When Ning Fengzhi's refined figure vanished at the end of the corridor and Flender gently closed the lounge door, that soft click sounded as though it had shut the door to another world.
Outside lay a continent of treacherous schemes and shifting power.
Inside stood the three people at the heart of the storm.
Flender stared at the two rosewood boxes from the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace and the two Warm Jade Guest Tokens representing the utmost sincerity of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. His heart spasmed wildly, and even breathing became somewhat difficult.
"Mad... This world is completely mad..." he muttered, collapsing into a chair. "The Crown Prince and a Sect Master are competing to give gifts to children under fifteen... Who would believe that if you told them?"
Liu Erlong said nothing, but her tightly clenched fists revealed just how unsettled she was.
Only Master, after his initial gravity, had eyes that grew increasingly bright and sharp, like a chess player who had finally encountered the opponent and game he had long dreamed of.
"Flender. Erlong."
His voice was utterly calm.
"Do you understand now?"
"From today onward, Shrek is no longer that Monster Academy that can act recklessly on nothing but hot-blooded passion."
"We have already stepped into the eye of the continent's storm of power."
"And Han Yuchen..."
Master paused before saying each word distinctly, "He is the storm itself!"
"Then what do we do now?" Flender asked helplessly. "Do we accept these two 'hot potatoes,' or not?"
"Accept them. Of course we accept them."
A calm voice came from the inner room's doorway.
The three turned toward the sound and saw that Han Yuchen had somehow already finished his "meditation." He leaned against the doorframe, a faint smile playing on his face.
His complexion