Your Mom Also Voted Yes

Three months is neither a long nor a short time.

But for a Golden Tree that has lived for tens of thousands of years, three months is nothing more than an insignificant pulse in the flow of its Soul Power.

The moment Yun Jingheng pushed open the door and stepped out, all the newly sprouted buds on the Golden Tree simultaneously turned an inch toward him.

This subtle change went almost unnoticed by anyone except for Elder Long, who was dozing in his rocking chair by the tree roots.

The old woman opened one eye, glanced at the young man coming down the stairs, then closed it again. The wrinkles at the corner of her mouth moved towards her ears, like an old cat finding a good spot to bask in the sun.

Level 65.

Elder Long shook his cane. "Advanced four levels in three months, not bad, not shameful."

Yun Jingheng stopped at the bottom step of the stairs, and the morning light shone on his face through the gaps in the Golden Tree of the trees.

Three months have left some visible changes on him.

The silvery sheen on her skin had receded into her bones and was no longer visible, but her complexion was much more radiant than it had been three months ago, like a piece of mutton fat jade that had been repeatedly handled and polished, exuding a warm and lustrous glow from within.

The contours between his eyebrows and eyes seemed to have deepened, and his youthful air was mixed with a hint of inexplicable calmness.

"Grandma Long, isn't your standard of 'not bad' a bit too high?"

Yun Jingheng flexed his wrists, the knuckles making a clear, clinking sound like jade striking each other. "I almost turned myself into a human-shaped ice sculpture."

"Ice sculpture???"

Elder Long finally opened his eyes completely, scanning him up and down. "You're now a walking moonstone. Level 65 Soul Power, and your physical strength is enough to go toe-to-toe with a level 75 one. Still not enough?"

Yun Jingheng paused for a moment, then looked down at his hands.

When Long Yeyue said this, her tone was as calm as if she were reciting a menu, but the content was quite impactful.

"Enough," he answered honestly with a single word.

Elder Long snorted, closed his eyes again, and slammed his cane on the ground. "Your mother has been brewing medicinal soup for you for three months. Go and drink it."

Following the direction pointed out by Elder Long, Yun Jingheng saw Ya Li standing in the morning light at the entrance of the small kitchen covered with vines on the east side of the main trunk of the Golden Tree, holding a celadon bowl.

Steam rose from the rim of the bowl, not ordinary white mist, but a very faint golden-green hue—the color that could only be produced by spring water that had been soaked by the Golden Tree.

"Come over."

Ya Li waved to him, her voice as gentle as when she stood guard outside the door three months ago, but there was a faint dark circle around the corner of her eyes, as if she hadn't slept through the night much in the past three months.

Yun Jingheng walked over and, as he took the bowl, his fingertips accidentally brushed against Ya Li's hand.

Ya Li was slightly taken aback.

She looked down at the back of her hand, then looked up at Yun Jingheng.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"... nothing."

Ya Li withdrew her hand and smiled, "I just feel like your body temperature is... so cold right now."

Yun Jingheng looked down at the golden-green soup in the bowl, where his own reflection was mirrored.

Her face was thinner than it had been three months ago, but the silver light in her eyes remained quietly settling, like fragments of the moon settling at the bottom of a deep pool.

He picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

The warm liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, and the life force of the Golden Tree Spring water instantly exploded throughout his body, colliding and merging with the dormant Moonlight power within him, causing a subtle tingling sensation to rise from the depths of his bones.

He exhaled a puff of white breath.

"It tastes good."

Ya Li smiled but didn't reply. She simply reached out and wiped a little soup stain from the corner of his mouth, the action as natural as if she had done it a thousand times before.

Yun Jingheng stood still.

The first completely relaxing morning in three months, sunlight filtering through the tree canopy, the breeze carrying the fresh scent of Golden Tree new leaves.

There was no bone-chilling cold, no agonizing pain in the meridians, and no relentlessly threatening Full Moon hanging overhead.

He suddenly felt like laughing.

Then he actually laughed, not loudly, but very clearly in the quiet Golden Tree Courtyard.

"... Mother."

"Um?"

"I think I could kill a ten- Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with a single punch right now."

Ya Li paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.

That smile contained heartache, relief, and a hint of helplessness at being amused by the youth's reckless and arrogant spirit.

