Qiu'er Takes Huo Yuhao's Hand in Public: Love or Escape?

News of Wang Qiu'er's true origins was suppressed by Xuan Lao. But no wall was truly airtight. Overnight, rumors spread through Shrek like wildfire—saying Wang Qiu'er's identity was anything but ordinary, that Huo Yuhao had been protecting her all along, and more.

Early that morning, Xuan Lao called Huo Yuhao over to submit the missing mental detection records from the soul beast disturbance outside the city. He Caitou casually borrowed the draft of the sensing array Huo Yuhao had made the night before, saying he wanted to see whether the monitoring soul tool could be made more stable. Tang Ya poked her head in from the doorway with a stack of old files in her arms and said with a smile, "The junior brother being noticed by two girls at once is quite the academy headline."

Dong'er had been dragged off by Xiao Xiao for morning training. Xiao Xiao did not ask anything, but she could see Dong'er's frustration. She practiced coordination with her for half an hour before finally comforting her. "Dong'er, you have to trust Yuhao." Meanwhile, Qiu'er was being shown the rules of the inner courtyard by Bei Bei.

The cafeteria buzzed with discussion.

"Who exactly is that girl beside Huo Yuhao who looks exactly like Wang Dong'er?"

"I heard she challenged Huo Yuhao in public yesterday, and today he was protecting her again."

"What about Wang Dong'er, then? They look identical. Can Huo Yuhao even tell them apart?" Laughter erupted all around.

"Didn't you see it? Wang Dong'er was so jealous yesterday that her face went pale."

The moment Huo Yuhao entered the cafeteria, every voice lowered. It was not as though he could not hear them. For a spiritual-type soul master, overhearing such gossip was far too easy. Yet the more he heard, the more boring it became. He could hardly seal their mouths, so he simply pretended not to hear. Dong'er sat by the window. Unlike usual, she did not wave him over. Breakfast sat before her, but she had barely touched it.

Huo Yuhao walked over and called softly, "Dong'er."

Dong'er looked up at him and gave him a faint smile. "You're here."

"You don't need to listen to their gossip..."

"It's fine." Dong'er lowered her head and stirred the porridge in her bowl. "After all, she came here for you."

"That isn't what I meant."

"But that is what you said." Dong'er looked up at him, a trace of bitterness hidden in her eyes. "Yuhao, I'm not being unreasonable. Her identity is special, and people are watching her. I understand why you protected her..."

"But understanding doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."

Huo Yuhao sat across from her and lowered his voice. "Then tell me, what should I do?"

Dong'er wanted him to stay farther away from Wang Qiu'er. But she could not say it—because this was no longer merely a matter between three people. The beast tide outside the city, the evil soul master runes in the corridor, Xuan Lao's observation assignment—everything reminded her that Wang Qiu'er's existence was tied to something far more complicated. She did not want to make things difficult for Huo Yuhao, but neither did she want to pretend to be generous.

Just then, the cafeteria entrance suddenly fell silent—Wang Qiu'er had arrived.

As though completely unaware of the stares around her, she walked straight toward Huo Yuhao. She held no tray, nor did she look as if she had come to eat.

"Huo Yuhao, Xuan Lao told me to find you."

Huo Yuhao frowned. "Now?"

"Mm."

Dong'er snorted coldly. "Did Xuan Lao tell you to find him, or did you want to find him?"

"Both."

Huo Yuhao felt as though the gazes around him were about to pierce straight through him, but he still rose to his feet. "Let's go." Dong'er stood as well, intending to go with them.

Wang Qiu'er did not object. But in her very next move—she reached out and directly took hold of Huo Yuhao's wrist.

It was not an intimate arm-link, nor was it a cautious touch. She simply took hold of him, directly and without hesitation. The girl's fingers were long and strong, her fingertips carrying a trace of warmth that did not belong to a human. It was as though, once she had decided this person was hers to take away, this was simply how she should do it. Even through his sleeve, that warmth reached him clearly, startling Huo Yuhao.

Every gaze around them fell upon that hand, yet Qiu'er seemed not to understand what the problem was. "Go."

Huo Yuhao immediately pulled his hand back. "Qiu'er."

For an instant, confusion flickered in Qiu'er's eyes. "I can't hold your hand?"

"What do you think?" Huo Yuhao asked helplessly.

Qiu'er looked at Huo Yuhao. "You've held hers."

Dong'er's ears reddened, but her anger only deepened. "That's different!"

"How is it different?"

"Me and him..." Wang Dong'er's words caught in her throat. She wanted to say, "Our relationship is different." She wanted to say, "We've been through so much together." She wanted to say, "He's mine." But before so many people, she could not say it. Besides, ever since she had gone from Wang Dong back to Wang Dong'er, she and Huo Yuhao had never formally confirmed a relationship between a man and a woman.

