Heaven Dou City had grown livelier lately.
It was all because the Blue Tyrant Academy in the north of the city, once so deserted that no one came to its gates, had suddenly changed its sign.
After half a day of banging and hammering, the gilded words "Blue Tyrant" were slowly taken down, replaced by
a brand-new, imposing plaque, with gold lettering on a black background and strokes sharp as blades:
Shrek Academy.
The news had come from Xue Qinghe.
That afternoon, warm sunlight filtered through the window lattice and fell across the study at the Crown Prince's Residence.
When Chen Jieqi arrived at her invitation, she had already prepared tea and refreshments.
Dressed in a plain white brocade robe, Xue Qinghe took a sip from a celadon teacup and casually mentioned, as though it had just occurred to her,
"Blue Tyrant Academy in the north of the city has changed hands. The new dean has quite a connection to Dean Liu Erlong.
"I heard back from my people
"that the group... came from the south, from the direction of Suotuo City."
She placed the faintest emphasis on the word "south," her tone rising slightly at the end.
After she finished speaking, her gaze fell imperceptibly on Chen Jieqi's face, as if watching for his reaction.
Chen Jieqi rubbed his fingertip along the rim of his cup, his expression calm and unreadable.
"It's common for academies to change hands."
Xue Qinghe studied him. A hint of curiosity flashed in her eyes, but she didn't press him.
Instead, she turned to recent happenings around Heaven Dou City, as though her earlier remark had truly been offhand.
But she knew in her heart that he had understood.
That mention of the south, that dean connected to Liu Erlong, and those youths who had come from Suotuo City—he knew all about them.
Flender stood at the entrance to the new academy, looking up at the fresh plaque bearing the name Shrek Academy.
His rough hands clenched unconsciously, his heart a tangle of emotions.
After a lifetime of twists and turns, from a small village in Suotuo City, Balak Kingdom, to finally putting down roots in Heaven Dou City,
he and his students had, in the end, made their way into this bustling and complicated metropolis.
Sunlight shone on the plaque, making the gold letters glitter, but Flender's eyes were filled with wistfulness.
Liu Erlong stood beside him, upright, her eyes alight with anticipation. Her fingers curled slightly from the force of her grip.
Flender stole a glance at her. Though they hadn't seen each other for nearly twenty years, she was still just as beautiful.
The stubbornness in her eyes and brows hadn't changed at all, but that faint veil of mist in her eyes hadn't been there before.
His heart ached. When faced with her, though, he couldn't say a word.
"Are Xiaosan and the others all settled in?"
Flender spoke first, his voice carrying a hint of deliberate cheer.
"Mm."
She answered, then paused before continuing.
"The dormitories and training grounds are all ready. Classes can begin tomorrow."
Silence stretched between them.
Flender's Adam's apple bobbed. Several times he wanted to speak, but each time he swallowed his words.
Guilt and helplessness churned within him.
He wanted to say, "You've worked so hard all these years."
He wanted to say, "I've been thinking of you all this time, too."
But the words stuck in his throat. He couldn't get a single one out.
What right did he have to say them? He had been the one to leave first.
All these years, as he'd watched over Shrek, he'd nearly forgotten the feelings he'd kept hidden in his heart.
It was Liu Erlong who spoke first.
"What about him?"
Her voice was soft, but it was like a pebble tossed into still water.
Flender froze, then managed a bitter smile.
"Xiaogang... is still on the road. He should arrive in a few days."
Liu Erlong nodded at him, lowering her eyes as her lashes trembled.
When she raised her head again, her eyes were already red.
"It's been almost twenty years!" she said.
Those few words were like a dull knife, cutting deep into Flender's heart.
He wanted to say, "I know."
He wanted to say, "I've waited twenty years, too."
But he...
He watched the tears well in her eyes and watched her swallow all her grievances.
Liu Erlong drew a deep breath. She didn't ask anything more, but turned and walked out of the academy gates.
Flender watched her retreating figure. She wasn't waiting only for Xiaogang.
She was waiting for an explanation from Xiaogang, for him to turn back, for an answer that was twenty years overdue.
And what about him?
All he was waiting for was for her to be happy—even if the one who made her happy wasn't him.
The Shrek students stood by the windows of their new dormitory, each lost in their own thoughts.
Ning Rongrong rested her chin in her hands, staring blankly into space.
Heaven Dou City... She was back.
Back then, she'd run off to Shrek in a fit of pique because she didn't want to hear her father go on about that "twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor" every day.
But now that she was truly back, for some reason, she couldn't help remembering what that person had said.
"Because you're Ning Rongrong, not because your surname is Ning."
She bit her lip, unable to make sense of what she was feeling.
She used to think it was a lecture. Now, though, she felt he was the only one who hadn't treated her as "Sect Master Ning's daughter."
