The unchanging tradition of Shrek: physical training. Running.
The intermediate division's track at Eastsea Academy was eight hundred meters per lap. Ten laps—that was Teacher Wu's assignment for the morning.
But when it came to Lin Chen, this "tradition" had been upgraded straight to hell mode.
Xie Xie and Tang Wulin ran ten laps wearing twenty-kilogram weighted suits. Tang Wulin was fine, but Xie Xie had it rough. By the time he finished, he was panting like an ox.
Teacher Wu paid special attention to Lin Chen, personally helping him put on a weighted suit that was a full thirty-five kilograms. Then he added lightly, "Lin Chen, you only need to run twelve laps."
Lin Chen looked utterly bereft. He glanced at the weighted suit on himself, then at the twenty-kilogram suits on Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, and nearly staged an instant ascension to heaven. "Teacher Wu, why?"
Wu Changkong spoke calmly. "Because you drew with me, which means you're stronger than them. And the strong naturally have to shoulder a greater training load."
Lin Chen's mouth twitched. He strongly suspected that he'd shocked Wu Changkong with that jolt yesterday, and this was personal revenge!
Xie Xie was trying to stifle a laugh nearby. Lin Chen shot him a warning glare, and he immediately looked away, gazing up at the sky with a sigh. "What a sunny day." Then he pretended to adjust his weighted suit.
Tang Wulin was the good one. He gave Lin Chen a sympathetic look and murmured, "Lin Chen, hang in there. Once I'm done, I'll keep an eye on the teacher for you."
Lin Chen sighed and resigned himself to running with the others. Fortunately, with the influence of his Azure Dragon Martial Soul, this amount of training wasn't much of a problem.
Lin Chen could feel Wu Changkong's gaze fixed firmly on him.
When he reached the ninth lap, a girl walked onto the intermediate division's track.
She looked about the same age as the students in Class Five. She wore a neat white top and white pants, and her face bore an eight- or nine-tenths resemblance to Na'er's. The difference was that her hair was black, and her eyes were the same beautiful violet as Na'er's.
The pendant around his neck seemed to sense something and grew faintly warm. Lin Chen noticed the odd sensation and ignored it, but, as if possessed, he turned his head to look.
At a glance, his heartbeat quickened for an instant. The girl's image was reflected in his glassy eyes, and he thought silently, It's Na'er, isn't it?
The girl seemed to have come with a purpose. All the way over, her violet eyes had stayed fixed on Lin Chen as he ran in his weighted suit.
Wu Changkong's gaze paused on the girl, and his brows knit slightly. It was class time.
He stepped forward, his cool voice ringing out. "It's class time. Which class are you in?"
The girl turned to Wu Changkong and replied, "I came to enroll, but they said the enrollment period was over."
Wu Changkong's brows furrowed even more deeply. His gaze swept over her. "You're not a student at Eastsea Academy?"
The girl raised her head, her violet eyes clear and steadfast. Her voice was firm. "Not yet, but I hope I can study here. May I, teacher?"
Her gaze slipped past Wu Changkong again and fell on Lin Chen. A faint smile touched her lips, as if to say, "Lin Chen, I'm back."
An ordinary teacher might have rejected her, but was Wu Changkong an ordinary teacher? Clearly not. He was a different sort altogether.
Wu Changkong said coldly, "This is a Soul Master Academy. You need to prove your ability to study here."
"I can take a test." The girl smiled, her eyes curving as brightly as if starlight had settled in her violet irises.
Wu Changkong asked her name.
The girl answered, "My name is Gu Yuena."
Wu Changkong nodded thoughtfully, then called to Xie Xie on the track. "Xie Xie, you can stop running. Come here for a moment."
Xie Xie was panting hard. He almost thought he'd misheard, and stumbled before managing to stop. He ran over, looking bewildered. "Teacher? What's up?"
Wu Changkong pointed to the girl beside him and said calmly, "Her name is Gu Yuena. I'll give you a chance to skip training. Beat her, and you can rest."
Xie Xie's eyes lit up at once. He nearly jumped, his confusion swept away and replaced by undisguised excitement. He unconsciously leaned half a step forward, as if checking that he hadn't misheard. "Really?"
Wu Changkong gave him a cold glance, his tone unchanged. "I never lie."
Xie Xie nearly shouted on the spot, but when he met Wu Changkong's gaze, he swallowed his cheer at once. He could only clench his fists and silently cheer himself on with all his might.
He was already gasping for breath, and the weight of the suit was making his shoulders ache. Now that he had a chance to skip training, he couldn't wait to accept.
Wu Changkong said calmly, "Rest for twenty minutes. In twenty minutes, you'll fight in the center of the field."
With that, he turned and walked to the edge of the track, folding his arms across his chest. His gaze remained fixed on Lin Chen as he ran, as if the little interruption had been nothing worth mentioning.
About twenty-two minutes later, Xie Xie trudged back to running, covered in dust. He'd been about to finish, but he'd lost to Gu Yuena, so Wu Changkong had rewarded him with three extra laps.
Gu Yuena joined Class Five without a hitch, and Wu Changkong told her to run with the others.
Gu Yuena quickly caught up with Lin Chen, who was running near the front. Once they drew close, she turned her head slightly and spoke in a soft, clear voice. "Hello, my name is Gu Yuena. Why are you running in a heavier weighted suit than everyone else?"
Lin Chen's figure stiffened slightly. Hearing the name Gu Yuena, he turned to look at the girl whose face so closely resembled Na'er's, then lowered his head without speaking, as if he didn't dare believe it.
But his heartbeat had already told him: the girl beside him was the same Na'er who used to follow behind him, sweetly calling him "Brother Lin Chen."
Xie Xie and Tang Wulin were running at the back of the group. Xie Xie was gasping for breath as he watched Gu Yuena run up beside Lin Chen, drawing very close to him.
Unable to resist, he nudged Tang Wulin with his elbow and gave him a teasing look, whispering, "Wulin, look at Brother Lin Chen. It's great being handsome—new girls are drawn to him the moment they show up!"
Lin Chen and Gu Yuena paid no attention to the discussion behind them.
After school that afternoon, Lin Chen called Gu Yuena over to a spot where there were fewer students.
Lin Chen's gaze was complicated, and his voice carried a faint, almost imperceptible tremor. "You're Na'er, right?"
Gu Yuena looked up at him, her violet eyes shimmering with tiny flecks of light. She smiled softly, her voice as gentle as cotton. "Mm, I am. But my name is Gu Yuena."
Lin Chen's Adam's apple bobbed hard, and the corners of his eyes grew wet despite himself.
He didn't need her to say it. The pendant at his neck had already been warming, and his heartbeat was racing as if it would burst through his chest. It was a feeling he only ever had when Na'er was beside him.
He looked at the girl before him, at her familiar brows and eyes, her familiar smile. In that moment, all his anxiety and unease turned into the bittersweet ache and burning joy of finding something he'd lost.
"Look, this is the shell bracelet you made for me by the sea three years ago. I've worn it all this time." Gu Yuena shook the bracelet on her wrist.
"I won't leave you again, Lin Chen."
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