New Semester

In September in Shrek City, the air still held the last vestiges of summer's heat.

Clothes hanging in the corridor of the Work-Study Student Dormitory swayed gently in the morning breeze, and sunlight slanted in from the east-facing windows, drawing bright squares on the floor.

Someone carrying a washbasin walked down the corridor, their slippers clattering on the stone floor, and called out towards the room at the far end, "Gu Yue--! Are you ready yet? We're going to be late for the opening ceremony!"

No one answered.

Xie Xie leaned against a pillar in the corridor and yawned, with two faint dark circles under his eyes.

The night before school started, he was still rushing to finish his 3,000-word summary of his experience absorbing the Immortal Herb. He fell asleep on the table halfway through writing, and when Yuanen Yehui knocked on the door to wake him up in the morning, his face was still covered in ink.

"Stop rushing me, stop rushing me. Girls need to get ready before going out, what's the hurry?"

He rubbed his eyes as he replied for Gu Yuena, then tilted his head to look at Tang Wulin beside him, "By the way, what did Jing Heng say? Is the God Trial over?"

Tang Wulin leaned against the railing, holding the Soul Guidance Communicator in his hand, the screen still displaying the message he had just sent.

He shook his head. "He didn't reply to me. I guess he's probably still in seclusion. Did he reply to you?"

"No."

Yuanen Yehui came up from the stairwell, already changed into her school uniform, and was carrying a bag of breakfast.

She broke open a steamed bun and stuffed it into Xie Xie's mouth, silencing his next rambling, then called out towards the end of the corridor, "Xing Lan, are you done over there?"

"Alright, alright."

Ye Xinglan's voice came from the end of the corridor, and then her figure appeared at the corner, not from her own room, but from Gu Yuena's room.

She leaned against the doorframe with one hand, brushed the stray hairs that the morning breeze had blown across her face with the other, and turned her head to say into the house, "Why are you so slow today?"

"My hair is stuck."

Gu Yuena's voice came from inside the house, unhurried and slightly hoarse, as if she had just woken up.

Her voice is exactly the same as before.

As Gu Yuena walked out, she raised her hands to gather her long silver hair behind her head.

Her fingers were slender, yet she moved swiftly through her hair, gathering the stray strands into a bundle in no time. With a flick of her wrist, she bit off a hair tie from the web of her other hand—a spare she had previously worn.

She bit her hair tie and mumbled "Almost done," then wrapped her hands around the back of her head twice to tie her ponytail tightly.

A silver ponytail cascaded down her shoulders, the ends slightly curled, gleaming with a cool white sheen in the morning light.

Xu Xiaoyan peeked out from behind Ye Xinglan, with half a cookie still in her mouth.

Seeing Gu Yuena's hair movement, her eyes crinkled into a smile, "Gu Yue, when did you buy this hair tie? The color suits you so well."

Gu Yuena loosened her grip on the hair tie, tugged at her ponytail to make sure it was secure, and then answered, "Last semester."

She paused, then added, "I bought it with you at the shop near the back gate of the college. You forgot?"

Xu Xiaoyan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled until her eyes narrowed into slits, "I haven't forgotten, I haven't forgotten! I just want to hear you say it yourself."

She ran over and naturally took Gu Yuena's arm.

Xie Xie swallowed the steamed bun, looked at the scene, and sighed, "Ah, it's so much better with sisters. Wulin, look, we two grown men don't get this kind of treatment."

Yuanen Yehui, expressionless, broke off another bun and stuffed it into his mouth. "You talk too much. How about we pay you to get a personality makeover?"

"There's absolutely no need for that."

Tang Wulin smiled, his gaze sweeping over Gu Yuena.

Her movements were natural, just like before. She was slow to get up, would bite her hair tie when tying her hair, and would stand at the door squinting to adjust to the morning sunlight before leaving the house.

But her name is no longer Gu Yue.

After the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she told everyone her full name, without taking it back, and never again used the simplified name "Gu Yue" to disguise herself.

The dormitory door sign still says "Gu Yue," but the way students greet her in the hallway has already changed to two different versions.

She nodded in response to all of them, without correcting any of them.

Ye Xinglan walked to Gu Yuena's left, her steps as fast as before. The wound on her hand caused by Di Tian's shock had healed, leaving only a very thin white mark.

She glanced at Gu Yuena's neatly tied ponytail, said nothing, but reached out and plucked a stray hair that had stuck up on the back of her collar.

Gu Yuena glanced at her sideways.

Ye Xinglan flicked the stray hair away without changing her expression and said, "Let's go."

Xie Xie stretched, swallowed the last bite of his bun, and gestured with his chin towards Tang Wulin: "So, what do you say? Should we go to the opening ceremony first?"

Tang Wulin put the communicator back in his pocket, glanced at the screen again, but still didn't reply.

He chuckled. "Let's go to the ceremony first. Jing Heng is definitely hiding on Sea God Island. We'll go straight to his room and ambush him after the ceremony."

"Great idea!"

Xie Xie slapped his thigh. "I have to ask him in person if he could at least give me a heads-up about that supposed Cross-Space Descent. My heart almost stopped from being scared."

"When has your heart never stopped being scared?"

Yuanen Yehui walked past him, leaving behind those words without even stopping.

Tang Wulin smiled and shook his head, then followed.

Gu Yuena walked in the middle of the group, Xu Xiaoyan holding her left arm and Ye Xinglan walking on her right.

The group walked through the long corridor of the Work-Study Student Dormitory, the sunlight casting their shadows long and short. At the end of the corridor was the stone path leading to the Inner Court.

The opening ceremony was held as usual in the square in front of the main building.

Cai Yue'er gave a speech, a freshman representative spoke, and outstanding students from the previous semester were commended. By the time the whole process was completed, the sun had already climbed halfway up the sky in the east.

Tang Wulin stood in the group, holding a communicator in his hand, glancing down at the screen every few minutes.

He put the communicator on vibrate and put it back in his pocket.

As soon as the ceremony ended, Xie Xie was the first to rush out of the line, turning around to urge the people behind him to hurry up.

The group walked against the flow of departing crowds, crossed the plaza in front of the main building, and turned onto the stone path leading to the Sea God Pavilion.

The shade in the Inner Court was much denser than in the Outer Court, and the air was filled with the smell of damp earth and grass.

At the end of the stone-paved path lies the Sea God Pavilion, a quiet building nestled in the shadow of ancient trees, seemingly a world apart from the noisy crowds leaving outside.

Tang Wulin walked at the front, went up the steps, and pushed open the door of the Sea God Pavilion.

The elder on duty glanced at him, recognized him as Tang Wulin, then looked at the group of people behind him, and pointed upstairs.

Yun Jingheng's room was the one furthest inside. The door was closed.

Xie Xie was the first to walk to the door, raising his hand to knock, but Ye Xinglan stopped him.

Xie Xie to look at her, but Ye Xinglan didn't say anything; she simply pointed to the door with her chin.

She was quieter than everyone else; her quietness was unusual from the moment she left the Work-Study Student Dormitory.

Tang Wulin took a deep breath and knocked twice on the door.

No one answered.

He knocked twice more, "Jing Heng?"

Still, no one answered.

The corridor was quiet, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind outside the window.

Xie Xie's smile froze on his face. He glanced at Tang Wulin Tang Wulin, whose brows were already furrowed. Then Yuanen Yehui reached out and pushed the door open.

There was no one inside at all.