Tang Wulin: Can You Listen to Me Seriously Now?

He looked into the boy's still-calm eyes. A flicker of confusion seemed to pass through his own gaze, as though he hesitated for an instant, but it was swiftly reined in.

He said nothing. Starting from the bottom, his figure began to fade, like a painting soaked in water, its colors peeling away and breaking apart layer by layer before turning into golden motes that drifted through the wooden cabin.

A moment later, the room was left with only a group of people wearing varying expressions.

Xian Lin'er was already trembling slightly. She did not dare say a word, only sitting there shakily like a quail.

Mu En was the first to react.

He strode quickly to Tang Wulin, looked him over from head to toe, then glanced at the golden mark between his brows that was slowly fading. He lowered his voice extremely low, with an almost devout air. "...Wulin, are you all right?"

Tang Wulin raised a hand and lightly pressed his brow with his fingertip. The mark had completely vanished, leaving behind only a patch of warmth.

He lowered his hand and shook his head, his tone as calm as though nothing had happened. "I'm fine. Teacher, I'm fine."

Holy shit! That actually triggered a divine descent!

Hehe!

Looks like having Old Tang inside me isn't entirely a bad thing!

Not only did it completely establish that I have a connection to the Sea God.

Although Tang San and I are enemies, I really ought to thank him right now!

Did Tang San just pave the way for me to kill him in the future?

Mu En stared at him for several breaths. Only after confirming that there was truly nothing wrong with him did he slowly let out a breath of stale air.

He turned around, his gaze falling on Qian Duoduo, who was slumped in his chair with a face as gray as paper. After a moment of silence, he spoke. His voice was not loud, but his tone was utterly stern and beyond dispute. "No one is to speak of what happened today. The matter of the Sea God revealing himself..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across every face present. His murky old eyes were now sharp as blades. "It is to be classified as the Academy's highest secret. Anyone who leaks it will be treated as a traitor to the Academy."

The several elders responded in unison, their voices carrying lingering fear.

Xian Lin'er's lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing.

She looked at Qian Duoduo slumped in his chair, then at Tang Wulin. The emotions in her eyes were as complicated as an overturned palette of paints.

She bent down, picked up the metal component that had fallen to the floor, and clenched it in her palm. Without looking at anyone else, she turned and walked out of the wooden cabin.

Yan Shaozhe opened his mouth as though to stop her, but ultimately remained silent.

"Stop! Is the meeting over? The meeting isn't over yet, and you're leaving. Are you saying you don't respect Shrek Academy? Or that you don't respect the Sea God?" Tang Wulin's voice was full of teasing, but to Xian Lin'er at that moment, it sounded like the whisper of a demon.

Hearing those words, Xian Lin'er felt as if a basin of icy water had been poured over her from head to toe. Her back stiffened for an instant. When she turned around, the composure she had been forcing herself to maintain finally cracked.

She opened her mouth, but her throat was dry and clogged, as though something had blocked it. After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a hoarse explanation. "...I didn't mean that. I was just... just too frightened. It was an instinctive reaction. I apologize to you."

As she spoke, she shuffled two steps back and sat down again on the edge of the chair.

Half her buttocks hung off the seat. She sat extremely shallowly, as though ready to stand again at any moment, yet did not dare to.

Tang Wulin's gaze fell on her and lingered for two breaths before he gently pressed his hand downward.

It was like an invisible hammer falling, flattening even the last traces of ragged breathing in the room.

Xian Lin'er settled deeper into her seat at his gesture, her fingers clutching the fabric at the edge of her skirt.

The wooden cabin was so quiet that they could hear the sounds coming from deep within the Golden Ancient Tree, rising through the floor beneath their feet—one thud after another, dull and rhythmic.

Tang Wulin no longer looked at Xian Lin'er. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Mu En, who sat in the seat of honor.

The old man held that cup of tea, now completely cold, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the rim. His expression was as solemn as a stone tablet weathered by wind and frost for far too long.

Sensing Tang Wulin's gaze, he lifted his eyelids slightly. Their eyes met for an instant, and then he gave a small nod.

Tang Wulin turned to the other end of the room. Xuan Zi sat on the low stool he usually occupied, the half-eaten chicken leg in his hand resting on his knee, its oily sheen glinting softly in the sunlight.

But he did not bring it to his mouth again.

His eyes, usually narrowed with three parts drunkenness and seven parts muddleheadedness, were now wide, round, and clear. His heavy gaze rested on Tang Wulin, carrying an unprecedented seriousness that could nearly be called reverence.

Tang Wulin withdrew his gaze and tapped the tabletop twice, neither lightly nor heavily.

Two crisp knocks echoed through the silent wooden cabin, like stones thrown into a deep pool, sending out rings of silent ripples.

His tone was as calm as ever. No anger could be heard in it, nor triumph, nor even much emotional fluctuation. "Then may I tell everyone about my punishment for Zhou Yi?"

The moment his words fell, a chorus of agreement rose in the room.

"Of course!"

"You have the final say."

"We're listening." Yan Shaozhe was the first to nod. Several elders followed immediately, their overlapping voices brimming with an eager urgency to be first.

Once one's status was high enough or one's strength great enough, every dissenting voice would vanish.

The gaunt elder seated at the very edge even leaned forward, as though afraid that being half a beat too slow would make him appear insufficiently sincere.

Xian Lin'er also spoke. Her voice was steadier than before, though its trailing note still carried an uncontrollable tremble. "No problem, absolutely no problem. Even if you kill both Zhou Yi and Fan Yu, there's no problem."

Hearing this, Tang Wulin tilted his head and glanced at her.

I didn't expect this woman to be even more ruthless than me. To keep herself alive, she really is willing to throw away any card.

His gaze lingered on Xian Lin'er's face for a moment before he smiled. The curve was slight, rising by barely a pixel, yet it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

He tilted his head slightly, a lazy curiosity like a cat teasing a mouse entering his voice. "Oh? You don't hate me? After all..."

His voice stretched out by a beat, his gaze falling neither heavily nor lightly on Xian Lin'er's fingers clutching her skirt. "Your husband was crippled by the person I summoned."

When those words left his mouth, their final note even carried a uniquely youthful, lazy lift, as though he were discussing an amusing anecdote that had nothing to do with him.

Xian Lin'er's shoulders suddenly tensed.

Her hand clutched her skirt, her knuckles turning bluish white from the force.

She lowered her head, her chin nearly touching her collarbone, and remained silent for roughly three breaths.

No one spoke in the entire wooden cabin. Everyone's gaze was fixed on her, and the air was so heavy it seemed filled with lead.