"But I have to warn you first, once you recover your memories, you'll have to face everything from your past."
Hu Liena's voice held what seemed to be genuine concern.
"Your past doesn't just include your family and where you came from. There are also things you may not want to remember."
"Once you learn the truth, you can never go back to how things are now, where you don't have to think about anything and can live your life in peace.
"So Zhuqing, the choice is yours."
Zhu Zhuqing was silent for a few seconds, then nodded firmly.
"I want to know. No matter what my past was like, I want to know."
Seeing this, Hu Liena nodded.
"You're the legitimate daughter of the Zhu Family of the Star Luo Empire. The Zhu Family is an affiliated clan of the Star Luo Imperial Family, and its members have married into the imperial family for generations."
"Your fiancé is Dai Mubai, the second prince of the Star Luo Empire."
"We found out that two months ago, you fled the Zhu Family and were pursued all the way. The most likely person behind the attack was your half-sister, Zhu Zhuyun."
"The Zhu Family's rules of succession are cruel. The loser is either imprisoned for life or killed outright. Your sister feared you'd threaten her position, so she tried to wipe you out along the way."
Zhu Zhuqing's face gradually paled.
These were fears and pain carved into her bones.
Even without consciously pretending, a sheen of tears welled in her eyes.
Still, she nodded, letting Hu Liena continue.
"After that, you were driven into a corner by your pursuers and fled into a dangerous forbidden region of the Star Dou Great Forest."
"When we found you a few days ago, you were covered in wounds and unconscious. You must have encountered a powerful Soul Beast in the forest and suffered a severe shock, which caused your memory loss."
Hu Liena watched her pale face, reached out, and gently patted the back of her hand, soothing her in a soft voice.
"It's all in the past. You're safe now."
She paused, looking Zhu Zhuqing in the eye, her tone utterly serious.
"Zhuqing, you can't go back to the Star Luo Empire. Neither the Zhu Family nor the imperial family will accept you."
"Spirit Hall is the most powerful force on the continent. It has the best cultivation resources and the finest instructors, and it can offer you the safest protection."
"We value geniuses like you. As long as you're willing to stay and join Spirit Hall, we can give you everything you want."
"We can also help you reclaim, one by one, the things you've lost."
She looked at Zhu Zhuqing and asked softly, "Zhuqing, are you willing to stay here?"
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her eyes and fell silent for a few seconds.
Seeing this, Hu Liena immediately pressed her advantage, her voice growing more earnest.
"Don't worry. No one here will bully you."
"If you need anything or run into trouble in the future, you can come to me."
"Spirit Hall will protect you. This is your home now."
Zhu Zhuqing raised her head and looked at Hu Liena. The confusion in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by clear resolve.
She took a deep breath and spoke, each word deliberate.
"I'm willing."
A smile instantly lit Hu Liena's eyes. She gave Zhu Zhuqing's hand a firm squeeze.
"That's wonderful, Zhuqing. This is your home now."
Zhu Zhuqing looked at her and murmured,
"Thank you, Sister."
That night, Hu Liena saw her back to the small courtyard where she had been staying. After telling her to rest easy and promising to arrange an instructor for her the next day, she turned and left.
The moment the courtyard gate closed, the gentle smile on Zhu Zhuqing's face slowly faded.
She walked to the window and gazed out at the deep darkness of night and the endless lights of Spirit City.
She spoke softly in her sea of consciousness, asking with a trace of unease,
"Teacher, does she still suspect me? Did I act out of character somewhere?"
"You did well enough."
Gu Chensha's voice rang through her sea of consciousness, carrying a hint of cold amusement.
"It's only natural that they have their suspicions."
"I have to hand it to Hu Liena. First, she used your past to test your reaction, then she slowly played the long game to draw out the secret you're hiding."
"She really is worthy of being personally taught by Bibi Dong—the future Saintess of Spirit Hall."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded lightly, but said nothing more.
Her sea of consciousness fell silent.
Yet her expression was unusually grave.
There was a question that had been circling in her mind ever since the day she woke up.
For three whole days, she had turned it over and over in her thoughts, but had never dared to ask.
Teacher...
What kind of being was he, exactly?
She couldn't help replaying, again and again, the things her teacher had said over the past three days.
"Shrek? Just a lousy academy tucked away in some remote corner."
"Your fiancé is a coward who doesn't even dare shoulder his own fate."
"The cultivation resources of Spirit Hall, all added together, are greater than those of the Upper Three Sects combined."
And so on. There had been so many more.
If her teacher were a human Soul Master, Zhu Zhuqing could have accepted that he knew these things.
But the problem was that the being she called "Teacher" was a Soul Beast that had lived for two hundred thousand years.
He was the dreaded "Devil Emperor," whose name struck fear across the continent.
He was the Demon Spider Emperor from the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest!
Shrek Academy was tucked away in a remote corner of Suotuo City, cut off from information. How could a Soul Beast that had spent all its time deep in the Star Dou Great Forest know about it?
The fact that Dai Mubai had fled the Star Luo Imperial Family and hidden in Suotuo City was known to only a few even within the Star Luo Imperial Family. How could a Soul Beast know?
And there was the comparison between Spirit Hall's resources and those of the Upper Three Sects—an inside story that even ordinary Soul Masters across the continent might not fully understand. Where had her teacher learned about it?
Had he interrogated Soul Masters who had wandered into the Star Dou Great Forest?
But that made no sense at all.
As a two-hundred-thousand-year-old being at the pinnacle of the Soul Beasts, he had no need to learn about the twists and turns of the human world.
What's more, if all Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were as calculating as her teacher, humans would never be able to hunt down a single high-level Soul Beast.
To take the idea even further, if they were all truly like him, Soul Beasts would be the ones ruling this continent today.
She had turned this question over in her mind for three days.
It wasn't that she didn't trust him. It was just that these contradictions were like a tiny thorn, lodged in her heart.
Yet although her teacher could read her thoughts, he had never offered even half an explanation, letting her stew in suspicion over and over.
Even a flimsy answer might have eased her mind a little, but he had said nothing.
Was he waiting for her to ask him herself?
Or...
She took a deep breath and finally made up her mind. She spoke solemnly in her sea of consciousness.
"Teacher, there's something I want to ask you."
Zhu Zhuqing had never been foolish.
On her escape from the Star Luo Empire, she had seen more than enough schemes and deceptions. She had long since learned to keep her wits about her.
It was just that, between "trust" and "suspicion," she had chosen the former again and again.
But her trust wasn't blind. Once her doubts had piled up to a certain point, she had to get to the bottom of things.
Before you continue