Oscar panted, his face bright red, his hair and clothes completely soaked.
"Rongrong!"
"You... how could you do this!"
Ning Rongrong turned her head, nervous and embarrassed.
"I..."
"You... you don't really see me as a servant, do you?!"
Ning Rongrong lowered her head, too guilty to answer.
"Fine, fine, fine. I must've been blind!" Oscar's tone suddenly hardened.
Seeing this situation.
Chen An, feeling that he had caused trouble, quietly prepared to slip away.
"Chen An, you're not allowed to leave!"
Ning Rongrong reached out to block his path, her eyes angry.
"Sister Rongrong, it's almost dark, and I haven't finished my task yet!" Chen An held back the laughter threatening to spill out, speaking gently and helplessly.
"I don't care! You have to carry this pile of rocks over there for me!"
Ning Rongrong's tone was especially overbearing at first, but she weakened when she saw Chen An's expressionless face.
"Hehehe... our young miss still hasn't woken up!" Chen An couldn't agree to such an unreasonable demand.
Ning Rongrong pressed him. "Then what do you want?"
Chen An felt puzzled.
Even if Ning Rongrong didn't finish this lousy task, nothing would happen. Could Gangzi really intend to destroy the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect at any cost?
He thought it over and arrived at only one answer.
It was the young miss's vanity. Everyone else was working hard to finish the task, while she alone had chosen to give up halfway.
"Then how about this!"
"Do a dance, and when you're done, say, 'Brother Chen, I was wrong. Your little sister won't dare provoke you again!'"
When Chen An said this, he even made a point of looking back to check whether Xiao Wu was around.
"You!!!"
"Chen An, are you asking to die?!"
"I give you a little sunshine, and you think you're positively radiant, huh?!"
Ning Rongrong's face was bright red, her whole body burning as though ants were crawling over it.
As a wealthy young miss, how could she endure such humiliation? This was worse than killing her!
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"Don't get worked up, Sister Rongrong. I was only joking. Whatever you do, don't tell Xiao Wu!"
Seeing that it wouldn't work, Chen An dropped to his knees in surrender at the speed of light.
If Xiao Wu found out, he would probably be completely done for-the kind of trouble that would take half a month of coaxing to fix.
"Wait!"
Chen An had barely taken a few steps when Ning Rongrong's voice rang out behind him.
"Sister Rongrong, is something the matter?" he asked.
Ning Rongrong bit her lip, her tightly clenched fists making her fair arms tremble.
She paused, then said quietly, "Fine. I agree!"
Chen An blinked.
He hadn't heard what Ning Rongrong said at all, only vaguely catching a mosquito-like buzzing.
Before he could ask again.
Chen An's eyes widened enormously, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly, then formed a crescent, before finally becoming a complete circle.
He rubbed his eyes, staring in disbelief at the bizarre scene before him.
Ning Rongrong raised her hands, gave a light little hop, then followed it with a spin. Her graceful figure moved with the gentle flutter of her skirt, while the cool evening breeze blew softly toward them.
Chen An set down his carrying basket and sat on the ground to admire the beautiful older girl's graceful dance.
Ning Rongrong danced awkwardly, shyness still showing in her eyes, not letting herself go at all.
Breathing in the faint fragrance, Chen An immediately felt refreshed in body and spirit.
"Ah!"
"If Xiao Wu could dance like this too, wouldn't that be wonderful!"
The more he thought about it, the more he thought it would work!
Ning Rongrong danced stiffly at first, but gradually grew more comfortable.
"Hiss..."
"She's pretty good!"
"I have to say, Ning Rongrong's quite a beauty. That fellow Oscar really lucked out!"
Chen An watched quietly.
Suddenly.
Ning Rongrong came up to him, turned her head aside, and said in a small, shy voice, "Brother Chen, I was wrong. Your little sister won't dare provoke you again!"
"Huh?"
"It's over already?!"
Chen An thought that he hadn't even started enjoying himself before it had been hastily wrapped up.
