While Meng Hongchen was pondering the relationship between Jiang Feixin and Jiang Qingtong, Xiao Hongchen narrowed his eyes, staring at Jiang Feixin, feeling something wasn't right.
Her enthusiasm toward Qingtong just now made it obvious to everyone that the two were very close. But logically, since he and Meng Hongchen had grown up with Qingtong since childhood, even if Jiang Feixin had just met them, she should have greeted them politely at the very least.
Yet when she said hello, it was practically written on her face: I don't like you two.
What was going on here?
"This is my older brother, Jiang Shengyu. You should already know of him," Jiang Qingtong said, pointing to Shengyu and making the introduction.
Jiang Feixin looked toward Shengyu. Seeing that face almost identical to Qingtong's, she suddenly smiled. She stepped forward, seized his hand, and shook it up and down vigorously.
"Hello! Big brother, I'm Qingtong's good friend!"
Faced with such an enthusiastic display, Jiang Shengyu suddenly had the strange illusion that what she really wanted to say was: I'm Qingtong's boyfriend. Thank heavens she didn't call him "brother-in-law," otherwise his vision might've gone black on the spot.
Watching Jiang Feixin's attitude toward Shengyu, Meng Hongchen—keenly observant as ever—immediately grasped what was going on.
Beside her, Xiao Hongchen leaned close and whispered, "Sister! I think this girl has a crush on that brat Jiang Shengyu! Honestly… what's with him? Why does he have a beauty waiting for him everywhere we go?"
Hearing this, Meng Hongchen almost laughed.
Xiao Hongchen even patted her shoulder, consoling, "Don't worry, sis! Your big brother will always be on your side! Shengyu grew up with us—you're the one closest to the water and first to the moon. That moon of his isn't going anywhere."
Meng Hongchen turned her gaze on Xiao Hongchen. Her eyes grew deep, and after a long silence, she asked softly, "Brother… are we really blood siblings?"
"Of course we are!" Xiao Hongchen nodded firmly. "Don't worry, you're definitely not someone Grandpa picked up from outside."
Meng Hongchen stared at his smiling face, then drew in a long breath, covering her own face with one hand and sighing. "Heavens…"
Meanwhile, Qingtong had walked over. Standing behind Jiang Feixin, she asked, "Feixin, how did your family agree to let you come to Shrek Academy? They didn't object?"
"I never told them!" Jiang Feixin shook her head, looking back at Qingtong.
At those words, Qingtong could already picture how furious Di Tian would be when he discovered the auspicious beast had vanished. And the Scarlet King, tasked with protecting her—wouldn't he be in for a miserable time?
"Eh, then what's your martial soul?" Qingtong asked again.
"The Golden Dragon," Jiang Feixin replied.
Just as expected—her martial soul was indeed the Golden Dragon. The bloodline of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion carried the Dragon God's power. The Golden Dragon martial soul, at its root, was connected to the Golden Dragon King: the embodiment of ultimate strength.
And if it was the Golden Dragon…
Then imprinting it wouldn't be impossible.
Having just broken through to four rings, Qingtong still had one martial soul imprint slot unused.
Of course, when imprinting a martial soul, the target had to be either completely defenseless or give consent. Otherwise, even Qingtong couldn't forcibly extract and engrave another's martial soul.
Otherwise, she would've long since secretly imprinted Mu En's Holy Bright Dragon!
"I'll need to ask you for something tonight," Qingtong whispered to Feixin.
"Tonight… you'll find me? Something important!"
At those three words—tonight, find me—Jiang Feixin's eyes lit up in steps, her expression suddenly turning solemn. She lowered her voice: "I've studied human customs with Bi Ji! Don't worry, leave it to me!"
"Huh?" Qingtong blinked, not understanding why Feixin would suddenly say something like leave it to me.
But Feixin didn't explain further. Instead, she slipped her arm through Qingtong's and smiled. "Qingtong, I'm new to Shrek and don't know my way around. Will you keep me company? You must be familiar with everything by now."
"Have you registered yet?" Qingtong asked.
Feixin shook her head. "Nope! I was too busy looking for you when I came in, hehe…"
Seeing her laugh so guilelessly, Qingtong could only rub her forehead helplessly. She really is just a silly little deer, isn't she?
Sighing, Qingtong said, "Come on, I'll take you to the admissions office to register."
"Mm-hmm!"
Feixin nodded eagerly, then turned to wave at Shengyu. "Big brother, don't worry! I'll take good care of Qingtong, you can trust me! Bye-bye!"
Watching her wave happily at him, then drag Qingtong away in high spirits, Shengyu fell into silence.
So his premonition had been correct.
Where did this yellow-haired girl come from, eyeing Qingtong like that?
Three-Eyed Golden Lion… a golden-maned beast—yellow hair indeed!
Well, in that case, nothing to worry about.
Shengyu sighed deeply.
Beside him, Meng Hongchen asked, "Is she your relative? Or Qingtong's?"
"Sis, what kind of question is that? His relatives are Qingtong's relatives too!" Xiao Hongchen said, still the only one completely in the dark about the truth. His understanding of Shengyu and Qingtong's secret didn't even compare to Huo Yuhao's.
Meng Hongchen gave him a helpless look.
Even she was starting to doubt now—were they really blood-related?
Shengyu shook his head, knowing what Meng Hongchen was sighing about. "She's not our relative. But our relationship with her… isn't something easy to explain."
Xiao Hongchen suddenly grabbed Shengyu's arm and dragged him aside, whispering urgently, "I don't care who that girl is—you'd better stay away from her. I'm telling you, she's definitely into you. I saw it clear as day."
"Really?" Shengyu raised an eyebrow.
"Really!" Xiao Hongchen nodded seriously. "Didn't you see how cold she was toward us, but so warm toward you and Qingtong? Based on my experience, she's definitely interested in you."
Experience?
What experience? The so-called "experience" he picked up from Ling Luochen and Wang Dong'er?
Shengyu looked at his confident expression and could only reply helplessly, "What you're saying… well, it's not entirely wrong. She is interested, but not in me. It's Qingtong she's after."
"WHAT!!!"
Xiao Hongchen's voice shot up an octave, shouting outright.
Shengyu clapped his hands over his ears, snapping, "Keep your voice down! What are you yelling for?"
Meng Hongchen pressed her hand to her forehead with a sigh. Walking forward, she grabbed her brother by the arm and said apologetically to Shengyu, "Sorry, my brother isn't stupid—just… a bit naïve."
Xiao Hongchen stared at Shengyu, his expression one of utter shock.
Even after Shen
gyu and Meng Hongchen had walked off, it took him a while to recover. Then he quickly scrambled to chase after them.
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