Furina had only taken a few steps along the streets of Shrek City when she heard familiar voices coming from ahead.
Looking up, she saw Bei Bei and Tang Ya standing at the entrance of a shop, with Xu Sanshi standing beside them.
"Furina!" Tang Ya's sharp eyes spotted her, and she immediately waved. "Are you out shopping too?"
Furina walked over and sized up the three of them. Bei Bei was carrying several paper packages, Tang Ya's hands were empty, and Xu Sanshi stood to the side with an expression that looked like he wanted to say something but was hesitating.
"I just came from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion." Furina waved the blueprints in her hand. "I had a good harvest."
"Treasure Gathering Pavilion?" Tang Ya's eyes lit up. "The things in there are all ridiculously expensive. What did you buy?"
"A blueprint for a Rank 7 spirit tool. I'm taking it back for the Soul Tool Department to use."
Tang Ya gave an 'oh' and nodded. "A spirit tool... I've heard that blueprints are usually ridiculously priced. How much was this one?"
"It was alright, 2.8 million gold coin."
Tang Ya sucked in a breath of cold air, her eyes widening as she stared at the blueprint, unable to speak for a long while.
Xu Sanshi rubbed his hands together at the side and leaned in. "Um... Furina, you've come at just the right time. I was actually looking for your help."
Furina glanced at him, then at Tang Ya, and had a rough idea of what was going on.
"Looking for my help? Or looking for Tang Ya's help?"
Xu Sanshi chuckled twice and scratched his head. "Both, both."
Tang Ya looked at him suspiciously. "What are you trying to do?"
Xu Sanshi took a deep breath, as if he had made a great resolution, and said, "Xiao Ya, look, you're on pretty good terms with Nannan, right? Could you... maybe say a few good words for me in front of her?"
Tang Ya was stunned for a moment, then she frowned.
"Xu Sanshi, what do you mean by that? Are you still hung up on Nannan? Do you still want to keep pursuing her?"
Xu Sanshi waved his hands hurriedly. "No, no, it's not about pursuing her... I just want to ease the relationship between us first. You know, she avoids me whenever she sees me now and won't even say a word to me. I..."
He paused and sighed. "I just want her to not hate me so much."
Tang Ya stared at him for several seconds, her expression complicated.
"Xu Sanshi, what exactly happened between you and Nannan? I've never dared to ask her, but every time she mentions you, she looks like she doesn't want to say more. If you really want my help, you have to tell me the truth, right?"
She crossed her arms, striking a pose that said 'don't think about leaving today without making things clear'.
Xu Sanshi opened his mouth, then closed it again.
He looked at Tang Ya, then at Furina, and then at Bei Bei, his face filled with embarrassment and conflict.
"This... that..."
"Hesitating like that, it's definitely nothing good," Tang Ya snorted. "If you won't say it, then forget it. I can't be bothered to care anyway. Besides, Nannan is doing quite well now; with the Cultivation resources Furina provides, her Cultivation is going smoothly. She doesn't need to pay you any mind."
"Don't, don't, don't!" Xu Sanshi got anxious. "I'll talk, I'll talk, alright? It's... it's..."
Just as he was about to speak—
"Bang!"
In the distance, a red ball of light suddenly exploded in the night sky.
The four of them looked up at the same time.
"A signal flare?" Bei Bei frowned. "That direction... is it outside the city?"
Just as he finished speaking, two more figures appeared in the night sky, flying rapidly toward the city gates. The blue-gold light was exceptionally prominent in the night; it was the Light Goddess Butterfly.
"It's Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao!" Tang Ya exclaimed.
Furina narrowed her eyes, watching the two figures as they drew closer. Neither of them had any obvious injuries, and their flight posture was stable; it didn't look like there was a major problem.
As expected, the current Huo Yuhao was already capable of handling a crisis of this level.
She felt a slight sense of relief in her heart.
Wang Dong landed on the ground with Huo Yuhao and withdrew his Martial Soul. Both their faces were a bit pale, but their spirits seemed fine.
"What happened?" Bei Bei stepped forward quickly to meet them. "What did you run into?"
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong exchanged a look, and Huo Yuhao spoke up: "Someone ambushed us. One Spirit Emperor and five Spirit Kings."
"What?!" Tang Ya's eyes widened. "A Spirit Emperor? Five Spirit Kings? How did you escape?"
Wang Dong patted his chest, his tone carrying a bit of pride: "It's all thanks to Yuhao's quick thinking; he discovered them in advance. He first used Spiritual Detection to scan those people, then used his Third Soul Skill to stall them while I flew him back."
"We also fired a signal flare," Huo Yuhao added, "just in case."
Bei Bei's brow was tightly furrowed. "Do you know who they were?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head. "I didn't see clearly, but..."
He paused and didn't continue, but he had a faint suspicion in his heart.
At that moment, a squad of city defense soldiers ran over quickly. Leading them was a middle-aged man wearing armor with a serious expression.
"What's going on? Who fired the signal flare?"
"It was me," Huo Yuhao stepped forward. "We were ambushed outside the city."
The middle-aged man's expression changed. "Ambushed? Did you see who it was?"
"No," Huo Yuhao shook his head. "It was too dark, and they were wearing black clothes; I couldn't see their faces. However, there was one Spirit Emperor and five Spirit Kings."
The middle-aged man sucked in a breath of cold air and turned to the soldiers behind him to give orders: "You few, go outside the city to check it out; be careful. You few, go notify the Academy."
He turned back to Huo Yuhao and the others: "Students, please return to the Academy first and report the situation in detail to your teachers. We will investigate this matter."
"Alright, thank you for your trouble." Bei Bei nodded.
The soldiers quickly dispersed, moving off in different directions.
Once the soldiers were far away, Tang Ya said in a low voice, "Who could have done it? This is too arrogant, daring to make a move so close to Shrek City?"
Xu Sanshi became uncharacteristically serious, saying in a deep voice, "To be able to set an ambush near Shrek City, they must be someone very familiar with this place. Moreover, to dare to deploy a lineup led by a Spirit Emperor, the other party's background is not small."
He looked at Huo Yuhao, his eyes carrying a hint of inquiry. "Who have you two offended recently?"
Huo Yuhao fell silent for a moment and didn't speak.
Wang Dong, however, snorted. "We've offended plenty of people. We beat so many teams in the New Student Assessment; there must be a lot of people who are jealous."
These words were subtle, but everyone present understood.
Bei Bei gave Huo Yuhao a thoughtful look but didn't press further.
"Alright, let's go back to the Academy first," Furina spoke up to break the silence. "We can talk about anything else once we're back. Standing here is useless."
Everyone nodded and walked toward the Academy together.
After walking a few steps, Tang Ya suddenly turned back to look at Xu Sanshi.
"By the way, what were you trying to say just now?"
Xu Sanshi was startled, then he waved his hand. "Forget it, forget it. We'll talk another day, another day."
He stole a glance at Huo Yuhao, thinking silently: Compared to this matter, my little mess really doesn't count for much...
Tang Ya curled her lip and muttered softly, "If you won't say it, then fine. I'll ask Nannan about it anyway."
Xu Sanshi's face stiffened. He opened his mouth to say something but ultimately closed it.
The night wind blew past, bringing a hint of chill.
The signal flare in the distance had already dissipated, leaving only a faint trail of smoke drifting slowly away in the night.
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