"He'll come to the academy to see you?" Xiao Hongchen found it a little hard to believe, but when he thought of the two Soul Bones from just now, he felt he had no choice but to believe it.
If Ming Zhao had given her two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones just to trick Meng Hongchen into bed, then her first time was worth far too much. Xiao Hongchen himself didn't think anyone would pay such a steep price just to trick his sister into sleeping with them once.
Besides, his impression of Ming Zhao really had changed a great deal.
Before this, Xiao Hongchen had always believed that Ming Zhao had set his sights on the Hongchen Family's wealth and status, that he was a pretty boy looking to live off a woman. That was why Xiao Hongchen had always been wary of and opposed to Ming Zhao getting close to Meng Hongchen.
He had been terrified that Meng Hongchen would be cheated out of both her money and her body, and finally have her feelings toyed with as well, leaving her life in tatters and her heart broken.
Now, though, he thought it would be nice if Meng Hongchen really had met a man willing to give so much for her. At least Ming Zhao valued her and wouldn't let her suffer.
In fact, looking back on it now, Meng Hongchen had been the one who threw herself at Ming Zhao in the first place.
"Forget it. You're not a child anymore. You should be able to judge for yourself." Xiao Hongchen sighed. "Whatever happens, I'm happy for you that you've met a good match. As for Grandpa, you'll have to figure something out yourself."
After Meng Hongchen convinced Xiao Hongchen, the members of the Sun Moon Team packed their bags and set off back to the Sun Moon Empire.
At the same time.
Ming Zhao, who had left Star Luo City after seeing Meng Hongchen off, had used the incredible speed of spatial travel to catch up with a group that had departed Star Luo City the day before, overtaking them despite leaving later.
The Zhengtian Academy Team.
Ming Zhao had placed a spiritual mark on Yu Mengdi during the tournament's opening ceremony, so he wasn't worried about Zhengtian Academy leaving Star Luo City first. Even if they had run ahead, they could never escape the palm of his hand.
No matter how vast the Douluo Continent was, there was nowhere a person he wanted to kill could flee.
Looking down at the convoy of carriages on the mountain road below, a flicker of the amusement one felt upon finding prey appeared on Ming Zhao's icy face.
"It's been a long time since I went hunting..."
In the convoy below.
The people from Zhengtian Academy chatted and laughed as they discussed the interesting events of this year's tournament.
They had ultimately made it into the top eight, an improvement over their top-sixteen finish in the previous tournament. Though they had harbored greater ambitions before the competition, even fantasizing about defeating Shrek and claiming the championship, they were already quite satisfied with their final top-eight finish.
There was no point in setting a goal that was anything less than the championship, but a top-eight finish was already enough to be proud of.
After watching the final showdown and the awards ceremony, the Zhengtian Academy Team, who had packed their bags long ago, set off on their journey home after the tournament.
They had thought they would have a smooth journey back to the academy, where they could bask in their schoolmates' cheers and the glory of making the top eight. But reality always had a way of thwarting one's wishes.
The bright morning light gradually dimmed, as though obscured by dark clouds, and a chilly, sinister wind crept through every crack into the carriages.
"Why has it gotten dark?" Ye Wuqing frowned.
"Could it be about to rain?" Yang Yifan replied with a smile.
The others thought much the same as Yang Yifan. They assumed the weather had changed quickly and that they had simply been unlucky enough to encounter a morning when the skies suddenly turned, so they thought no more of it.
But there was one exception.
Of everyone from Zhengtian Academy, only Yu Mengdi, who possessed the Angel Martial Soul, sensed a trace of unease. Her scalp tightened, and the hairs on her back stood on end.
"I feel... a little uneasy." Yu Mengdi's trembling voice rang out in the carriage, silencing the others.
"Uneasy?" Ye Wuqing's frown deepened. After glancing at Yu Mengdi, he stood, lifted the carriage curtain, and stepped outside.
The others followed their captain, Ye Wuqing, out.
The moment Ye Wuqing, the first to leave the carriage, saw the scene outside, large beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. A panic like a hand squeezing his heart spread from his chest throughout his body.
Yang Yifan and the others reacted no less strongly. A few of them even went weak at the knees and collapsed to the ground.
Only Yu Mengdi, her panic growing stronger by the moment, remained seated in the carriage, clutching her skirt tightly with both hands, her knuckles white and her whole body icy cold.
She didn't dare go outside.
She could only hear her teammates' frightened cries.
"What is that?!"
"Why is the sky gray? There aren't any clouds!"
"The sun... there's something strange about the sun too! Its light is an eerie purple!"
Yu Mengdi trembled even harder. Her teeth chattered as though reacting instinctively to the cold. Merely imagining the scenes that had drawn her teammates' cries left her weak with fear.
Just then, a piercing scream made Yu Mengdi's eardrums ache.
"Look... look over there!"
Yu Mengdi recognized the voice. It belonged to a younger schoolmate from the reserve team.
"Paper figures? Paper figures wearing straw rain capes and mourning clothes?!" Ye Wuqing's voice rose several notches. "No, look the other way, at that bridal sedan and those women in red!"
"It's... it's Ming Zhao! Paper figures escorting a funeral, female ghosts escorting a bride, Red and White Colliding Calamities, vengeful ghosts running rampant! It's Ming Zhao, the Evil Soul Master wanted by Shrek Academy!"
Outside the carriage.
The Zhengtian Academy team members had long since huddled together in terror. In front of them stood the academy's two accompanying teachers, both Soul Saints, but even they were at a loss from fear.
More than a year ago, the news that Ming Zhao, an Evil Soul Master, had wiped out an entire group of elite Shrek Inner Court disciples had been kept tightly under wraps by Shrek. Even so, anyone with good sources had heard something about it. After all, it was no secret that Shrek had sent Titled Douluo to hunt Ming Zhao down.
Shrek Academy couldn't silence everyone.
In particular, even after dispatching several Titled Douluo, they had still failed to kill Ming Zhao and, in the end, could only let the matter drop. This had made Ming Zhao's name especially notorious for a time, enough to stop children from crying at night.
"Keep crying, and I'll have Ming Zhao take you away!"
Ye Wuqing, who refused to accept Shrek Academy's superiority and often studied how to defeat them in the tournament, had naturally heard about it.
But he had never imagined that this god of slaughter would come to block Zhengtian Academy's path!
After Ye Wuqing cried out, the rest of the Zhengtian Team, who had also heard Ming Zhao's name, were so frightened that they burst into tears.
Because... everyone who had seen Ming Zhao was dead!
"I don't want to die! Please spare me..." Blood Wolf even fell to his knees on the spot, begging the steadily approaching paper figures and female ghosts in red for mercy.
Inside the carriage, Yu Mengdi, the only one who hadn't left, was drenched in cold sweat. Even the stockings on her legs had grown damp with it.
The others might not know why Ming Zhao had come to block Zhengtian Academy's path.
But Yu Mengdi had a few guesses...
It was because of her!
Or rather, because of her Angel Martial Soul!