Sensing Feng Piaoling's shift in mood, Jiang Nannan winked her left eye at him from an angle where Nanmen Yun'er couldn't see.
It was as if she were saying, Leave everything to me.
Sure enough, after listening to Jiang Nannan's words, Nanmen Yun'er was thoroughly moved. "Thank you, thank you for the warning, Senior Jiang Nannan."
She then turned to Feng Piaoling and said, "Class Monitor—no, Sect Master—from now on, I am yours. You must take responsibility for me."
"Uh..." These words sounded awkward no matter how Feng Piaoling heard them.
He coughed lightly and said, "Our sect is called the Hall of Souls, and it isn't time for it to emerge into the world yet. For now, just do as Xiao Xiao does and call me Brother Feng, or just use my name."
"Alright, Brother Feng Piaoling," Nanmen Yun'er replied, her voice suddenly turning into a high-pitched, cutesy "jiazi" (A forced, sugary baby voice) tone.
Feng Piaoling finally saw through her; this was someone who appeared soft and weak on the outside, but was actually mischievous and unrestrained on the inside.
Seeing that Jiang Nannan had pulled Nanmen Yun'er into the fold, Xiao Xiao's eyes darted around. Feeling she couldn't let herself fall behind, she blinked and hugged Wang Dong'er's arm, saying:
"Dong'er, you told me before that you wanted to join the Tang Sect. But in my opinion, the Tang Sect is full of filthy characters like Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin. Why don't you join our Hall of Souls instead? Our Sect Master's secret techniques are much more powerful than those ancient, out-of-date things from the Tang Sect."
Although Feng Piaoling had said he would wait until they left Shrek Academy to teach Xiao Xiao his secrets, she had spent the entire journey acting cute and begging him for a demonstration.
After Feng Piaoling had given her a simple demonstration in the Mimicry Cultivation Ground—showing her the Doppelgänger Phantom (Shadow Clone) technique and the Fire Manipulation Bullet, which was extremely useful for her—Xiao Xiao had officially become Feng Piaoling's number one fangirl.
"This..." Wang Dong'er had to admit she was indeed tempted.
However, Feng Piaoling's eyelids twitched as he listened. He was still very weak right now; if Tang the Divine King found out he had abducted Wang Dong'er, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"No, Wang Dong'er cannot join."
Before Wang Dong'er could even agree, Feng Piaoling rejected her decisively.
The girls were stunned. Wang Dong'er was the first to react; her eyes reddened as she demanded, "On what grounds? In what way am I lacking?"
Feng Piaoling replied, "I didn't say you were lacking. On the contrary, you are excellent. But based on the second martial soul you displayed before, you should be from the Clear Sky School, which was once the world's number one sect. Since you already have a sect, I don't want to provoke such a behemoth right now."
"Furthermore, I might as well tell you: that Outer Court teacher who died recently was none other than the hook-nosed teacher who publicly exposed your cross-dressing on the first day of school." This sentence was relayed by Electrolux, who mimicked Feng Piaoling's voice to help him pass the message privately.
After hearing this, Wang Dong'er fell silent. That assassinated Outer Court teacher was actually the one who had exposed her identity as a girl?
Didn't this mean it was highly likely that her First Uncle and Second Uncle had sent someone to do it?
"No, that's impossible." Subconsciously, Wang Dong'er didn't want to believe it, but with the facts laid out before her, she couldn't help but be suspicious.
Feng Piaoling once again had Electrolux transmit his voice: "Alright, don't overthink it. Although I don't know why you felt the need to dress as a man, there must be deep implications involved. If you want to know the truth, the priority right now is to raise your strength."
"My suggestion is that you follow the Clear Sky School's arrangements for now while investigating in secret. Remember, until you have sufficient strength, never flip the table. You can trust no one but yourself. This is the only advice I can give you as a friend."
A friend? Wang Dong'er's tears turned into a smile. She turned to Xiao Xiao and said, "I'm sorry, Xiao Xiao. Just as this guy Feng Piaoling said, I am from the Clear Sky School. I assume you've heard that the ancestor of the Tang Sect, the Sea God Tang San, also came from the Clear Sky School. That was why I wanted to join the Tang Sect, but don't worry—we will be friends forever."
"Friends forever." Wang Dong'er said this while looking directly at Feng Piaoling.
As she spoke, there was a faint glimmer of tears in her eyes.
She wasn't stupid. After hearing Feng Piaoling's words, she connected many dots.
She was clearly from the Clear Sky School, yet her surname was Wang. She didn't know who her parents were and had no memories prior to the age of eleven. Then, her First and Second Uncles had demanded she cross-dress to join Shrek Academy. Shortly after her identity was exposed, the teacher who did it was killed.
Furthermore, her uncles wanted her to join the Tang Sect, saying it was the sect founded by their ancestor, the Sea God Tang San. She was told she had to help restore the Tang Sect's glory for Ancestor Tang San.
Instead, what she saw was a Tang Sect full of backstabbing, messed-up relationships, and half-brothers with the blood-debt of a murdered mother between them.
This was a far cry from the Tang Sect in her imagination.
Therefore, she decided to follow Feng Piaoling's suggestion and find out the truth for herself.
Just as Wang Dong'er was making her decision, a heated argument was taking place outside the Shrek Academy infirmary.
"This is impossible, Zhou Yi. Mu Jin just led Class Nine to win the Freshman Assessment championship. According to the academy's tradition, she must lead Class One."
Fan Yu looked at Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin, who were receiving treatment inside the infirmary, and tried earnestly to persuade his wife.
"I don't care! I want to teach Class One. If you don't let me, then I'll take Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin away from Shrek and find another advanced soul master academy for them."
Zhou Yi, wearing her half-frame glasses and old-woman mask, stood with her arms crossed, her back turned to Fan Yu. She looked perfectly ready to cause a massive scene if she didn't get her way.
"You... Sigh, what am I supposed to say to you?" Fan Yu felt helpless, knowing his wife had become obsessed.
And the source of that obsession was none other than Feng Piaoling. Because Feng Piaoling, the strongest Power Attack System freshman in the Outer Court, was about to be assigned to Class One, she wanted to use the opportunity to reclaim her dignity.
Thinking of this, Fan Yu couldn't help but feel a surge of dissatisfaction toward that "disrespectful" brat Feng Piaoling.
He thought to himself: It's fine if you didn't want my wife to teach you, but why did you have to embarrass her repeatedly in public?
He felt it was only right to have Feng Piaoling enter Zhou Yi's class. Tempering that rebellious and untamed nature might not be a bad thing.
"Fine. I'll go find Vice-Dean Qian Duoduo and ask him to speak with Dean Yan Shaozhe."
Driven by the desire to keep his wife at Shrek and the intent to "discipline" Feng Piaoling, Fan Yu finally agreed.
A smirk finally curled on Zhou Yi's face. Looking toward the white teaching building, she sneered in her heart: Feng Piaoling, oh Feng Piaoling. Even if you won the Freshman Assessment championship, you're still going to fall into my hands. This time, I'll make sure you learn what true top-tier teaching looks like.
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