"All right, all right. Since Sister Rongrong has been so accommodating, Xiao An will help out!"
Chen An pretended to look very troubled.
Having secured his promise, Ning Rongrong immediately flashed away, without even the courage to lift her head for a look.
"Fuck! I was so busy showing off, how am I supposed to explain this to Xiao Wu later?!"
"Hiss..."
"I'm done for!"
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.
Chen An completely panicked at the sight of Xiao Wu standing quietly not far away.
"Xiao An..."
"Sister Xiao Wu will give you a chance. If you can't explain yourself, hehehe!"
Looking at Xiao Wu's wicked gaze, Chen An felt his whole body go numb.
He steeled himself and recounted the entire process.
"Oh." After listening, Xiao Wu's eyelids twitched, her expression utterly bland.
Suddenly.
Chen An thought of giving in and acting cute. "Xiao Wu, you're the best. I, I..."
"Shh!!!" Xiao Wu quickly reached out and covered Chen An's mouth, saying in an extremely cold tone, "Sister Xiao Wu is very angry. You blockhead can take your time playing with these rocks!"
And just like that, a world where Chen An alone got hurt was achieved, with all the remaining rocks left for him to finish moving by himself.
Even Ma Hongjun, who had complained at the beginning, couldn't help praising Xiao Wu after finding out...
Late at night.
Beneath a large tree by the Shrek girls' dormitory.
Chen An was combing Xiao Wu's hair.
He coaxed her as he combed.
"Brother Chen, could you stop talking? Your little sister is sick of hearing it!" Xiao Wu was clearly still jealous.
Chen An smiled awkwardly.
He said no more.
"There's a little water left. Are you thirsty?" Xiao Wu handed him a water bottle.
"Thanks!" Chen An took a sip, his expression pained. "Has something contaminated Shrek's well? The bloody taste keeps getting stronger!"
"Huh?" Xiao Wu tasted some too. "A little, I guess. Maybe that's just how the countryside is."
"Star Dou Great Forest is very dangerous!"
"Stick to the planned formation. Whatever you do, don't get separated!"
Flender looked at everyone and spoke very sternly.
Just then.
Zhao Wuji also spoke. "Unless you encounter danger, we won't take part at any point!"
Chen An scratched his head.
He remembered that Zhao Wuji was supposed to be the only one leading the Soul Beast hunt, wasn't he?
Could Flender have come along because Zhao Wuji was injured?
The more Chen An puzzled over it, the more his head hurt.
Especially Gangzi!
He clearly wasn't supposed to arrive until after Tang San obtained his third Soul Ring.
"Sigh."
"Forget it, forget it. If things deviate, let them deviate, as long as it isn't at a major turning point!"
He chose to compromise, trusting his own strength and luck instead.
After discussing things for around ten minutes.
The group set off.
Chen An, Dai Mubai, and Tang San took the lead, Oscar and Ning Rongrong walked in the middle, Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun brought up the rear, and Zhu Zhuqing covered attacks from the flanks.
Their advance went very smoothly.
They encountered almost no powerful Soul Beasts along the way.
"Stay alert!"
"There are more and more Soul Beasts up ahead!"
Through his Purple Demon Eye, Tang San clearly saw the situation ahead.
"Fog's rising! Everyone, close in, quickly!"
Noticing the unusual situation, Dai Mubai shouted.
After about a minute, the thick fog gradually dispersed.
"Chen An?!"
"How did he vanish in the blink of an eye?"
Dai Mubai and Tang San looked at each other, neither knowing what had happened in the fog.
At that moment.
Chen An was a little bewildered.
Hearing Dai Mubai's shout, he had quickly moved toward the two of them.
Suddenly, a pair of icy hands took hold of him.
Chen An looked and discovered that it was Xiao Wu.
Without saying a word, she took Chen An by the hand and ran.
"Xiao Wu?"
"W-where are we going?!"
"You... what are you doing?!"