"Don't rush to fight the Soul Beast."

She reached out and gently patted his shoulder. "Your father is waiting for you in the Council Hall. He said there are some things he needs to explain to you after you come out of seclusion."

Yun Jingheng's smile faded slightly.

"What's up?"

"Hmm... it's better if he tells you."

"All right."

He gently placed the bowl back in Ya Li's hands and turned to walk towards the Council Hall.

The morning light shone from behind him, casting a long shadow in front of him.

A very faint silver halo surrounded the edge of the shadow, like a moon folded into a human shape.

Elder Long turned over in his rocking chair and tapped the end of his cane on the ground three times.

The three soft sounds traveled along the roots of the Golden Tree to the depths of the earth, across the foundation of Shrek Inner Court's inner courtyard, across the surface of Sea God Lake, and to a distant mountain peak shrouded in mist.

At the mountaintop, a blurry figure sat atop a massive, jet-black rock.

A chessboard was placed in front of the figure, with black and white pieces alternating on it. However, one silver-white piece stood out. It did not land on any of the squares, but instead hovered an inch above the chessboard, slowly rotating on its own.

The figure reached out and gently pressed down on the silver-white chess piece.

The chess piece trembled slightly under the fingertip for a moment, then fell silent.

"Three months... seven days faster than I expected."

The figure muttered something to itself, then reached into the chess box, took out a black chess piece, and placed it in an inconspicuous spot on the edge of the chessboard.

The sound of the piece being placed was extremely soft, but around the silver-white piece on the chessboard, nine thin rays of light, as fine as hair, suddenly appeared and extended in nine directions.

One of the rays of light was pointing directly towards the Shrek Academy.

The Inner Court of the Golden Tree, the Council Hall.

When Yun Jingheng pushed open the door, Yun Ming was standing in the center of the hall with his back to him.

Yun Ming didn't turn around, but his voice had already reached him.

"Jing Heng, come here."

Yun Jingheng walked to his father's side and looked at him.

O_o?

Looking at his son's state, Yun Ming still felt a little sorry for him.

"Dad."

"Um?"

"Your expression... is exactly the same as the one you gave me when you docked my allowance."

"Cough cough cough..."

He raised his hand, making a loose fist, and pressed it to his lips, managing to swallow the rest of his cough. A faint blush rose to his ears, but it was quickly suppressed by his perpetually expressionless poker face.

"... You've got it wrong."

"I don't."

Yun Jingheng remained expressionless. "That time you said you'd buy me a new Soul Tool amplification kit, but then you turned around and told me 'boys should be thrifty,' and cut my allowance by a third."

He walked up to Yun Ming and stopped, his hands in his pockets, tilting his head slightly.

Yun Ming remained silent for two beats.

Then he turned around, his back to Yun Jingheng, and walked to the table. He raised his hand and tapped the edge of the table twice, as if trying to cover something up.

"... You've been corrupted by your mother."

"Should I tell Mom?"

Yun Ming's back visibly stiffened for a moment.

The air in the Council Hall was quiet for a few breaths, and the morning light from outside the window shone on the floor, with golden-green dust motes floating slowly in the beams of light.

Yun Ming stood with his back to the door, his shoulders slightly tense, like someone counting his breaths.

Then he spoke, his voice lower than before, as if it were being drawn from deep within his chest.

"The Sea God Pavilion held a meeting three months ago."

Yun Jingheng's expression also softened somewhat, and he pulled his hand out of his pocket, letting it hang at his side.

"About me?"

"Certainly."

Yun Ming turned around.

After the awkwardness caused by the teasing faded away, what was revealed underneath made Yun Jingheng's heart skip a beat.

It was an expression he rarely saw on his father's face.

It's not so much fear as fear; Yun Ming is the kind of person who probably won't be afraid in his entire life.

It's more like a deep, ingrained vigilance honed by time, like an old beast guarding its cave, whose ears twitch slightly at the slightest sound of wind or grass.

"From the moment you finish your Second Trial onwards... you are not permitted to leave the Sea God Pavilion even a step without permission."

Yun Jingheng: "..."

"I'm going to tell Mom that you're trying to put me under house arrest."

"Your mom voted in favor."

???