as in dancing!" The girl flashed a brilliant smile. "I heard you came back from the dead, so I came to see you!"
"Now that I've seen you, you really are breathtaking."
At her words, Luo Chen's pupils contracted slightly.
Xiao Wu? Isn't she that rogue rabbit?
She's a Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast, yet she stole a little boy's quilt and even pushed her bed against Tang San's without asking.
By the standards of my previous life, that's an old cow eating tender grass-or what you might call a honey trap.
At that thought, Luo Chen hurriedly blocked the doorway with his body, determined not to let Xiao Wu see inside.
He certainly did not want this rogue rabbit sleeping here.
"Why are you blocking the door?" Xiao Wu asked, her cheeks puffed in anger. "Are you hiding some secret from me?"
"No," Luo Chen said with an awkward smile. "It's just that this is my room. You're a girl. It wouldn't sound good if word got out that you'd entered a boy's room."
"All right..." Xiao Wu turned around. "I won't bother you, then."
Hearing that, Luo Chen relaxed inwardly. Just as he was about to shut the door, a faint red gleam suddenly flashed through Xiao Wu's eyes outside.
"First Soul Skill, Waist Bow!"
Then Xiao Wu lunged at Luo Chen like a supple, boneless snake.
At the sight, Luo Chen instantly possessed himself with his Martial Soul, the Netherworld Scorpion Emperor, and the sharp scorpion tail behind him lashed toward Xiao Wu.
With a bang, the scorpion tail sent Xiao Wu flying out through the doorway.
"You!" Xiao Wu glared at Luo Chen with reddened eyes, staring at him in disbelief.
Even Tang San could not withstand her first Soul Skill, Waist Bow. Yet this boy had sent her flying without even using his first Soul Skill. He was truly powerful.
"I already told you. You're a girl, and it wouldn't sound good if word got out that you'd entered a boy's room."
"If you won't listen to advice, you can't blame anyone else."
Just then, a voice full of surprise and confusion came from a distance:
"Xiao Wu, why are you here?!"
Xiao Wu and Luo Chen looked toward the voice and saw Tang San walking slowly over.
"Tang San!" Xiao Wu's eyes reddened, and she threw herself straight into his arms. "Why did you only get here now? This Luo Chen bullied me! You have to avenge me."
Tang San stroked Xiao Wu's head, then turned to Luo Chen.
After three months apart, he only felt that Luo Chen had grown even more beautiful and refined, making others hesitate to approach him.
Seeing Tang San staring at him, alarm bells rang in Luo Chen's mind. Could it be that I've been labeled as someone courting death?
"What are you here for?" Luo Chen's cool voice interrupted Tang San's thoughts.
A gentle smile appeared on Tang San's face, and he said softly, "Won't you invite me in for a bit?"
"???"
"..."
"I haven't cleaned my room yet."
"That's fine. We can help you clean."
Are you sick in the head? Are we that close? Why does every one of you want to get into my room? Luo Chen grumbled inwardly. Thinking that cleaning the room alone really would be tiring, he stepped aside to make room.
After Xiao Wu and Tang San entered, she looked around, a trace of envy appearing in her eyes.
"Why do you get a room all to yourself?" she asked.
"Good luck." Luo Chen opened the window as he spoke. "Start cleaning. I'll fetch a bucket of water."
The instant Luo Chen left, Xiao Wu's temper flared.
She threw the cleaning rag onto the floor and said to Tang San, her cheeks puffed with anger, "What's his problem? Does he really think I'm a maid?"
Then she pointed at Tang San's head and demanded angrily, "Tang San, who gave you permission to make decisions for me?"
"Didn't you want to come in too?" Tang San immediately changed the subject. "But didn't you say you were going back to sleep? Why did you come here?"
"I..."
Xiao Wu did not know how to explain herself. Was she supposed to tell him, "I'm very interested in this Luo Chen"?
If she said that, she did not believe Tang San would feel no resentment.
Just as Tang San pressed her harder and harder, Luo Chen's voice suddenly came from the doorway:
"Why are you two just standing around? Didn't you say you'd help me clean? I've already brought the water, and you haven't even started!"
Hearing that, Xiao Wu gave Luo Chen a grateful look, then immediately picked up the rag from the floor and began cleaning.
What's this rogue rabbit playing at now? Why does she look grateful?
Puzzled, Luo Chen handed Tang San the mop and instructed, "You mop the floor. I'll wipe the windows."
Once they finished cleaning, Tang San explained why he had come.
"Luo Chen, Teacher wants me to have a Martial Soul duel with you."
"???"
"My first Soul Ring came from a four-hundred-year Mandala Snake. If you can't beat me, you can tell me now. I'll go easy on you."
Seeing Tang San brimming with confidence, Luo Chen began making calculations of his own.
Ever since obtaining his first Soul Ring, he had wanted to find out how powerful Scorpion Emperor Transformation was. Now that Tang San was asking to be his opponent, it suited him perfectly.
After all, as the protagonist of Douluo's first installment, Tang San had still managed to become a god despite Yu Xiaogang's ruinous influence. That was enough to show just how exceptional his talent was.
Dueling him would reveal his own shortcomings to the fullest extent. It was a fair deal.
At that thought, Luo Chen laughed in his extreme anger. "No need to go easy on me, because I won't hold back either."
Sensing an inexplicable pressure surge from Luo Chen's body, Tang San froze for a moment before becoming immensely excited. "Good! It's a deal. I won't hold back either!"
On the way back, Xiao Wu could not help saying to Tang San, "Tang San, I felt a powerful pressure coming from Luo Chen. Are you really going to have a Martial Soul duel with him?"
"Yes!" Tang San clenched his fists and gazed up at the star-filled sky, murmuring to himself, "He's like the only moon among these stars, bright yet aloof."
"I want to change his view of Teacher and his extreme way of thinking."
Two days later.
The sports ground at Nuoding City Junior Academy.
"Have you heard? The work-study student Tang San is going to have a Martial Soul duel with Luo Chen!"
"The Luo Chen who was supposedly dead, then came back to life?!"
"Heavens, why are we still standing here? Hurry to the sports ground and watch!"
"..."
Early that morning, the sports ground was already packed with students who had come to watch the excitement.
One was a Blue Silver Grass genius with innate full soul power; the other was a genius who had hunted down his own Soul Ring alone.
Who would not want to watch a duel between two geniuses?
At the center of the crowd, Yu Xiaogang stood beside the arena with his hands behind his back, a smile of certain victory on his face.
"Tang San, remember what I taught you," he said quietly. "Your Blue Silver Grass's Entanglement must be precise. Only then can the Mandala Snake's paralytic toxin fully enter the enemy's body."
"Yes, Teacher. I understand!" Tang San nodded.
His expression was calm, but a trace of complicated emotion lay deep in his eyes as he looked toward the other side of the arena.
There, Luo Chen stood in an ordinary short jacket of coarse cloth, looking down at everyone with an arrogant expression, as though he thought nothing of this Soul Master duel.
Xiao Wu stood at the front of the crowd, her large eyes fixed on Tang San as she said expectantly:
"Tang San, you can do it! You'll definitely beat Luo Chen!"
Hearing her, Tang San's lips curved upward, and he gave her a slight nod.
Soon, the referee stepped into the arena. After explaining the rules, he announced loudly:
"Begin!"