"She held back?"
"Why? She could have killed them all!"
"Tsk, such a pampered young lady's style. Women are women, soft-hearted."
After the initial shock, the audience erupted in a clamor, chattering about the victorious team's clemency. Instead of cheering for their victory, they were displeased that their opponents had spared their enemies' lives.
"Sister Xiaowu..."
Amidst the cacophony of malicious voices, Tang Sui lowered her head, resting her forehead on Xiaowu's shoulder, her gaze cast down, suppressing the rising heat in her eyes.
"Thank you..."
You pulled back my sanity just in time... I wasn't completely controlled by the demon race's bloodlust, nor did I kill those who had already given up resisting, becoming a truly cold-blooded executioner...
Tang Sui bit her lip, stifling the tears that welled up, her voice choked with emotion, a low murmur beside Xiaowu's ear: "I want to leave here..."
Xiaowu's gaze softened. "Mm," she replied.
Tang San, who had stepped forward and stood before them, also heard Tang Sui's whisper, as faint as a mosquito's hum. His heart softened, and he looked at his sister with a sigh, about to speak. Suddenly, a faint glow flashed into his peripheral vision.
"Kong Kong—"
A sinister green light flickered in the fox mask's eyes. The moment Xiaowu and Tang Sui made eye contact, it suddenly took flight and, to Tang San's astonished gaze, shot towards the captain of the Scarlet team, who was left with half his life.
"Bang—!"
After a deafening roar, blood, crimson like worms rolled in red paint, crawled out from beneath him, blooming into blood-red flowers.
The fox mask's jade-white face was stained with human blood, and coupled with its narrow, slanted fox eyes, it exuded a chilling, eerie aura that made one's hair stand on end.
The audience, who had been jeering moments before, fell into stunned silence. They stared at the grotesque mask with fearful eyes, an inexplicable chill spreading from their scalps, leaving them utterly cold.
"You..." Tang Sui, equally astonished, watched the fox mask act without her command. The next second, her face turned pale, a flicker of panic rising in her blue eyes as she looked at the stiffly turning Xiaowu, a great fear gripping her heart.
"Sui Sui..."
Tang Sui, her expression somewhat dazed, was pulled into a cool embrace. Xiaowu silently held Tang Sui, burying her head in her shoulder, trying her best to comfort her. "It's okay... no one will hurt you..."
She knew Tang Sui had held back at the end, but she didn't know why the mask had moved.
Perhaps... it was also venting its remaining ferocity on other already 'dead' thugs.
But Tang San, who knew more, watched the fox mask suspended in mid-air with a heavy heart.
Martial spirits absolutely had no self-awareness. But judging by Tang Sui's exclamations, it was clear that the other party had acted on its own without Sui Sui's control.
These two masks... Sui Sui's newly emerged other personality...
The two were linked in Tang San's mind. He stood there frozen until Dai Mubai tugged on his wrist, and he realized that all his companions, including his sister, had already left the stage.
The host had just announced the victorious team. Tang San observed the audience's now silent, yet persistently dissatisfied faces.
He lowered his eyes and walked back as if nothing had happened, quickening his pace to catch up with Tang Sui and the others.
Thus, only the soul master, who had been randomly grouped, remained on the combat stage. He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the retreating backs of the Shrek Eight Monsters. His hands trembled slightly, and he suddenly slapped himself.
Pain!
Such pain!
He wasn't dreaming; he had truly been spared!
The joy of surviving a brush with death mingled with the sorrow of losing the golden soul coins that could have saved him. Tears streamed down his face, his expression a mix of crying and laughing, his back hunched in a posture of grief, as if he were about to become a stone statue standing on the stage... Sultan Novel Network.
In the team observation room, the Grandmaster, who had witnessed the conclusion, slowly closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of relief. "Let's go. This is when they need us most."
As he spoke, the Grandmaster took the lead and walked out.
The other teachers silently followed suit.
The Grandmaster and the others didn't see anyone in the backstage area. After inquiring with a guard, they learned that after the Shrek Eight Monsters left the combat stage, they had headed straight for the exit at the back door of the Great Spirit Arena.
However, as they followed, they discovered that among the Shrek Eight Monsters, apart from Dai Mubai, Tang San, Tang Sui, and Xiaowu, the other four were leaning against the wall, unable to suppress their vomiting. They clutched their stomachs, bent over, and threw up in the grass. Even if they didn't manage to vomit, they were still retching, and some even choked out tears from their discomfort.
The Grandmaster exchanged a look with Flander, and the other teachers understood, coming to Zhu Zhuqing and the others one by one, silently patting their backs in comfort.
The Grandmaster then gave Tang San a look. Tang San understood and, with a dazed Tang Sui in his arm, walked towards the Grandmaster.
Xiaowu intended to follow, but Flander, who had approached, stopped her.
"Xiaowu, let the master and his disciples have a private talk. I have something to say to you too."
Flander said gently. Xiaowu's steps faltered. She bit her lip, looked at the departing backs of Tang San and the others, and nodded. The trembling and fear she had felt earlier when facing death erupted all at once, and tears uncontrollably streamed from her eyes, her earlier bravery and strength gone.
"Sui Sui... she didn't have to be stained with blood..."
Listening to Xiaowu's sobbing, Flander sighed and began to feed Xiaowu his special brand of chicken soup for the soul.
————Author's Notes————
One chapter left, feeling the weight of time.