Douluo Dalu: Sign in to the Flame Princess-Chapter 74 - : Ning Rongrong’s Mental Breakdown

"Ahem," Flander couldn't help but clear his throat upon seeing the scene before him.

"Teacher? You're here too," Ma Hongjun said respectfully upon noticing Flander.

"You didn't attend your morning classes. How could I not come?" Flander responded, slightly annoyed.

However, there was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes when he looked at Ma Hongjun. After all, Flander had watched him grow up, suffering from the torment of his evil fire since he was a child. Seeing that the issue was finally resolved, and that Ma Hongjun's martial spirit had now transformed into a true Fire Phoenix, Flander couldn't help but feel pleased. With such a transformation, Ma Hongjun's future prospects were bright, and Flander's mood naturally improved.

"Teacher, I'm sorry! But I had a reason for today," Ma Hongjun pleaded, his face showing distress as he feared Flander might punish him.

"Alright, alright. I never said I was going to punish you," Flander said, feigning annoyance before turning his gaze to Zhao Ming.

Ma Hongjun hurriedly introduced him, "This is my teacher, the headmaster of Shrek Academy, and a Soul Sage-level expert, Flander."

"Headmaster, nice to meet you. I'm Zhao Ming, a newly admitted student," Zhao Ming said with a polite smile.

"Hmm, I heard about you from Zhao Wuji yesterday. At first, I thought he was exaggerating, but now I see I was the one underestimating you. You truly live up to the word 'genius,'" Flander said with satisfaction.

A genius with great talent but without arrogance—polite and humble in demeanor.

At this moment, Flander had a very high opinion of Zhao Ming.

"We haven't had a chance to teach you anything yet, and here you are solving one of our biggest problems. What you've done for Hongjun, I'll remember that. Consider it a personal favor," Flander said solemnly.

Without children of his own, Flander had planned to treat Ma Hongjun as his sole disciple. Although Flander was stern with him on the surface, even stricter than with others, in his heart, he had already regarded Ma Hongjun as his son. Now that Zhao Ming had cured Ma Hongjun, Flander naturally felt deeply grateful.

Although a favor from a Soul Sage might not hold much value to Zhao Ming right now, it was still something worth having.

"You all worked hard today. Zhao Ming, go ahead and rest for now. Hongjun, come with me," Flander said before leading Ma Hongjun away, likely to test his newly transformed martial spirit.

...

"Phew, I'm exhausted. Finally, I can take a break," Ning Rongrong said, collapsing onto the ground without any concern for her usual grace. She fanned herself with her hand, her breathing heavy.

"Anyway, Flander won't notice if I slack off a bit. I can skip a few laps, head to Soto City for some fun, and be back in time. Perfect!" she muttered to herself, her eyes lighting up as she made her way toward the village entrance.

"What do you mean no one will notice? Am I not standing right here?" A calm voice suddenly spoke.

Startled, Ning Rongrong turned to see Zhao Ming lounging under a large tree near the village entrance, casually eating an apple and watching her with amusement.

"Zhao Ming? What are you doing here?" she asked, finally noticing his presence. His spot had been hidden by tree branches, so she hadn't seen him earlier.

"Why can't I be here?" Zhao Ming replied with a grin, taking another bite of his apple.

"Um, Zhao Ming, can we talk for a moment?" Ning Rongrong's eyes sparkled as she tried a soft, charming tone, batting her eyelashes at him.

"What is it?" Zhao Ming chuckled, already amused by her mischievous expression.

"Well, I have something I need to take care of in Soto City. If anyone asks, could you pretend you didn't see me? What do you think?" Her eyes twinkled as she made her request, her voice sweet and pleading.

"No," Zhao Ming shook his head, rejecting her outright.

He knew that Ning Rongrong and Oscar had been tasked with running as a form of physical training. Flander had intentionally set this task to give Ning Rongrong a bit of a challenge, knowing she wouldn't be able to complete it. He was trying to use this opportunity to humble her, and Zhao Ming had come to help her through it.

However, Ning Rongrong didn't see it that way. She thought Zhao Ming was simply making her life difficult.

"Zhao Ming, don't forget, you didn't even show up for the morning exercises! You're even worse than me!" Ning Rongrong retorted, hands on her hips, her tone turning defiant.

She was furious. Zhao Ming had already stolen her necklace before, and she had been gracious enough not to hold it against him. Now, here he was, giving her a hard time again!

She couldn't take it anymore!

"You're right, I didn't go to morning training. But that doesn't give you an excuse to skip your assigned task," Zhao Ming said, finishing his apple and reaching for a bunch of grapes, their fresh, juicy surface glistening in the sunlight.

Ning Rongrong couldn't help but swallow as she looked at the grapes, but her irritation toward Zhao Ming quickly overpowered her temptation. She turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

"If I remember correctly, you've only run eight laps. You still have twelve left, don't you?"

"How... how do you know that? Were you keeping count this whole time?" Ning Rongrong's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Well, I was bored, so I kept track. Oh, and no need to thank me," Zhao Ming grinned, completely unfazed by Ning Rongrong's angry expression.

"I'm not thanking you!" she stomped her foot in frustration, on the verge of losing her temper.

"You'd better hurry up and finish. If we keep chatting, you won't finish by the end of the day. Of course, you can always choose not to run, but I'll make sure Flander knows. Then you can pack up and leave the academy. Getting expelled on your second day—how embarrassing would that be?" Zhao Ming said seriously. "Imagine that, leaving on your second day. Quite the disgrace."

"I'll leave then! I don't care! It's just Shrek Academy anyway. I'll leave right now!" Ning Rongrong shouted, her voice breaking slightly as tears welled up in her eyes.

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Wiping away her tears, she ran toward the village entrance. But after hesitating for a moment, she turned back and continued her laps around the village.

"You'd better run faster! I'm still counting from here," Zhao Ming called after her with a grin.

Hearing Zhao Ming's voice from behind, Ning Rongrong felt a surge of frustration and anger but could do nothing about it.

"Zhao Ming, just you wait. If I ever catch you slipping up, I won't let you off the hook!" she fumed internally.

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