The morning mist had yet to clear from the shore of Sea God Lake.
Huo Yuhao walked along the lakeshore toward the training grounds, his mind turning over the soul guidance array diagram he had left unfinished last night. He Caitou had said the third layer's flow-guiding patterns were thirty percent less stable than they should be, and none of the four solutions he had tried satisfied him. Technical problems like these never frustrated him-the harder they were, the deeper he could immerse himself.
But today, he could not lose himself in it.
Ever since he had left the dormitory, his Spirit Eyes had been twitching faintly. It was neither the sharp stab of a danger warning nor the dull pressure that followed an overdraft of spiritual power. It felt more as though someone had brushed a fingertip against the edge of his consciousness-so lightly that he could not be sure he had not imagined it.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's lazy voice sounded in the Spirit Sea. "Little Yuhao, what's going on? Why's your heart beating so fast this early in the morning?"
Huo Yuhao did not answer. He stopped, instinctively spreading his Spirit Detection outward-the soul power fluctuations were normal, there were no hostile responses nearby, and students up early to train were heading toward the training grounds in twos and threes. Everything was just as usual.
Yet that tremor, as though something had plucked at him, remained.
It did not come from outside. It welled up from the depths of his own Spirit Eyes, like something resting at the bottom of a deep pool had been stirred and was slowly floating to the surface.
Suddenly, snippets of conversation drifted over from ahead.
"Who's that? Someone new?"
"She looks way too much like Wang Dong'er..."
"Looks like her? They're practically identical. I almost called out to her just now."
Huo Yuhao's heart abruptly sank. He looked up as the lake breeze parted the morning mist, and pale golden light slanted down through a gap in the clouds. A girl emerged from the far edge of the fog, the morning light tracing a soft, luminous outline around her long hair. Her features were so exquisite they were almost cruel, her figure beneath her blue outer robe sleek and slender, and the tips of her hair shimmered with the faintest flecks of gold in the sunlight.
That face.
Huo Yuhao's pupils contracted sharply.
Her eyes and brows, the bridge of her nose, the curve of her jaw-every line was carved into his heart. He could trace them with his eyes closed. It was Dong'er. The girl who had stood beside him since their days on the shore of Sea God Lake, who hid her shyness behind pride when her hair ribbon came loose, whose eyes curved into twin crescents when she smiled.
But it was not her.
Huo Yuhao knew that at first glance. Her appearance was almost exactly the same as Dong'er's, but her gaze was entirely different. Whenever Dong'er looked at someone, an irrepressible warmth and brightness always lingered in her eyes. The girl before him had a direct, cool gaze, like a soul beast that had just emerged from the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, carrying undisguised wildness and focus. She was not looking at a fellow student, but confirming the identity of prey she had finally found.
Huo Yuhao instinctively extended his Spirit Detection, but an unusual force gently bounced it away when it came within three feet of her. It was not a soul power barrier, but something older and more profound, an aura mingled with the scent of vegetation, wildness, and destiny itself.
The girl stopped in front of him, only a few steps away, and the murmurs around them instantly subsided.
"Who are you?" Huo Yuhao's voice tightened slightly.
"Wang Qiu'er," the girl answered calmly, yet the name struck his chest like a heavy hammer.
She dispensed with any further pleasantries and took a step forward. The step was exceedingly light, but it made Huo Yuhao's Eye of Destiny throb violently again. "You're Huo Yuhao?"
"Yes."
"I've been looking for you for a long time."
As soon as she spoke those words, the lakeshore fell completely silent. Huo Yuhao's gaze sharpened. He was certain he had never met this girl, nor could he recall any connection with someone who looked exactly like Dong'er. Yet deep within his Spirit Sea, that inexplicable familiarity grew ever stronger, like a memory that did not belong to him was quietly awakening in the darkness.
The Ice Empress's voice turned cold. "She has the aura of a soul beast, and no ordinary one." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm also dropped his joking tone. "Little Yuhao, stay steady. This girl is no simple character."
Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him. "Yuhao."
Wang Dong'er had arrived in a hurry, her hair ribbon not yet fully tied, the loose strands over her forehead tousled by the wind. The smile on her face slowly froze the moment she saw Wang Qiu'er clearly. Dong'er walked to Huo Yuhao's side and asked softly, "Who is she?"
Huo Yuhao opened his mouth, only to find that he could not explain it for the moment. He had only just learned her name, only just learned that she had come for him, and only just realized that a strange feeling had stirred in his heart the very instant he saw that face.
Wang Qiu'er, however, showed no sign of yielding. She glanced at Dong'er, then turned her gaze back to Huo Yuhao, her bluntness almost cutting. "Wang Qiu'er. I'm here for Huo Yuhao."
Dong'er pressed her lips together. "I wasn't asking you."
Wang Qiu'er's gaze shifted slightly, as though she was studying her properly for the first time. "Then who were you asking?"
Dong'er looked at him, no anger in her eyes. "Yuhao, why does she say she's here for you?"
"Because he's the very reason I came to Shrek," Wang Qiu'er said evenly. She stepped forward, moving a little closer to Huo Yuhao, and continued with blunt insistence, "There's something about you I need to confirm."
She raised her hand, her fingertips stopping just before the center of Huo Yuhao's forehead. She did not touch him, yet his Eye of Destiny suddenly burned. In an instant, his Spirit Sea surged violently, and platinum light flashed deep within his brow. A strange golden gleam also lit Wang Qiu'er's eyes. Their two auras touched across the space between them, and an invisible force abruptly drove back the mist along the shore of Sea God Lake.
Dong'er lifted her chin, each word clear and firm. "He isn't someone you can touch whenever you please."
The surrounding Inner Academy disciples all sucked in a cold breath. Huo Yuhao's scalp prickled. He suddenly realized that this was no ordinary encounter. Wang Qiu'er's appearance was like a sharp blade, instantly slicing through everything that had once been clear between him and Dong'er, and through the threads of destiny he had never seen clearly.
Wang Qiu'er fell silent for a moment, as though she had finally understood something. "You like him."
Dong'er's gaze trembled, but Qiu'er seemed to be stating the most ordinary fact imaginable, her tone calm and direct. "Then I also need to know why I came for him. And I want to know why seeing you feels both familiar... and uncomfortable."
The morning breeze swept across Sea God Lake, the mist cleared completely, and sunlight spilled down. Standing between the two girls, Huo Yuhao suddenly had an absurd premonition-from this day onward, everything he knew would change.
And from the direction of the Sea God Pavilion, the bells rang leisurely to announce a new day. In the distance, behind a Soul Guidance Lamp, a tiny black rune quietly lit up for an instant, unnoticed by anyone.
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