Chapter 50 A Passionless Night

In the early hours of the morning, Ning Rongrong woke up, rubbed her eyes, and carefully sat up. Seeing that the man beside her was still fast asleep...

A bewitching smile curved the corner of Ning Rongrong's lips as her curious gaze unceremoniously swept over Xu Sheng's handsome face by the bedside...

Her index finger playfully touched her own alluring, crimson-tinged thin lips, and she chuckled softly, "Although you can be a bit ice-cold, I didn't expect you to look quite cute when you're asleep."

Shall I quietly test how good it feels? Who told this man to say earlier that he wasn't interested in me!

Ning Rongrong extended a hand as white and smooth as jade and gingerly touched Xu Sheng's cheek...

The comfortable texture made her reluctant to pull away. She pouted in mock anger, "Clearly a man, yet your skin is even more tender than mine."

Then she shrugged helplessly, her mesmerizing, fragrant shoulders draped in a bathrobe, "Fine, fine. For the sake of you doing this young lady a huge favor, I'll forgive you."

Ning Rongrong quickly padded over to the basin, cast off the bathrobe, and changed into her dried clothes...

She then retrieved a pouch of gold soul coins from her spatial soul guidance device, and wrote a note using the paper found in the room...

Placing the two items gently by the window, Ning Rongrong quietly pushed open the door, cast a knowing smile back at Xu Sheng, and walked straight out...

...

A ray of sunlight spilled onto the massive couple's bed, heavy with an ambiguous atmosphere. Blinding by the glare, Xu Sheng slowly blinked his eyes awake...

As his consciousness gradually returned, his gaze instinctively shifted to the side, only to find the space empty. He was all alone in the vacant room...

Looking closer, although Ning Rongrong was gone, a heavy pouch of gold soul coins rested peacefully there...

Not only that, but a note had been left behind as well...

Xu Sheng picked it up and unfolded it slowly. The moment he saw the contents, his expression darkened drastically...

His hand clenched tightly around the note...

The words that slipped from his lips turned increasingly frigid: "Ning Rongrong!!"

The message on the note read: "Thanks a lot for yesterday's affair. I slept very comfortably on this bed. These gold soul coins are paid to you according to our agreement last night. If there is a next time, may fate bring us together again. Also, my name is Ning Rongrong..."

If she had simply left the gold soul coins behind, Xu Sheng wouldn't have thought much of it...

Yet what kind of wild and brazen words were those in her letter?

She slept very comfortably? According to last night's agreement?

Leaving a pouch of gold soul coins behind—wasn't this nakedly treating him like a gigolo...

Xu Sheng took a deep breath to calm his churning emotions...

She truly lived up to her reputation as the little witch of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Where on earth had he gotten the confidence to think that a few words from him could make her gentle, refined, and virtuous?

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, a flash of contemplation crossed his eyes. "However, Shrek Academy should be starting its admissions."

Based on his observations yesterday, throughout the entire Soto City, there was only one place as wretched and dilapidated as Shrek Academy, bordering other villages...

With that, Xu Sheng stood up swiftly and put on the two precious items Hu Liena had given him, which had been folded neatly aside.

Standing before the mirror afterward, Xu Sheng stared at his own utterly disastrous image reflected in the glass and silently made up his mind: "I, Xu Sheng, swear that once I find Shrek, I will definitely grind these two items into ashes and scatter them to the winds!"

...

In an extremely narrow corner filled with pastoral scenery stood a dilapidated thatched cottage. Inside sat a disheveled elder exuding an untamed aura...

Reclining on a chair, the old man leisurely waved a fan and spoke indifferently to a tall, white-clad figure standing beside him, "Mubai, how many students do you think we can successfully recruit this year?"

That's right, the man in white standing beside the elder was none other than the captain of the Shrek Seven Devils from the original tale, the Evil-Eyed White Tiger, Dai Mubai!

True to his moniker, Dai Mubai possessed a robust physique, and the white suit he wore gave him a rather clean and sharp look...

His handsome face radiated a strong sense of righteousness, and only his pair of eerie, pale-purple eyes made him seem somewhat contradictory...

Dai Mubai shook his head with a bitter smile. "I'd say it'll be hard to recruit even one this year. After all, our academy's environment is far too poor; that alone is enough to turn away quite a few people."

"Not to mention the admission standards proposed by Dean Fland... Anyone who meets those must be a monster among monsters!"

The elder sighed silently. "Indeed. Dean Fland remains unwilling to lower the standards, insisting on quality over quantity. If things truly go on like this, this might well be the last batch of Shrek students."

Dai Mubai said with a solemn expression, "In a few days, I'll go talk to the dean again. As long as he accepts my sponsorship, Shrek Academy can still continue to develop..."

Although he had left the Star Luo Empire, the vast assets he carried on him were enough to turn anyone green with envy...

The elder let out a wry chuckle. "We'll see. You know Fland's temper as well as I do—when would he ever accept sponsorship! Though he is a bit greedy for money, he is also a man of immense backbone!"

Dai Mubai nodded silently. "Mmm..."

It seemed Shrek Academy truly could not go much further...

...

Not long after, figures began to trickle in front of the small thatched cottage...

Taking in the surrounding environment, their very first thought was that they had come to the wrong place!

How could a dignified academy possibly be built in such a remote and backward location...

That was until they spotted the eight characters pasted onto the cottage: "Shrek Academy Admissions Office"...

"This is Shrek Academy? You must be joking."

"I reckon it's just a shady diploma mill, turned out as ragged as this. Let's go, son, we aren't studying at this academy."

"The registration fee is actually five gold soul coins? Are you lot robbing people?"

"Mom, I don't want to study at this academy! People will definitely look down on me!" a boy of around fourteen flushed crimson as he spoke to the woman beside him.

The woman soothed him, "Child, now that we've come this far, let's just take a look first. Perhaps this is merely a test by the academy. If it really won't do, we'll leave immediately."

After hesitating repeatedly, the youth finally compromised. "Alright..."

At that moment, the elder inside the cottage cast a cold glance at the arrivals, stood up, and said indifferently, "Those wishing to register, line up in order. In a moment, pay five gold soul coins and have your qualifications tested here!"

With those words, the prospective applicants hurriedly formed a long queue...

The elder cast a glance at the boy at the very front and said coldly, "You go first! Pay five gold soul coins first, then come up to me and extend your arm."

The boy was startled, hurriedly deposited five gold soul coins into the black box, walked over to the elder's side, and extended his arm...

The old man closed his eyes and gently placed two fingers on the boy's arm...

After a long moment, he opened his eyes and said with utter disdain, "Bone age exceeds the admission standard, and soul power is substandard. Next."

Trash like this who had only reached the teens in soul power at fourteen still wanted to apply?

Shrek recruits monsters, not garbage!