"President...," Zhou Yi's expression also showed an unnatural look.
She was torn inside.
She really wanted to splash this dirty water on Qin Xiao.
But that was impossible.
So many eyes were watching; the truth can't be concealed forever.
Without any choice, she had to steel her nerves to answer, "President, to tell you the truth, the soul tool that trapped Director Du was released by me..."
"What?" Yan Shaozhe's expression suddenly changed, and his heart skipped a beat.
He realized that he might have really misunderstood.
The truth of the matter didn't seem to align with what he had guessed.
"What exactly is going on?" Yan Shaozhe asked with a stern look.
He was in a very bad mood, as if a stampede of ten thousand alpacas rushed past him.
"This, this..." Zhou Yi looked embarrassed, completely at a loss for what to say.
She couldn't admit that she had been trying to lead Qin Xiao to his death, only for him to resist vehemently and almost make her scheme backfire, could she?
No, if Yan Shaozhe hadn't appeared at the critical moment to save her life, she would have been the one in trouble.
It was too shameful.
She couldn't bring herself to say it.
"What's this hesitation, speak up!"
The more Zhou Yi hesitated, the uglier Yan Shaozhe's face became.
But still, Zhou Yi hemmed and hawed. "Forget it, I won't ask you anymore."
Yan Shaozhe turned his gaze to Du Weilun inside the Absolute Defense, "Be careful, I am going to break the defense and help you out."
Though Du Weilun couldn't hear the sound, he could make out what Yan Shaozhe said from the movement of his lips. After nodding, he immediately began to rotate his Soul Power and set up a series of protective barriers around himself.
Hissss!
Another loud cry of a phoenix resounded. The phantom of a Bright Phoenix suddenly appeared around Yan Shaozhe, circled in the air, and then charged fiercely toward the Absolute Defense.
Boom!
With a violent impact, the Absolute Defense that had trapped Du Weilun for half the day shattered to pieces.
Some of the residual Soul Power even fell upon Du Weilun.
Luckily, he was well-prepared and had set up a Soul Force Barrier in advance, which prevented him from sustaining any injuries.
Yan Shaozhe looked at Du Weilun sternly, "Du Weilun, if you're not dead, get over here immediately and tell me what happened."
Without hesitation, Du Weilun dejectedly made his way to Yan Shaozhe.
"President, you were wrong, you really got it wrong," Du Weilun bit his teeth and said gravely, "Qin Xiao was not the initiator of the incident; he is a victim..."
"What the hell?" After hearing Du Weilun's words, Yan Shaozhe barely kept his composure as his face showed shock. He looked incredulously at Qin Xiao, "Are you sure, that lively and kicking kid is the victim?"
This was a bit absurd.
Shouldn't victims be like Zhou Yi, with severe injuries and almost in mortal danger? How could a victim still be bouncing around?
Being able to become the head of instruction, apart from strong abilities and talent, Du Weilun's skills in discerning words and reading situations as well as interpersonal savvy weren't weak either.
He instantly saw the thoughts in Yan Shaozhe's mind.
The smile on his face became more bitter.
"As hard as it is to accept, this is the truth..."
Speaking this, his voice gradually lowered.
He told Yan Shaozhe the cause and process of the incident using a sound transmitting method.
"What?"
"So this is what actually happened?"
Yan Shaozhe was stunned.
He believed Du Weilun would not deceive him.
Which means Qin Xiao was truly innocent and had always been the victim...
When he looked at Qin Xiao again, his gaze had changed.
It carried an undeniable embarrassment.
"Well, youngster, I apologize for my rashness just now, and I hope you can forgive me," he said, and surprisingly, he bowed deeply to Qin Xiao.
'One who could bend or stretch, this Yan Shaozhe indeed had character.'
Qin Xiao's gaze flickered slightly, and then he nodded slowly, "It's nothing, but I believe President Yan will surely give me an explanation, right?"
After Yan Shaozhe stood up, he nodded vigorously, "Of course, rest assured, we will definitely provide you with a satisfactory answer."
When he looked at Zhou Yi again, his eyes had turned extremely cold, radiating bone-chilling iciness.
This woman is truly courting death.
"President, please listen to my explanation..."
Zhou Yi also saw the color of blame in Yan Shaozhe's eyes and hurriedly spoke.
Yan Shaozhe stretched out his hand and waved it impatiently, "Enough. Save your explanations for the Elders."
