Zhu Zhuqing immediately understood his intention. A look of realization and curiosity flashed through her cat-like eyes.
"You want to take a look at them?"
"Mm."
Lin Xia nodded.
"The Shrek Academy is holding its entrance examination, so I imagine it'll be quite lively. We can just treat it as watching a unique 'performance,' can't we?"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded as well.
"Sounds like it'll definitely be much more interesting than wandering around and shopping."
"Ban!"
Tyranitar also waved its little claws in agreement. It was quite interested in a place where humans gathered to study as well.
The following day, dawn was just beginning to break.
Outside the southern gate of Soto City, the sparse pedestrians signaled the beginning of another day.
Tang San and Xiao Wu walked out through the city gate side by side, simple packs on their backs.
Tang San's expression was calm, his eyes deep and thoughtful. Clearly, he was still digesting the drastic events that had occurred at the Rose Hotel the previous day and contemplating the signal Dai Mubai had sent him.
Xiao Wu, on the other hand, appeared much more relaxed. Her braids bounced with every step, and she had a blade of grass between her teeth as she looked around curiously from time to time.
"Xiao San, let's hurry! I want to get to that Shrek Academy sooner and see just how much of a 'monster' it really is!"
Xiao Wu urged him on.
"Alright."
Tang San answered gently, but his gaze inconspicuously swept across the area near the city gate.
He had a faint feeling that he was being watched. His Purple Demon Eyes quietly activated, but aside from several farmers and vendors who had gotten up early, he saw no particularly suspicious individuals.
"Maybe it's just my imagination…"
Tang San silently suppressed his doubts and quickened his pace.
About a hundred meters behind them, within the shadow of a large tree with dense foliage, Lin Xia, Zhu Zhuqing, and Tyranitar were almost completely blended into their surroundings as they quietly watched their targets.
Lin Xia held a small cylindrical Soul Tool in his hand, with one end pressed close to his eye.
It was a portable Soul Tool telescope he had made in his spare time. Its clarity and magnification were far superior to those of ordinary telescopes, and it also possessed a certain ability to conceal Soul Power fluctuations.
"The targets have left the city. They're heading southwest."
Zhu Zhuqing was equally focused. Her eyesight was already exceptionally sharp, and with a slight enhancement from her Soul Power, she could clearly see the figures ahead.
Tyranitar quietly lay on Lin Xia's shoulder. Its small eyes gleamed with a metallic luster as it sharply locked onto the targets.
"Keep your distance. Follow them."
Lin Xia put away the telescope and gave a hand signal.
The three of them slipped down from the tree like ghosts, landing without making a sound before quietly following far behind Tang San and Xiao Wu.
The faint Soul Tool field radiating from Lin Xia perfectly concealed their presence. As they moved, they used the terrain and vegetation as cover, their movements smooth and coordinated, almost as if they had received professional scout training.
Along the way, every interaction between Tang San and Xiao Wu fell into Lin Xia and the others' eyes.
Xiao Wu seemed naturally lively and curious about everything. A strange flower growing beside the road or a colorful butterfly could make her exclaim in surprise and chase after it.
Tang San, meanwhile, maintained his usual vigilance and composure. Like a responsible older brother, he would occasionally remind Xiao Wu to watch her step or helplessly help her retrieve something hanging from a high branch.
Whenever Xiao Wu showed her dependence on Tang San, or Tang San displayed concern for Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing's expression would become somewhat complicated.
"They're very close."
Zhu Zhuqing commented softly. Her tone was calm, but Lin Xia could hear a trace of barely concealed envy.
She had grown up surrounded by the cold oppression of the Zhu Family and the shadow of her engagement to the Dai Family. She had never experienced such a pure and straightforward bond between companions.
Lin Xia nodded, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his lips, though his attention remained mostly focused on Tang San.
"Mm. Whether they're close is one thing, but Tang San seems to have a certain possessiveness toward Xiao Wu. What kind of normal brother-and-sister relationship is that?!"
The moment Zhu Zhuqing heard this, her ears instantly turned crimson.
Her eyes, as she looked at Lin Xia, were also filled with embarrassment.
Unfortunately, Lin Xia did not notice any of this.
After traveling for roughly half an hour, the road gradually became more secluded. Lush farmland and wooded areas stretched out on both sides.
The air grew fresher, while birdsong replaced the hustle and bustle of the city.
Tang San and Xiao Wu also quickened their pace considerably.
Just then, the miniature Soul Tool compass in Lin Xia's hand gave a slight vibration, pointing toward an inconspicuous fork leading into a small village ahead.
"They turned in."
Lin Xia gestured.
The three of them increased the distance between themselves and their targets once again, using the higher ground along the edge of the woods to observe from afar.
They saw Tang San and Xiao Wu walk straight toward the end of the village, where quite a number of people had gathered. Most of them were boys and girls around the same age as Tang San and Xiao Wu, along with a few parents who had accompanied them.
At the front of the crowd stood a shabby wooden table. Behind it sat an elderly man who appeared to be in his sixties. His hair was gray, and he wore a faded gray robe that had been washed so many times that its original color was barely recognizable. A pair of heavily worn black-framed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.
The old man looked lazy and uninterested. He had his eyes closed as if he were resting and looked as though he could not be bothered with anything happening around him.
Beside the table stood a bamboo pole with a tattered banner hanging from it. Its edges were frayed, and five crooked characters had been written on it in uneven black ink.
Shrek Academy.
A sparse line had formed in front of the wooden table.
At the end of the line, a richly dressed young man was speaking arrogantly to the old man, impatience written all over his face.
The old man, however, leisurely raised one finger and pointed toward a small opening in a battered wooden box beside the table.
"This is Shrek Academy?"
Zhu Zhuqing looked at the shabby banner, the worn-out table, and the lazy old man. Even her usually cold expression showed clear astonishment.
"This is a little too…"
For a moment, Zhu Zhuqing could not find the right words to describe the enormous disparity between her expectations and reality.
This was the so-called Monster Academy?
It was actually this run-down and dilapidated?
Lin Xia merely smiled at this.
"Actually, there's no need to underestimate the academy. Look at that old man."
Lin Xia gestured for Zhu Zhuqing to pay attention to the gray-robed elder who was resting with his eyes closed.
"His aura is restrained and steady. He may look lazy, but the Soul Power flowing around him becomes exceptionally gentle and smooth when it approaches him. He is clearly no ordinary person."
Lin Xia did not have much prejudice against Shrek Academy, or even Tang San and the others. After all, there had been no conflict between them.
Therefore, he could view many things from a relatively rational perspective.
In the original story, Shrek Academy had almost nothing in terms of facilities, and its teaching staff was nothing particularly extraordinary either. However, there was one thing that could not be denied: its students were even more remarkable than its teachers.
One-on-one victories were practically commonplace for them.
Sure enough, although the richly dressed young man was dissatisfied, he still grumbled as he took out ten glittering Gold Soul Coins and inserted them one by one into the opening in the wooden box.
Only then did the old man slightly raise his eyelids. His cloudy gaze swept over the young man, and his dry fingers casually rested against the young man's wrist.
"Bone age, thirteen. Soul Power, Level 21. You're not qualified. You can leave."
The old man's voice was completely devoid of emotion.
"What?!"
The richly dressed young man instantly exploded.
"Old man! Are you messing with me? I paid ten Gold Soul Coins! How can Level 21 not be good enough? Do you know who I—"
The old man did not even raise his eyelids. He merely waved his hand lazily, as though shooing away a fly.
"Next."
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