Lakeside Talk, Wang Dong'er's Secret

Three breaths after the dismissal bell rang, Huo Chen finally sauntered out of the office toward Class One's classroom.

The hallway was a chaotic din as students streamed toward the training grounds, cafeteria, and dormitories.

He leaned against the classroom doorframe and waited for half a minute before he saw the pink-haired "boy" slip out through the back door with a schoolbag in hand. Her uniform jacket was slung over one shoulder, and she strode with long, hurried steps while bickering with a boy beside her. "Quit rushing me. I'm just grabbing something, then I'll be there. If we can't get a spot at the training grounds, are you taking responsibility?"

"Wang Dong."

Huo Chen called out.

That pink head whipped around. Her golden eyelashes fluttered, and once she saw it was him, the casual air on her face immediately faded somewhat. Still, she kept her chin raised. "Teacher Huo? What is it? I've got a real fight scheduled later."

"The fight can wait." Huo Chen smiled. "Come on. Let's take a walk by Sea God Lake and talk about your martial soul."

Wang Dong's brows instantly furrowed.

Everyone at Shrek knew that Sea God Lake was a lovers' rendezvous spot. A young, newly arrived male teacher was asking to speak with her alone by the lake about her martial soul?

The more she thought about it, the stranger it sounded. But from the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Zhou Yi approaching from the office direction with lesson plans in her arms. The elderly woman's face was dark and grim, clearly still unhappy about the class being disbanded.

If she refused now, Zhou Yi might very well come over the next moment and make things difficult for her.

"...Fine." She bit her lower lip, swung her uniform jacket back onto her shoulder, and followed him in broad strides, deliberately putting on an extra dose of "boyishness." "What's there to talk about? There's nothing wrong with my martial soul."

Huo Chen did not respond. His pace was unhurried, matching her stride perfectly.

Wind gusted through the passage between the teaching buildings, tossing Wang Dong's short pink hair into disarray.

Her walking posture was actually a little stiff. She was clearly a young girl, yet she insisted on imitating boys with long, powerful strides. Her knees were held too straight, and even her footsteps landed heavier than those of other girls.

Huo Chen glanced at her and found it amusing, but he did not expose her.

Sea God Lake was not far from the teaching buildings. They arrived after passing through a stretch of plane trees.

The willows by the lake had just sprouted new buds. As the wind blew, their trailing branches brushed the water's surface, startling several silver-scaled fish. Afternoon sunlight scattered across the lake, making it shimmer, while occasional birdsong drifted from the woods.

Huo Chen stopped on a bluestone slab. Without turning around, he asked directly, "Wang Dong, how much do you know about your own martial soul?"

Wang Dong leaned against a willow tree behind her, both hands in her pockets as she affected a careless manner. "The Light Goddess Butterfly. An assault-type, top-tier beast martial soul. My dad said a martial soul like mine only comes along once in a century. If I cultivate it well enough, I can become a god."

"Your dad said that?" Huo Chen turned to look at her, his gaze calm. "Then did your dad ever tell you that you actually have more than one martial soul?"

Wang Dong froze.

The wind passed through the willow branches, and several tender leaves drifted onto the lake, sending fine ripples spreading outward.

"...What do you mean?" Her voice tightened slightly. "I-I only have one martial soul. During the entrance test, the crystal ball only showed one Light Goddess Butterfly."

"Because you yourself don't know that the other martial soul exists."

Huo Chen's tone was soft, yet it was like a stone cast into a still lake.

"It isn't sealed away. Rather, there is simply no place for it in your memories. You cannot remember it or sense it, so naturally, you cannot summon it."

Wang Dong's pupils contracted slightly.

Her hand unconsciously clenched the collar of her uniform. A plain little white jade pendant hung there, given to her by her father, who had said that wearing it close to her body would calm her mind and soothe her spirit. She had worn it for six years and never taken it off.

"You're talking nonsense." Her voice trembled, but she was still putting up a brave front.

"How could I not know my own martial soul? My dad never told me I had twin martial souls."

"Of course your dad wouldn't tell you." Huo Chen cut her off, staring straight into her eyes. "Because he was the one who sealed away that part of your memory."

The wind suddenly stopped.

Even the ripples on the lake seemed to freeze for an instant.

Wang Dong's face went deathly pale.

"W-what do you mean?" Her voice changed pitch, no longer carrying the brash tone of that carefree "boy," but the genuine, panicked voice of an eleven-year-old girl. "My dad sealed my memories? Why? Why would he do that?"

"Because he wanted to protect you." Huo Chen's tone was calm, yet it carried a force that seemed to pierce straight into her heart.

"Your second martial soul is too powerful—so powerful that if you had known of its existence from childhood, your mind might not have been able to control its strength. So he sealed your memories and let you believe that you only had the Light Goddess Butterfly, allowing you to grow up safely and steadily. Then, one day in the future, when he believed the time was right, he would tell you the truth."

Wang Dong's lips trembled.

She remembered many things: the occasional dreams she had as a child, where she stood amid a golden sea with an unimaginably heavy hammer in her hand.

