Dong'er's Wavering

Yet those scenes stirred no ripples in her heart. Instead, they seemed separated by a layer of frosted glass, so unreal.

The only thing she could clearly feel was the back of the man in white ahead of her.

His steps were clearly leisurely, yet each one seemed to tread upon the veins of heaven and earth, carrying an absolute rhythm that was both reassuring and heart-palpitating.

"Creak—"

The door was pushed open.

Yu Chen casually tossed the keycard onto the table by the entrance and walked straight to the floor-to-ceiling window at the far end of the room, where he sat down with an easy manner.

The room was spacious and lavishly decorated, but none of it caught his attention. He merely lounged against the sofa, gazing at Soto City's brilliantly lit nightscape beyond the window as though admiring his own domain.

Wang Dong'er stood stiffly at the doorway, unconsciously twisting her hands together. For a moment, she did not know whether she should enter or leave.

She simply stood there. The room was terrifyingly quiet, with only their nearly imperceptible breaths to be heard.

Moonlight streamed through the spotless glass and fell across Yu Chen's profile, coating his godlike handsome features in a cool silver glow. He raised his right hand and made a motion as though wiping a longsword, every movement meticulous, focused, and earnest.

Yet there was clearly nothing in his hand.

This strange scene, so full of profound mystery, made Wang Dong'er's heart skip a beat.

At last, she could no longer bear the suffocating silence.

"They... they're very strong. And they have a martial soul fusion skill..."

Her voice was soft, carrying a tremor and concern that even she had not noticed. In the silent room, it sounded especially abrupt.

Yu Chen's motion of wiping the "blade" paused.

He smiled at her words. The laugh was soft, yet it carried an amused air as if he could see through everything.

"Oh? How strong?"

He did not even turn around. With his face still angled to the side, the curve of his lips grew more casual. "Strong enough to make me draw my sword?"

That single sentence choked off everything Wang Dong'er had meant to say.

Draw his sword?

Those two words left her speechless.

Yes... draw his sword.

From the black-and-white twin dragons that had torn through the heavens during the Heavenly Dragon Gate's awakening ceremony, to the effortless crushing of Teacher Wang Yan at the Great Soul Arena, to the calm indifference he had shown when facing the entire Shrek reserve team just now...

This man, from beginning to end, had not merely refrained from drawing his sword—he had not even truly summoned his martial soul!

He only had to stand there, and it was as if he were the center of the entire world!

Scenes of Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi using their martial soul fusion skill, Golden Road, surfaced in Wang Dong'er's mind. That radiant avenue formed by the Light Sacred Dragon and Xuanwu's Shield had once been, in her heart, the most unbreakable powerful skill—the embodiment of Shrek's glory.

But...

When she compared that "Golden Road" with the phantom of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon from her memories, which seemed capable of swallowing the sun and moon...

A feeling so absurd that it made her panic rose within her.

Before that ultimate darkness and destruction, that so-called Golden Road probably... would not last even a second before being torn apart like paper, would it?

The "Shrek" she had always been proud of, the "strength" of the teammates she trusted—at this moment, they suddenly seemed to have become a joke.

A... fragile joke that could not withstand a single blow.

That realization stabbed into her heart like an icy needle.

Without realizing it, the height at which she stood and the way she viewed the world had already been forcibly pulled by this man to a level she had never imagined before.

Looking down upon the earth from the clouds, the hills that had once seemed so towering now looked like nothing more than small mounds of dirt at her feet.

"Do... do you really have confidence?"

She spoke again, her voice even softer than before. Yet the concern in it had become clearer—though the object of that concern had subtly shifted.

This time, Yu Chen finally turned around.

His gaze was no longer fixed on the night view outside. It fell completely upon her. Those deep eyes seemed capable of seeing through the deepest secrets in one's heart, carrying a hint of teasing amusement.

"Are you worried about me, or are you worried about your 'teammates'?"

Boom!

Wang Dong'er's cheeks instantly flushed crimson at a visible speed, red as a ripe apple as heat rushed to the top of her head.

That question was like a thunderclap, splitting apart all her chaotic thoughts and striking directly at her heart.

Was she worried about him? Or was she worried about Bei Bei and the others?

She... she did not know!

No...

She did know.

When she saw Bei Bei and the others issue their challenge with such determined resolve, the first thought that surfaced in her mind was not, They'll get hurt, but... How dare they?!

When she had unhesitatingly chosen to follow behind Yu Chen and ignored the gazes of all her former companions, there had not been the slightest struggle in her heart. There had only been a calm certainty that it was the natural thing to do.

So, the scales in her heart had long since tipped.

They had tipped completely, irreversibly, without hesitation.

She lowered her head, her long lashes trembling gently like butterfly wings. She did not dare meet those eyes that seemed capable of melting her completely.

Her silence was the best answer.

The room fell quiet once more.

Yet this time, the air no longer held suffocating heaviness. Instead, a faint, elusive ambiguity quietly began to brew.

Yu Chen watched as she shyly seemed ready to bury her head in her chest, and the smile on his lips deepened.

He slowly rose from the sofa.

His tall body carried an invisible sense of pressure as he walked, step by step, to Wang Dong'er.

Wang Dong'er was so nervous that her heart nearly leaped from her throat. She could smell the distinctive scent coming from him, a blend of thunder and sunlight—overbearing, yet intoxicating.

Just as her thoughts began to run wild, a warm yet irresistible hand gently pinched her smooth chin.

The touch of his fingertips sent fine tremors through her entire body.

A gentle yet domineering force compelled her to raise her head and meet those deep eyes so close before her.

Their gazes met.

In his eyes, she saw her own reflection—small and helpless, yet firmly locked within them, with nowhere to escape.

"Remember."

Yu Chen's voice was low and magnetic, like a devil's whisper. Every word struck precisely against the tip of her heart.

"From the moment you chose to follow me, they ceased to be your teammates."

"Tomorrow, stand behind me and see clearly..."

His thumb gently stroked her tender skin. The amusement in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by an absolute dominance that looked down upon the world.

"Who is the true 'rule.'"