Su Wen was completely unaware of the schemes between Zhu Douluo and Yan Shaozhe, chatting leisurely on the grass with the girls.
There were no peers at the academy—Sister Xiao Tao was six years older, and always either bullying him or sleeping with him. Whenever they talked, it was always, "Relieve some frustration," or "Did you sleep yet?"
If he hadn't slept, she'd drag him up to relieve frustration. He was so scared that he pretended to be asleep every night. As soon as he heard Ma Xiaotao's footsteps, he'd start snoring. But even so, Ma Xiaotao would take off her outer clothes and slip into bed in her thin underclothes, seemingly testing something...
As for the other senior sisters like Zhang Lexuan, they were always busy—either running missions all over the continent or in closed-door cultivation, sometimes disappearing for months.
Other than Ling Luocheng, he barely knew anyone in the outer court.
But anyway,
Although Ning Tian had short hair and looked more like a young master from a top clan at first glance, when talking with her, Su Wen felt she had a gentle, feminine side to her smile and mannerisms.
"Stop messing with that tree. You're about to strip off all its bark," Su Wen said helplessly as he heard dull thuds from nearby.
"Mind your own business!"
Wu Feng raged impotently.
Ning Tian frowned and looked over, seeing Wu Feng either hurting her hands or not satisfied, now biting at the bark with her mouth.
Ning Tian: "..."
"Wu Feng!!!" she gritted her teeth.
The gentle, birdlike image she had just presented instantly collapsed. She was genuinely angry: why couldn't Wu Feng just behave herself!
"..."
Seeing Wu Feng sulking beside Ning Tian like an abandoned puppy, Su Wen couldn't help but grin and pat her red hair—it was surprisingly soft and smooth.
For once, Wu Feng didn't dodge, instead giving Su Wen a pouting look, her red lips still stuck with tree bark...
"You came here this time to help Wu Feng get her second soul ring?"
Su Wen asked gently.
"Yes, she just broke through level 20 last month, and insisted on coming to the Star Dou Forest. But we're not just here for her—we also need to visit the Extreme North to sort out some minerals we bought last time, and then go to the Xuanming Sect to discuss a business deal..." Ning Tian tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled.
"Tsk tsk, no wonder you're the wealthiest sect on the continent," Su Wen marveled.
Ning Tian was already traveling all over the continent with Zhu Douluo at her age—no wonder she was so mature. In the original work, everything she did was to revive the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
At such a young age she was thinking about reviving the sect, much better than a certain ungrateful wolf from ten thousand years ago who sucked the sect dry and then ran away...
"But when wealth doesn't match strength, it's a disaster too," Ning Tian said quietly, looking a bit down.
"..."
Su Wen was silent for a moment,
Somewhat surprised.
With Ning Tian's personality, she shouldn't confide so easily—even to ordinary friends... Did she not see him as just an ordinary friend?
But hearing her mention the Xuanming Sect, he remembered something.
According to the original timeline, soon Jiang Nannan would have to sacrifice her first time because her mother was gravely ill. Xu Sanshi wasn't a bad guy, but none of this should have happened at Shrek Academy.
In fact, there were conspiracy theories in his previous life that said Jiang Nannan's mother's illness was orchestrated by the Xuanming Sect—it was just too coincidental.
There were few girls like Jiang Nannan in all the Heavenly Soul Empire (there were some in the royal family, but they didn't dare try). She entered Shrek as a commoner, with top talent and strength, and her age matched Xu Sanshi perfectly. And the most coincidental thing...
They were from the same city.
If the Xuanming Sect hadn't done shady things along, he'd never believe it.
He'd ask Dean Yan about it after returning.
"What are you thinking about?"
Ning Tian saw Su Wen spacing out and waved her hand in front of him.
"Oh, I was thinking, in a year, we'll be classmates. Should be fun," Su Wen chuckled. "A year from now, huh."
Ning Tian blushed, her beautiful eyes flashing with a hint of anticipation.
"Ugh..."
Wu Feng rested her chin on her hands, glaring at the two with indignation.
"Damn it, he's just stealing the young mistress's heart right in front of me."
"Later, I'm definitely telling Uncle Zhu," she thought. "Su Wen can't marry in anyway, so the sect surely won't marry the young mistress off, right?"
So clever!
I'll be with the young mistress forever! Forever!
Wu Feng grinned foolishly.
"Wu Feng! What are you grinning about! You're drooling!" Ning Tian snapped.
Just turned away for a moment and this girl was being silly again. Really wanted to keep her at a distance...
"Oh, nothing, just thinking about something happy." Wu Feng snapped back to reality, wiped her mouth, and looked serious.
"..."
Su Wen gave Wu Feng a strange look.
He had the feeling she was up to no good, but how bad could a fool really be?
He smiled indulgently, not taking it to heart.
"Xiao Wen, aren't you going to introduce us?"
Ma Xiaotao's tall figure appeared beside them, looking down with a sense of pressure, her beautiful eyes staring coolly at the pair.
"Oh, this is Ning Tian, young mistress of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
"This is..."
Before Su Wen could finish,
Ning Tian stood up and warmly grabbed Ma Xiaotao's hand. "You must be Sister Xiao Tao from Shrek's inner court. I've heard so much about you! Seeing you today, you really are the continent's number one genius—your looks and figure are amazing. I'm your fan!"
"Huh? Haha, really?"
Ma Xiaotao's mouth twitched, her stunning face a bit embarrassed. She coughed twice. "Well, that's quite a coincidence."
"Yes, Sister Xiao Tao, and I just happened to bring a gift."
She took a red hairpin from her storage ring and carefully handed it to Ma Xiaotao.
Smiling brightly, she said, "It's our first meeting. The gift isn't expensive, but it suits your temperament. Please accept it!"
"Ah, this..." Ma Xiaotao's throat bobbed. She took a deep breath, her expression turning bold. "Well, in that case, I'll accept it. If you ever come to Shrek, use my name! I'll look after you!"
"Mm." Ning Tian smiled sweetly.
"Give it to me, I'll help you put it on."
Su Wen shook his head.
He was totally outplayed.
He stood up, took the jade hairpin from Ma Xiaotao, let her sit down, then skillfully fixed her hair and secured it with the hairpin.
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