I've Had Enough of Shrek

I've had enough of Shrek

"Team Huo Yuhao, champions!"

Amid thunderous applause, Wang Dong was the first to rush over. "Yes!"

Her excitement was written all over her face. After all, she had spent three months switching to an agility-based fighting style for the sake of this championship.

Chi Qiu, meanwhile, wore a rare smile. Winning had been a simple matter for her, but who wouldn't be happy to come out on top?

At that moment, she realized she was beginning to take an interest in the human world.

Huo Yuhao's joy, however, lasted nowhere near as long as it did for Qiu'er and Wang Dong. In fact, it vanished almost as soon as it appeared. His Spiritual Detection Sharing was still active, and he clearly heard the teachers talking in the stands.

"No wonder that one-ring kid joined this team. Turns out he can support that Golden Dragon in performing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."

"He isn't a student in our Freshman Class One, so naturally he's a little weaker."

"We may need to give some thought to the core disciple positions. Teacher Wang, you know how hard it is to find a Spirit-type Soul Beast."

"Director Du, he's the champion! How can a champion not become a core disciple?"

"Has there ever been a one-ring champion in Shrek's history, Teacher Wang Yan?"

Listening to the teachers discuss him, Huo Yuhao felt as if he'd slipped into a daze. Shrek Academy seemed to turn unreal before his eyes. Even the hard floor of the examination arena felt unsteady beneath his feet, like he was walking on cotton.

He had clearly defeated Dai Huabin head-on. He had clearly won the championship...

He looked around with difficulty. The only thing that felt real was the golden figure walking toward him. A soothing voice sounded nearby. "Yuhao, you look pale. What's wrong?"

"I heard something I shouldn't have." Huo Yuhao's voice was weak, too. Chi Qiu had never seen him so dispirited. Even the frail little boy she'd first met had seemed more spirited than Huo Yuhao did now.

He said, "Qiu'er, could you support me for a moment? I'm a little tired."

Since leaving the Duke's Mansion, this was the first time Huo Yuhao had asked a companion for help. He had always been used to solving problems on his own.

But everyone had their limits, and the teachers' discussion of him had been the last straw.

Chi Qiu said nothing, but soon Huo Yuhao felt a pair of warm hands firmly supporting his right arm.

"Thank you," he said.

"I hear human friends don't need to say thank you. They just need to say 'please,'" Chi Qiu replied right beside his ear. Her usually cool voice sounded soothingly warm to Huo Yuhao.

Wang Dong also noticed the strange atmosphere and hurried over. "What's wrong, Brother Huo? Did the Martial Soul Fusion Skill wear you out? Can you still move? You have to go up and accept the award as team captain in a moment."

"You want me to go?" Huo Yuhao gave a self-mocking smile. "I doubt it."

"Why wouldn't it be you?" Wang Dong's eyes were still clear, untouched by Shrek. "When Miss Qiu submitted the team list, she put your name down as captain."

But before Wang Dong could finish, a teacher in charge of keeping order at the award ceremony came over and said politely,

"Student Chi Qiu, please."

Wang Dong was dumbfounded. Huo Yuhao's gaze, meanwhile, had gone cold with lost trust.

"I'm not going," Chi Qiu said icily.

The teacher froze, at a loss. The announcer was already calling for them from the award platform. And the backstage staff had specifically told her to have Chi Qiu go up and accept the award!

Chi Qiu's words instantly chilled the air in the small waiting area. Her expression was resolute. Huo Yuhao's face was hidden in shadow, while Wang Dong and the teacher could only stare at each other.

"Um, let Huo Yuhao go. He's our captain and our most important strategist. He should accept it." Wang Dong hurriedly pointed to Huo Yuhao, trying to break the awkward silence.

"That works. That works."

The teacher was clearly low-ranking, probably just a member of the support staff. She hadn't even kept up with what had happened over the past few days. Right now, all she wanted was for someone to rescue her from the awkward situation.

But Huo Yuhao only said, "I'm tired. I don't want to go."

"Brother Huo..." Wang Dong looked troubled, too. "But if you two are acting like this, I can't go either."

The calls for the champions from the award platform had been repeated many times. Countless students were watching the little corner where they stood. Low murmurs rose all around them, echoing the repeated calls.

