Soon, Xuan Zi ended his communication with Yan Shaozhe.
He sat on a chair in the room, rubbing the spirit tool that still held a faint warmth, his eyes somewhat vacant.
Was he tempted?
Of course he was tempted.
Every word Yan Shaozhe had just said struck right at Xuan Zi's heart.
Mu En's fury was like a blade hanging over his neck, ready to fall at any moment and sever his head.
Therefore...
If he could really bring that little monster Liu Yuan back, not only would the crisis be resolved, but it might even turn a bad situation into a good one, making Mu En happy.
However...
"Apologize... make amends... double the chips..."
Xuan Zi muttered to himself, these words echoing repeatedly in his mind.
He, a dignified Sea Gods Pavilion Elder, a Level 98 Super Douluo, actually had to bow his head and admit his mistake to a junior he had once regarded as nothing?
This Face, it really hurt a bit.
But, at the thought of Mu En's terrifying anger, Xuan Zi felt that a sore Face was better than a sore hide.
"Forget it, forget it! As long as I can bring him back, I don't care about this old Face of mine!"
Xuan Zi slapped his thigh hard, making up his mind.
He began to pace back and forth in the room, frantically simulating the rhetoric he would use when he met Liu Yuan later.
"Liu Yuan, it was my poor judgment back then, I apologize to you..."
Or perhaps?
"Liu Yuan! It was crowded during the day, it was my fault, I will kneel to you!"
"..."
Xuan Zi scratched his ears and cheeks, struggling for a long time before finally coming up with a passable set of words.
He prepared to apologize properly to Liu Yuan and then offer ten times the chips compared to last time; he didn't believe Liu Yuan wouldn't go back with him this time!
But just then, Xuan Zi suddenly froze.
Wait.
When to go? Where to go?
He couldn't possibly rush over and apologize to Liu Yuan during tomorrow's match, in front of the entire audience and all the teams, and even in front of that old fox Jing Hongchen, right?
How would he, Xuan Zi, be able to show his Face in the Spirit Master world after that?
He feared that by the next day, the joke of "Shrek Elder apologizing to a Sun Moon student" would spread across the entire continent.
Moreover, Liu Yuan was now the prized treasure of the Sun Moon Team. Whether eating or training, he was surely surrounded by people, especially that Jing Hongchen, who seemed to want to keep Liu Yuan tied to his belt.
Finding an opportunity to be alone with him would be harder than reaching the heavens!
"This is tricky..."
Xuan Zi frowned tightly, walked to the window, and looked at the brilliant night view of Star Luo City outside.
At this moment, the night was deep. Although the prosperous Star Luo City was still brightly lit, most people had already entered dreamland.
The noise on the streets gradually subsided, and even the lights of the Star Emperor Grand Hotel had dimmed quite a bit.
"Hmm?"
Looking at the hotel that was gradually quietening down, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Xuan Zi's mind.
"That's right! Isn't now the best opportunity?!"
It was the middle of the night, everyone was asleep, and Liu Yuan must be resting alone in his room.
Going to find him at this time would not only avoid everyone's eyes and ears and preserve his own Face, but in the dead of night, people's psychological defenses were at their weakest, making it easier to be persuaded!
"Brilliant! Truly a god-given opportunity!"
The more Xuan Zi thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
As for the rule strictly forbidding private intrusion into the residential areas of different academies...
Heh, rules were made for the weak.
He was a dignified Level 98 Super Douluo; couldn't he come and go as he pleased?
As long as he restrained his Qi, let alone those guards, even that old thing Jing Hongchen wouldn't be able to discover him unless they bumped into each other Face-to-Face!
"Do it!"
Since he had made a decision, Xuan Zi was not the type to dawdle.
He casually picked up a chicken leg from the table and took a bite to bolster his courage, then his figure flashed, turning into an afterimage and disappearing from the room.
...
As a top-tier venue hosting participating teams from various countries, the Star Emperor Grand Hotel's security measures were naturally extremely tight.
There were spirit tool surveillance cameras every few meters in the corridors, as well as specialized patrol teams.
But for Xuan Zi, these were just for show.
He was like a ghost, moving silently through the shadows of the corridor.
His powerful mental force spread out, easily avoiding all surveillance and patrol personnel.