Xiao Wu leaned against the railing, gazing in the direction of the city outskirts. They had finally arrived.
That dream had felt too real.
"In Heaven Dou City, there is another stretch of water." The words that person had spoken in her dream pricked at her heart like a thorn.
She wanted to see if he was really like the person in her dream.
She took a deep breath, then put on her usual bright, innocent smile.
No one noticed that she'd taken an extra breath before smiling.
Tang San stood by the window, his brows faintly furrowed.
Suotuo City had been lively, brimming with the everyday bustle of ordinary life. But Heaven Dou City exuded the solemn grandeur of an imperial capital at every turn.
It was far more prosperous than Suotuo City, and far more oppressive.
Yet the inexplicable unease in his heart was growing stronger.
It wasn't a warning of danger, but a hollow sense of loss.
It was as though a small piece had been cut from his heart, leaving it empty.
He had the feeling that something incredibly important had quietly slipped away while he wasn't looking.
He activated his Purple Demon Eye and gazed into the distance, but still couldn't grasp the slightest clue.
His Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul lay dormant within him, showing no sign of stirring.
But the pang in his heart never went away.
"Rongrong! Come out and look around!" Oscar's voice came from downstairs.
"Xiao Wu! Let's go!" Zhu Zhuqing's voice rang out at almost the same time.
"Xiaosan! Hurry up!"
Dai Mubai's voice was the loudest.
"We finally made it to Heaven Dou City. Don't stay cooped up in your rooms—let's go explore!"
The three of them snapped out of their thoughts at once and each called back in reply.
Ning Rongrong pushed those thoughts back down and turned to leave her room.
Xiao Wu bounded downstairs, her steps light, as if nothing had happened.
Just before Tang San left the dormitory, he looked out the window once more.
Heaven Dou City's sky stretched high above, with wispy clouds drifting through it. Warm sunlight poured down through the gaps between them,
coating the entire city in a soft, pale gold.
Beneath that same sunlight, Chen Jieqi had already left Xue Qinghe's residence,
riding toward Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Shrek had arrived.
That meant Tang San and the others had arrived, too.
He had no intention of visiting the newly renamed academy, nor did he plan to "bump into" them.
His advantage was that no one knew what he'd done.
No one would suspect that a student at Heaven Dou Royal Academy had anything to do with the things that had vanished from Holy Soul Village.
He hadn't absorbed it himself. One reason was that its attributes didn't suit him; more importantly, that leg bone had a better purpose.
Dugu Bo's Soul Power was already nearing level ninety-five. If he obtained this Blue Silver Emperor Leg Bone as well,
his chances of breaking through to level ninety-six would improve considerably.
With level-ninety-six Soul Power, his consummate mastery of poison arts, and the advantage of a Soul Core,
he would be able to fight Tang Hao, even.
This wasn't a deal, nor was it a way of winning Dugu Bo over. He simply wanted to make him stronger.
Dugu Bo had given him a home when he was growing up.
And without Dugu Bo, Chen Jieqi wouldn't be where he was now.
As for Tang Hao... Chen Jieqi considered the matter silently.
If there were no other outside factors or interference, Tang Hao had spent these past years wandering from place to place, and his old injuries hadn't healed.
His Soul Power was probably around level ninety-four. If Dugu Bo truly broke through to level ninety-six, he'd have a better chance against Tang Hao.
Then, even if something unexpected happened in the future, he would have the confidence to face it.
At the thought, a faint smile touched his lips.
If Grandpa knew where this leg bone had come from, he'd probably scold him for being "reckless beyond belief" while carefully helping him clean up the mess.
The game in Heaven Dou City had only just begun, and he
had already made his first secret move.
Night deepened.
Only a few scattered streetlamps swayed in the darkness.
Tang San lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
His mother... What kind of person had she been?
He had never seen his mother growing up. He could only piece together a vague image of her from the fleeting tenderness and sorrow that occasionally surfaced in his father Tang Hao's expression.
His father never spoke of her. Whenever Tang San asked, all he got was silence,
or the cold reply, "The time isn't right."
But he always had a strange feeling, as though something that should have belonged to him
had quietly disappeared while he wasn't looking.
That sense of loss grew stronger and stronger, like an invisible thread pulling him in some direction.
But he couldn't grasp it, and he couldn't see where it led.
He clenched his fist, forcing down the turmoil in his heart and making himself close his eyes and sleep.
Outside the window, moonlight flowed like water, silent and still.
Meanwhile, deep in Sunset Forest, beside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well,
a slender blue-gold seedling swayed gently in the moonlight. Its leaves had spread out a little more than the day before,
shimmering with a warm blue-gold glow. Its fine roots sank deep into the special soil of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, and it was visibly growing.
In this place unknown to all, it waited for the course of fate that belonged to it.
But no one knew that from the very beginning, this fate had already veered from its original path.