In the stands, several deans and teachers frowned. What was with these three children, suddenly throwing a tantrum?

Shrek Academy had long been arrogant. Its crude, heavy-handed methods had turned out generation after generation of young geniuses, and this had made the school forget that a child's pride could be stubborn, too.

At last, Huo Yuhao stood up. "Forget it. I'll go. It's just that..."

He raised his head to look at the teacher. The hostility in his gaze made even this five-ring Soul King teacher feel a chill. But she soon realized that Huo Yuhao didn't seem to be looking at her. His gaze was fixed on someone in the stands behind her.

"I'm not doing this for whatever honor Shrek gives me. I'm only going for my friends."

With that, he headed toward the award platform.

The third-place team captain looked at him in confusion. Cui Yajie, who had come to accept the award on behalf of the second-place team captain, Dai Huabin, looked only afraid.

As a fellow Spirit-type soul master, she knew better than anyone the suffocating feeling of having her spiritual power crushed. After witnessing Huo Yuhao and Chi Qiu's terrifying Golden Dragon Green Spirit Sword from below, she was even relieved that Wang Dong had knocked her out early.

Huo Yuhao didn't look at anyone. He simply stood in the place that should have been his, but that now meant nothing to him.

In all the vastness of Shrek Academy, he felt there was nowhere he could stand.

After the dull award ceremony, Du Weilun began reading out the list of core disciples. At first, Huo Yuhao held on to a final sliver of hope and listened. But when Du Weilun named Wang Dong and Chi Qiu, then skipped straight to Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao stopped listening.

He felt ridiculous for ever hoping he'd be on that list.

Wang Dong went alone to collect the Spirit Department's reward. She understood her "role" in the team well enough. This was a moment for Brother Huo and Miss Qiu to be alone and tend to their wounds. Her job was to make sure they could do that in peace, without being disturbed by other nonsense.

But as it turned out, when trouble came, there was no stopping it or escaping it.

When Zhou Yi found them and reluctantly brought out her Secret Technique Soul Bone, Chi Qiu looked shocked and furious.

Though she had done her best to appear calm, Huo Yuhao could still feel the violent emotions roiling inside her. Besides, just hearing how the Secret Technique Soul Bone had been obtained was enough for him to know that Chi Qiu couldn't accept it.

"How many... were killed?" She tried to keep her voice from trembling.

Shrek's Secret Technique Soul Bone could only have come from the Star Dou Great Forest. Such Soul Bones were produced by slaughtering large numbers of the same kind of Soul Beast in a short period... They were cruelly obtained.

"I can't say. The school has staff who handle Soul Beast matters," Zhou Yi replied.

Huo Yuhao quietly contacted Chi Qiu through Spiritual Detection Sharing.

"Let's take the Soul Bone back," he wrote in their shared mental landscape. "Back to the Star Dou Great Forest."

Chi Qiu gritted her teeth and fell silent for a moment. In the end, she snatched the Secret Technique Soul Bone from Zhou Yi and turned to leave, pulling Huo Yuhao along with her. Huo Yuhao saw that the hand holding her Storage Soul Tool was trembling slightly.

She agreed with Huo Yuhao. This bloodstained Soul Bone couldn't be left in human hands any longer.

"Yuhao, what are you planning to do next?" she asked.

"I'm going to ask for leave first and go back to the Star Dou Great Forest with you." Huo Yuhao looked toward Shrek Academy's gates. "Then we'll head straight for the Extreme North. I've been waiting at level twenty for a long time."

"I read the school rules. If you're absent for too long, they'll expel you," Chi Qiu reminded him, not very seriously.

"That wouldn't be so bad." He really didn't seem to care much about it anymore. "There are plenty of academies in the world. I don't have to stay here. If they expel me, I'll find somewhere else to go."

"Should we tell Wang Dong?"

"Maybe not." He hesitated briefly. "...She hasn't been treated too unfairly here, at least. With her ability and background, she should be able to get by at Shrek Academy."

"When should we leave?"

"Tomorrow," Huo Yuhao said firmly.

"All right." Chi Qiu didn't try to interfere with his decision. She merely nodded. "I'll go write the leave request now."