Gu Yue's agitation

"Teacher... Wu?"

Tang Wulin woke from Su Mo's illusion with two trails of tears still on his face. Looking at the tall figure standing before him, he had no idea what had happened.

"We fell under Su Mo's Illusion Technique!" After a long silence, Gu Yue rubbed her faintly aching, fair neck and looked at Tang Wulin with a complicated expression.

"That's right. You fell under his Illusion Technique!"

Wu Zhangkong nodded slightly, confirming Gu Yue's words.

"Not bad. You've got some impressive spiritual power!"

Su Mo had not left. Seeing that Gu Yue had been largely unaffected by his Illusion Technique, he smiled and clapped for her.

Only because Gu Yue's spiritual power was strong enough could she still function normally after experiencing the illusion he had crafted specially for her.

Had it been Tang Wulin or Xie Xie, neither of them would have been able to get out of bed for two or three days.

Gu Yue paid no attention to the praise from Su Mo and Wu Zhangkong.

At that moment, she was deeply agitated, her mind filled with what had just happened in the illusion.

She could not help it. Su Mo's Illusion Technique had been far too realistic.

Even though her spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Connection Realm, it had still affected her considerably.

Of course, if it had merely been the effects of the Illusion Technique, Gu Yue would not have taken it to heart. What truly agitated her was what she had experienced within it.

In the illusion, amid humans chanting, "Those not of our kind can never share our hearts," Tang Wulin had cut off her head without the slightest hesitation and hung it at the entrance to the Star Dou Forest.

Even then, Gu Yue had been perfectly aware that she was trapped in an illusion and that everything she saw was false.

Yet those words, "Those not of our kind can never share our hearts," lingered in her mind like a nightmare, refusing to fade.

"Where's Xie Xie?" Oblivious to Gu Yue's unusual state, Tang Wulin turned to look and discovered that Xie Xie had vanished from where he had been standing.

Looking again, he found that Xie Xie had already run over to Su Mo.

"Su Mo, please let me see my mother one more time!"

Xie Xie clung tightly to one of Su Mo's arms, pleading desperately.

Oh no. This kid's gotten a taste of something he likes!

The corner of Su Mo's mouth twitched awkwardly at Xie Xie's pleas.

"It's not that I don't want to help. I can't decide what you see in the illusion."

Su Mo patted Xie Xie's shoulder, consoling him with an air of earnest concern.

Of course, that was a lie!

As a member of the Uchiha, how could Su Mo possibly be unable to control his own Illusion Technique? Those words were meant specifically for Gu Yue to hear.

In Su Mo's illusion, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had both reunited with the family members they yearned for. Only Gu Yue had received special treatment.

Su Mo had done this to test Gu Yue.

Of the three, Su Mo knew practically everything about Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.

Tang Wulin in particular—Su Mo even had clear records of how many times he had wet the bed and been breastfed throughout his childhood.

Only Gu Yue, who had appeared not long ago and immediately shown an unusually strong affection for Tang Wulin, remained largely unknown to Su Mo.

Su Mo had sent people to investigate her background, but none had obtained the information he wanted.

At present, all Su Mo knew was that Gu Yue was Leng Yaozhu's disciple.

As for her life before becoming Leng Yaozhu's disciple, he knew absolutely nothing.

It was not that Su Mo had never considered digging deeper into her origins.

But since she would very likely notice, he had weighed his options carefully and ultimately abandoned the idea.

Still, Su Mo had formed a rough guess about her identity.

Gu Yue and Gu Yuena—the two names differed only by "Na."

And Na'er was the name Gu Yuena had used while living with Tang Wulin's family.

Combined with Gu Yue's particular interest in Tang Wulin, it was difficult for Su Mo not to connect them.

"No..."

Before Xie Xie could finish speaking, Wu Zhangkong brought a knife-hand strike down on his head.

Wincing in pain, Xie Xie was about to turn around and curse whoever had been so tactless. The instant he saw Wu Zhangkong, however, he behaved himself.

Wu Zhangkong ignored Xie Xie and walked straight up to Su Mo. "You're a spiritual-type Soul Master, aren't you? May I see your Martial Soul?"

Although phrased as a request, Su Mo heard the unmistakable tone of an order that allowed no refusal.

Su Mo had no intention of indulging Wu Zhangkong. He shot back, "Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone for something?"

"You... don't know me?" Wu Zhangkong froze, sounding somewhat incredulous.

"And you are?" Looking at the inexplicably confident Wu Zhangkong, Su Mo furrowed his brow and pretended to think seriously.

Of course Su Mo knew Wu Zhangkong. He simply disliked his commanding tone and wanted to embarrass him.

Seeing that Su Mo apparently truly did not recognize him, Wu Zhangkong gave his name with a cold expression. "Wu Zhangkong."

"Wu Zhangkong?" Su Mo repeated it with exaggerated seriousness, as though committing the name to memory.

"Now can you show me your Martial Soul?" Wu Zhangkong urged.

Wu Zhangkong had never expected an exceptionally rare spiritual-type Soul Master like Su Mo to appear in an obscure little place like Eastsea Academy.

At Wu Zhangkong's urging, Su Mo's smiling expression abruptly changed, and he said sternly, "I refuse!"

With that, Su Mo turned and left without caring how Wu Zhangkong reacted.

Watching Su Mo's departing figure, Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, who stood behind Wu Zhangkong, secretly gave him thumbs-up.

Only after Su Mo had gone far away did Wu Zhangkong realize he had been played.

With nowhere to vent his anger, Wu Zhangkong could only turn his sights on Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, who were gloating nearby.

His face darkened as he turned to the two and ordered, "You two will be responsible for investigating Su Mo's Martial Soul."

"I want information on his Martial Soul before tomorrow."

"What?!"

Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had never expected trouble to fall on them when they had merely been watching the show.

They wanted to refuse, but after seeing Wu Zhangkong's icy gaze, they nodded like chickens pecking at grain and agreed.

Wu Zhangkong nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to say more, Long Hengxu, the dean of students, interrupted. "Teacher Wu, the headmaster has something to discuss with you."

Wu Zhangkong's first instinct was to refuse.

But remembering how well the headmaster had treated him, he nodded and agreed.

Besides, Wu Zhangkong had something to discuss with Yu Zhen himself.

"Oh, and neither of you is to bother Gu Yue today. Let her have some time alone."

Before leaving, Wu Zhangkong seemed to remember something and turned back to instruct Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.

In fact, he had already noticed Gu Yue's unusual behavior and quiet departure.

Although he rarely spoke with her, the small details of her everyday behavior had told Wu Zhangkong that she was even prouder than he was at heart.

He did not know why, but Tang Wulin was the only person in all of Eastsea Academy whom Gu Yue regarded highly enough to yield to.

Yet someone so proud had now been defeated with a single glance.

That enormous disparity was surely more than Gu Yue could accept right away.

If they rashly approached her to offer comfort now, it could very well have the opposite effect.

Only after Gu Yue accepted it herself could Wu Zhangkong slowly help her work through it.