The smoke of battle had cleared.
That nauseating evil aura had vanished along with the men in black, swept clean away by the wind through the forest.
All that remained was the crackling campfire, and the slightly awkward silence of those who had survived a disaster.
Dragon Duke Meng Shu, the famed eighty-second-ranked Soul Douluo, was now studying the boy cradling a fox and absently poking at the fire with an incredibly complicated look in his eyes.
Strong.
That was the only thought in his mind.
Not the strength of extraordinary talent, but... a strength beyond comprehension.
He took a deep breath and suppressed the raging waves in his heart.
Then, with his wife and his granddaughter, whose eyes were still red, he solemnly stepped forward.
"Young Friend Yuchen."
Dragon Duke Meng Shu clasped his hands in salute toward Han Yuchen, a youth more than a decade younger than his own granddaughter.
He bent at the waist to a full ninety degrees.
His posture could not have been humbler.
Here it came.
The standard post-battle gratitude ceremony.
Han Yuchen yawned inwardly, though his face remained expressionless. He merely lifted his eyelids slightly.
"If not for your help today, my granddaughter would likely already have..."
Dragon Duke's voice was steady and powerful, filled with heartfelt gratitude.
"For such life-saving grace, I, Meng Shu, will never forget it for as long as I live!"
Beside him, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang wore a similarly fearful yet grateful expression.
Those originally cold eyes of hers now held nothing but pure gratitude when she looked at Han Yuchen.
Meng Yiran lowered her head, her little face flushed bright red. She did not even dare glance at Han Yuchen.
The little arrogance she had once felt toward the Shrek group had long since been crushed into