...
Hearing Xiao Wu's undisguised reliance and trust, Tang San felt a sharp pain in his heart.
turn out to be...
So, Xiao Wu came to Shrek Academy just because she hadn't met this person yet?
So, in her heart, she already had someone she wanted to rely on and follow, and was he... just a friend to keep her company?
"OK."
Xuan Hao smiled and said, "Since you want to leave, then leave."
"This is my territory.
You can do whatever you want here, and nobody will dare to interfere."
"Mmm!" Xiao Wu nodded vigorously.
Then, as if remembering something, she turned to look at Tang San, who was looking completely lost, her eyes lit up, and she extended an invitation enthusiastically:
"Oh, right, the mistress!"
"Would you like to come with us?"
"Anyway, Shrek Academy doesn't look any good.
It's dilapidated and old, there aren't many teachers, and there are only two or three students, including that fat guy and Uncle Sausage. How boring."
Xiao Wu pointed at Xuan Hao and said with a proud look:
"My brother is very powerful in Tiandou City! Even the princes have to listen to him!"
"If you come with us, it will definitely be much more interesting than staying in this run-down village!"
"Besides, we can still be classmates!
If you want to spar, there are definitely many experts in my brother's self-improvement association!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Flander, who had been standing by pretending to be invisible, finally couldn't hold back any longer.
His long, narrow face instantly turned a bitter color, and he was completely dumbfounded.
"No...no..."
Flander opened his mouth, looked at Xiao Wu, then at Tang San, his heart bleeding.
Ning Rongrong is gone.
Zhu Zhuqing is gone.
Now even Xiao Wu is leaving?
And this rabbit, not content with just stirring things up, actually wants to kidnap Tang San, a genius with twin martial souls and innate full soul power?!
What are they trying to do?
Are they going to shave his head at Shrek Academy?!
If everyone leaves, what's the point of keeping this academy open?
He might as well just close it down!
"Um... Xiao Wu..."
Flander was about to speak to stop him, but before he could utter a word, he felt a cold gaze lightly fall upon him.
He instinctively shuddered and turned to look.
Xuan Hao was looking at him with a half-smile.
Do you have a problem with that?
Flander thought of Zhao Wuji, who was still whining, and then looked at the large, unfilled crater on the ground.
He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Opinion?
I dare not have it.
I really wouldn't dare.
Even with his heart bleeding, even knowing that the academy was about to disband, faced with absolute power, this money-grubbing dean could only choose to follow his heart.
After all, money can be earned back, but life... well, that's really gone.
"Um... cough cough."
Flander forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, turned his back, waved, and spoke in a voice filled with desolation and sorrow:
"Young people these days... have so many ideas, we can't keep them, we just can't keep them..."
"Do as you please, do whatever you want..."
Tang San looked at Xiao Wu, who was looking at him expectantly, and then at Xuan Hao, who stood beside her like an insurmountable mountain.
His fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly at his sides.
Finally, he took a deep breath and shook his head.
"No, Xiao Wu."
Tang San's voice was low and somber, carrying an undisguised sense of desolation, but even more so, the last vestige of a man's dignity:
"I... I think I'll stay here."
"Since I promised my teacher I would come here to gain experience, I can't give up halfway."
go?
What are you going to do?
Should she become the lackey of the man who stole Xiao Wu?
Should she watch them be all lovey-dovey in front of her day and night?
Or should she become that unwanted third party, used to highlight the man's excellence?
As a man, and as a genius with the pride of the Tang Clan and twin martial souls, this is worse than death for him!
He would rather suffer in this dilapidated Shrek Academy than endure the kind of slow, agonizing torture called "magnanimity."
"Ah...I see."
Xiao Wu lowered her eyes in disappointment.
Although she was usually oblivious, she could still see the resistance and sadness in Tang San's eyes.
"Oh well."
Xiao Wu wasn't the type to force people.
Since Tang San was unwilling, she nodded and waved her hand, saying:
"Take care of yourself, mistress! Remember to come visit us sometime!"
After saying that, she stopped lingering, turned around and skipped back to Xuan Hao's side, taking his arm.
"Let's go, bro! Let's go get something delicious!"
...
After leaving Shrek Academy, the group headed back to Soto City.
