Their hands parted as soon as they touched.
Ming Zhao's expression remained unchanged. He withdrew his right hand, tore off the chicken leg on the other side, and took a bite before walking away without looking back.
Meng Hongchen's face grew a little redder. She watched Ming Zhao's retreating figure, hesitated for a moment, then hurried after him.
"My name is Meng Hongchen. I'm from the Sun Moon Empire. Can we be friends?" Meng Hongchen came up beside Ming Zhao and turned to look at him, a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
Ming Zhao glanced at her. His voice was still cool, but a little less distant. "My name is Zhao Ming. I'm an independent cultivator, just a wanderer who makes his home wherever he goes."
An independent cultivator, with no fixed home!
Meng Hongchen caught the important points at once.
When she introduced herself, Meng Hongchen had actually been a little worried. She feared Ming Zhao might be one of those people from the Douluo Three Kingdoms who hated the Sun Moon Empire to the bone, and that he would turn and leave as soon as he heard where she came from.
But Ming Zhao had told her his "name" without showing any hatred for the Sun Moon Empire, and he was an independent cultivator who wandered wherever he pleased, with no faction backing him!
Th-this-this...
If she hadn't been so well-mannered, an excited "That's wonderful!" would have nearly burst from Meng Hongchen's lips.
"Then why don't you come to the Sun Moon Empire with us?" Meng Hongchen's eyes sparkled, full of anticipation.
"The Sun Moon Empire?" Ming Zhao stopped chewing, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Yes, come to the Sun Moon Empire! Let me tell you, our Sun Moon Empire is wonderful. Once you're there, you won't have to wander around anymore!" Meng Hongchen said happily. "I'm a member of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. Once the Soul Fighting Tournament is over, I can get you into the academy!"
Miss Meng attempted to show off her connections.
Ming Zhao didn't agree outright, only telling Meng Hongchen that he would think about it.
Meng Hongchen wasn't in a hurry either. Moving to another country was no small matter, and she had only invited Ming Zhao on a whim, so she naturally had to give him plenty of time to consider it. Still, she believed that with her charm, Ming Zhao would definitely agree!
Even if he didn't, Meng Hongchen had made up her mind: for the sake of tying the knot with her Mr. Right, she would bring Ming Zhao home after the Soul Fighting Tournament, even if she had to cling to him and pester him!
Jing Hongchen was filially killed on the spot.
"Zhao Ming... I'll call you Brother Ming from now on. I'm staying at the Star Emperor Hotel, Brother Ming. You can come visit me! You can also come watch our matches!" Meng Hongchen couldn't stay out forever; sooner or later, she had to return to the hotel and rejoin her team.
Before parting, Meng Hongchen was visibly reluctant to leave.
For the past hour, she had simply followed Ming Zhao as he wandered aimlessly, buying a little food here and stopping to look around there. Even though they hadn't done much, Meng Hongchen had felt relaxed and happy.
Now that they had to part, she was naturally reluctant to leave.
"All right, head back. I'll come watch the matches." After spending the afternoon together, Ming Zhao's attitude toward her had improved considerably in Meng Hongchen's eyes. At least he was no longer icy, keeping people a thousand miles away.
"Mm-hm, goodbye!" Meng Hongchen smiled and waved him farewell, then watched his retreating figure disappear into the crowd without looking back. Only then did she reluctantly turn to return to the hotel.
But when she turned around, a young man whose features closely resembled hers was looking at her with a stern expression.
"?!" Meng Hongchen jumped. Once she saw who it was, she complained in exasperation, "Xiao, you're so inconsiderate! Who goes around scaring people like that? You could scare someone to death, you know!"
Xiao Hongchen didn't bicker with her. His expression grew even more serious. "Meng, who is he?"
Damn it, where did that blond punk come from? How dare he scheme against my adorable little sister?
At the mention of Ming Zhao, the irritation on Meng Hongchen's face immediately turned into a lovestruck smile. Her underlying code had been triggered.
"Him? His name is Zhao Ming. I ran into him while I was out! Xiao, let me tell you, I've finally met the Mr. Right I've always dreamed of!"
Xiao Hongchen: !!!
Ming Zhao naturally noticed the commotion behind him as well, and felt sorry for Xiao Hongchen for 0.01 seconds.
With a sister like Meng Hongchen, anyone would be at a loss. Wasn't her personality, which would let him easily trick her into having eight children, precisely why even a thorough bastard like him had chosen her as his next source of amusement?
Xiao Hongchen was a bit of a problem, though. That prick seemed to be just like him, unwilling to let a woman shake his convictions. In Xiao Hongchen's eyes, the only goal worth striving for was defeating Shrek Academy and leading the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to even greater heights.
To gain Xiao Hongchen's trust, he would have to start with Shrek.
Or he could simply beat him into submission with sheer strength and make him acknowledge him from the bottom of his heart.
It was a little troublesome that he couldn't just kill him, but it didn't matter. People were most patient when doing bad things, and Ming Zhao had plenty of ways to deal with an edgy teen like Xiao Hongchen.
If his name as the Evil Soul Master Ming Zhao hadn't become so notorious, with Shrek stirring up such a commotion that he had to use an alternate identity just to pick up girls, he could have simply revealed his real name. With his terrifying record, Xiao Hongchen would probably have bowed down to him on the spot.
Five inner-court disciples the first time, twelve the second, and two Shrek Seven Devils teams plus a supervising teacher the third. Wouldn't Xiao Hongchen be dumbstruck to hear about such an incredibly high KDA against Shrek?
A 32/0/0 record, verifiable.
Unfortunately, he couldn't use that move.
Evil Soul Masters still had far too foul a reputation on the Douluo Continent. It was all Shrek's fault-that lot had a way to die. They had portrayed Evil Soul Masters as unforgivable rats crossing the street, then used the name of purging them to boost their own reputation, without actually wiping out the Holy Spirit Cult, keeping the enemy around to maintain their own importance.
Before Ming Zhao reached seven rings, hadn't he too been just another part of Shrek's reputation grind?
Back then, he had been hunted down more than a few times. He knew full well how much malice those self-proclaimed righteous factions on the continent bore him after Shrek branded him an Evil Soul Master and put him on the wanted list.
If Meng Hongchen heard that he was an Evil Soul Master, she would probably snuff out the sprout that had just begun to grow in her heart. After all, there were still very few stupid pigs who would fall in love with someone wanted by the authorities, like in those idiotic women's fiction plots.
She was just love-brained, not a stupid pig.
At least, not yet.
"Then let's see how long it takes this venerable one to lure Meng Hongchen into becoming an Evil Soul Master!" A strange smile appeared on Ming Zhao's face, his green-tinged eyes like those of a hungry wolf that had set its sights on a little lamb.
He had already devised an entire corruption plan specifically for Meng Hongchen. As long as he could successfully take her virginity, the plan for Meng Hongchen, the Fallen Empress, would be more than halfway complete.
With someone else, it probably wouldn't have been so easy, but...
Who made Meng Hongchen's attributes ice and fire?
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(I'm a bit stuck writing. The next chapter will be a little late; let me go out and have some malatang first. I've also posted the original content of chapter 26 in the group. If you're interested, you can join using the link in the description.)