Three-Pronged Encirclement, Yuhao Falls Unconscious, Dong'er and Qiu'er Guard Him Together

When Huo Yuhao and the others left Holy Hall, the sky was still overcast. Rain in the outskirts of Star Dou suppressed the scent of grass and trees. The distant growls of Soul Beasts occasionally drifted over, but none approached. The ones drawing close were people.

The instant Spirit Detection spread out, Huo Yuhao saw three layers of interception. The first was the Holy Spirit Cult's Black Crow Message Soul Tools, hidden among the treetops. Their purpose was not to kill, but to keep tracking his spiritual coordinates. The second was the Sun Moon Empire's Silverwing Scouts. They were extremely fast and had already swept in from the southwest, cutting off Shrek's retreat. The most troublesome third layer was several deathsworn whose souls had been nearly scrubbed clean, their spiritual seas as blank as that team's had been during the preliminaries.

"They received the message," Huo Yuhao said quietly.

Wang Qiu'er sneered. "They came quickly enough."

"They won't kill you," Huo Yuhao said, his gaze turning cold. "The Divine Seal's reaction hasn't fully opened yet. The two pulls connected to Dong'er and Qiu'er are still useful to them. If I were the core controller, you would be living keys."

A chill flashed through Wang Qiu'er's golden eyes. "So the targets are the three of us?"

Huo Yuhao did not deny it. "Kill me, capture you and Dong'er, suppress Shrek, then force us to keep activating the Divine Seal Altar. That's the most profitable course for them right now."

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi caught up from behind. Tang Ya's Bluesilver Grass had already wound around the roots on both sides. Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron hovered behind the group, while the soul tool cannon platform on He Caitou's shoulder silently unfolded. Ma Xiaotao stood on the outermost edge. Her red robes were soaked by rain and mist, but her eyes burned like fire. Ye Guyi stood with her sword in hand at Huo Yuhao's right rear, holy light suppressing the faint evil aura in the air.

This was Shrek.

The black crows moved first. Dozens of dark figures swooped down from the canopy, spraying tiny soul nails from their sharp beaks. They did not target the body, only the edges of Spirit Detection, seeking to shred Huo Yuhao's perception into fragments. Huo Yuhao did not retreat. His Spirit Eyes lit up, and Spiritual Sharing instantly spread outward.

"Senior Brother Bei Bei, three steps ahead. Thunderclap Netbreaker."

Bei Bei did not hesitate in the slightest. Blue-violet lightning swept out, and the first row of black crows exploded on the spot.

"Senior Brother Sanshi, switch places with Xiao Xiao."

Xu Sanshi's Black Tortoise Transposition activated. Xiao Xiao was immediately swapped into the steadiest central position. The Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron crashed down with a roar, its hum suppressing the soul-cleansing waves of the deathsworn. Jiang Nannan's figure flashed as she cut in from the flank. With an Eight-Stage Throw, she kicked through a Silverwing Scout's knee armor, then used the momentum to flip back behind Xu Sanshi's shield.

The Sun Moon Silverwing Scouts finally revealed themselves. All twelve unfolded their flying soul tool wings at once, silver-blue light blades descending through the rain. Their target was not Wang Dong'er or Wang Qiu'er directly, but every defensive position around Huo Yuhao. Bei Bei was forced back half a step. Cracks spread across Xu Sanshi's shield, and Tang Ya's Bluesilver Grass was severed in three places by silver light.

He Caitou cursed under his breath and fully activated his cannon platform. Dense soul tool fire blasted out past Huo Yuhao's side, forcibly driving the aerial formation down several feet.

"Junior Brother, give me coordinates!"

The icy-blue light in Huo Yuhao's eyes intensified. The two signals that had leaked from Holy Hall earlier had left extremely faint trails in his spiritual sea. The Holy Spirit Cult was to the north, and Sun Moon was to the southwest. Both sides wanted to seize the three of them, but their first lock-on point had fallen on him, and neither side trusted the other. That was enough.

"Sister Xiao Tao, burn the black crows. Don't burn the Silverwings."

