"Is your sister okay?"
Flanders asked nervously, holding a cup of cheap tea in his hand.
After signing the acquisition agreement, the heavy weight in his heart finally dropped. Now, he only wanted to know how Liu Erlong was doing.
Yu Xiaowei looked at the tea in his hand with disgust. It had only two or three tea leaves, and its smell was strange.
He calmly placed the cup back on the table and shrugged.
"Thanks to your love triangle, my father and I had a falling out and didn't speak for over 20 years."
"On top of that, she didn't want any money from my father, so she struggled to maintain the academy for years."
"If my father-in-law Ning Fengzhi hadn't sponsored a large amount of money for my sake, she probably would've sold the academy just like you did."
Flanders looked embarrassed. He was the only guest at Liu Erlong and Yu Xiaogang's wedding back then, so he knew full well that Yu Luomian had brought people to ruin the ceremony.
But he didn't expect the father-daughter relationship to end up this strained.
Liu Erlong had never mentioned these difficulties in her letters to him, and he had always thought life at Blue Tyrant Academy was going well.
Suddenly, he remembered something and looked suspiciously at Yu Xiaowei.
"That's not right. You just said there's a Titled Douluo teaching at your academy. How could it be so bad that you almost had to sell it?"
"Dugu Bo owes me a favor, and he's working at the academy to repay that debt. Got a problem with that?"
Yu Xiaowei rolled his eyes and replied unpleasantly.
Owes him a favor?
Flanders was stunned. A Titled Douluo owing someone a debt?
Yu Xiaowei glanced at his expression and complained.
"I get angry every time I talk about this. You two were caught in that love triangle, and as a result, my sister is nearly fifty and still unmarried."
"Even though my sister doesn't share our father's surname, she's still the eldest daughter of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Wouldn't outsiders laugh if they heard about this?"
Those words made Flanders blush, and he stammered.
"Did your sister really tell you all this?"
"Haha, after hearing it from her, I couldn't help but pity her."
Yu Xiaowei put his hand on the table, leaned forward, stared into Flanders' eyes, and said word by word,
"Tell me, how could my sister fall for trash like Yu Xiaogang?"
Flanders suddenly stood up, his movements so abrupt that the chair behind him toppled over.
He slammed his hand on the table, eyes gleaming fiercely, and glared at Yu Xiaowei, gritting his teeth.
"I don't care what you think of Yu Xiaogang. He's my brother and Erlong's beloved. I won't let you talk about him like that."
"Oh? You're defending your cousin?"
Flanders deflated instantly. Yu Xiaogang wasn't the only one who flinched at the word "cousin" — even Flanders couldn't bear it.
"Alright, I won't bring up this family scandal anymore. I have other matters to attend to, so I'm leaving. See you in Heaven Dou City."
Seeing Flanders' expression, Yu Xiaowei smirked, stood up, and left.
The seed had been planted; now it just depended on whether the man would take the bait.
In fact, before coming to Soto City that day, he had already planned how to deal with Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong.
That was: reunite Flanders with Liu Erlong.
Flanders was a man of affection and righteousness. Though he could be a trickster and loved to scam people, he was very good to his students.
Especially when facing the Evil God Team, he stood up for them without hesitation.
Later, when facing Dugu Bo, he was furious at the academy's humiliation.
In the Soul Master Competition, he confronted Bibi Dong directly and insisted on protecting his students even with just his Soul Saint cultivation.
Overall, the man had flaws in minor matters but was upright and loyal in major ones. He had a strong sense of responsibility to his students and was deeply devoted to Liu Erlong. That made him an ideal candidate for a brother-in-law.
However, things couldn't be rushed. His sister's feelings for Yu Xiaogang ran too deep — it would take time to change her mind.
Judging by the timeline, the Shrek group should be returning soon from the Star Dou Great Forest.
More importantly, Yu Xiaogang would be with them.
He hadn't returned to Soto City but was instead waiting here.
After all, he'd never met Yu Xiaogang face-to-face, and it'd be easy to miss him in Soto City.
Outskirts of the Star Dou Forest, early morning.
A sturdy middle-aged man walked out of the forest with four men and two women.
