As Zhang Lexuan spoke, the corners of her eyes trembled faintly. Clearly, she had never truly gotten over what happened in the forest. She was even a little jumpy at the slightest thing, to the point that Mu En now hardly dared let Xuan Zi take the children Soul Hunting again.
As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to have thought something through and let out a long breath. Then she sat down with her back against an old tree. Seeing this, Su Qing leaned against the same tree and sat right beside her. Their shoulders touched, and Zhang Lexuan let her head rest against him.
"Sister Lexuan, feeling sleepy again?"
After more than two years, Zhang Lexuan had made that gesture again. It made Su Qing feel as if he had returned to the day he rescued Zhou Qing and the others from the Flame Demon Lizard.
But that day, Zhang Lexuan had spent far too long in the forest and fought an intense battle. She hadn't smelled nearly as fragrant as she did now.
"I finally found someone I can lean on. Can't you let me lean on you for a while?"
"Huh?"
Su Qing shuddered. What was going on? Why had Zhang Lexuan suddenly started coming on so directly? Their usual back-and-forth, the intense push and pull, had suddenly turned into words without detours, buildup, or testing the waters—so blunt they could stop a heart. For a moment, he had no idea how to respond.
This woman is truly a master of her craft!
Su Qing couldn't help but marvel, his face practically screaming, "How terrifying!" But before he could figure out what to say, Zhang Lexuan continued:
"When I first awakened my Martial Soul, Evil Soul Masters slaughtered my entire family. Someone rescued me then. I'd already lost the will to live after my family died, but that person asked me to look after a child for him. I watched that child grow up and came to see him as family. Later, he fell in love with someone, and I lost my purpose. I didn't want to go on living in a daze, either."
"So I poured all my attention into cultivation and carrying out missions, hoping they would numb me. It worked well, until I accepted that mission to lead a Soul Hunting team. I thought it would go smoothly with a senior elder leading us, but we lost contact with him, ran into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and suffered devastating losses."
"Later, a little boy saved my teammates. He was quite something, learning to protect others at such a young age. I don't know why, but I felt inexplicably at ease around him. He gave me a sense of security I'd never felt at the academy."
"He told me I wasn't a jinx. He even said I was his goddess of good fortune. Hearing him say that made me so happy. I liked the feeling of him holding my hand as we walked along Sea God Lake. Whenever that happened, I felt so happy. But I didn't dare express my feelings, because that boy never took his own safety seriously. I was afraid that one day, some terrible news would leave me with no reason to keep living..."
"But today, when I heard he was in danger, the sudden ache in my heart made me realize that if I didn't say some things out loud, they might rot in my heart forever..."
"Thump, thump, thump—"
As Zhang Lexuan spoke on and on, Su Qing's heart pounded wildly. If nothing unexpected happened, she was about to confess. How should he respond? Should he agree right away, or pretend to think it over before agreeing? Would agreeing immediately make him seem too impulsive? But if he took time to consider it, would she think he was hesitating?
What am I supposed to do?
"I..."
Su Qing was so tense he could barely stand it. The moment he heard Zhang Lexuan utter the word "I," his thoughts exploded:
"I like you too, Sister Lexuan!"
Saying those words seemed to take all the strength in his body. He was breathing hard now, his heart still pounding. Rather than worry about all those hypotheticals, he might as well confess first and seize the initiative.
"Okay. I understand."
Zhang Lexuan nodded expressionlessly. This was exactly what she had been waiting for. Rather than patiently lecture this boy about putting his safety first, she'd give him someone to care about. That way, he'd truly learn to stay away from danger. After all, nobody wanted to make someone they loved sad. As for why she hadn't directly confessed her feelings...
That was, of course, because the meat you hadn't tasted yet was the one you kept thinking about. At least her heartfelt words just now hadn't gone to waste.
"?"
Su Qing was dumbfounded. So that whole long speech had really just been a story? Was she making a fool of him? He'd finally been serious for once, and he'd lost so badly. Damn it!
But Zhang Lexuan didn't let him down. She leaned close to his ear and whispered so softly he could barely hear:
"I like you."
Su Qing's face lit up. "Then, Sister Lexuan, would you—"
But before he could finish, Zhang Lexuan pressed her index finger to his lips to silence him. Then she held it up in front of him, wagged it, and winked.
"Win the freshman assessment first. Then we'll talk."
"Deal!"
There were still half a month before the freshman assessment. Although Mu Jin had assigned him two first-ring teammates so more students could pass the assessment, Su Qing wasn't worried about losing. With his current strength, he didn't need any teammates to clear the freshman assessment.
After all, before coming to Shrek, his sparring partner had been a ferocious, fifteen-thousand-year-old golden lion with three eyes and a white brow—the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. And they had fought hand-to-hand most of the time. Thanks to that, he had developed the strength and stamina to battle opponents a level above him. Dealing with Soul Masters who were mostly at the first or second ring would be a piece of cake.
"Quite the ambition you've got there. If you want to test your strength, come massage your Sister Lexuan's shoulders."
Seeing how confident Su Qing was, Zhang Lexuan chuckled. She wondered who had just been so flustered his face and neck had turned red. It was the first time she'd seen him look like that since they met. Hmph, even if he was a wild boy, she could still keep him in line. Though the boy was a bit of a flirt—he was so young, yet he was already juggling things so smoothly between her and Xiao Xiao. What would he be like when he got older?
Still, she didn't mind. Su Qing wasn't the type to play favorites. She believed this somewhat greedy little rascal wouldn't disappoint her.
But before she could enjoy his massage, Su Qing pinched her waist first. A girl's waist was very sensitive when she wasn't on guard, and the touch made her blush faintly. Her previously carefree expression vanished in an instant.
"You brat! Getting a little too pleased with yourself, aren't you?"
Su Qing wasn't about to let himself be pushed around. As soon as he pinched her, he used Wind-Gathering Wing-Weaving to flee far away. But he had underestimated Zhang Lexuan's speed. She caught up with him before long.
And so, Shrek had one more unlucky fellow wandering around with a bump on his head that night...