Wu Zhangkong shook his head helplessly, then said,
"How could I expect my teacher to keep worrying about me?"
Yun Ze raised a hand and released his Soul Guidance Mecha from his Storage Soul Tool. He bent his knees, leaped onto the mecha hovering in midair, and said to Wu Zhangkong,
"Whether you deserve it isn't for you to decide. The fact is, your teacher really has been thinking about you. If you insist on being an ungrateful disciple and making him worry about you, there's nothing I can do."
Without waiting for Wu Zhangkong to reply, Yun Ze climbed into the cockpit.
"I'm off."
Wu Zhangkong suddenly leaped up and planted a foot on the front cover of Yun Ze's mecha.
Yun Ze opened the cockpit hatch, exasperated. "Hey, Wu, you know that counts as provocation, right? Get down."
Wu Zhangkong silently squeezed into the cockpit and said to Yun Ze,
"Could you give me a lift back to Shrek?"
Yun Ze said, "..."
"I told you to get down. I'm not going back to Shrek. It's not my next stop, so it's out of the way."
Wu Zhangkong didn't try to force Yun Ze. He simply stared at him with wide eyes.
"Damn it, I really owe you one."
Yun Ze swore, started the Soul Guidance Mecha, and turned toward Shrek City. As he drove, he muttered,
"It's only because Heaven Dou City isn't far from Shrek. If you'd pulled this on me in the Ming Capital, you'd see whether I'd help you."
Wu Zhangkong didn't react to Yun Ze's mild cursing. He only smiled and said,
"As the saying goes, if you help someone, help them all the way. If you send the Buddha off, send him all the way west."
Yun Ze pursed his lips, then said,
"Fine, fine. I'll help you this once. Besides, when I get back, I have another solution for what comes next."
Wu Zhangkong didn't quite understand what Yun Ze meant by that, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
"Just like teacher, just like student. You really are alike."
Yun Ze complained softly, then remembered how Zhuo Shi sometimes acted just as stubbornly in front of him. He couldn't help smiling.
Near Shrek City, Yun Ze landed. Although the mecha belonged to his family, it hadn't been registered with them yet.
If someone shot it down, that would cause quite a commotion. And really, Yun Ze didn't want to break his family's rules over something so trivial.
After all, Yun Ming upheld those rules—and he was practically Yun Ze's own father. Making his own father lose face wouldn't be right.
Humans might not have to undergo tribulations, but Yun Ze still didn't want to invite that kind of bad luck.
After stopping the Soul Guidance Mecha, Yun Ze opened the cockpit door.
He and Wu Zhangkong climbed out, one after the other.
"Are you going into the academy or not?"
Yun Ze asked Wu Zhangkong. The latter hesitated, then nodded.
"I can't let my teacher come looking for me again. That wouldn't be right."
Yun Ze nodded, then led Wu Zhangkong through the gates of Shrek Academy.
No one would stop Yun Ze, of course. Everyone in both the Inner Court and the Outer Court knew Yun Ming's son.
Once they reached the Inner Court, Yun Ze led Wu Zhangkong to Zhuo Shi's courtyard and called out,
"Old Zhuo, look who I brought back! Aren't you coming out to welcome me?"
Zhuo Shi didn't appear, but his booming voice came first.
"You little menace again! Are you looking to get a taste of your Uncle Feng Yu's hammer, or your father's spear? Is that any way to talk to your elders?"
His voice was loud, and there was a hint of menace in his words, but his tone made it clear that Zhuo Shi wasn't angry at all. If anything, he sounded pleased.
But when Zhuo Shi came outside and saw the person behind Yun Ze, his smile froze for a moment. Then his expression turned stern.
"You little troublemaker, why did you bring him here? Shoo, shoo! What a bad omen."
Yun Ze raised his Heaven-Propping Spear and poked Zhuo Shi in the side.
"Come on, you two. That little issue you had back then would've been settled in two chapters in some ordinary story. But you both keep a straight face and refuse to say what's on your minds. Of course the knot's only going to grow tighter."
"This time, talk things out properly, okay? Do it for me."
Wu Zhangkong stepped forward. Zhuo Shi glanced at Yun Ze, then turned his gaze to Wu Zhangkong.
"If you have something to say, say it. Don't waste my time."
Wu Zhangkong's knees buckled. He knelt before Zhuo Shi and said,
"Teacher, I was wrong back then."
Yun Ze tactfully stepped outside. As he left, he saw a trace of softness in Zhuo Shi's eyes.
Just then, Shen Yi came over from a distance, apparently to report something to Zhuo Shi.
Shen Yi was just about to call Zhuo Shi's name when Yun Ze stepped forward and gently covered his mouth.
Yun Ze still had a trace of battle energy about him. As soon as he covered Shen Yi's mouth, Shen Yi's face flushed bright red. He pushed Yun Ze away and said,
"You little rascal, trying to bully me again?"
Yun Ze shrugged and lowered his voice.
"They're discussing something important inside. Don't make a sound. Come with me."
Shen Yi looked confused, but still followed Yun Ze as he slipped quietly around to the back door of the house.
Wu Zhangkong's voice came from inside at just that moment. Shen Yi's eyes widened.
"The person inside is..."
Yun Ze nodded and whispered,
"It's your senior brother. I picked him up along the way."
A pleased smile appeared on Shen Yi's face. He thought that, at last, the rift between the two of them might finally be mended.
Yun Ze quietly dampened his hopes.
"Don't get your hopes up too much. I did goad your senior brother into coming back this time, but I haven't done a very good job with your teacher. From the looks of it, your teacher still plans to keep up his guard."
Shen Yi sighed, then said softly,
"If not for what happened back then, what a wonderful teacher and student they would've been."
Yun Ze patted Shen Yi on the shoulder to comfort him.
"We can only do what we can and leave the rest to fate. As long as we've done right by ourselves, that's enough. Whatever happens after that, we can only let things take their course."
Just then, Wu Zhangkong's voice grew louder. It carried through the door, and both of them heard him clearly.
"I'm not coming back for now, Teacher. I know I've wasted several years of cultivation, and the road ahead will be difficult. I want to teach a couple of good students. Maybe that'll make up for the regret you've carried."
Zhuo Shi's voice came from inside. He spoke to Wu Zhangkong,
"At least you've got some ambition, kid. But finding a good student isn't easy."
Wu Zhangkong nodded and said,
"I know. I wasn't expecting much to begin with. It's just..."
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