The floor where the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy resided was the top floor, the most luxurious one.
Xuan Zi made his way to the top floor and, relying on the intelligence he had gathered previously, quickly locked onto the location of Liu Yuan's room.
"This is the one."
Looking at the tightly closed carved wooden door in front of him, Xuan Zi took a deep breath, straightened his somewhat messy collar, and was just about to raise his hand to knock, or use spirit power to directly shatter the lock and slip in.
However.
The very moment his hand was about to touch the door panel.
"Hum —"
An extremely subtle yet exceptionally powerful fluctuation of spirit power rippled out behind him without warning.
The hairs on Xuan Zi's entire body stood on end instantly. His combat instinct as a Super Douluo made him subconsciously want to turn and defend.
But before he could make a move, a slightly mocking and cold voice already rang out faint in his ear:
"It's so late, Elder Xuan, you aren't sleeping, but running to the door of our Sun Moon Team... what is it you want to do?"
"Could it be sleepwalking?"
This voice...
Xuan Zi turned around stiffly.
He saw a figure appear at the end of the corridor behind him, not knowing when it had arrived.
It was a rotund old man, wearing a luxurious dark red robe, playing with two metal balls that were slowly rotating in his hands.
That old Face, which was usually smiling, was now hanging with a bone-chilling coldness.
It was none other than the Dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, the Master of Mingde Hall — Jing Hongchen!
"Jing... Jing Hongchen?!"
Xuan Zi's heart skipped a beat, and his old Face instantly flushed red; it was the extreme embarrassment of being caught red-handed.
He never imagined that this old guy Jing Hongchen wouldn't be sleeping in the middle of the night and would actually be guarding here!
Could it be that this old thing had guessed he would come?
"Uh... that... ahem..."
Xuan Zi's eyes drifted, and he stammered for a long time without being able to squeeze out a complete sentence.
He couldn't just say to Jing Hongchen: I wanted to come and poach your talent, and by the way, apologize to your team captain so he would go back to Shrek with me, right?
If he said that, Jing Hongchen would probably fight him to the death on the spot!
"That... I... I drank too much alcohol just now, and I'm a bit confused..."
Xuan Zi bit the bullet and started spouting nonsense, rubbing his temples while pretending to be drunk:
"This... where is this? Why does it look so unfamiliar?"
"Oh my, I must have gone the wrong way, gone the wrong way... I'll head back now, I'll head back now..."
As he spoke, Xuan Zi turned around to slip away.
He only had one thought now: Run! As long as I run fast enough, the embarrassment won't be able to catch up with me!
However.
"Gone the wrong way?"
Jing Hongchen let out a cold laugh, the metal balls in his hands suddenly stopped rotating, emitting a crisp clinking sound.
"A dignified Shrek Academy Sea Gods Pavilion Elder, a Level 98 Super Douluo, would get lost in a hotel? And be able to accurately get lost right at the door of our Sun Moon Team captain?"
"Elder Xuan, do you take me for a three-year-old child?"
Before the words finished, the storage spirit tool ring on Jing Hongchen's hand suddenly shone with a light.
The next second, a spirit tool resembling a megaphone appeared in his hand. He directly pressed the button on it and said in a deep voice into it:
"Security department! Send people up immediately! Someone on the top floor is attempting to do something untoward to a participating student!"
"Also, notify the tournament organizing committee! Have them send adjudicators over!"
After finishing all this, Jing Hongchen put away the spirit tool. His spirit power surged, and his entire person instantly turned into a red afterimage, directly blocking Xuan Zi's path.
Countless fine metal tube cannons extended from under the red robe behind him, flashing with a chilling cold light, pointing directly at Xuan Zi.
"Jing Hongchen! What do you mean by this?!" Xuan Zi's expression changed; he didn't expect this old guy to actually be playing for real.
"What do I mean?"
Jing Hongchen's eyes flashed with dangerous light, and he said with a forced smile:
"Elder Xuan, the tournament has clear regulations: academies are not allowed to break into each other's residential areas, much less make private contact with the other side's students, to prevent malicious interference with the competition or assassination attempts."
"You are appearing sneakily at my captain's door in the dead of night; I have reason to suspect that you are harboring malicious intent!"
"You want to leave? It's not that easy!"
"Before the committee people arrive, you had better honestly stay here for me!"
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