Pushing the food back to the dormitory area, Oscar immediately separated some portions to deliver to the other teachers.
Flandre wasn't at the academy, but the teachers didn't refuse the food.
"Heh, you all are thoughtful."
Shrek Academy had a rule that teachers couldn't accept anything from the students. But strictly speaking, Ning Tianchen and the others weren't officially students of Shrek Academy yet.
Zhao Wuji didn't take much, just symbolically accepted a small dish to go with drinks.
As night fell, Tang San and the others showed no signs of waking up, so everyone stopped waiting and started eating.
During the meal, Ning Tianchen glanced at Dai Mubai a few times, half on purpose.
Good grief, his fiancée was still seriously injured and lying in bed, yet he still had the appetite to eat—and quite a lot too.
Halfway through the meal, a chubby guy with a mohawk hairstyle pushed open the dorm door, looking aggrieved as he said,
"Hey, Little Ao, I was out playing all day, and you went behind my back to eat without me? And Dai Big Bro, you guys aren't loyal at all!"
The newcomer was Ma Hongjun, one of the current students at Shrek Academy besides Dai Mubai and Oscar.
He was speaking when he suddenly saw Ning Rongrong and his eyes lit up; a mischievous fire flared up in his heart.
"Fatso, who are you looking at!" Ning Rongrong couldn't help but scold.
Ma Hongjun responded with a flirtatious tone, "Oh, still got a temper—just the kind I like."
"Fatso, are you out of your mind?" Dai Mubai immediately barked at him.
Ma Hongjun seemed startled, and Oscar quickly gave him a warning glance.
Ning Tianchen made no move, leisurely gnawing on his chicken leg, "If you're feeling reckless, I wouldn't mind sending you off."
Provoked like this, Ma Hongjun ignored Dai Mubai's face and snapped back angrily, "Kid, who do you think you are? You looking for death?"
This guy just forced Teacher Zhao to unleash his Martial Soul True Form—that's the real tough guy. Fatso, you're the one looking for death here!
Oscar muttered to himself and quickly grabbed Ma Hongjun.
After some explanation, Ma Hongjun finally understood Ning Tianchen and the others' situation.
This guy was quite the character; his expression changed faster than flipping a book. "So we're all classmates after all? Talk about the flood washing out the Dragon King Temple! I'm Ma Hongjun, with the Martial Soul Evil Fire Phoenix, also a member of Shrek Academy."
"Tianchen, Rongrong, calm down. The fat guy's Martial Soul has a flaw; his... needs are quite strong in that department," Dai Mubai said with a half-smile.
Ma Hongjun mumbled quietly, "I think it's fine as it is now."
"Fatso, why don't you release your Martial Soul so Tianchen and Rongrong can take a look? Maybe they know how to deal with the evil fire?" Oscar suggested.
After all, the two came from big forces, and their insight was definitely better than ordinary soul masters.
Ma Hongjun nodded in agreement and summoned out his Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.
Seeing this, Ning Rongrong burst out laughing, "That's obviously a chicken!"
Ning Tianchen couldn't help but nod with amusement, "A mutated one, kind of looks like a chicken."
"Damn, you're clearly mocking me," Ma Hongjun said, picking up a chicken leg and biting into it heartily, "You're the chicken leg here. Let's see if I can't chew you up."
Ning Tianchen said nothing more.
Ma Hongjun had several ways to try to solve the evil fire problem.
First, from now on, every soul ring would come from the Fire Phoenix. Relying on the bloodline power in those soul rings, he could evolve his Martial Soul again.
The second way was through immortal herbs.
But why would Ning Tianchen bother to tell him this?
Ma Hongjun wasn't in this state just because of the evil fire. Just like Dai Mubai, having or not having evil fire didn't affect his popularity with others.
Half an hour later, everyone was full.
"Fatso, you coming out with me tonight? There's a new fun place opened in the city," Dai Mubai suggested.
Ma Hongjun didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement, then immediately asked, "Little Ao, Tianchen, you coming too?"
"What kind of place? I want to go too," Ning Rongrong blinked her eyes and asked.
Dai Mubai shot Ma Hongjun a glare. "Why are you blabbing? There's no way Tianchen and Little Ao would go!"
Oscar simply didn't have the money, and with his own sense of principles, he wouldn't hang out with them.
Ning Tianchen had Ning Rongrong by his side—there was no way he would go there.
"Ahem, you guys go ahead. We'll clean up here," Ning Tianchen said, not wanting to dirty Ning Rongrong's ears.
After the two left, Ning Rongrong, like a curious child, kept pestering Oscar with questions.
Helpless, Oscar had no choice but to tell her the truth.
"This Dai Mubai—he played with three girls yesterday and it still wasn't enough. And even now, this late…" Ning Rongrong didn't finish her sentence, but her remaining goodwill toward Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun completely vanished.
Could it be that the girls Dai Mubai was with during the day couldn't stay out overnight? So, out of necessity, he had to go to the red-light district to seek company?
As for Ma Hongjun, he didn't even spare the older married women—what bottom line did he have left?
"Oscar, with them acting like this, don't the dean and the teachers do anything about it?" Ning Rongrong asked angrily.
Oscar shrugged. "The fat guy's teacher is the dean. Also, in our academy, the teachers and dean only care about cultivation progress. They rarely interfere with the students' private lives. Things like this can only be left to self-discipline."
Ning Rongrong immediately regretted coming here. If Tianchen got spoiled…
Thinking of this, she looked at Ning Tianchen with a cautious expression, "Tianchen, Rongrong won't allow you to hang out with them."
Ning Tianchen smiled, "Rongrong, don't worry. If I did that, Grandpa definitely wouldn't let me off."
Hearing this, she finally felt relieved.
"Go back and check on Xiao Wu and Zhu Qing. We can't go in right now, but if anything happens, let us know immediately," Ning Tianchen patted her on the shoulder.
…
Just then, Flander returned to the academy and learned about today's events from Zhao Wuji.
"Old Zhao, you noticed it too, right? Ning Tianchen and Ning Rongrong are disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan."
Zhao Wuji chuckled, "Who wouldn't recognize the Seven Kill Sword and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda? Dean, we've really struck gold this time. That Ning Tianchen is probably a disciple of Dustheart of the Sword Dao. His swordsmanship is exceptional. I held back a bit of my strength, and he nearly defeated me."
Upon hearing this, Flender first laughed heartily, then showed a trace of concern.
Back at the small inn, Ning Rongrong hadn't treated him well. If she found out he was the dean, it could stir up some trouble.
As for the matters Ning Fengzhi mentioned in his letter, they might be harder to carry out than expected.
Suddenly, a sharp voice came from outside the window: "Zhao Wuji, get out here."
Just like in the original timeline, Zhao Wuji couldn't avoid a beating from Tang Hao.
And this time, because Tang San was seriously injured, Tang Hao didn't hold back.
…
Under the faint starlight and moonlight, a middle-aged man with a flat-top haircut walked along an official road in the countryside.
"Xiao San and Xiao Wu should have already arrived at Shrek Academy. After all these years, I wonder how Flender has been."
This man was none other than Yu Xiaogang.
With a talented disciple like Tang San, he felt it was time for his "comeback."
Of course, it wasn't because he couldn't make it in Notting City anymore that he decided to seek out Flender.
He was the brains of the group, after all. This trip to Shrek Academy was entirely to help Flender manage the school.