Xuanqiao felt his eyes healing rapidly. The burning pain faded, and his vision grew clear again.
He put away the coin and looked toward Shrek Academy once more.
But he hesitated.
Should he look into Ma Hongjun's dream again?
After a moment's thought, he decided against it. The sight had been too much. He couldn't bear to see it a second time.
He was afraid he'd have to gouge out his newly healed eyes.
Instead, he found a tree and sat in its crown, legs crossed, his six wings folded behind him.
He closed his eyes and waited in silence.
The night wind whistled through the leaves, making the crown rustle like people whispering.
He waited all night.
At dawn, the first ray of sunlight pierced the clouds and fell across Xuanqiao. It caught his pure white wings, casting a faint golden halo around them.
Xuanqiao opened his eyes. His gaze was calm as still water, as though last night's breakdown had never happened.
He held out his hand. The seven Dream Worms flew back from Shrek Academy and slipped silently into his palm, like weary birds returning to their nest.
He sensed the seven people's conditions, and a cold smile tugged at his lips.
Flender's chest was charred black. His breathing was thread-thin, and he lay in bed unable to move, letting out broken moans.
The scratches on Zhao Wuji's arms ran down to the bone. The bleeding had stopped, but pus still seeped from the wounds, leaving him grimacing in pain.
Dai Mubai was covered in blue-purple handprints. His eyes were screwed shut, and he kept murmuring, "Let me go," his voice faint and fragmented like sleep talk.
A huge chunk of flesh had been gnawed from Yu Xiaogang's left leg, exposing stark white bone. Teeth marks still