Shrek Academy.
Ning Rongrong stood on the training field, drenched in sweat.
Today's training task was to run twenty laps around the field.
She had already run fifteen. Her legs felt as heavy as lead, and she was breathing like a bellows.
But she didn't stop.
"Five laps left!"
Flender stood at the edge of the field, holding a sand timer. "You don't get to eat until you finish!"
Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth and kept running.
An image surfaced in her mind: the day she'd left the sect.
Her father had stood at the gate, watching her climb into the carriage. Sword Grandpa had stood behind him, silent, his eyes a little red.
Bone Grandpa had stood off to the side, fists clenched.
She hadn't cried.
She'd promised her father she wouldn't.
But now she wanted to cry.
Not because she was tired, but because she missed home.
The seventeenth lap.
Ning Rongrong slowed, tears welling in her eyes.
"Can't keep going?"
Fu Wen's voice came from beside her.
Ning Rongrong turned and saw that, at some point, Fu Wen had started running alongside her.
"None of your business."
She gritted her teeth and picked up the pace.
Fu Wen didn't follow. He just stood there, watching her run off into the distance.
The eighteenth lap, the nineteenth lap, the twentieth lap.
Ning Rongrong finished the final lap, bent over, and panted heavily.
Sweat streamed down her cheeks, dripping onto the ground and dampening a small patch of dirt.
"Not bad."
Flender walked over and handed her a towel. "Wipe off your sweat, then go eat."
Ning Rongrong took the towel and wiped her face.
Then she realized that at some point, tears had started running down her cheeks.
She quickly turned away, not wanting anyone to see.
Flender pretended not to notice and walked off.
Farther away, Fu Wen watched Ning Rongrong's back without saying a word.
The young miss could take more than he'd expected.
But she was also more fragile than he'd expected.
Still, that was all right.
There was time here.
Ning Rongrong wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, straightened her back, and headed for the dining hall.
She couldn't cry.
She'd promised her father.
At Shrek, she wasn't the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
She was just an ordinary student.
She would prove herself.
Over the next few days, Ning Rongrong's performance surprised everyone.
On the first day, she finished twenty laps.
On the second day, it was twenty laps again, and she finished them too.
On the third day, Flender raised the number of laps to twenty-five. She gritted her teeth and finished those as well.
During a break, Oscar whispered to Ma Hongjun, "This young miss can take more than I thought."
Ma Hongjun nodded. "Yeah. I thought she'd be crying and begging to go home on the first day."
"Same here," Oscar said with a sigh. "But look at her. She's exhausted after every run, but she never once asks to stop."
Fu Wen stood nearby, saying nothing, but he was more surprised than anyone.
He knew what Ning Rongrong was like in the original story.
In the original story, Ning Rongrong didn't enter Shrek Academy until she was twelve. She was spoiled and headstrong, and couldn't endure hardship.
On her first day of running, she couldn't keep going and flat-out refused to continue. She ran off to Suotuo City to buy food.
In the end, Flender scolded her in front of everyone, and only then did she reluctantly stay.
But this six-year-old Ning Rongrong was completely different.
She ran twenty-five laps faster than Oscar.
Though she panted heavily after every run, she never slacked off, much less gave up halfway through.
Fu Wen couldn't make sense of it.
Was it because of her age?
Could a six-year-old endure more hardship than a twelve-year-old?
That didn't add up.
Then was it because of the circumstances?
In the original story, Ning Rongrong didn't leave the sect until she was twelve. She'd been spoiled for six more years, and her personality was already set.
But now she was only six. She'd awakened her Martial Soul not long ago, and her personality hadn't fully taken shape yet.
That explanation made sense, but it wasn't the whole story.
There was one more possibility: the butterfly effect.
His appearance had changed some of Flender's decisions, as well as many things at Shrek Academy.
The auction of the Flying Sausage, the suppression of the Evil Fire Phoenix, Flow-Severing's interruption effect...
Through the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's channels, these things had more or less reached Ning Fengzhi's ears.
Ning Fengzhi had sent Ning Rongrong here early not only because he'd seen Shrek's potential, but also because he'd discovered an opportunity that was completely different from the original story.
Six-year-old Ning Rongrong hadn't been spoiled beyond saving yet.
It wasn't too late to intervene now.
Thinking of this, Fu Wen couldn't help glancing at Ning Rongrong.
The young miss was sitting on a stone block by the edge of the field, gulping water from her flask. Afterward, she took a bite out of Oscar's Big Sausage, her cheeks puffed out like a little hamster.
"What are you looking at?" Ning Rongrong noticed Fu Wen's gaze and looked up, glaring at him.
"Nothing." Fu Wen looked away.
"Hmph." Ning Rongrong huffed and continued chewing on the sausage.
Flender stood at a distance, watching them, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Zhao Wuji walked over, arms crossed, and lowered his voice. "Dean, this girl's got more grit than I thought. I figured she'd be crying by now."
"So did I." Flender pushed up his glasses. "But she isn't."
"What do you think the reason is?"
Flender considered it. "Maybe she's still young. Six-year-olds adapt to a new environment more easily than twelve-year-olds. Or maybe Ning Fengzhi told her something beforehand."
"Told her what?"
"I don't know. But he must have told her something." Flender paused. "Ning Fengzhi isn't the kind of father who'd blindly throw his child into a fire pit. He must have spoken to Rongrong before sending her here."
Zhao Wuji nodded and didn't ask anything else.
On the field, Ning Rongrong finished the sausage, stood up, and brushed the dust off her skirt.
"Dean Flender, have I finished today's training?"
"You have." Flender nodded. "Go get some rest."
Ning Rongrong turned to leave, then stopped and glanced back at Fu Wen.
"Fu Wen, come here a moment."
Fu Wen walked over and stopped in front of her. "What is it?"
"Why were you looking at me just now?"
"I wasn't looking at you." Fu Wen's expression didn't change. "I was looking at the sausage in your hand."
Ning Rongrong froze for a moment, then blushed.
She must have looked awful while she was chewing on that sausage.
"You! You're so annoying!"
Ning Rongrong stomped her foot and ran off.
Oscar was holding back his laughter so hard that his face had turned red.
Ma Hongjun was more direct and burst out laughing.
Fu Wen remained calm and turned away.
That night, in the dormitory,
Fu Wen lay in bed with his eyes closed, but he wasn't asleep.
He was thinking about Ning Rongrong.
Her being different from the original story wasn't a bad thing.
But Fu Wen's concern was this:
The butterfly effect wouldn't just affect Ning Rongrong.
It would affect everyone and everything.
Would Tang San still come to Shrek?
Would Xiao Wu still come with him?
Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing...would they still be able to join the Shrek Seven Devils?
Would the events of the future still follow the original story?
Before you continue