Oscar directly carried the guard to a prepared cellar, placed him inside, and sealed it up before leaving.
The cellar wasn't strong enough to permanently trap a Soul Ancestor of level 45, but it was more than enough to delay him for a while.
After leaving, Oscar went straight outside the city to meet with Zhao Wuji and the others. At this point, Zhao Wuji, Dai Mubai, and Zhu Zhuqing had already changed into casual clothes. Upon seeing Oscar, the four of them immediately headed toward the Heaven Dou Empire at full speed.
They didn't take a carriage because that would have actually slowed them down. After taking Oscar's "Wind and Rain Swallow Gut" soul skill, the four quickly left Star Luo City, taking Zhu Zhuqing away before anyone could even react.
Of course, this was only possible because Zhu Zhuqing was willing to go with them. Otherwise, rescuing her from this imperial city would have been nearly impossible, even with Zhao Wuji, a Soul Saint of level 78, on their side.
As they traveled, Oscar sized up Zhu Zhuqing. Putting other things aside, her figure was indeed quite impressive for someone not yet eleven years old. If Oscar hadn't met Dugu Yan, he might have been tempted to make a move on her.
A young face with a mature figure... whatever you called it, it was an absolute top-tier weapon in any era. To be honest, Oscar couldn't help but envy Dai Mubai a little.
However, as the saying goes, you shouldn't covet your friend's wife. Oscar merely appreciated Zhu Zhuqing and had no inappropriate thoughts about her.
And it had to be said that while Zhu Zhuqing's talent might not match Dai Mubai's—even in the original story, she was the weakest among the Shrek Seven Devils—she had one strength.
That was her willingness to endure hardship and her unwavering determination. Though she was a girl, she worked harder than most people.
At just ten and a half years old, her soul power had already reached level 22. In the original story, when Zhu Zhuqing entered Shrek Academy over a year later, her soul power was at level 27, and she was only twelve years old then.
So in that regard, Zhu Zhuqing was actually quite impressive. Coupled with her martial soul fusion skill with Dai Mubai, the power they could unleash together was truly greater than the sum of its parts.
After traveling at full speed for a day and a night, they finally put a safe distance between themselves and Star Luo City before gradually slowing down. Only now did Dai Mubai formally introduce Zhu Zhuqing to Zhao Wuji and Oscar.
Since they were taking small paths, they mostly traveled through forests, even the Soul Beast Forest.
At night, the four of them set up camp by a small stream. Oscar was busy preparing food, while Dai Mubai chatted with Zhu Zhuqing and Zhao Wuji.
For Zhu Zhuqing, everything that had happened in the past two days still felt unbelievable. Though she was happy inside, she couldn't help feeling a bit overwhelmed.
She had originally thought Dai Mubai had abandoned her, especially since he had left a year ago without telling her anything.
But now he had come back to rescue her, which instantly erased all the worry and fear she had experienced over the past year.
Moreover, when Dai Mubai had taken her away the day before, he had explained everything and apologized for his earlier actions of leaving alone. This caused the not-yet-eleven-year-old Zhu Zhuqing to once again choose to trust him.
And now, Dai Mubai would not betray Zhu Zhuqing's trust again, because he understood what he could and couldn't do.
As the saying goes, a reformed prodigal son is worth his weight in gold. Dai Mubai's understanding of this was a good thing for both him and Zhu Zhuqing.
Furthermore, Zhu Zhuqing now relied on Dai Mubai even more because he had come back to rescue her. Though Zhu Zhuqing was as aloof as in the original story, she seemed able to let her guard down around Dai Mubai.
Oscar was handling the stream fish they had just caught, while Zhu Zhuqing chatted with Dai Mubai and Zhao Wuji.
Dai Mubai said to Zhu Zhuqing, "Zhuqing, Teacher Zhao is our Shrek Academy's vice-principal, with a soul power level of 78. It's only because he was leading us that we could succeed so smoothly."
Though Zhu Zhuqing had already met Zhao Wuji, they hadn't been formally introduced. Now that they had stopped to rest and chat, Zhu Zhuqing took the initiative to talk with Zhao Wuji.
"Hello, Teacher Zhao. Thank you for coming to save me with Mubai. I'm endlessly grateful," Zhu Zhuqing replied sincerely.
