"Hm?"
Xiao Wu had naturally noticed that Ma Hongjun's attacks had grown much lighter.
That eased some of Xiao Wu's anger. She had originally wanted to give Ma Hongjun a thorough beating, but now she decided a lesson would be enough.
"Ha!"
The two wings behind Ma Hongjun flapped, sending two streams of purplish-red flame swooping down from either side toward Xiao Wu.
Watching the purplish-red flames closing in on her, Xiao Wu leaped up and arched her body through the gap between them, dodging both attacks.
Xiao Wu then rushed straight up to Ma Hongjun and clamped her legs around his neck.
With her ankles wrapped around Ma Hongjun's neck, Xiao Wu activated her first Soul Skill. Using the increased strength in her waist, she flipped him into the air, then kicked him in the chest and sent him flying.
"Ow!"
Ma Hongjun had not expected Xiao Wu to be so fast and so strong.
After Xiao Wu landed, her expression changed. She immediately kicked off both shoes and stood barefoot on the ground.
A little purplish-red flame still clung to the shoes she had kicked away. Xiao Wu had tried to put it out, only to find it extremely sticky, so she had kicked the shoes off.
The shoes slowly turned to ash in the purplish-red flames.
"Hongjun! Are you all right?"
"Please stop fighting. Hongjun isn't a bad person."
When Cuihua saw Ma Hongjun defeated and sent flying, her expression changed. She ran over and stood in front of him, stopping the others from attacking him further.
"Get out of the way!"
Ma Hongjun was clearly quite resentful of Cuihua. He turned his head away and shouted at her.
Xiao Yan and the others watched the scene, only to be left standing there in bewilderment.
"Uh... miss, wasn't he harassing you?"
Xiao Wu looked puzzled as she asked in surprise.
"It's not like that..."
Cuihua's expression changed several times. She hesitated again and again, but never explained why.
"Xiao Yan, Tang San, there you are?"
"Huh? Fatty, how did you end up fighting?"
A familiar voice came from nearby. It was Dai Mubai. His friendly greeting changed the moment he saw Ma Hongjun lying on the ground, and he ran over.
But one look at the scene was enough for him to guess what had happened.
"Boss Dai!"
Ma Hongjun greeted Dai Mubai when he saw him appear, then said nothing more. It seemed this was not the first time something like this had happened.
"Mubai, you two... know each other?"
Xiao Yan looked at Dai Mubai and asked, somewhat surprised.
"Didn't I tell you there were only three students at the academy now? Fatty is the last one."
Dai Mubai explained to the group, then looked at Cuihua and sighed.
"Cuihua, can you... not put up with him anymore either?"
Now that Dai Mubai had arrived, Cuihua still said nothing. She looked at Ma Hongjun on the ground, and in the end, she shook her head and ran off.
Dai Mubai pulled Ma Hongjun to his feet and asked him:
"Fatty, are you going to tell them yourself, or should I explain?"
"You do it..."
Seeing how dejected Ma Hongjun looked, Dai Mubai no longer had the heart to tease him. He explained to Xiao Yan and the others:
"His name is Ma Hongjun. You can call him Fatty too. He's like this entirely because of his Martial Soul. It's a Mutated Martial Soul."
"A Mutated Martial Soul? Isn't it a barnyard chicken?" Xiao Wu rubbed salt in the wound.
"Phoenix! It's an Evil Fire Phoenix!"
Ma Hongjun protested.
Dai Mubai put a hand to his forehead and said to the group:
"You're not wrong to put it that way."
"Everyone in Fatty's village has some kind of poultry as their Martial Soul, but when it came to Fatty, his mutated. He was born with flames of considerable power,
"and the dean personally tested them. Not only are the flames astonishingly powerful, but they also cling tenaciously and are hard to put out."
"But for all its power, this Martial Soul also has some side effects for Fatty..."
"When the Evil Fire flares up, I can't suppress it!" Ma Hongjun hurriedly added.
Dai Mubai spread his hands and said to the group:
"The side effect of his Martial Soul's power is... a rather strong desire, so... very few people can withstand Fatty's..."
After listening to Dai Mubai's explanation, Xiao Yan and the others wore strange expressions.
The looks Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing gave Ma Hongjun held a trace of disgust and revulsion.
"People really do come in all kinds..." Xiao Wu said disdainfully. Ma Hongjun was so upset that he glared at Dai Mubai and said:
"If I had a pretty-boy face like you and Little Ao, and could date several girlfriends at once, I wouldn't be in this situation!
"But you don't have to belittle yourself. Don't think I don't know about you making three rounds in one day, dating three women at the same time..."
Dai Mubai quickly stepped forward to cover Ma Hongjun's mouth, but he was still a moment too late.
Holding a hand over Ma Hongjun's mouth, Dai Mubai hurriedly glanced back at Zhu Zhuqing.
"Heh!" Ma Hongjun pulled Dai Mubai's hand away and said:
"Don't you usually take pride in it instead of being ashamed? What's with you today? Did you take the wrong medicine?"
"Disgusting..."
Noticing Dai Mubai's gaze, Zhu Zhuqing spoke softly and turned her head to look away.
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's reaction, Dai Mubai hated Ma Hongjun to death. He glared at him.
"Cut the crap. Keep running your mouth and ruining my reputation, and you'd better watch out, or I won't go easy on you!"
Tang San looked at Ma Hongjun and asked curiously:
"Then, Ma Hongjun, now that you don't have a girlfriend, what will you do from now on? Stop cultivating?"
Ma Hongjun shrugged and said helplessly:
"What else can I do? Staying alive is what matters most. I'd better ask the dean if he has a good solution."
Standing beside Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu took the new shoes Tang San handed her and put them on as she asked:
"Where are we eating? I'm starving to death..."
"Follow me."
Dai Mubai led everyone back into the academy. Along the way, he tried several times to make friendly overtures to Zhu Zhuqing, but she avoided him every time, a look of disgust on her face.
The academy's dining hall was simple. They had merely hired a few villagers to cook for everyone.
The food tasted ordinary, but at least the portions were generous.
By the time Xiao Yan and the others returned to the academy, Oscar and Ning Rongrong had already arrived at the dining hall.
Seeing them arrive together, Oscar joked in surprise:
"Strange. Did you all go on a group outing behind our backs?"
Everyone sat down together. Seeing that they were all present, Dai Mubai smiled at the group and said:
"Since everyone's here, let's get to know one another!"
After a round of brief introductions, they all knew one another. It was mainly a matter of introducing Ning Rongrong, who had not been with them earlier, to Ma Hongjun.
Seeing another beauty like Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun's eyes immediately lit up again.
He had not expected three beauties in a row among the new students: Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong.