Three Conditions

"Wulin, don't be angry."

The moment they entered the room, Huo Yutong hurriedly pleaded anxiously.

She had always felt guilty about hiding so much from Tang Wulin. Now that she had discovered how dissatisfied Tang Wulin was with being kept in the dark, intense unease suddenly rose within her.

Tang Wulin sat down on the bed with a dark expression, snorted, and turned his gaze elsewhere.

"I'm not angry."

No, you were absolutely angry.

Huo Yutong felt deeply troubled.

As far as she could remember, this was the first time she had seen Tang Wulin sulking.

She sat down beside Tang Wulin and said earnestly:

"I didn't deliberately hide it from you. Besides, the Academy compensated me, and I wasn't really hurt. Even if you knew about it, it would only make you worry for nothing, so I didn't think there was any need to tell you."

"?"

Tang Wulin tilted his head in confusion.

Why did that sound somewhat familiar?

His curiosity slightly suppressed the anger in his heart, and he asked:

"What exactly happened? Tell me. There's no need to hide it from me now, right?"

"Mm, okay!" Seeing Tang Wulin relent, Huo Yutong was overjoyed. She hurriedly said, "The last time I met that woman named Ma Xiaotao was three days ago, early in the morning. I had gotten up early, finished breakfast, and was taking a walk by Sea God Lake..."

Over the next few minutes, she described in detail how Ma Xiaotao had attacked her and how Shrek Academy's higher-ups had silenced her.

After thinking it over again and again, she still chose to conceal Tian Meng's matter. She could not tell others about Tian Meng without her permission. That would undoubtedly be betraying a friend, something she absolutely could not do.

Tang Wulin's expression worsened the more he listened.

By the end, his fury had reached its breaking point.

But by then, his anger was no longer directed at Huo Yutong.

"The Academy actually did something like this?!"

He had thought his own experience was merely an extremely rare special case. But judging by how the Academy had handled Ma Xiaotao's attack on Huo Yutong, they had probably done this sort of thing plenty of times. It was not an exception at all.

His favorable impression of Shrek Academy, the continent's number one academy, was completely shattered.

The foundations of this Academy, which looked so splendid and glamorous on the surface, had already thoroughly rotted away.

"Wulin..."

Huo Yutong looked at him worriedly.

Ever since they had met, Tang Wulin had always been gentle and polite. She had never seen him this angry before.

Tang Wulin took a deep breath and barely suppressed the fury in his heart.

He gently touched Huo Yutong's shoulder. The sensation of her wound being touched made Huo Yutong shudder instinctively.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"..."

Huo Yutong silently shook her head, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

This Tang Wulin was the one she knew.

Tang Wulin's eyes darkened as he said:

"Come on, Yutong. Let's go see Mu En."

It was both to treat Huo Yutong's injury and to seek an explanation for her.

Huo Yutong hesitated slightly.

"Wouldn't that be inappropriate? It's so late already. This little injury of mine will probably heal after a few days of rest. There's no need to trouble Mu En."

"There is."

"Wait, Wulin!"

Tang Wulin pulled her hand without another word and led her out of the room toward Mu En's room on the first floor.

He knew Huo Yutong would say that. She always worried too much and was far too accommodating.

His anger was still burning fiercely, and he had no way to patiently persuade her as he had before.

Huo Yutong was also worried about provoking Tang Wulin further. After trying to struggle twice and realizing she could not break free, she gave up and let him pull her to Mu En's room.

Hearing the two of them enter, Mu En opened his previously narrowed eyes, his tone somewhat surprised.

"Hmm? Wulin, Yutong, why have you come to see me so late?"

Although he spent most of his time watching over the movements of these two children with limitless potential in order to protect and observe them, he still gave them their most basic privacy. Thus, after confirming that they had returned to their rooms, he withdrew his Spiritual Power and began focusing on his recent plans.

So when he saw the two of them enter his room, he was quite surprised.

Tang Wulin said:

"Mu En, Yutong was scratched by Ma Xiaotao. Please find a way to treat her."

His tone was noticeably gentler toward Mu En, who had patiently taught him earlier.

Regardless of what Shrek Academy was like, Mu En's concern and help toward him were plain to see. Tang Wulin was not someone who could not distinguish right from wrong. He knew his anger should be directed at the proper target.

"...Oh."

Mu En narrowed his eyes.