Hearing this, Zhao Wuji chuckled, "Don't be so formal, girl. You're Mubai's fiancée, and Mubai is my student. It was only natural that we rescue you."
As he spoke, Zhao Wuji paused, glanced at Oscar, who was preparing the fish, and continued, "If you want to thank someone, thank Xiao Oscar. Without him, we wouldn't have left Star Luo City so easily."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing remembered the magical sausage she had taken earlier. She now knew it was Oscar's third soul skill, and it was precisely because of this powerful third soul skill that they could possess the flying speed of a ten-thousand-year-level pointed tail swallow for fifteen minutes.
Oscar's third soul skill could be stored for a month, and when he had free time, Oscar would store some soul skills for emergencies. He had stored a full one hundred of these swallow intestines. After leaving Star Luo City, each of the four had consumed twenty, giving them three terrifying hours of flight speed, which allowed them to quickly put a distance between themselves and Star Luo City.
Thus, Zhu Zhuqing was very grateful to Oscar. Moreover, Dai Mubai's respect for Oscar, similar to how he treated Vice Principal Zhao, proved Oscar's exceptional nature.
After all, as a prince, Dai Mubai had his own pride and found it difficult to bow to ordinary people.
During their escape, Zhu Zhuqing occasionally conversed with Dai Mubai. From these conversations, she was surprised that Dai Mubai actually called Oscar "Gege" (older brother) and rarely questioned Oscar's decisions.
Just like now, they were camping here because Oscar wanted to; otherwise, with Dai Mubai's current caution, he would have wanted to get as far away as possible.
Right now, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing couldn't wait to leave the Star Luo Empire and enter the Heaven Dou Empire as soon as possible, only then would they feel safe.
Hearing Zhao Wuji and the others discussing him, Oscar looked over. His handsome face was illuminated by the orange-yellow firelight as Oscar revealed a warm smile.
"Mubai, Teacher Zhao, don't talk about me. Come and eat the fish," Oscar said in a gentle voice.
Zhu Zhuqing glanced at the handsome Oscar, smelled the mouth-watering aroma of grilled fish, and couldn't help but swallow.
During their journey, they had been eating Oscar's sausages and rations. Although Oscar's sausages were delicious, eating them for a whole day and night was too much.
Now smelling such tempting grilled fish, even Zhao Wuji couldn't resist and immediately came to Oscar's side, took a grilled fish from him, and began to eat heartily.
Dai Mubai didn't hold back either. He pulled Zhu Zhuqing to Oscar's side. Oscar handed Dai Mubai a fish, then handed another to Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing shyly accepted the grilled fish and thanked Oscar before eating it in small bites.
Oscar smiled slightly, "You're Mubai's fiancée, which makes you my sister-in-law. It's only natural for me, as an older brother, to look after my sister-in-law."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but blush. Although she had developed strong feelings for Dai Mubai since yesterday, whether it was love or not, both Zhao Wuji and Oscar had directly mentioned her status as Dai Mubai's fiancée, which still made her a bit embarrassed.
Looking at the blushing Zhu Zhuqing, Oscar picked up a fish to eat himself, then thought back to when he had first met Dugu Yan.
It seemed... similar to how Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai were now? The only difference was that Oscar and Dugu Yan didn't have an engagement; their feelings had built up gradually.
Now, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing had an engagement, so their relationship should be easier than his initial relationship with Dugu Yan.
What Oscar envied most about Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing was their martial soul fusion skill. Whether it was the huge boost to their strength or the increased cultivation speed, it was something Oscar didn't have.
Because he and Dugu Yan didn't have a martial soul fusion skill, he never had the chance to experience the joy of one.
Of course, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing couldn't use their martial soul fusion skill yet because they had basically never coordinated with each other before.
So even though they had sufficient compatibility, using a martial soul fusion skill would require a certain amount of time to coordinate.
This also required mutual trust and understanding between the two before they could cultivate their martial soul fusion skill together.
Moreover, the power of a martial soul fusion skill depended on the trust between the two. The higher the trust, the stronger the power they could unleash.
Zhu Zhuqing shyly replied, "Senior, please stop teasing me. Although Mubai and I are engaged, we haven't married yet, so it doesn't count."
Hearing this, Dai Mubai's expression changed, and guilt once again welled up in his heart.
