Return to Shrek

The farther south they went, the more the wind and snow subsided, and the clearer the traces of life became. From the hunting party, they learned the basic outline of this world: soul masters, soul beasts, soul devices, and the city hailed as the sacred land of soul masters—Shrek City.

When the outline of that towering metropolis finally appeared on the horizon, Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena stopped in unspoken accord.

The magnificent city walls soared into the clouds, etched with the marks of time and power after enduring ten thousand years of wind and frost. An indescribable sense of familiarity, mixed with the fluttering unease of returning home, crashed over their minds like ocean waves.

They entered the city with the crowd. The clamor of voices, the dazzling array of soul device shops, the complex aura of energy permeating the air... everything was so unfamiliar, yet somehow tugged at a string deep within their souls.

As they passed through an intersection, Tang Wulin's gaze was drawn to an inconspicuous mark beneath the eaves of a building. It was an emblem formed from a hammer and a blade of grass.

Tang Sect.

His feet froze in place. His heart began to race uncontrollably as warmth, longing, and immense sorrow surged into his chest without warning, making his eyes sting. He raised a hand, wanting to touch the cold emblem, but abruptly pulled it back just as his fingertips were about to make contact. He did not remember it, but his soul trembled for it.

Gu Yuena noticed something was wrong and followed his gaze. The emblem was nothing but unfamiliar to her. She could not resonate with it; she could only sense the violent turbulence in the emotions of the person beside her. Instinctively, she gently took the hand hanging at his side, trembling slightly.

Tang Wulin shuddered, then clasped her cool hand tightly in return, finding an anchor amid that sudden storm of emotion.

They continued onward and arrived at the square in the heart of the city. It was vast, its ground paved with enormous bluestone slabs. Several towering statues stood at its center—leaders of Shrek Academy through the ages, solemn-faced as they gazed into the distance.

Gu Yuena's gaze swept past the statues without lingering, eventually settling on an open space at the very center of the square.

It was as though an invisible command had echoed in her mind.

She released Tang Wulin's hand and walked alone toward that empty space, step by step. Her eyes became hollow and distant, as though she were sleepwalking. The surrounding clamor faded from her ears, and all she could hear was her own heartbeat growing louder and louder.

Then, beneath Tang Wulin's puzzled gaze, she slowly stopped at the exact center of that empty space. She turned to face the direction where he had once stood, spread her arms slightly, and assumed an embracing posture.

There was nothing in her arms.

Yet two streams of tears slid down from her beautiful purple eyes without warning, falling onto the cold bluestone and spreading into tiny dark wet marks.

At that moment, ten thousand years seemed to freeze in place. Tang Wulin could clearly see immense sorrow, almost tangible, shrouding her and making her slender figure seem incomparably fragile and lonely against the grand backdrop of the square.

He hurried forward and caught her in his arms just before her swaying body could collapse.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, his voice carrying a tenderness he had not even noticed himself.

Gu Yuena buried her face against his chest, her tears quickly soaking his clothes. She shook her head, her voice choked and lost. "I don't know... I just feel that here... here, it seems... the most important thing was lost..."

She could not explain what it was, only that the sense of loss was so immense she could not bear it.

Just then, a commotion broke out at the edge of the square. An out-of-control transport vehicle loaded with heavy soul device components had suffered a brake formation failure from overheating. Like a wild bull breaking free of its reins, it charged toward the densely packed crowd! Cries of alarm erupted as people scattered in panic.

Tang Wulin's eyes sharpened. Almost the instant the thought crossed his mind, Gu Yuena had lifted her head as well. The tear tracks in her eyes had yet to dry, but her cold clarity and sharpness had already returned.

There was no verbal exchange, not even a meeting of eyes.

Tang Wulin stepped forward. His blood and qi surged, and a low dragon's roar seemed to echo around him as he punched toward the transport vehicle's front wheels from a distance. A solid force as heavy as a mountain materialized out of thin air, causing the heavy front end to lurch downward and its forward charge to slow abruptly.

At the same time, Gu Yuena lightly tapped with her slender finger. Countless droplets of moisture in the air instantly condensed into crystalline chains of ice, which wrapped around the rear wheels and body of the vehicle with a sharp crack-crack-crack. The extreme cold made even the soul device metal groan under the strain, while the friction increased drastically.

One force subdued ten thousand techniques; one clever move shattered a thousand tons.

Their actions unfolded in a flash, their coordination as seamless as a dance. Less than ten meters from the panicked crowd, the out-of-control transport vehicle let out a piercing screech and came to a complete stop.

The crisis was over.

The shaken people in the square looked at them with gratitude and awe in their eyes.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena merely exchanged a glance. In each other's eyes, they saw the same thing—a trust and coordination that needed no foundation of memory, born from the instincts of their souls.

This city was unfamiliar.

Their past was blank.

But some things, it seemed, had never changed.