The atmosphere was relaxed, but Ning Rongrong kept looking at Xiao Wu with an extremely strange, even "horrifying" gaze.
She had endured it all the way, but when they were almost at the city gate, she finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"Hey, Xiao Wu."
Ning Rongrong moved closer to Xiao Wu, pointed in the direction of Shrek Academy behind them, and asked in a low voice:
"Are you... genuinely stupid or just pretending?"
"Or perhaps..."
Ning Rongrong looked the seemingly harmless rabbit up and down, her expression becoming somewhat subtle:
What are your special hobbies?
"ah?"
Xiao Wu was munching on a carrot that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere when she heard this and blinked in confusion.
What are your hobbies?
"Rongrong, what are you saying?"
"Tang San!"
Ning Rongrong said, somewhat frantically:
"Can't you tell that Tang San likes you?
His eyes are practically drooling!"
"And what did you do?
Not only did you jump into Xuan Hao's arms right in front of him, but you also invited him to come with us?
So he can watch you two showing off your love every day?"
"Aren't you just killing someone by attacking their spirit?!"
"The look on Tang San's face just now was like he was about to shatter!
I thought you were doing it on purpose, trying to mess with him!"
"You like me?"
Xiao Wu was so startled that she dropped the carrot in her hand.
Her eyes widened, her face filled with innocence and shock.
"How is this possible?!"
"I don't know! I really don't know!"
"Xiao San and I have always been good friends! You know, the kind of... well, best buddies!
The kind who fight together and spar together!"
"and..."
Xiao Wu picked up the carrot, wiped it, and said with a self-righteous expression:
"Besides, I already told him that a long time ago."
"I told him that I have a brother I really like, and I'm going to go see him after I graduate."
"I've made myself so clear, how could he still like me? We really are just friends!"
"..."
After hearing these words, Ning Rongrong stopped in her tracks, and her gaze towards Xiao Wu changed from "horror" to "pity," and finally turned into a deep silence.
"I think... I've probably solved the case."
Ning Rongrong rubbed her forehead, sighed, and said in a low voice:
"Tell him that you have a brother you really like..."
Is there any possibility...?
Ning Rongrong pointed to her head, "He always thought that the older brother you liked was referring to himself?!"
"He thought this was just some fun between the two of you, that you were confessing your feelings to him?"
"And then today..."
Ning Rongrong shrugged and pointed at Xuan Hao:
"A real older brother appeared out of nowhere, and he's also tall, rich, and handsome."
"And he instantly went from being the male lead to a background character, even worse than a background character."
"That's probably why he almost shattered just now!"
"ha?!"
Xiao Wu was completely dumbfounded.
She opened her mouth wide, and the carrot fell to the ground again.
"No...no way?"
Xiao Wu stammered, "How could he... how could he think that?
He and I... are just good friends!"
"How...how did it turn out like this?"
Seeing that the rabbit still hadn't reacted, Xuan Hao, who had been silent all along, finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He reached out and ruffled the rabbit ears without any hesitation, saying with a look of both affection and disdain:
"Alright, Rongrong."
"Don't try to analyze the complexities of human emotions with her."
"It's just a rabbit, its brain capacity is only so big."
Xuan Hao pointed at Xiao Wu's head and said mercilessly:
"Besides eating carrots and fighting, all I think about is how to have fun."
"Don't overestimate her intelligence, and even more so, don't overestimate her cunning."
"She can't learn those sophisticated green tea tactics."
"She's just... simple-minded."
"Hello!!"
Xiao Wu instantly bristled, slapped Xuan Hao's hand away, and stomped her foot angrily:
"Who's got a screw loose?!"
"I'm very smart, okay?!"
"I'm the big sister of Notting Academy! I never... I never imagined you guys could be so cunning!"
"They're overthinking it! Is it my fault?!"
Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Na'er exchanged glances, all seeing a hint of helplessness and amusement in each other's eyes.
Poor Tang San.
After all this, it turns out this wasn't even a love triangle where both sides were evenly matched.
Instead, it was a complete and utter tragedy of unrequited love and misunderstanding.
In that rabbit's world, he never had a place, not even a backup option; at best, he was just...
A "best friend" who overthinks things.
Read 20+ chapters ahead at Patreon
patreon.com/TaroYamato
patreon.com/TaroYamato