But Zhu Zhuqing was secretly pleased because she had said this intentionally to warn Dai Mubai that if he dared to abandon her again, she would never forgive him.
Of course, judging from Dai Mubai's current changes, he was likely to become Zhu Zhuqing's devoted admirer. Although this was also true in the original story, the current Dai Mubai wasn't nearly as promiscuous as he was there.
The current Dai Mubai was still a pure innocent young man, and Zhu Zhuqing wouldn't develop any disgust toward him, so their relationship should be even more steadfast than in the original story.
Hearing this, Oscar and Zhao Wuji both smiled. Then Oscar glanced at Dai Mubai and said seriously, "That's right. An unmarried fiancée is just a fiancée. Zhuqing, you're quite perceptive. Remember, don't let Mubai get his hands on you too easily, otherwise he won't know how to cherish you. It's best to keep him on a string."
Hearing Oscar's words, Zhu Zhuqing nodded strangely, then glanced at Dai Mubai, who looked a bit lifeless beside her.
Dai Mubai was stunned by Oscar's words and thought to himself, "My Gege, what are you saying? What do you mean 'he won't know how to cherish once he gets it'? Am I the kind of person who would do that? And you're so affectionate with your wife every day, but when it comes to me, you say 'keep him on a string'?"
However, Dai Mubai didn't dare to voice his thoughts. First, he was afraid Oscar would hit him, and second, he was afraid Zhu Zhuqing would misunderstand.
Although the current Dai Mubai couldn't resist Zhu Zhuqing's stunning figure and looks, he knew what was important. At this stage, he didn't have the mind to think about those things anymore.
Because he had learned from Zhu Zhuqing that Dai Weisihad already broken through to become a Soul Ancestor. Although he himself was now at level 32, there was still a huge gap between him and Dai Weisi .
Not to mention Zhu Zhuyun? She was Zhu Zhuqing's older sister and Dai Weisi 's fiancée. Zhu Zhuyun was now at level 39, just one step away from level 40, while Zhu Zhuqing was only at level 22.
The overall gap in their strength was too great. So all of Dai Mubai's thoughts were now focused on how to surpass his older brother Dai Weisiand become the victor in this struggle for the throne.
Only then could he protect his own life, give Zhu Zhuqing the life she wanted, and have the ability to repay the kindness shown by the Shrek teachers and his Gege.
When Zhu Zhuqing learned that Dai Mubai was already at level 32, she was in disbelief. After all, Dai Mubai had only been at level 25 when he left. Just over a year had passed, and his soul power had increased by seven levels?
Even excluding the one level from absorbing a soul ring, Dai Mubai had still increased his soul power by six levels!
Six levels in a year—what kind of talent was that? You probably couldn't find such a genius in the entire Star Luo Empire, or even on the entire Douluo Continent.
But Zhu Zhuqing didn't know that Dai Mubai's soul power levels from 29 to 32 were all thanks to the whale glue.
Taking the whale glue not only allowed Dai Mubai's soul power to break through one level but also enhanced his physical fitness, allowing him to directly reach level 32 by absorbing a soul ring beyond his level.
Excluding these three levels, Dai Mubai had already been at level 25 peak when he entered Shrek Academy and had broken through to level 26 in just one month.
So in terms of meaningful improvement, Dai Mubai had gone from level 26 to 32 in a year, which was about three levels per year.
And for a Soul Grandmaster, three levels per year was enough to be called a genius.
When Dai Mubai told Zhu Zhuqing about his gains over the past year, she felt a bit dizzy. It seemed that even in the imperial family or the Duke's residence, they wouldn't have received such treatment.
And yet, at Shrek Academy, they did? For a moment, Zhu Zhuqing became curious about what this powerful Shrek Academy was like. She couldn't wait to enroll.
Of course, Dai Mubai didn't directly mention the whale glue but used an excuse, saying that he had taken medicinal pills from the Poison Douluo, Senior Dugu Bo, to achieve such improvement.
Zhao Wuji and Oscar were both satisfied with this because Dai Mubai had kept his previous promise, not revealing the secret of the whale glue even to his fiancée.
However, whether Dai Mubai would tell Zhu Zhuqing privately, Oscar didn't know. But it was unlikely, after all, Dai Mubai wasn't foolish; he still knew what he could and couldn't do.
(End of Chapter)