A Wonderful Feeling

The two of them strolled slowly along the campus road, their shadows stretched long by the moonlight. The night breeze carried the dampness of Sea God Lake and the fresh fragrance of the distant woods.

"So," Zhang Lexuan began, her voice softer than before, "Mu En asked me to approach you, and you think that was a scheme against you too?"

Lin Yaoyang glanced at her.

Under the moonlight, Zhang Lexuan's long black hair fluttered gently in the night wind. Her delicate, gentle face bore a complicated expression—earnestness, scrutiny, and something indescribable.

"Senior," Lin Yaoyang said, his tone softening slightly though he still did not lower his guard, "did you come to find me tonight because Mu En told you to, or because you wanted to?"

Zhang Lexuan froze slightly.

"Mu En sent me." She answered truthfully.

"Exactly." Lin Yaoyang said. "You don't even fully know why you came. How are you supposed to talk to me?"

Zhang Lexuan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.

She truly did not fully understand.

Mu En had asked her to approach Lin Yaoyang, to "see whether there was anything the academy could do for him."

But his deeper intentions...

Zhang Lexuan had not yet fully accepted that reality. She needed time to observe Lin Yaoyang.

Seeing her silent, Lin Yaoyang's lips twitched faintly.

"Senior," he said, "I'm a simple person. If people treat me well, I treat them well. If people try to scheme against me, I'll let them know what scheming really means."

"Whether Shrek is sincere toward me cannot be proven by a single sentence from Mu En, nor by you making one trip here."

"Senior, you didn't come to see me tonight just to tell me Mu En's identity, did you?"

"Indeed, I did not."

She stopped and turned to face him. Moonlight fell over her face, making her delicate features appear especially fair in the darkness.

"I wanted to see what kind of person could be so highly regarded by Mu En."

"And now that you've seen?" Lin Yaoyang asked.

"I have."

"What do you think?"

Zhang Lexuan tilted her head, seemingly giving the question serious thought.

But the next moment, she said, "I'm not telling you!"

"..."

After a moment, Zhang Lexuan asked again, "Your Martial Soul... what is it?"

"Apollo."

"Apollo?" Zhang Lexuan tilted her head slightly, curiosity flashing through her black eyes. "I've never heard of it."

"It's normal that you haven't." Lin Yaoyang's tone was calm. "There are plenty of Martial Souls on the continent that people have never heard of."

Zhang Lexuan did not mind the trace of arrogance in his words and continued asking, "What attributes?"

"Fire and light."

"Ultimate?"

She looked at the boy before her, complicated emotions churning in her heart.

Lin Yaoyang gave her an inexplicable sense of closeness that she could not put into words.

She had noticed something from the very beginning.

Whenever she was near Lin Yaoyang, she felt comfortable.

The aura around him was warm and gentle, like winter sunlight and a spring breeze.

It felt very comfortable.

Comfortable enough that she did not want to stand too far away from him.

Zhang Lexuan muttered to herself inwardly.

No wonder so many girls surrounded this boy.

Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, and that Wang Dong...

The way Wang Dong looked at him did not seem like the gaze of an ordinary roommate, either.

Thinking of Wang Dong, the file in Zhang Lexuan's mind surfaced unbidden.

Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul, male.

Zhang Lexuan could not help adding inwardly.

Who are they trying to fool?

The way Wang Dong looked at Lin Yaoyang—her eyes practically dripped with tenderness. How did she look anything like a boy?

She was actually disguised as a boy?!

Lin Yaoyang glanced at her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Senior, are you asking so many questions because you want to probe my background, or are you simply curious?"

Zhang Lexuan smiled.

Her smile was faint, but genuine. Whenever she smiled, the lingering hint of sorrow between her brows temporarily faded, and her whole person seemed to light up.

"Both," she said. "But mostly, I'm curious."

"Curious about what?"

"Curious how a twelve-year-old boy can possess such a temperament." Zhang Lexuan stopped again and turned to look at him. "I've seen many geniuses. Some are proud, some steady, some flamboyant, some restrained. But you..."

She paused, seemingly searching for the right word.

"You're very special. There's something about you... that doesn't belong to someone your age."

Lin Yaoyang stopped as well.

Under the moonlight, the two stood face-to-face, no more than a step apart.

He looked into Zhang Lexuan's eyes. Those black eyes were bright and clear, like two deep pools—calm on the surface, yet concealing something indescribable beneath.

"You don't seem like someone in her early twenties either," he said. "You also have something that doesn't belong to someone your age."

Zhang Lexuan was slightly taken aback.

"What?"

"Weariness," Lin Yaoyang said. "The weariness of someone who has been burdened by something for a long time."

The night wind swept past, stirring Zhang Lexuan's long hair. She stood where she was, looking at Lin Yaoyang as an indescribable feeling rose within her.

This boy... was far too accurate when reading people.

She lowered her head and fell silent for several seconds. Then she raised it again, and her smile deepened slightly.

"You really don't hold back when you speak."

"Just telling the truth." Lin Yaoyang shrugged. "Senior, you don't like hearing lies, do you?"

Zhang Lexuan did not answer.

She started walking again, continuing onward.

Lin Yaoyang walked beside her, and at some point, the distance between them had narrowed.

"Come on. I'll walk you back to your dorm," she said, her tone returning to its earlier gentleness and calm.

The two walked side by side beneath the moonlight, neither saying a word.

When Lin Yaoyang returned to the dormitory, Wang Dong was already lying in bed.

She faced the wall, her blanket pulled up to her chin, revealing only the back of her pink-blue head. Her breathing was even, as though she were asleep.

But Lin Yaoyang noticed that her ears were perked up.

He chuckled softly, did not expose her, and went to wash up.

After he lay down in his own bed, Wang Dong's muffled voice came from the darkness.

"What did that senior want with you?"

"Nothing much," Lin Yaoyang said. "We just chatted."

"You chatted for that long?"

"Were you waiting for me the whole time?"

"Who was waiting for you?!" Wang Dong's voice rose slightly before quickly dropping again. "I just... couldn't sleep."

"Oh."

Silence.

"What did she say to you?" Wang Dong asked again.

"She said the academy values me highly and asked whether I needed anything."

"What did you say?"

"Take a guess!"

Another silence followed.

Then Wang Dong's voice sounded again, much softer than before.

"Brother Yaoyang."

"Yeah."

"You're not going to leave Shrek, are you?"

Lin Yaoyang did not answer immediately.

The dormitory was very quiet. He could hear Wang Dong's faint breathing.

"Not for now," he said.

"Not for now?"

"Yeah. Not for now."

Wang Dong did not ask anything else.

She turned over to face Lin Yaoyang's direction and closed her eyes.

Moonlight fell on her face, making her delicate features appear especially soft in the darkness. Her eyelashes trembled gently, like two butterflies resting on flower petals.