Ma Xiaotao raised an eyebrow. "Got it."

Evil Phoenix Flame swept across the treetops, forcing the flock of black crows to scatter chaotically toward the southwest, directly into the Sun Moon Silverwing Scouts' formation. The Sun Moon soul engineers thought the Holy Spirit Cult was trying to take Huo Yuhao first and immediately redirected their fire. Black-red and silver-blue collided in midair. Huo Yuhao raised a hand, and Ultimate Ice pierced through the gaps in both sides' soul power, instantly freezing three message soul nails.

Ye Guyi drew her holy sword. Her Holy Angel martial soul spread open, and a slash of white-gold holy light passed through. One by one, black threads pressed into the seams of the soul-cleansed deathsworn emerged. She did not kill them. Instead, she severed the evil soul control. The deathsworn dropped to their knees one after another, their eyes briefly recovering clarity from that emptiness. Tang Ya's Bluesilver Grass immediately wrapped around them and dragged them from the battlefield.

Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er moved at the same time. The Goddess of Light Butterfly cleaved into the Silverwing formation from the left, while the Golden Dragon Spear pierced in from the right. Two similar yet utterly different figures crossed through the rain. Wang Dong'er's attacks were clean and precise, like a beam of light unwilling to be stained by dust. Wang Qiu'er's assault was direct and domineering, like a golden spear tearing open a rainy night.

Sure enough, the enemy had no intention of killing them.

Two silver-blue soul tool rings sprang from beneath the ground, specifically looping toward the edges of Wang Dong'er's light wings. Three black-red chains curved around Wang Qiu'er's Golden Dragon Spear, only sealing her shoulder and landing points. Those were not killing moves. They were meant for capture. The enemy wanted to take them both alive, to keep them alive, to make them continue serving as keys to the Divine Seal Altar.

Wang Qiu'er laughed in fury. "Don't even think of using me as a key."

The Golden Dragon Spear crashed down, shattering the first black-red chain on the spot. Wang Dong'er beat her wings, and white-gold light blades sliced through the silver-blue soul tool rings. Her gaze was terrifyingly cold.

"Keep dreaming."

Watching them stand side by side, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt warmth in his chest. The next instant, a Shadow Needle concealed within a Silverwing Scout's breastplate bypassed every attack and shot straight toward his brow. It was not a needle meant to retrieve a fragment, but a Spirit-Sealing Needle. If it struck, his Spirit Eyes, Spirit Detection, and Ultimate Ice would all be temporarily sealed.

The real target was indeed him.

Huo Yuhao did not dodge. He raised his left hand, and an icy-blue mirror of light appeared in his palm. The Shadow Needle pierced the mirror—and struck an identical phantom of Huo Yuhao. In the instant before the spiritual disruption activated, the real Huo Yuhao had used simulated spiritual waves to deceive the Shadow Needle's lock.

"Want to kill me?" Huo Yuhao's voice was low. "Then first see clearly who you're killing."

The false body exploded. An icy-blue spiritual wave surged back along the Shadow Needle, reverse-locking the Sun Moon Silverwing Scouts' control chain before biting all the way back through the Black Crow Message Soul Tools to the Holy Spirit Cult's hidden line. A muffled groan came from the northern forest, while a soul engineer cried out in shock and fury from the southwest. Neither side had expected Huo Yuhao to dare use himself as bait and turn the tables to locate them.

Xuan Lao's pressure descended at that moment.

"Get out here!"

The earth trembled. The Sun Moon scouts decisively severed their wings and retreated, while the Holy Spirit Cult's black crow flock self-destructed into mist. Huo Yuhao did not pursue them. He raised a hand and used Spirit Shock to suppress the last message soul nail, forcibly extracting two incomplete sets of coordinates from it.

One pointed toward a Sun Moon military camp.

The other pointed toward the edge of Shrek's old battlefield.

The battle ended quickly, yet it sent a deeper chill down their spines than the mystery in Holy Hall. The enemy had already obtained the direction they wanted. Next, they would not merely seize a single item. They would keep targeting Huo Yuhao, Shrek, the Dong'er-Qiu'er connection, and that name from the future which had not yet fully appeared.

