Wooing Ye Guyi

The two walked into the teahouse one after the other, finding a quiet corner by the window to sit down.

It was only after the waiter delivered the tea and left that Xiao Hongchen finally let out a sigh of relief.

He looked at the cold-tempered, golden-haired girl opposite him, brushed aside his earlier awkwardness, and said with a serious expression:

"Nice to meet you. My name is Xiao Hongchen, and I am a student at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy."

"I know." Ye Guyi picked up her teacup, her tone flat. "You are wearing the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy uniform."

...Fair enough.

"I came to find you today because I want to invite you to join my family."

The teacup in Ye Guyi's hand paused slightly. Her pale golden eyes finally turned serious, and she watched him quietly without speaking immediately.

Miss Ye, you wouldn't want others to find out that your Martial Soul is a Holy Angel, would you? Xiao Hongchen really wanted to say that... he would definitely say it if he had the chance later.

On the surface, Xiao Hongchen said solemnly:

"I know your Martial Soul is a Holy Angel, and I know you only fight using Soul Tools to hide it."

The teahouse fell silent, leaving only the faint, bustling noise of the street outside the window.

Ye Guyi set down her teacup, her vigilant gaze fixed on Xiao Hongchen:

"You investigated me?"

Xiao Hongchen did not avoid her gaze; instead, he smiled slightly, a flash of confidence crossing his heterochromatic eyes:

"Investigation is a strong word. It's just... I'm quite interested in you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he cursed himself internally.

Damn it, I said what I was actually thinking.

He paused for a moment, quickly adjusted his expression, and said with sincerity and composure:

"Ye Guyi, I mean you no harm. On the contrary, I genuinely want to cooperate with you."

"In the Sun Moon Empire, you know better than I do what a Holy Angel Martial Soul implies. The ability to suppress Evil Soul Masters will make you the most valuable pawn in the eyes of some, and the threat most in need of elimination in the eyes of others." He paused. "Regardless of which it is, once exposed, your fate will no longer be in your own hands."

Ye Guyi did not speak. Her eyelashes fluttered gently, like ripples on water stirred by the wind, vanishing in an instant.

"So?" Her tone remained flat, but the coldness had lessened, replaced by a touch of seriousness. "What can you offer me?"

"I can offer you a future where you no longer need to hide," Xiao Hongchen said. "In the Sun Moon Empire, there are few places where a Holy Angel Martial Soul can exist openly and fulfill its true value. Behind me, there is one."

"The master of Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen, is my grandfather."

Ye Guyi's fingertips tightened slightly. It wasn't out of surprise—her expression remained calm—but something in those pale golden eyes was refocusing.

She picked up her teacup and took a sip, using the motion to buy time to think.

"Of course, I won't force you. You can refuse right now. Walk out that door and pretend you never saw me today. You can keep hiding your Martial Soul and go on with your life as usual."

Xiao Hongchen took a sip of his tea. "I just feel that someone with a Holy Angel Martial Soul shouldn't waste their time on hiding."

Seeming to have reached a decision, Ye Guyi looked up.

"I need time to consider."

The moment the words left her mouth, Ye Guyi knew she was lying.

Six years. She had been hiding for six years.

Her parents were immigrants to the Sun Moon Empire. They had moved from the Star Luo Empire, bringing all their belongings and hopes for a new life, and opened a small workshop for Soul Tool parts in Ming Capital.

Life wasn't wealthy, but it was stable. Her father said that the Sun Moon Empire was the land of Soul Tools, and as long as one had the skill, there would always be a way to make a living. Her mother would smile and say that once they saved enough money, they would send her to the best Soul Engineer academy.

When she was seven, that stability shattered.

That day, she came home from school and pushed open the workshop door to find two husks drained of their life force.

No blood, no wounds; there were no external injuries on her parents.

But they lay beside the workbench, their faces withered, their eye sockets sunken, their skin as gray and pale as faded, old paper. Her father's hand still rested on an unfinished Soul Tool core, and her mother's fingertips were pointed toward the door, as if she had been trying to crawl toward it.

Ye Guyi stood at the doorway, her schoolbag sliding from her shoulder.

She didn't remember how long she stood there. She only remembered the patrol team arriving later, someone carrying her away, someone whispering "don't look" in her ear, and people talking in low voices, their tones heavy with a weight she couldn't understand at the time.

"Another Evil Soul Master."

"Draining life force... this method, it looks like the work of an Evil Soul Master."

"Poor child..."

She became an orphan.

Relying on the small savings her parents left behind and a scholarship from the Fire Phoenix Academy, she survived. Year after year, she rose from the junior class to the fourth grade, her grades in Soul Tool crafting always in the top three of her year, and just a few days ago, she had broken through to level forty, becoming a quasi-Soul Ancestor.

No one knew what her Martial Soul was; they only knew that this silent, golden-haired girl had astonishing talent in crafting Soul Tools. Her teachers described her as "focused, restrained, and never making mistakes."

Only she knew it wasn't restraint. It was the coldness forged by hatred.

For six years, she had studied while secretly tracking clues to the case. It was during this time that she came into contact with the Ordinary Alliance, whose intelligence network helped her piece together some fragments: the Evil Soul Master was still alive, having changed his identity but still remaining in Ming Capital.

But that was all. No name, no appearance, no whereabouts—nothing.

Yet today, a silver-haired youth she had never met sat across from her, exposing the secret she had hidden for six years. Then, he offered her a path.

She had to seize what might be the only opportunity of her life.

She wanted to live differently.

Xiao Hongchen did not press her; he simply reached to his waist, produced a token, and placed it on the table.

The token was made of dark silver. On the back was the crest of the Hongchen Family—a toad—while the front bore a single character: Xiao.

"If you decide, you can come to the Hongchen Estate to find me at any time," he said, standing up and placing money for the tea under his cup. "There is no rush."

Ye Guyi lowered her gaze, fixing it on the token. She did not reach out to take it, nor did she push it back.

Xiao Hongchen turned and walked out of the teahouse without looking back. Yet he knew clearly that the fish had already taken the bait.

From the moment she said, "I need time to consider," he had known.

Those who truly needed to consider would not say it aloud. Those who did were often those who had already made their choice in their hearts, merely needing a little time to accept the reality of it.

Ye Guyi was exactly that type.

He walked down the stairs, the afternoon sun falling upon his face. He mounted his Soul Tool Motorcycle, the low growl of the engine vibrating between his legs. He glanced up at the second-floor window of the teahouse. The curtains were half-drawn, and the person inside was hidden from view.

Xiao Hongchen twisted the throttle, and the Soul Tool Motorcycle merged into the traffic, his short silver hair swept back by the wind.

A question suddenly occurred to him.

In the original story, Ye Guyi had ultimately stood on the side of Shrek. Why? Because the Sun Moon Empire had never offered her this path. A girl possessing the Holy Angel martial soul could only hide, dodge, and struggle through underground organizations within the system of the Sun Moon Empire. Shrek, however, had given her the chance to use her martial soul openly and legitimately.

Therefore, her choice not to side with the Sun Moon Empire was not a betrayal. It was the Sun Moon Empire that had failed her first.

In this life, that would not happen.

Xiao Hongchen parked the Soul Tool Motorcycle in the carport by the side gate of the estate and killed the engine.

His grueling training was about to begin again.