The Heartbeat Always Recognizes You Before I Do

It was the same old Shrek tradition for physical training: running.

On the track of the Eastsea Academy intermediate division, one lap was eight hundred meters, and ten laps was the task Wu Changkong had set for them that morning.

However, this "tradition" was upgraded directly to hell mode when it came to Lin Chen.

Xie Xie and Tang Wulin were running their ten laps wearing twenty-kilogram iron vests. Tang Wulin didn't seem bothered, but it was a struggle for Xie Xie, who was panting like an ox by the time he finished.

Wu Changkong paid special attention to Lin Chen, personally helping him strap on a full thirty-five kilograms of iron, before adding airily, "Lin Chen, you only need to run twelve laps."

Lin Chen looked as if life had lost all meaning. He stared at the iron vest on his body, then at the twenty-kilogram vests on Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, and nearly performed an ascension on the spot: "Teacher Wu, why?"

Wu Changkong spoke indifferently: "Because you fought me to a draw, which means you are stronger than them, and the strong must naturally shoulder a heavier training load."

Lin Chen's mouth twitched. He seriously suspected that the shock he gave Wu Changkong yesterday had hurt, and this was a case of personal vendetta!

Xie Xie was stifling a laugh nearby, but when Lin Chen shot him a glare, he immediately averted his eyes, looked up at the sky, and sighed, "What a sunny day it is today." He then pretended to adjust his iron vest.

Tang Wulin was a better friend; he gave Lin Chen a sympathetic look and whispered, "Lin Chen, hang in there. I'll keep an eye on the teacher for you after I finish."

Lin Chen sighed and resigned himself to running with the group. Fortunately, influenced by his Azure Dragon martial soul, this amount of training was nothing to him.

Lin Chen could feel Wu Changkong's gaze fixed firmly upon 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, dressed in a clean white top and white pants. Her appearance was eighty or ninety percent similar to Na'er, but the difference was that her hair was black, and her eyes were the same beautiful purple pupils as Na'er's.

The pendant around his neck seemed to sense something and grew slightly warm. Lin Chen noticed the anomaly but ignored it, yet he turned his head to look as if by some divine intervention.

At a single glance, his heartbeat quickened for a moment. The girl's image was reflected in his glazed pupils, and he thought silently to himself: It's Na'er, isn't it?

The girl seemed to have a clear purpose; her purple eyes had been watching Lin Chen, who was running in his iron vest, the entire way.

Wu Changkong's gaze paused on the girl for a moment, his brows slightly furrowed. It was class time.

He stepped forward, his cold, clear voice ringing out: "It is class time. Which class are you from?"

The girl turned to look at Wu Changkong and replied, "I came to enroll, but they said the enrollment period had passed."

Wu Changkong's brows furrowed even tighter as his gaze swept over her: "You are not a student of Eastsea Academy?"

The young girl raised her head, her purple eyes filled with a clear persistence, her tone firm: "Not yet, but I hope I can study here. May I, Teacher?"

Her gaze drifted involuntarily past Wu Changkong and fell back onto Lin Chen, a faint smile playing on her lips, as if she were saying, "Lin Chen, I'm back."

If it were an ordinary teacher, they might have refused her, but was Wu Changkong an ordinary teacher? Clearly not; he was an extraordinary one.

Wu Changkong said coldly: "This is a Soul Master Academy. To study here, you must rely on your strength."

"I can take a test." The girl smiled, her brows curving, her purple eyes shining as if starlight had fallen into them.

Wu Changkong asked her for her name.

The girl answered him: "My name is Gu Yuena."

Wu Changkong nodded thoughtfully and called out to Xie Xie on the track: "Xie Xie, stop running. Come here for a moment."

Xie Xie was panting heavily and almost thought he had misheard. He stumbled to a halt, then ran over with a bewildered expression: "Teacher? What is it?"

Wu Changkong pointed at the girl beside him and said indifferently: "Her name is Gu Yuena. I'll give you a chance to skip training: defeat her, and you can rest."

Xie Xie's eyes lit up instantly, and he nearly jumped for joy. The confusion on his face vanished, replaced by unconcealable excitement. He subconsciously took a half-step forward, as if to confirm he hadn't misheard: "Really?"

Wu Changkong glanced at him coldly, his tone devoid of ripples: "I never speak falsely."

Xie Xie almost shouted out loud, but meeting Wu Changkong's eyes, he swallowed the cheer back down, forced to clench his fists and frantically psych himself up in his heart.

He was already out of breath, and the weight of the iron vest made his shoulders ache; now that he had a chance to skip training, he was desperate to agree immediately.

Wu Changkong spoke calmly: "Rest for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, you will spar in the center of the field."

With that, he turned and walked to the edge of the field, arms crossed, his gaze still locked firmly on Lin Chen on the track, as if the preceding interlude were merely a trivial matter not worth mentioning.

About twenty-two minutes later, a crestfallen Xie Xie went back to running. He had almost finished his laps, but because he lost to Gu Yuena, Wu Changkong rewarded him with three more.

Gu Yuena successfully joined Class Five, and Wu Changkong told her to go running with them.

Gu Yuena soon caught up to Lin Chen, who was running in front. Once the distance between them closed, she tilted her head, her voice soft and clear: "Hello, my name is Gu Yuena. Why are you running in an iron vest that is heavier than theirs?"

Lin Chen's figure stiffened slightly. Hearing the name "Gu Yuena," he turned to look at that face, which was eighty or ninety percent similar to Na'er's, and lowered his head without a word, as if he dared not confirm it.

Yet his heartbeat had already told him that the girl beside him was the very same Na'er who had always followed behind him, calling him "Brother Lin Chen" so sweetly.

Xie Xie and Tang Wulin were trailing behind the group. Xie Xie was gasping for air, watching Gu Yuena run up to Lin Chen and get extremely close.

He couldn't help but nudge Tang Wulin with his elbow, winking and teasing in a low voice: "Wulin, look at Brother Lin Chen. It's good to be handsome; the new girl is already attracted to him!"

Lin Chen and Gu Yuena ignored the discussion behind them.

After school, Lin Chen called Gu Yuena to a secluded spot with few students.

Lin Chen's eyes were complex, his voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling: "You... you are Na'er, right?"

Gu Yuena looked up at him, her purple eyes rippling with fragmented light. She smiled gently, her voice as soft as cotton: "Mm, I am, but my name is Gu Yuena."

Lin Chen's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and the corners of his eyes uncontrollably grew damp.

In truth, she didn't need to say it; the pendant at his throat had been burning for a while, and his heart was beating so fast it felt like it would break through his chest—that was a sensation he only felt when Na'er was by his side.

He looked at the girl before him, at her familiar brows and eyes, her familiar smile. All his trepidation and unease dissolved in that moment into the bittersweet, scorching ache of a lost treasure regained.

"Look, this is what you made for me at the beach three years ago. I've been wearing it the whole time." Gu Yuena shook the seashell bracelet on her wrist.

"I won't leave you again, Lin Chen."