Huo Yuhao had just opened his mouth when a sudden, agonizing pain tore through his spiritual sea. The backlash from using his false body to bite back at both hidden lines had still stirred the Divine Echo left behind by Holy Hall. His vision went black, and his body pitched forward.

Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er caught him at the same time.

Ma Xiaotao had just stepped forward when Ye Guyi also moved. Wang Dong'er looked up. "I'll do it."

Her voice was soft, but resolute. Wang Qiu'er looked at Huo Yuhao as well and said quietly, "They want to capture us."

Dong'er tightened her grip on Huo Yuhao's hand. "Then we won't let them take any of us."

Inside the temporary tent, the soul tool lamp had been dimmed. Huo Yuhao had not completely lost consciousness. His awareness rose and fell within the backlash. At times, he could hear the rain; at others, "Dong," "Qiu," and that unfinished opening dragged him into chaotic echoes. Wang Dong'er sat on his left, loosening the clothes soaked through with cold sweat only to stabilize the backlash from his Spirit Eyes. Wang Qiu'er sat at his right, her auspicious beast aura protecting the outer edge of his spiritual sea.

In his confusion, Huo Yuhao grabbed their hands. Dong'er's side was soft and warm, Qiu'er's was blazing hot. Unable to distinguish echo from reality, he instinctively gripped them both tighter.

Wang Dong'er bent down and kissed his brow. It was very light, neither teasing nor forgiveness. It was more like an anchor, pulling him bit by bit back from the phantom voices and backlash. Wang Qiu'er watched for a moment, then lowered her head near his neck, using her own aura to suppress the Divine Echo racing wildly through him.

Wang Dong'er looked up at Wang Qiu'er. Her face was still pale, but there was something in her eyes clearer than jealousy. Qiu'er turned to leave the tent, but Dong'er said, "Stay."

Wang Qiu'er froze.

Wang Dong'er's voice was low, yet every word was clear. "I'm asking you to stay not because I'm generous. Fate wants to take you away, and it wants to take me too. Wang Qiu'er, I hate you, but I hate even more the idea of someone else deciding what I should become."

The tent fell silent for a moment. The sharpness in Wang Qiu'er's eyes seemed to be struck by those words, suddenly becoming less piercing.

She looked at Wang Dong'er for a long while before asking, "You admit you're afraid?"

"I am." Wang Dong'er clasped Huo Yuhao's hand tighter, along with her own light soul power. "I'm afraid that after you're taken away, I'll be next. I'm afraid that one day I'll wake up and even the name Wang Dong'er will only remain as someone else's words: it was supposed to be this way."

Wang Qiu'er finally did not provoke her again. She set down the Golden Dragon Spear, and golden destiny energy spread over the tent entrance, cutting off the last trace of outside scrutiny.

"Then I won't leave tonight."

That night, they only kept watch. They stayed very close. Close enough that whenever Huo Yuhao's breathing became uneven, Dong'er could hear it; close enough that whenever Qiu'er suppressed the backlash, her fingertips brushed his body heat. Neither demanded that he apologize, nor did they demand that he take responsibility. Those words were too light to bear the weight of that night.

Much later, only the rain and soft breathing remained in the tent. Wang Dong'er leaned against Huo Yuhao's shoulder, her lashes still damp. The two watched each other for a long time. This time, neither looked away first. Huo Yuhao wanted to say something, but Wang Dong'er lifted her hand and pressed it over his lips.

"Don't apologize."

Wang Dong'er closed her eyes briefly, her voice soft. "Get better first."

Wang Qiu'er added, "Yes. Recover quickly. There are still many things waiting for you to face."

Huo Yuhao did not explain further. He merely lowered his head and looked at them. Holy Hall had fallen behind them, but the clue that had leaked out would draw more people before them. And that night, Dong'er and Qiu'er had guarded him together. More importantly, for the first time, they had guarded themselves together.