Wu Zhangkong's Promise

Wu Zhangkong shook his head helplessly, then continued.

"How could I possibly be worthy of having my teacher keep me in his thoughts for so long?"

Yun Ze raised a hand, releasing his Soul Guidance Mecha from his storage soul device. He bent his knees, leaped onto the mecha hovering in mid-air, and said to Wu Zhangkong, "Whether you're worthy or not isn't for you to decide. Regardless, it's true that your teacher has been thinking of you all this time. If you insist on being that rebellious disciple and making him worry, there's nothing I can do about it."

As he spoke, Yun Ze didn't wait for Wu Zhangkong to reply and sat directly into the mecha's cockpit.

"Let's go."

Wu Zhangkong suddenly leaped up, landing one foot directly on the front cover of Yun Ze's mecha.

Yun Ze opened the mecha hatch, speechless, and said, "I'm telling you, Wu, this kind of behavior is a provocation. Get down, now."

Wu Zhangkong silently squeezed into the mecha cockpit with Yun Ze and said, "Pardon me, give me a ride back to Shrek."

Yun Ze "..."

"I said get down. I'm not going back to Shrek; my next stop isn't there, so this isn't on my way."

Wu Zhangkong didn't use any forceful methods against Yun Ze; he simply stared at him with wide eyes.

"Damn it, I really owe you."

Yun Ze cursed, started the Soul Guidance Mecha, turned, and headed toward Shrek City, muttering as he piloted, "It's only because Heaven Dou City isn't far from Shrek. If you tried this stunt in Ming Capital, see if I'd bother with you."

Wu Zhangkong didn't react to Yun Ze's mild insults, simply smiling as he said, "As the saying goes, if you help someone, help them all the way; if you see a Buddha off, see them to the west."

Yun Ze curled his lip and replied, "Fine, fine. Helping you once is helping you once. Besides, once I get back, I have another solution for the matters that follow."

Wu Zhangkong didn't quite understand the latter part of Yun Ze's words, so he simply closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

"Truly master and disciple, their personalities are really alike."

Yun Ze complained softly in frustration, remembering that Zhuo Shi would occasionally act this shamelessly in front of him, and couldn't help but smile.

In Shrek City, Yun Ze landed near the outskirts of Shrek Academy. Although this was his family's property, this particular mecha hadn't been registered with them yet.

It would be quite a scene if someone shot it down, and truthfully, Yun Ze didn't want to break his own family's rules over such a trivial matter.

After all, these rules were upheld by Yun Ming, who was his own father; it wouldn't be good to slap his own father in the face.

Although humans didn't have the concept of surviving a tribulation, Yun Ze didn't want to commit such a taboo.

After stopping the Soul Guidance Mecha, Yun Ze opened the cockpit door.

He and Wu Zhangkong stepped out of the mecha one after the other.

"Are you still going into the academy?"

Yun Ze asked Wu Zhangkong, who hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"I can't let Teacher come out to find me again; that wouldn't be proper."

Yun Ze nodded, then led Wu Zhangkong through the gates of Shrek Academy.

Naturally, no one dared to stop Yun Ze; both the Inner Court and Outer Court recognized this son of Yun Ming.

After entering the Inner Court, Yun Ze brought Wu Zhangkong into Zhuo Shi's courtyard and casually shouted, "Old man Zhuo, look who I've brought back? Aren't you going to come out and welcome me!"

Zhuo Shi hadn't appeared yet, but his booming voice came first.

"It's you little Devil King again. Do you want to taste your Uncle Feng Yu's hammer? Or do you want to taste your father's spear shaft? Talking to me like that."

Although the voice was loud and carried a hint of threat, one could tell from the tone that Zhuo Shi wasn't angry at all; in fact, he sounded somewhat happy.

But when Zhuo Shi stepped out and saw the person behind Yun Ze, the smile on his face stiffened, and he immediately put on a stern expression.

"You little devil, why did you bring this person here? Go away, go away, bad luck."

Yun Ze raised his Heaven-Propping Spear and poked Zhuo Shi in the waist, saying, "Alright, look at the two of you. Regarding what happened back then, in any ordinary storybook, the issue would have been cleared up within two chapters. You both just keep your faces tight and refuse to speak your hearts; isn't that just making the knot tighter?"

"Speak properly this time, just do it as a favor to me."

At this moment, Wu Zhangkong stepped forward and looked at Zhuo Shi. The latter glanced at Yun Ze before fixing his gaze on him.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don't waste my time."

Wu Zhangkong's knees went weak, and he knelt before Zhuo Shi, saying, "Teacher, I was wrong back then."

Yun Ze retreated at the right moment. As he left, he saw a flicker of softness in Zhuo Shi's eyes.

Just at this moment, the figure of Shen Yi walked over from the distance, seemingly intending to report something to Zhuo Shi.

Shen Yi was just about to open her mouth to call out Zhuo Shi's name when Yun Ze stepped forward and gently covered her mouth.

Yun Ze still carried a trace of battle energy on his body, and after covering her mouth, her cheeks flushed red in an instant, and she immediately pushed Yun Ze away, saying, "You little rascal, trying to bully your elder sister again."

Yun Ze shrugged his shoulders and lowered his voice, saying, "They're discussing important matters inside, don't make a sound, come with me."

Shen Yi was somewhat puzzled, but she still followed Yun Ze as they quietly snuck around to the back door of the house.

Wu Zhangkong's voice drifted out from the room at that exact moment, and Shen Yi's pupils dilated several times over.

"The person inside is..."

Yun Ze nodded and whispered, "It's your senior brother, I picked him up halfway here."

A trace of joy appeared on Shen Yi's face; in her eyes, this was finally a chance to resolve the knot between the two of them.

Yun Ze, however, poured a bucket of cold water on her hopes in a low voice, saying, "Don't get your hopes up too high. Although I managed to provoke your senior brother into coming back this time, I haven't done enough work on your teacher's side yet. From what I can tell, your teacher still intends to keep his guard up."

Shen Yi sighed, then whispered, "If it weren't for those things back then, what a wonderful pair of master and disciple they would have been."

Yun Ze patted Shen Yi on the shoulder, comforting her by saying, "Do your best and leave the rest to fate. As long as we can justify our actions to ourselves, that's enough. As for how things develop later, we can only let nature take its course."

Just then, Wu Zhangkong's voice grew a bit louder, carrying clearly through the door for both of them to hear.

"I am not coming back for the time being, Teacher. I know that I have wasted several years of cultivation, and the road ahead will be very difficult. I want to teach two good students; it can be considered making up for your regrets, Teacher."

Zhuo Shi's voice then rang out, responding to Wu Zhangkong, "At least you have some ambition, kid. However, finding a good disciple is not an easy task."

Wu Zhangkong nodded and said, "I know. I wasn't holding out much hope either, it's just that..."