"Speak, what do you want?" Yali sighed lightly, looking at Leng Yaozhu.
"I don't want anything!" Leng Yaozhu snorted coldly and said, "Do you think you're very kind? Do you think your actions are for the greater good? But have you ever thought about what your decision to let Long Yeyue go really means? It's shielding a criminal. If I'm not mistaken, the one who attacked my man back then was also Long Yeyue, right? This is the second time Shrek Academy has covered for her, isn't it? Have you ever thought that because of your protection, she has repeatedly taken advantage of the situation?"
"I know all of this, but she is, after all, a senior to both me and Ming-ge." Yali gritted her teeth as she spoke.
"That's your problem, not mine. Xia Yi and I are the victims here. Now, you want us to forgive her just with a few words? Do you think that's possible?" Leng Yaozhu questioned coldly.
"I know this time, it's Shrek Academy's fault, so we are willing to pay the corresponding price," Yali said in a deep voice.
"There's no price that can make up for this." Leng Yaozhu's eyes were icy as she said, "No matter who it is, anyone who dares to have ill intentions toward my man—I, Leng Yaozhu, will make them pay!"
"Is there really no room for negotiation?" Yali asked solemnly.
"If you were to swap Xia Yi for Yun Ming, would you negotiate with the murderer?" Leng Yaozhu sneered in response.
"I understand." Yali nodded helplessly, then raised her head to look at Leng Yaozhu. "Sister Yaozhu, then let's settle this based on our own abilities."
With that, Yali turned and left.
After returning to Shrek Academy, she once again dialed Yun Ming's soul communicator.
"Ming-ge, tell Chen Xinjie that Leng Yaozhu already knows everything he did. Let him handle it himself." Yali finished speaking and directly hung up the soul communicator.
Indeed, it was Chen Xinjie who had taken Long Yeyue away.
Strictly speaking, ever since Xia Yi had broadcast the recordings on the Yuan Yang and Xing Luo ships, Chen Xinjie had been helping Long Yeyue.
At that time, he had ordered the Sea God Army to intercept all signals coming from the ocean.
If it weren't for the Sea God Army's interference, Pan Wen would have already used the soul communicator to inform the Sun-Moon Federation about what had happened on those two ships.
Because of the Sea God Army's actions, Long Yeyue had enough time to escape back to the Douluo Continent and find Yun Ming and Yali to discuss countermeasures.
That allowed Yali to seize the initiative.
When Leng Yaozhu returned from the sea, she quickly noticed the movements of the Sea God Army.
Moreover, Chen Xinjie had been the one pursuing Long Yeyue when he left.
So naturally, Leng Yaozhu was able to deduce where Long Yeyue was now.
In Mingdu, Yun Ming looked at the soul communicator in his hand and couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.
"Heh… Yun Ming, Yun Ming, you brought this upon yourself. What right do you have to blame Yali? Yali is so kind—making this decision must have hurt her as well."
His mind was a complete mess. He couldn't accept Yali's decision, but he had been the one who forced her to be the villain in the first place.
Originally, it should have been Yali blaming him instead.
He wanted to blame Long Yeyue, but seeing her in this state, he couldn't bear to.
In the end, he could only blame himself.
But if he only blamed himself, wouldn't that mean Shrek Academy's current state was entirely his fault?
The more Yun Ming thought about it, the more pain he felt.
And yet, at this moment, he couldn't let anyone see his suffering.
Looking at the overwhelming criticism online against Long Yeyue, himself, and Shrek Academy, he knew that explanations were useless.
For a brief moment, he even wanted to just give up completely.
No, he was already giving up.
If it weren't for Yali's sorrowful voice snapping him out of it through the soul communicator, he would probably still be stuck in that state of despair.
"Even now, Yali still doesn't blame me and continues to trust me completely. Just for her, I have to stand firmly by her side and share some of her burden," Yun Ming repeated to himself over and over, shaking his head as he tried to come up with a solution.
A solution that would allow them to bring Long Yeyue back to Shrek Academy in a justifiable manner.
Just then, a Sea God Pavilion Elder approached Yun Ming and asked in a low voice, "Boss! What does the Holy Spirit Douluo mean by this? Is she really leaving no way out for Sister Yue?"
This was Long Hai, the Inner Court Dean of Shrek Academy. A Rank 97 Super Douluo with the martial soul Dragon Staff, known as the Dragon Staff Douluo!
"Mind your words—call her Pavilion Master," Yun Ming glared at him and said, "The Pavilion Master has done nothing wrong. She is acting for the sake of Shrek Academy."
"She sent all of us away but allowed the Federation investigators to enter Shrek Academy, breaking a two-thousand-year-old rule," Long Hai said grimly.
"And what else could she have done? Should we go to war with the Federation over this?" Yun Ming shook his head. "Shrek Academy fears no one, but we have to be in the right. If we start a war now, what reason do we have?"
"I know, but I still feel unwilling!" Long Hai gritted his teeth and said, "It's all Xia Yi's fault! If it weren't for him, Sister Yue wouldn't have—"
"Enough!" Yun Ming quickly interrupted him. He didn't want Long Hai to become another Long Yeyue.
"Go inform Chen Xinjie. Also, tell him about the child he once had with Sister Yue. He will know what to do. He is a Federation officer, and in Mingdu, he can act much more freely than we can," Yun Ming said softly.
Right now, only Chen Xinjie's unconditional protection could save Long Yeyue.
Leng Yaozhu was right.
Yun Ming was indeed troubled now.
He knew that Yali wasn't wrong. He had even deliberately passed out to force Yali to take on the role of the villain.
But now that Yali had actually done it, he felt she was too heartless.
Long Yeyue's intentions were always for the sake of Shrek Academy.
Why couldn't Yali show her some mercy for that?
After arriving in Mingdu, Yun Ming had secretly met with Long Yeyue. Her condition was terrible.
In less than two days, she had aged beyond recognition.
She now relied on a cane, her body hunched over at a ninety-degree angle.
It seemed as if she could collapse at any moment.
Yun Ming's heart ached tremendously.
He still remembered how Long Yeyue had been unwilling to leave Shrek Academy for the sake of Chen Xinjie and the child in her womb.
And now, she had been expelled from Shrek Academy.
The blow she suffered was unimaginable.
More than blaming Yali for being cold-blooded, Yun Ming felt regret.
If he hadn't indulged Long Yeyue again and again, pretending not to see the problems, she wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
"Boss, you finally agreed to tell Chen Xinjie the truth. I'll take care of it now," Long Hai's eyes gleamed with excitement as he turned to leave.
He believed that once Chen Xinjie knew about the child, he would go to any lengths to protect Long Yeyue.
"Sigh, I just hope Chen Xinjie won't blame Shrek Academy for failing to protect his child," Yun Ming sighed.
Using this as a means to bind Chen Xinjie went against his principles as a strong individual.
But right now, Shrek Academy was at the center of a storm. He and the other powerhouses in the Sea God Pavilion couldn't show themselves. The only one who could protect Long Yeyue now was Chen Xinjie.
What worried Yun Ming the most was whether Chen Xinjie would suspect that their child's death was caused by the Heaven Blessed Douluo.