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"Where is everyone? Aren't you going to welco your newly-minted Spirit Elder?"
Ma Hongjun's voice echoed outside Shrek Academy, loud enough for everyone inside to hear.
Behind him were Tang San, Xiao Wu, Flender, Yu Xiaogang, Zhao Wuji, and the others.
Their trip to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt spirit beasts and obtain spirit rings had been completed successfully, albeit with so minor scares.
The so-called "scare" was Xiao Wu briefly "getting lost" before reappearing, claiming she had stumbled upon a dying spirit beast, killed it, and absorbed its ring.
Though the others found it odd, they dismissed it as Xiao Wu being exceptionally lucky.
Unlike in the original tiline, Xiao Wu hadn't encountered the Titan Giant Ape, and thus Tang San never ran into the Man-Faced Demon Spider that would have granted him the Eight Spider Lances.
Under Yu Xiaogang's guidance, Tang San had settled for a standard early-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider as his third spirit ring.
His third spirit skill was still "Web Bind," but its effectiveness was significantly weaker.
Unbeknownst to him, fate had quietly stripped him of many opportunities.
Xu Yunhan wasn't fully aware of these original details either, but he was steadily altering Tang San's trajectory.
Ma Hongjun had acquired a decent attack spirit skill, though it had a flaw—it was hard to land without a control-type spirit master's assistance. Still, he was quite pleased with it.
"Fatty, you're back!"
The first to greet them was Oscar.
"Heh..." Ma Hongjun puffed out his chest. "Oscar, I'm a Spirit Elder now too! My spirit power's at rank 31, sa as you! And my third spirit skill is—"
Before he could finish, Oscar cut in, "Fatty, Dai Mubai's gone."
Ma Hongjun froze.
Gone? What does that an? Ran away?
His voice had been loud enough for Tang San and the others to hear.
Flender rushed forward, frowning. "Xiao Ao, what happened? Did Dai Mubai leave? Return to the Star Luo Empire?"
That brat! Didn't even say goodbye! After all these years of Shrek Academy feeding and housing him!
Flender was furious.
Oscar grimaced. "Dean... Dai Mubai is dead."
Silence.
Dead? That's impossible!
Tang San blurted out, "How? He was fine when we left!"
Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened. "What happened? Was Shrek Academy attacked? Or did the other Star Luo princes send assassins after him?"
Zhao Wuji cracked his knuckles. "Who dares ss with Shrek Academy? I'll smash them to pulp!"
"Dai Mubai... dead? No way, that guy was tough as nails!" Ma Hongjun refused to believe it.
Xiao Wu also found it surreal.
By then, Shao Xin, Li Yusong, Lu Qibin, Xu Yunhan, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong had all gathered.
Flender studied Shao Xin, Li Yusong, and Lu Qibin—their somber expressions confird the truth.
"What. Happened." Flender's voice was low and dangerous.
Shao Xin sighed. "Flender, Zhao Wuji, Grandmaster... co see Dai Mubai's body first. Maybe you'll find so clues."
The three of them exchanged glances before following Shao Xin's group away.
Once they were gone, Ma Hongjun grabbed Oscar. "Spill it! What the hell went down?"
Tang San leaned in to listen.
anwhile, Xiao Wu joined Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing to hear their version.
Oscar exhaled. "Honestly? It's just... bad luck. Who'd have thought Dai Mubai would go to the Rose Hotel in Suotuo City, pick up three won, and then just... die mid-act?"
Ma Hongjun and Tang San's jaws dropped.
A Spirit Elder, taken out by three won?!
Seeing their disbelief, Oscar nodded sympathetically. "We didn't believe it either. But there's not a scratch on him, no signs of poison. And according to the won—who are still locked up and interrogated—they watched him die right on top of them."
Ma Hongjun and Tang San shared a baffled look.
This is absurd.
Tang San frowned. "Could it have been a ntal attack? Like an illusion that killed him?"
Oscar shook his head. "Doubt it. Why would the won be unhard? And wouldn't there be signs of struggle? They said he just... let out a moan and dropped dead at his peak."
Tang San conceded the point. Though powerful spiritual force could create illusions or disrupt the mind, death without any physical reaction was impossible.
His own spiritual power, while decent, couldn't kill directly—at most, it could interfere. This was his limitation; he didn't know that sufficiently strong spiritual force could kill invisibly.
Of course, none of them knew the extent of Xu Yunhan's spiritual power—or his hidden third eye.
Otherwise, suspicion might have fallen on him.
Ma Hongjun scratched his head. "What if the won are lying? Paid off?"
Oscar snorted. "No way. They've been interrogated half to death. At this point, they'd crack."
Ma Hongjun sighed. "Then... I guess he really did just keel over. Well, at least he died doing what he loved."
Xiao Wu, having heard the full story from Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, scoffed. "Serves him right. Play stupid gas, win stupid prizes."
Tang San shot her a look. "He's dead. Show so respect."
Xiao Wu rolled her eyes but stayed quiet.
Oscar shuddered. "He invited to go with him that night. Thank goodness I refused."
Xu Yunhan smirked. "Who knows? Maybe if you'd gone, he'd still be alive."
True.
Had Oscar been there, Xu Yunhan might have held back—or taken them both out.
Ma Hongjun chuckled. "Boss is right. You could've shared the 'workload.' Maybe he wouldn't have 'overexerted' himself."
Tang San rubbed his temples. "Enough. Let's wait for the dean's verdict."
But what verdict could there be?
However unbelievable, the evidence pointed to one conclusion: Dai Mubai had died of... exhaustion.
Back with Flender's group:
"Dean, should we inform the Dai family in the Star Luo Empire?" Lu Qibin asked.
Zhao Wuji grunted. "You know how their royalty is. Would they even care about a runaway prince who fled to the Heaven Dou Empire? If they did, they'd have sent people ages ago. Dai Mubai wasn't exactly hiding in Suotuo City."
Flender cut him off. "Bury Dai Mubai in the academy's back mountains. As for the won... keep them under watch. If the Star Luo Empire ever asks, hand them over."
Three common prostitutes weren't worth their concern.
Still, losing Dai Mubai was a heavy blow to Shrek Academy.
"I'll head to Suotuo City to investigate, though I doubt I'll find anything." Flender sighed. "It was likely an accident. Even if it was an assassination, the culprit's thods are terrifying. Probably internal strife among the Star Luo princes."
In their eyes, Dai Mubai's only real enemies were his royal brothers.
The throne's competition was rciless.
Yu Xiaogang stayed silent. He had no attachnt to Dai Mubai—only Tang San mattered. "As a precaution, the students should stay within the academy for now. If they must leave, Flender, Zhao Wuji—you'll escort them."
Flender agreed.
They couldn't rule out the possibility of soone targeting Shrek's students.
But it never crossed their minds that Xu Yunhan could be involved.
To them, teenage love squabbles were trivial.
And Xu Yunhan wasn't motivated by jealousy—he was eliminating threats, clipping Tang San's wings one by one.
Note: So far this story is published up to Chapter 60 on my patreon, go check it out.
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