When Liu Erlong arrived, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. His complicated feelings toward her weighed heavily on him—he didn't want her to end up trapped in this forsaken place alongside him, waiting to die. Meanwhile, Tang San, standing beside him, was brimming with excitement and hope.
Lin Yu noticed everything.
After a long moment, Yu Xiaogang finally raised his head and saw Lin Yu standing behind Liu Erlong. The young man, dressed in black with golden hair and striking good looks, caught his attention.
"Erlong, who is this?" Yu Xiaogang asked, his tone laced with unease as his gaze fell on the towering figure behind her.
Liu Erlong chuckled softly, her beautiful face lighting up as she turned to look at Lin Yu with affection. "Oh, him? He's a young friend I met after I entered Slaughter City. His name is Long Aotian. Don't be fooled by his age—he's just as strong as your disciple Tang San."
Yu Xiaogang felt a sudden pang of discomfort at her words. It was strange, like a gut feeling he couldn't shake off—a sense that something was amiss. But just as quickly, he chastised himself. What am I thinking? he thought. Erlong risked everything to come here for me, how could I possibly be jealous of a child?
Not to mention, he and Liu Erlong had never been meant to be together in the first place.
Having calmed himself, Yu Xiaogang tried to brush off the uneasy feeling.
"Teacher, is this the 'Auntie Erlong' you told me about?" Tang San's voice broke the silence. He had stepped out of Yu Xiaogang's embrace and was now looking at Liu Erlong with an exaggerated, almost theatrical curiosity.
"Yes, this is your Auntie Erlong," Yu Xiaogang responded, managing a stiff smile.
Tang San, ever the opportunist, quickly moved the conversation forward. "Teacher, Auntie Erlong is a Soul Sage, isn't she? Now that she's here, we won't have to suffer under anyone's thumb anymore!"
Liu Erlong's fiery temper ignited at those words. "What?! Someone's been bullying you two? Tell me who it was! I'll skin them alive!"
Her voice was filled with rage, her eyes already searching for those responsible.
"Wait, Erlong! Don't be rash. This is the outer district of Slaughter City—there are rules here. We can't just kill anyone!" Yu Xiaogang quickly interjected, trying to calm her down.
"Hmph! Fine, maybe I won't kill them, but they won't get away unscathed!" Liu Erlong crossed her arms, her voice still seething with anger. She turned to Tang San. "Point them out to me, Xiao San. I'll make sure they pay for what they did to you!"
Without hesitation, Tang San nodded. He had harbored a deep grudge against the gang of fallen soul masters who had tormented them. Now, with Liu Erlong here, he was ready to exact his revenge.
"I'll come along too," Lin Yu said with a slight smile, stepping forward to join them.
Tang San glanced at Lin Yu, feeling an inexplicable sense of animosity towards him. Though he didn't know why, Lin Yu's presence made him uneasy, almost as if he was staring at an enemy. Perhaps this was the instinct of a protagonist sensing another's threat. But Tang San wasn't foolish. Despite his internal resistance, he recognized that Lin Yu could be useful. He masked his feelings, nodding his approval.
Yu Xiaogang, standing off to the side, watched them go with a heavy heart. If only I could ignore this, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, he thought. But he knew that wasn't an option. If he didn't go with them, there was a chance his secret could be exposed—a risk he couldn't afford to take.
Sighing, Yu Xiaogang reluctantly followed.
Soon, they arrived at a dark alley where the notorious "Evil Five" were resting, comfortably wrapped in the bedding they had stolen from Yu Xiaogang and Tang San's storage soul tools.
"That's them!" Tang San said, pointing at the five men with unmistakable fury in his voice.
Liu Erlong wasted no time. With a roar of rage, she charged forward, her body transforming into the powerful form of her Fire Dragon Martial Soul. With a single punch, she sent one of the five flying, crashing into a wall with a scream of pain.
What followed was nothing short of brutal. Fueled by her overwhelming fury, Liu Erlong mercilessly pummeled the Evil Five, her fists like hammers as she broke bones and left them bruised and bloodied, lying helplessly on the ground.
By the time she was done, all five of them were barely clinging to life, their bodies battered beyond recognition.
Tang San, still burning with anger, strode over to the one who had stolen his beloved hidden weapon, the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges. He snatched it from the fallen man's waist and strapped it back onto his own.
Then, he retrieved Yu Xiaogang's storage tool from another member of the Evil Five and handed it back to his teacher.
Yu Xiaogang, who had been standing to the side, was drenched in sweat, his nerves completely frayed. Even though the Evil Five had been beaten nearly to death, he was still terrified. He knew that any one of them could, at any moment, blurt out the secret he had been desperately trying to keep hidden.
But much to his relief, none of them spoke.
Realizing that the immediate danger had passed, Yu Xiaogang breathed a sigh of relief. In Slaughter City, injuries like these were often a death sentence. The Evil Five wouldn't last much longer in this condition, meaning his secret would stay buried forever.
However, Lin Yu wasn't about to let this moment slip by without a little fun.
"Huh? Master, why are you sweating so much?" Lin Yu asked, his tone innocent, but the gleam in his eye unmistakable. "Were these guys bullying you that badly?"
Yu Xiaogang's face went stiff, his entire body tensing as a chill ran down his spine. "N-no, nothing like that," he stammered, forcing a strained smile. "It's just that… watching Erlong in action, it was exhilarating. That's all."
Lin Yu's lips curled into a knowing smirk, but he said nothing more, letting Yu Xiaogang stew in his anxiety.