Seeing the barely concealed anger in Tang Wulin's eyes, he understood immediately.

In truth, he had long expected something like this to happen. After all, once Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong moved into Sea God's Pavilion, they were bound to run into Ma Xiaotao sooner or later.

He simply had not expected that during their second encounter, she would injure Huo Yutong again the moment they met.

Mu En beckoned Huo Yutong over and said gently:

"Come, child. Let me see how you are."

He placed his hand on Huo Yutong's shoulder as she stepped forward. Faint golden motes of light rose, and Huo Yutong first felt warmth in her shoulder before the pain completely vanished.

Mu En released his hand and gave her a warm smile.

"There. As long as you do not strain your shoulder too much tonight, it will be completely healed by tomorrow morning."

"Yes."

Huo Yutong nodded respectfully.

Looking at Mu En's gentle smile, Tang Wulin felt as though his heart had been cleansed by a Light Aura, and he calmed down.

He stepped forward and said:

"Mu En, I want to move out of Sea God's Pavilion."

Mu En showed no surprise whatsoever.

"Is it because of Xiaotao?"

"Yes."

Tang Wulin did not avoid the matter. He said:

"Yutong was already hurt by her once before. Perhaps Xiaotao was not in her right mind then, but today she attacked while fully conscious. She actually used such vicious force against a junior she had never even met. I cannot trust someone like that."

Mu En sighed helplessly.

"I am very sorry about Xiaotao."

Tang Wulin remained unmoved.

"I'm sorry, Mu En, but what I want is to never encounter that madwoman again. Please grant my request."

What use was Mu En's apology? If the person responsible did not sincerely repent, then no amount of apologies from Mu En, an elder, would change anything.

Mu En understood what he was thinking and did not beat around the bush. He asked bluntly:

"Then what would it take for you and Yutong to forgive her?"

"Forgiveness is impossible. The deed has been done, and the fact that she hurt Yutong cannot be changed."

Tang Wulin said seriously:

"But if she is willing to agree to three conditions, I can pretend she does not exist."

"Let's hear them."

Mu En curved his lips with interest.

He was very curious what demands this exceptionally shrewd child would make.

Tang Wulin raised three fingers.

"First, she is forbidden from approaching us on her own initiative. If she comes within ten meters of us again without our permission, expel her from the Academy."

"Second, she must personally apologize to Yutong. We must see that she truly regrets what she did."

"Third, we want half of her assets as compensation for emotional distress."

The first condition was to ensure his and Huo Yutong's safety. The second was to help Huo Yutong vent her anger. As for the third, it was purely extortion.

Tang Wulin knew that with Huo Yutong's personality, if this had happened to her alone, she would definitely have silently endured it.

How could that be acceptable? Tang Wulin was not someone who let things go when he had the moral high ground. Since Ma Xiaotao was in the wrong, he would count himself merciful if he did not strip a layer off her.

"I see." Mu En laughed aloud, looking gratified. "Alright, I understand. I'll arrange for her to come apologize to you tomorrow."

In Mu En's view, aside from the second condition, the first and third were more or less excessively harsh punishments.

But as the saying went, drastic measures were needed to correct deep-rooted problems. If they wanted to change the Academy's culture, they had to use strong medicine.

Only after being beaten would one feel pain, and only after feeling pain would one remember the lesson. The reason Ma Xiaotao had become so arrogant and domineering was because Yan Shaozhe had spoiled her far too much all these years.

If this could make her recognize her mistakes and repent, Mu En felt these demands were nothing.

Author's Note

Poor exhausted Mu En. Every time he painstakingly raised Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong's favorability toward the Academy by a little, some pig teammate immediately dragged it back down.

As for Ma Xiaotao, I wonder whether any readers still wanted her to be the Female Lead after reading the previous chapter. If so, stop thinking about it. First, this book has only one Female Lead. Second, I truly have no favorable impression of a crazy woman who hurt someone, then violently interrogated her again the next time they met. In Douluo Dalu 2, the person I hate most is Xuan Zi, the second is Ye Xishui, and the third is Ma Xiaotao. Not writing her to death already counts as my great mercy.

Also, after Lao Huo was violently attacked by Ma Xiaotao a second time, he still was not angry at all. Even Wang Dong could not stand it anymore. His temperament really had reached the point of enduring anything without resistance.