Sometimes, after training until she was utterly exhausted, she would vaguely feel that another power was sleeping within her. But whenever she tried to touch that power, her head would split with pain, as though something were preventing her from drawing near it.

She had always thought it was just an illusion.

Apparently, it was not.

"Then... then what is my second martial soul?" Her voice was very soft, as if afraid of waking something.

"I can't tell you." Huo Chen shook his head. "It's not that I'm being mysterious. It's that you should discover the answer yourself. If I told you directly, the memory seal your father left inside you would immediately detect the anomaly. That would only be harmful to you."

Wang Dong fell silent.

She lowered her head, her pink bangs hiding her eyes and making her expression impossible to read.

After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice muffled. "Then why are you telling me this? Do you know my dad? Aren't you afraid he'll come after you?"

"I suppose you could say your dad and I... know each other." Huo Chen chose his words carefully.

"As for why I'm telling you, it's because I think you have the right to know who you are. Your future should be your own choice, not something others arrange for you while you remain completely unaware."

He paused, and his tone became even more serious. "Wang Dong, your father loves you. I won't deny that. But whether the decision he made for you was truly for your own good—only you can know. If you want to know the truth, if you want to recover those sealed memories, I can help you."

Wang Dong raised her head and looked at him.

Her eyes held confusion and panic, but even more than that, there was a stubborn gleam.

"...How?"

"It's simple." Huo Chen extended his hand, palm facing upward. A miniature Reincarnation Other Shore Flower bloomed in his palm, giving off a gentle red glow.

"I can temporarily block the perception of the memory seal your father left on you, allowing you to sense the existence of your second martial soul for a short time. It won't take long—three seconds will be enough. Enough for you to know that it isn't my delusion, but something that truly exists."

Wang Dong stared at the flower, her heart pounding like a drum.

Three seconds.

Just three seconds, and she would know the truth.

She gritted her teeth and reached out, her trembling fingertips touching one of the flower's petals.

The instant her fingertips touched the petal—

A heavy, vast force, as though it could crush heaven and earth, surged violently from the deepest part of her body!

An image flashed through her mind.

A pitch-black hammer, its body wrapped in golden patterns, so heavy that it seemed capable of smashing apart the stars.

She gripped its handle and stood above a golden sea. The wind lifted her long hair, while thunder from the firmament above reflected in her eyes.

That was her martial soul.

That was a part of her.

The image lasted only an instant before receding like the tide.

Wang Dong abruptly pulled back her hand, gasping for breath as fine beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

Her eyes were filled with shock, along with an indescribable emotion, like she had finally found a clue to something she had lost long ago.

"That... that was..."

"That was your second martial soul." Huo Chen withdrew the Reincarnation Other Shore Flower, his tone calm. "You felt it, didn't you?"

Wang Dong nodded, unable to say a word.

The image replayed over and over in her mind—the pitch-black hammer, that power which seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth.

It was hers, a part of her body, yet she had never known it existed.

And her father had sealed away that memory.

"Why..." Her voice was hoarse. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"Because he was afraid you wouldn't be able to bear it," Huo Chen said.

"The power of that hammer is too domineering. If you came into contact with it before your mind had matured, its killing intent might very well backlash against you. He sealed your memories to protect you."

"But..." Wang Dong clenched her fists, her eyes reddening. "But he should have told me, at least! He should have let me know there was another power inside me! He didn't say anything. He just sealed my memories and let me live like an idiot all these years—"

Her voice choked up, and she could not continue.

Huo Chen did not comfort her. He simply stood there quietly and waited for her emotions to settle.

After quite a while, Wang Dong took a deep breath, roughly wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then looked up at him. "Teacher Huo, you said just now... you could help me recover those memories?"

"I can." Huo Chen nodded. "But not now. Your soul power isn't strong enough yet. Rashly breaking the seal could damage your sea of consciousness. When you become stronger—at least after reaching four rings—if you still want to recover those memories, I can help you then."

Wang Dong bit her lip, then finally nodded heavily. "Alright. Then I'll wait for you."

She turned to leave, but after taking two steps, she stopped. Without looking back, she said in a muffled voice, "Teacher Huo... thank you for telling me all this."

"You're welcome." Huo Chen smiled. "Remember, your fate should be in your own hands."

Wang Dong did not answer, but her tightly clenched fists revealed the turmoil in her heart.

She strode away, her pink short hair fluttering in the wind, her steps firmer than when she had arrived.

Huo Chen stood by the lake, watching her figure vanish at the end of the plane-tree path.

He raised his head and looked toward the cloudless blue sky.

He knew that above those lofty heavens, a pair of golden eyes was watching this place. His act of blocking the seal's perception had lasted only three short seconds, but it was enough to draw that God King's attention.

"Tang San," he murmured, a meaningful smile curling across his lips. "From today onward, your daughter will decide her own fate."

The wind swept over the lake, and the willow branches swayed gently.

In the distance, the shouts of young men and women training rang out from the martial arts field, brimming with vigorous vitality.