Chu Zhengzhang said to Lin Yun,
"Yeah. Awakening a Martial Soul with such a dark attribute in a place where everyone could see it was a crime in itself."
Lin Yun said,
"I understand your decision, but I still have to say this is a vicious cycle. Because you became an Evil Soul Master, you must have killed plenty of people. Didn't that just deepen people's fear of Evil Martial Souls?"
"Although you were reported for reasons other than fear, your actions also reinforce that damn logic that anyone with a dark attribute deserves to die. Of course, that's easy for me to say from the sidelines. I can't say your decision was wrong, either. It's just that with your current rate of improvement, it'll be hard to surpass that elder."
Chu Zhengzhang sighed, his eyes dimming as he said,
"You don't have to spare my feelings. I know this is creating a future where even more people with dark Martial Souls will be persecuted. But—but I don't have a home anymore, and I have no future."
Lin Yun thought for a while and sighed. He really was too softhearted. Then he asked,
"What was the name of the viscount who harmed you?"
Chu Zhengzhang gave Lin Yun a puzzled look. After a long pause, he said,
"Yang Yuefeng."
Lin Yun repeated the name twice, then said,
"I'll remember it. If I can get out of here and return to Shrek Academy, I'll use my future rewards to get the academy to speak with the Dou Ling Imperial Family and strip that bastard of everything he has. At the very least, I'll see if we can rescue your sister."
Chu Zhengzhang's eyes widened as he looked at Lin Yun.
"You'd actually help me get revenge? You really aren't like other people from Shrek."
Lin Yun gazed into the distance and said,
"Maybe we see things differently, but that doesn't stop us from both being people with feelings. Our cultivation hasn't yet worn away our basic compassion and empathy."
Chu Zhengzhang curled his lips into a faint smile and said to Lin Yun,
"Looks like if I make it out alive, I'll have to change my opinion of righteous Soul Masters. Maybe there really are good people among them after all."
Lin Yun shook his head.
"No need. You can recognize a good Soul Master who survives without going out of your way to observe him. If you aren't ruthless enough when it counts, you might end up getting yourself killed."
Chu Zhengzhang froze for a moment. Lin Yun continued,
"I get along with you well enough, and I genuinely mean to make you my friend. Don't die too soon, or I'll get bored."
Just then, the two of them reached the entrance to a cave. Chu Zhengzhang said,
"Let's head down."
Lin Yun struck a fire starter and followed Chu Zhengzhang with a torch in hand.
They'd been getting along great, but Lin Yun wasn't about to trust the other man completely just because they'd had a pleasant chat. He wasn't a complete fool.
Lin Yun wasn't exactly a good person, either. At best, he was a shade of gray.
Chu Zhengzhang knew Lin Yun had his own little schemes, but he wasn't going to call him out. What they'd already discussed was enough. If he got tricked, he'd accept it.
Deep in the cave, Lin Yun saw a woman sitting on the ground, wearing the robe of the Shrek Inner Court Inspection Corps.
The woman frowned as she looked at Lin Yun and Chu Zhengzhang, then said calmly,
"Is everyone here?"
Chu Zhengzhang nodded, but his tone was less than friendly.
"We're just working together. Don't act like you're in charge."
Lin Yun took out his Outer Court student ID.
"Hello, senior. I'm from the Outer Court. We're all from the same school, and as far as I'm concerned, I know both of you. So let's stop snapping at each other and share what we know, shall we?"
The senior from the Outer Court glanced at Lin Yun, then said,
"Now that's a sensible thing to say. Still, we really don't know much about the situation. We only know there's an unpleasant feeling hanging over this city."
Lin Yun said,
"I'll share one thing. My Martial Soul is the Skeletal Bone Dragon, an Undead Element Martial Soul. I'm naturally sensitive to life. There are only three living people who permanently reside in this city—us. Everyone else is a spirit body being forcibly detained here by some kind of power."
At Lin Yun's words, both of them looked startled. They clearly hadn't known what had happened to the other people in the city.
"Then what's going on with the food here?"
The senior spoke coldly, her tone once again carrying a hint of hostility.
Lin Yun was starting to lose patience with her condescending tone, so he casually teased her.
"It's nothing much. It's heavy with death energy. Eat too little and you'll get the runs; eat too much and you'll age faster."
Their expressions changed again. Chu Zhengzhang slapped his thigh, then pointed at Lin Yun's nose in sudden realization.
"So that's why you just watched me eat earlier without touching a bite yourself! You were setting me up!"
That did it. The senior fully believed Lin Yun's joke, and her expression darkened. Lin Yun fired back,
"I set you up? Falsely accusing someone is against the law. Did I beg you to eat it, or force-feed you?"
Chu Zhengzhang lunged at him, furious.
"Seems you've forgotten what I do for a living. Even if I can't kill you, I can still leave a mark!"
Taking advantage of a moment when the senior couldn't see, Lin Yun wrote the words It's fake, don't believe it on Chu Zhengzhang.
Chu Zhengzhang was quick on the uptake. Years of scraping by and taking knife wounds hadn't been for nothing. He immediately understood what Lin Yun meant, but kept cursing as he gave Lin Yun a black eye.
The woman got up from the ground and said,
"Enough. We can talk about this later. The question now is how to get out."
Lin Yun said,
"Then do the two of you, who got here first, have any ideas?"
The woman said,
"My Martial Soul is a book, so I can understand the ancient characters on the cave walls. They say that when humanity was just born, something came from beyond this world and crashed here. A powerful being appeared from above. We don't know what kind of creature it is, but some sort of power sealed it here."
"And according to the prophecy in the text that follows, the seal has reached its limit, and this thing is about to emerge. So it's choosing another suitable offering."
Lin Yun's mouth twitched. He said to the senior,
"So you're saying the three of us are its food? In other words, at least one of us is going to die here?"
The senior nodded, then said,
"It's actually worse than that. The choice isn't ours. If we turn on each other and fight to the death, more than one of us will end up here."
Lin Yun took a deep breath and said to the two of them,
"In a life-or-death situation like this, are we just going to stay here?"
The senior shook her head and pointed at a rock wall to the east.
"Look over there. That should be a door, and it opens with three kinds of Martial Souls: a book, a dragon, and a flower. You said your Martial Soul was the Skeletal Bone Dragon, so that should be the dragon Martial Soul's imprint..."
Before you continue