Shrek's old and young

"Su Lin, isn't that a shop selling Soul Master supplies over there? Why don't you go take a look?"

After another circuit, the two reached the outskirts of the commercial district. Xiao Wu looked around, and her eyes suddenly lit up. She quickly tugged on Su Lin's arm and pointed diagonally across the street.

Su Lin followed her finger and saw a rather inconspicuous storefront a few dozen paces away, at the corner where a side street met the main road.

The shop was small, squeezed between an herbal medicine shop and an ironware store. Its door consisted of old, dark brown wooden boards, and a thin layer of dust coated the window lattice. The sign hanging above the doorway, however, had been wiped spotless. A sword, a hammer, and a coiling dragon were carved on it, the three designs set into the wood in deep relief, their lines sharp and outlines clear.

Su Lin's gaze lingered on the sign for two breaths, and the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

He had noticed this shop long ago. When they passed this corner earlier, he had already glimpsed the sign. With his knowledge of the Douluo Continent's iconic symbols, he could roughly deduce that this was Flender's general store, and he truly had no intention of going inside to play the sucker and get fleeced by Flender.

Decisively looking away from the sign, Su Lin shook his head at Xiao Wu. "We're not going there."

Xiao Wu was chewing dried apricots and asked indistinctly, "Why not?"

"That's a rip-off shop run by a crooked merchant," Su Lin blurted out without thinking.

Xiao Wu blinked. Before she could ask anything else, an irritated voice suddenly rang out from the street corner behind Su Lin. "Hey! Brat, whose shop are you calling a rip-off!"

Su Lin stopped, and he and Xiao Wu turned around together. A boy about their age stood at the corner, his build stocky and round, his red hair particularly conspicuous in the afternoon sunlight.

He had been glaring furiously at them, but the next second, when his gaze inadvertently swept over Xiao Wu beside Su Lin, he froze. His eyes locked onto her, and a lecherous expression spread across his face.

Su Lin narrowed his eyes slightly, inwardly cursing the trouble. He took Xiao Wu by the wrist and prepared to walk around the boy and leave.

But the fatty had already hurried over, covering the distance in a few quick strides. His rotund body proved quite nimble at that moment, and he just managed to block their way toward the alley.

He spread his arms in front of Su Lin and Xiao Wu and shouted indignantly, "Stop! I haven't settled the score with you for slandering my master, and you already want to run?"

Ma Hongjun's voice was hardly quiet. Several nearby shoppers could not help looking over a couple of times, but apparently deciding that children quarreling was nothing serious, they went back to their own business.

Before Su Lin could speak, Xiao Wu lost her patience. She shoved the bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts into Su Lin's hands, planted both hands on her hips, and glared with her brows raised. "What do you want?"

Ma Hongjun had kept a stern face, intending to continue denouncing Su Lin's improper remarks. But as soon as Xiao Wu glared and put her hands on her hips, his gaze stuck to her face again, unable to move away.

His round eyes swept up and down her once. He rubbed his hands together, then forced out a smile he thought looked very suave and gave a sleazy chuckle that made one's skin crawl. "Unless... unless you spend the night with me. Hehehe."

"You're asking for a beating!"

At those words, Xiao Wu instantly flew into a rage. Had Su Lin not grabbed her wrist quickly, she would have pounced the very next instant.

Xiao Wu turned back to Su Lin, anger still burning in her eyes, not quite understanding why he would not let her attack.

Su Lin did not let go, nor did he waste words on Ma Hongjun. He simply called softly toward the top of his head, "Pikachu!"

The little golden creature that had been lying atop his head watching the commotion abruptly pricked up his ears, instantly understanding his intent. Pushing lightly off Su Lin's hair with his hind legs, the entire mouse shot forward like a golden ball launched from a slingshot and slammed squarely into Ma Hongjun's round face before his grin could even fade.

The tremendous impact knocked Ma Hongjun flat onto his back. Pikachu took the opportunity to plant himself firmly on his round head, scratching back and forth across his fat face with both little paws. Bits of hair mixed with dust covered Ma Hongjun's face, and he howled in pain.

Xiao Wu had still been fuming, but the sight made her pause for a beat before she burst out laughing. Just as she was about to watch a little longer, Su Lin seized her wrist, turned, and broke into a wild sprint deeper into the commercial district.

They wove through the crowds and turned into a quiet, deserted alley, only stopping when they could no longer hear any commotion behind them. They leaned against the wall, panting lightly.

Su Lin bent over with his hands on his knees and caught his breath. Xiao Wu, however, was neither flushed nor breathless. With the explosive power amplified by Waist Bow, a short sprint like this was little different from a stroll for her. Tilting her head, she asked, "Why did we run?"

"There's an old saying on the Douluo Continent: even a mighty dragon doesn't overpower the local snake. Think about it. You could tell at a glance that little fatty was used to throwing his weight around there. He clearly had someone backing him. We beat up the man's disciple right outside his shop. If we didn't run, were we supposed to wait for his master to come out and catch us?" Su Lin said matter-of-factly.

Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose. "But he was the one who insulted us first. We weren't looking for trouble. Surely his master wouldn't be unreasonable?"

Su Lin chuckled. "Reasonable? Just look at that little fatty's behavior. Do you think a master who raised a disciple like that would listen to reason?"

What a joke. Beating up Flender's disciple right outside his shop-if we didn't run, weren't we just waiting to get beaten up?

What? You're saying Ma Hongjun was the one who insulted us first, and that Flender, a Soul Saint, wouldn't be unreasonable?

Heh, would it still be Shrek Academy if they listened to reason?

The older bullying the younger, the strong bullying the weak, using public authority for private ends-those were all longstanding Shrek Academy traditions.

"So that's how it is!" Xiao Wu gazed at Su Lin with admiration filling her eyes. "Su Lin, you know so much."

"Of course." Su Lin readily accepted Xiao Wu's praise.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the commercial district, on the stone paving outside Flender's shop, the scene was completely different.

Pikachu was having the time of his life riding on Ma Hongjun's face, bouncing back and forth between his belly and his head. Ma Hongjun wanted to fight back, but Pikachu far outstripped him in both speed and strength. The moment he tried to move, an Electric Arc struck him and left his whole body convulsing, unable to muster any strength. He could only let Pikachu manhandle him.

Finally, with no other options left, he could only shout at the top of his lungs, "Master! Help!"

Inside the shop, Flender had been reclining leisurely in his shabby wicker lounge chair, dozing. Hearing his disciple's piercing cries for help, he jolted, abruptly sprang to his feet, and dashed out of the shop.

Looking closely toward the source of the sound, he saw his precious disciple lying faceup on the ground. A palm-sized golden creature was squatting on his disciple's face, its two little paws still slapping his disciple's round cheeks left and right.