"What's wrong, Xiao Ye?"
Seeing Mu Yueye frowning as he silently poked at the Wolf Bandit's corpse, Zhang Lexuan asked him curiously.
As she spoke, she patted Mu Yueye on the shoulder and draped her outer robe over him, then comforted him.
"Don't let it weigh on your mind. It might look a little like a human, but it represents the suffering of a human woman."
Mu Yueye shook his head and looked at Zhang Lexuan helplessly.
"Of course I know where these things come from. I've read the books in the academy library properly... I was just wondering: by rights, these things live in groups. Especially when they go hunting, they'll put together a large enough team, even if they have to gather one at short notice."
Mu Yueye looked up at Zhang Lexuan and continued.
"But this one's behavior clearly doesn't follow the logic of a normal Wolf Bandit. That's a very important matter for Soul Masters."
Zhang Lexuan's expression grew a little tense. She looked around and asked Mu Yueye,
"Are you saying there are other Wolf Bandits hiding nearby?"
Mu Yueye shook his head again. He stood up and patted the blood and dirt off his hands, then said to Zhang Lexuan,
"It would actually be better if they were just hiding farther away. But when I activated Light of Dawn just now, I could sense that there weren't any Soul Beasts hiding within thirty meters of us."
"They couldn't be hiding beyond that distance, unless this was bait. But looking at that thing, it didn't seem to be trying to lure an enemy deeper in. When I threw my punch, it even came straight at me."
Zhang Lexuan raised an eyebrow at Mu Yueye. She seemed to finally realize that he had already reached a conclusion and was merely guiding her to think it through herself.
She flexed her wrist and said to Mu Yueye,
"Little Yueye, stop teasing me. I really don't understand what you mean. Whatever it is, just say it."
Mu Yueye shook his head helplessly, then raised his head and called out toward a spot in the woods along the path they had come from.
"Old Geezer Xuan, was my performance to your liking?"
A burst of laughter immediately rang out from the woods Mu Yueye was facing, and a figure abruptly dropped down.
"Little Yueye, you're interesting. That head of yours really is something. This old man has to admit you've got the better of me there."
Mu Yueye picked at his ear, then muttered nonchalantly,
"I just bluffed, and he really was there. That was almost too easy."
Xuan Zi coughed awkwardly at that, then planted his hands on his hips and addressed the two of them with some authority.
"Stand up straight, both of you. Stop slouching."
Zhang Lexuan hurriedly stood straight. Mu Yueye remained unconcerned, looking at Xuan Zi and waiting for him to continue.
Xuan Zi coughed lightly and said to Mu Yueye and Zhang Lexuan,
"Today was a test for the two of you, to see how you would handle an unexpected Soul Beast outside your plans, and whether you could deal with a sudden attack from a hostile Soul Beast."
Xuan Zi then turned his gaze to Zhang Lexuan and frowned at her.
"How did you check the area around the campsite? Not long after you two settled down to rest, a ten-thousand-year Wolf Bandit came to scout you out, intending to attack you at night. The one leading them was even a Soul Beast close to a hundred thousand years old. If Dean Yan and I hadn't checked the area beforehand, they'd have been right in your faces by now."
Hearing this, Zhang Lexuan lowered her head and silently endured Xuan Zi's scolding.
Xuan Zi really showed no humanity, issuing Zhang Lexuan an order on the spot.
"There's still half the night left before dawn. Knuckle push-ups. Keep them up all night."
When Mu Yueye heard Xuan Zi's demand, he immediately spoke up.
"Old Geezer Xuan, if you want to punish her, at least wait until the Soul Hunting is over and we're back at Shrek Academy. You can take your time punishing her then. If you punish her all night now, she won't have enough strength to fight tomorrow, and it'll be the whole team she holds back. Have you considered that?"
Xuan Zi snorted coldly and replied to Mu Yueye,
"For a Soul Master, my punishment isn't severe, and it won't actually affect her body. Zhang Lexuan, what are you standing there for? Get ready to do push-ups."
Mu Yueye turned to Zhang Lexuan.
"Don't do them for him. Get ready, my ass. Sister Lexuan, go back and rest."
The corner of Xuan Zi's mouth twitched as he glared fixedly at Mu Yueye. Mu Yueye looked back at him, took a deep breath, and said,
"Old Geezer Xuan, have I been too nice to you?"
Yan Shaozhe stepped forward to smooth things over and said to Mu Yueye,
"Now, little junior brother, don't be rash..."
Mu Yueye ignored Yan Shaozhe. Looking at Xuan Zi, he asked calmly,
"Before we set out, who did they say was the core of this team?"
Xuan Zi fell silent for a moment, and Mu Yueye continued,
"My great-great-grandfather said that on this Soul Hunting Operation, I have the final say on anything that isn't a matter of principle. As long as I don't commit offenses like joining the Evil Soul Masters, slaughtering innocent people, or seizing civilians' property, what I say goes."
"Now we're going to get some rest and catch up on sleep. After all, we just fought a thousand-year Soul Beast, and I'm very tired too. If you give orders to anyone on my team again, Old Geezer Xuan, I'll take it as a declaration of war. You're welcome to come beat me to death."
Xuan Zi's hand froze in midair. Yan Shaozhe reached out to hold him back, smiling placatingly as he spoke.
"Forget it, Xuan Zi, forget it. If you think about it, Yueye has a point. We're in the Soul Hunting Forest, after all. It wouldn't look right to really make Zhang Lexuan take up a position and be punished. Even with the two of us standing guard, so there's no need to fear a Soul Beast sneaking up on us, what if some Soul Master sees it and word gets back? It wouldn't sound good."
Xuan Zi took a deep breath and complained to Yan Shaozhe,
"I need to have a good talk with Mu En. That brat treats me like this already. In the future, won't he snap my old bones and burn them for firewood?"
Yan Shaozhe smiled and replied politely,
"How could he? Your bones wouldn't burn easily."
Xuan Zi nodded at first. Then, when the second half of Yan Shaozhe's remark sank in, he rolled up his sleeves and said,
"What's that supposed to mean? I can't hit that brat, but there's nothing stopping me from hitting you!"
Yan Shaozhe jumped back and said to Xuan Zi,
"All right, Xuan Zi, those two kids have gone back to sleep. We two old fellows need to keep watch for the rest of the night and make sure no more Soul Beasts disturb them. If they're disturbed again and Xiao Ye's rest suffers, that would shake Shrek's foundations..."