All of them had wounds on their bodies, especially the middle-aged man, who not only had bruises on his face and nose but also walked with a limp.
Even so, their faces looked relaxed, and it seemed like they had gained something from the trip.
Zhao Wuji said with a smile,
"Let's walk a bit more, then we can rest in town."
At the mention of the town, Dai Mubai and the others instantly changed expressions and shook their heads repeatedly.
"Teacher Zhao, we're not tired. Let's go back to the academy."
"Yes, Teacher Zhao, we don't need to rest."
"Teacher Zhao, let's return to the academy quickly. It's still morning. If we hurry, we can make it back in time for dinner."
Zhao Wuji seemed to recall something unpleasant. He touched the wound on his face and said helplessly,
"Alright then, let's head back at full speed."
Seeing the students cheer, Zhao Wuji showed a satisfied smile.
Although the journey to the Star Dou Forest had its ups and downs, the results were worth it.
Especially those two — Xiao Wu and Tang San — both only twelve years old, but had already advanced to Soul Masters.
Even though they weren't on par with the monster from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, they were still top geniuses among their peers.
When he thought of that little monster, his wounds started aching again.
Strangely enough, Zhao Wuji seemed cursed lately.
Before the trip, he was beaten by Clear Sky Douluo.
In a small town, he was defeated by a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan Contra.
In the Star Dou Forest, had he not mentioned Clear Sky Douluo's name, the Dragon Man and Snake Woman might've beaten him again.
Then, by some twist of fate, they encountered the Titan Giant Ape — king of the forest — right on the outskirts. They were beaten again and nearly lost two students.
Still, despite all the turbulence, he achieved his goal.
Thanks to Oscar's sausages — now more potent after his breakthrough — they managed to travel the nearly 500 kilometers from the Star Dou Forest to the academy before nightfall.
Seeing the Shrek Academy gate from afar, Oscar laughed.
"We're finally back. Feels great to be home!"
Zhao Wuji glared at him and urged them to return and rest. He also needed to report the trip's details to Flanders.
Just as the group approached the school gate, a reclining chair caught their attention.
Everyone exchanged puzzled looks, wondering how something like that ended up in front of the academy.
As they drew closer, they saw a familiar figure lounging in the chair, and their eyelids involuntarily twitched.
It was Yu Xiaowei again.
After Zhao Wuji had been beaten by Yu Luomian, he told them about the notorious Yu Xiaowei and repeatedly warned them not to mess with that scoundrel — to stay far away if they ever saw him again.
But now, the guy was blocking the academy gates. What were they supposed to do?
Zhao Wuji looked behind him.
Dai Mubai and Oscar were pale, Ma Hongjun trembled like a sieve, Tang San and Xiao Wu held hands tightly and backed away, and even the normally stoic Zhu Zhuqing looked frightened.
Seeing his students already terrified, Zhao Wuji had no choice but to step forward and shout timidly,
"Yu Xiaowei, we've never wronged you in the past or present. Why are you targeting us like this?"
"Some of my students have already been scolded or beaten by you, and your father even beat me up. And now you're blocking the academy gates to humiliate us? Isn't that too much?"
Yu Xiaowei lifted his eyelids, sat up lazily, stretched, pointed behind them, and smiled.
"Who says I'm here for you? Who do you think I'm here for?"
Everyone turned around to look in the direction he pointed.
A middle-aged man in his forties stood behind them at some point. He had an ordinary appearance, short black hair parted in the middle, hands behind his back, and an indescribable aura.
"Teacher."
Tang San immediately shouted in surprise.
The middle-aged man smiled and nodded, then looked at Yu Xiaowei with a puzzled expression.
He didn't recognize the boy claiming to be looking for him, but the face did look oddly familiar.
Looking at that face — so similar to Yu Yuanzhen's — Yu Xiaowei stood up and walked toward him, speaking as he approached.
"Hello, cousin. We've never met before."
"My name is Yu Xiaowei. You might not know me, but you definitely know my sister. Her name is Liu Erlong."
Upon hearing the name "Liu Erlong," Yu Xiaogang's eyelids twitched, and his fists clenched involuntarily.