"No!!"
"I won't accept this!!"
Early the next morning, deep inside an alleyway, Ma Hongjun finally realized what had happened.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He was lying in the arms of an old woman.
As he stared blankly at the scene before him, his stomach turned violently.
He couldn't remember much of what happened the night before, but what he woke up to this morning was enough to bring the memories flooding back.
"Ugh—"
Ma Hongjun gagged dryly, fighting the urge to vomit.
He remembered fragments of the night — fragments he wished he could erase.
He had actually… called that old woman sister last night.
He couldn't bear to think any further.
The sight of the woman beside him — her face content, body relaxed, lying there in blissful satisfaction — made a surge of wicked fire rise in his chest.
No one can ever know about this.
He had to erase all traces — burn this place down.
"Fwoosh!"
Half-red, half-black flames ignited in his palm.
Slowly, he approached the bed.
This time, it wasn't the same as his past visits to brothels.
This time, Ma Hongjun truly crossed the line — he was about to kill.
Once a person's moral boundary crumbles for the first time, it rarely returns.
As the evil flames consumed everything before him, Ma Hongjun's face remained emotionless.
In fact, a twisted conviction filled him — as if his fire was meant for such things.
She deserved it.
That single thought repeated in his head as he turned and walked away without looking back.
But Heaven Dou City was vast, and even in the early morning — even in a quiet alley — there were always eyes and ears.
The flames consuming the house, the terrified screams of the old woman, the faintly familiar figure with a mohawk and plump build… all of it was seen, heard, and remembered by the surrounding onlookers.
Not far away.
Flander and his group, who had been searching for Ma Hongjun all night, suddenly sensed his spirit power — that distinct, unholy fire.
A sinking feeling hit Flander's heart.
"Hongjun… what are you doing?"
He'd been worried sick all night. But when he saw the blazing inferno in the distance, his heart plummeted.
Still, Flander was no fool — first, he needed to find Ma Hongjun.
With his Spirit Saint–level power, it took him only moments to locate the young man squatting on the roadside, trembling in confusion.
"Hongjun! What happened?!"
Flander rushed forward. Seeing tears glistening at the corners of Ma Hongjun's eyes and his pitiful expression, he thought the boy had been wronged and grew even more anxious.
"Teacher…?"
Ma Hongjun turned to him dully, murmuring the word as if lost.
He didn't know why — only that acting pitiful might protect him.
So that's what he did.
Deep down, he still clung to what little support he had left.He might have fallen, but not entirely — not yet.
Flander, with the affection of a father (Ma Hongjun being half a son to him), didn't notice the darkness already festering within him.
"Let's talk later. We need to leave this place first."
Without another word, Flander hoisted Ma Hongjun onto his back. With the speed of a Spirit Saint, he vanished from the sight of the shocked onlookers.
But it was already too late.
The ever-observant citizens had already memorized his distinctive look: the mohawk, the chubby build, the strange fire.
By the time rumors spread, Ma Hongjun had officially become a wanted man in Heaven Dou City.
That, however, was another story.
Soon, with Flander's help, Ma Hongjun returned to Blue Tyrant Academy.
Inside a quiet, empty office, several people who were close to him gathered.
Liu Erlong stood with arms crossed, her tungsten-rimmed glasses glinting as she stared coldly at Ma Hongjun.
Under the concerned gazes of his teachers, Ma Hongjun began to "explain" what had happened.
He claimed he had been seeking revenge for Dai Mubai, followed Xiao Lin's group, and then — accidentally — fell into their trap and was drugged with an aphrodisiac.
Finally, he even told them about the old woman.
He described her in vivid detail — her appearance, her evilness, the horror of being violated — painting himself as the tragic victim.
To strengthen his "victim" image, he exaggerated shamelessly, pushing all the blame onto Xiao Lin's group and the old woman.
"So you're saying… all of this was done by them?"
Flander frowned after a moment's silence.
He could somewhat understand.
Who could accept being defiled by a woman in her fifties or sixties?
And considering the amount of aphrodisiac involved — the torment Ma Hongjun must've suffered was unimaginable.
Flander also knew Ma Hongjun had always been lustful but cowardly — all talk and no courage.
In fact, the young man had once been infatuated with Liu Erlong, though only from afar.
But now… there wasn't a single trace of lust in his eyes.
It was as if he'd suffered psychological trauma — post-traumatic stress that left him entirely uninterested in women.
Flander felt a complicated mix of pity and relief.
If this meant Ma Hongjun would stop chasing women altogether, that would actually be a good thing.
"Damn it, those four must have been disguised!"
Oscar, furious on behalf of his brother, slammed a fist on the table.
If he had gone through such an ordeal, he probably would've killed himself.
To be violated by an old woman — it was utterly humiliating.
He could only imagine the psychological damage Ma Hongjun had suffered.
"Enough," Yu Xiaogang said, stepping forward. "Perhaps this isn't all bad. I recently found a spirit beast that might be perfect for Little Ma. It could even cure his… condition."
He spoke deliberately, trying to appear wise and insightful.
The others were busy comforting Ma Hongjun. Some privately criticized his behavior, but deep down, most of them sympathized with him.
After all, spirit masters were seen as superior beings — to be humiliated in such a way was, in their minds, reason enough for vengeance.
Not just Flander — even Zhao Wuji and the others shared that sentiment.
None of them realized that this kind of blind indulgence was only feeding the evil fire festering in Ma Hongjun's heart.
They all condemned Xiao Lin and his group in righteous fury, presenting themselves as moral defenders…
Completely forgetting that Dai Mubai had first tried to kill them, forcing Xiao Lin to fight back.
Completely forgetting that Ma Hongjun had followed them with malicious intent, and he was the one who committed murder.
Ask yourselves — if the woman in the alley had been young and beautiful instead of old and ugly, would Ma Hongjun still have killed her?
And if that hadn't been a prostitute but an innocent girl — would he have stopped himself?
Even though some teachers in Shrek truly cared for their students, they were all tainted by the environment — by the culture of Shrek itself.
Yu Xiaogang's words may have been ill-timed, but to them, it was still welcome news.
Not only Ma Hongjun, but even Flander, Zhao Wuji, and Dai Mubai's faces showed faint smiles.
(End of chapter)