"Du Weilun, take Zhou Yi away."
Du Weilun quickly nodded, "Alright."
However.
Qin Xiao's voice rang out from behind Du Weilun, "Director Du, have you forgotten something?"
As if struck by lightning, Du Weilun stood still in shock for a moment before slowly turning around, "Something? What thing?"
Qin Xiao smiled faintly, "A soul bone."
Soul bone!
Right!
A realization hit Du Weilun, and he immediately took out a soul bone from his Spatial Soul Guidance Device and handed it to Qin Xiao, "Look at me, I've got too much on my mind and forgotten about it."
Indeed, that was no lie.
Earlier, Du Weilun had been trapped in the Absolute Defense, extremely anxious, and had indeed forgotten the bet between Zhou Yi and Qin Xiao.
After receiving the soul bone, Qin Xiao smiled slightly, "No problem."
"Then I'll be leaving..." Du Weilun was about to turn and leave.
But Qin Xiao's ethereal voice once again sounded behind Du Weilun, "Director Du, I believe you have not forgotten what you promised me earlier, have you?"
Hiss...
Du Weilun's expression suddenly changed.
Of course, he had not forgotten.
He had arrogantly told Qin Xiao earlier that he was willing to pay double the price, no matter the cost...
But... after the battle just now, he estimated that it would cost several million golden soul coins.
If it was double, that would simply be an astronomical sum for him.
This time, Du Weilun's face showed a rigid and unnatural smile.
"Rest assured, I definitely have not forgotten what I promised you. Our Shrek Academy can still afford this expense," he said.
Qin Xiao nodded in satisfaction, "Very well, seventeen level-five fixed-installation soul-guiding cannons, plus sixteen level-three and level-four soul-guiding cannons, all from the premium production of Mingde Hall... let's just round it up to five million golden soul coins."
"Five million golden soul coins?" Du Weilun's complexion changed rapidly.
This price was much higher than he had imagined.
Double... wasn't that ten million golden soul coins?
"Kid, although I agreed to pay you double in golden soul coins, you can't take me for a sucker. Ask yourself, are those soul-guided cannonballs really worth that much?" Du Weilun asked somewhat angrily.
Seeing his annoyed appearance, Qin Xiao did not get angry but instead laughed.
He did not explain to Du Weilun but turned to look at Yan Shaozhe, "President Yan, you are the most qualified to judge whether my quoted price is reasonable."
After all, he had just endured the bombardment of the soul-guided cannons, so it was not wrong to say he had the most say in this matter.
"President..."
Du Weilun also subconsciously looked towards Yan Shaozhe.
Yan Shaozhe's expression changed for a moment before he said gravely, "His soul tools are indeed extraordinary; had he not said they were level-five fixed-installation soul-guiding cannons, I would have thought they were level six."
Du Weilun paused, muttering to himself, "So, five million isn't expensive..."
But, the next moment, he felt his heart bleeding—wasn't he about to spend ten million golden soul coins?
However.
The next moment, Qin Xiao's ethereal voice was heard again.
"That's just part of it. There are also some Soul Guidance Grenades and Invincible Shields. Adding them all together comes to about one million, five hundred and fifty-one thousand, seven hundred and twenty-three golden soul coins. I'll give you a discount, let's make it one million, six hundred thousand golden soul coins..."
Du Weilun: "???"
When he heard Qin Xiao say "I'll give you a discount," he was quite happy, thinking this kid had some conscience.
But when he heard that the discount brought it down to one million, six hundred thousand golden soul coins, his heart nearly collapsed.
Grinding his teeth, Du Weilun said, "Kid, don't be too outrageous."
Qin Xiao feigned surprise, "Director Du, that is not a fair statement. These are premium soul tools from the Sun-Moon Empire, crafted by top-level masters. I'm giving you a conscience price. You couldn't even buy them if you went to the Sun-Moon Empire personally."
Of course, he couldn't buy them.
Qin Xiao did not produce many soul tools, and they were not in circulation on the market.
"You're just extorting..." Du Weilun was shaking with anger.
But Yan Shaozhe said sternly, "Director Du, enough. It's just thirteen million, two hundred thousand golden soul coins, right? We can afford it."
In fact, despite his relaxed appearance, he too was swallowing his own teeth in frustration.
Thirteen million, two hundred thousand golden soul coins was no small amount for Shrek indeed.