But Qiu'er had no such reservations. She looked at Huo Yuhao and said seriously, "I want to be close to you."

The cafeteria erupted completely. Huo Yuhao's expression changed. "Qiu'er!"

"Did I say something wrong again?"

Huo Yuhao stood and gently released his spiritual power. The discussions throughout the cafeteria were immediately suppressed. He looked at Wang Qiu'er. "Let's go. Xuan Lao is waiting."

"Qiu'er." Huo Yuhao's voice lowered. "Why do you insist on getting close to me?"

Wang Qiu'er looked at him. "Because the destiny within me tells me that you are important."

"Only destiny?"

Qiu'er paused. It seemed to be the first time she had seriously distinguished between those possibilities.

"At first, yes."

Dong'er's gaze tightened, and Huo Yuhao looked at her as well.

Qiu'er continued, "Now... not only that."

On the tree-lined path, even the wind seemed to soften. Huo Yuhao's heart skipped a beat. Qiu'er's tone remained calm, yet her words carried scorching emotion. "When I see you protect me, I feel happy inside. When I see her standing beside you, I feel uncomfortable. When I see you standing beside her... I want to pull you over to me."

She spoke without the slightest embarrassment, carrying a longing with no path of retreat. He suddenly remembered the moment in the cafeteria when she had gripped his wrist. The warmth of her fingertips had reached him through his sleeve. It had not been heavy, yet it seemed to have left a secret scorch mark around his heart, as though it still lingered on his skin. It made him unconsciously recall the faint scent of grass and trees she carried when she drew near, as well as that wild yet supple body she had displayed in battle. He had not reacted at the time, but now, looking back, a dark thought flashed through his mind—

If there hadn't been so many people watching, if Dong'er hadn't been standing beside them, would he... have waited a little longer before pulling away?

The instant that thought surfaced, Huo Yuhao brutally forced it down. Qiu'er suddenly turned to Dong'er. "Is this what liking someone feels like?"

Huo Yuhao did not answer her, but Dong'er became utterly certain of one thing—Qiu'er liked him.

The alarm of the sensing array along the academy's outer perimeter suddenly blared. Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection instantly spread out—the sensing array had not been attacked by an outside force. Rather, when Wang Qiu'er had approached him just now, the aura of the Emperor Auspicious Beast had been amplified by a thread of black residual energy hidden deep within the array runes, causing the soul tool array to misjudge the entire inner courtyard as a "high-level soul beast core invasion."

"Someone planted a trigger in the array beforehand," Huo Yuhao said in a low voice. "They were waiting specifically for you to release your aura."

Qiu'er looked at him. "Is this related to me again?"

"Someone is using you to stir things up."

Huo Yuhao rushed toward the soul tool node. It was located beneath a stone lantern beside the tree-lined path, where silver soul tool runes flashed violently. If it continued to lose control, the defensive array of the entire inner courtyard would be forcibly activated. By then, Qiu'er's identity would be completely exposed before even more people—and that was exactly what their enemy was waiting for.

He crouched down, his spiritual power slipping into the array runes as finely as threads of silk. Ultimate Ice was not meant to freeze the formation, but to slow the rapidly flowing soul power. His spiritual detection moved along every rune, searching for a black needle amid countless silver lines. Dong'er stood behind him on guard. Qiu'er concealed her aura as best she could and watched Huo Yuhao's focused profile as he broke the array—faint sweat beaded at his temple, his shoulders and back were taut, and his hands moved with the precision of someone conducting a soul tool experiment.

"Found it."

A chill entered Huo Yuhao's eyes. Ultimate Ice flashed along the array runes, forcing that thread of black residual energy out of the core and condensing it into a twisted black speck. He swiftly sealed it into a soul tool recording chip with his spiritual power, giving it no chance to self-destruct. The alarm ceased, the inner courtyard returned to silence, and everyone let out a breath of relief.

Qiu'er looked at the recording chip. "Can you find out who it was?"

Huo Yuhao clenched the chip. "I can find the direction." He raised his head and looked beyond Shrek City. "This fluctuation is very similar to the remnants left by the evil soul masters outside the city yesterday."

From afar came Xuan Lao's voice. "Huo Yuhao, Wang Qiu'er, come to the Sea God Pavilion."

Huo Yuhao did not leave immediately. He reached out and gently squeezed Dong'er's hand, so briefly that others could barely notice. But Wang Qiu'er saw it. She lowered her head to look at her own hand, then looked at Huo Yuhao. She said nothing.