Light and Shadows Amid the Night, and Ripples

The lights of East Sea Academy lit up one after another in the night, like stars kindled one by one by an invisible hand.

The eight of them passed through the tree-lined path, their footsteps especially clear in the silence. Occasionally, there were several suppressed coughs—the aftereffects of Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi's martial soul fusion skill. Under the streetlights, their faces were pale enough to seem almost translucent.

By the flower bed in front of the girls' dormitory, Wu Nianbing stopped. She turned around. Her lotus-purple dress had already been changed back into the academy's standard uniform, but she still held the soul-guided insulated case containing the Thousand-Year Ice Spirit Fruit in her arms.

The frost patterns on its surface gave off a dim, icy gleam beneath the lights.

"Big Sister Yun," she said, her voice carrying a solemnity unbefitting her age, "tomorrow, I'll have my father give you the money for what you bought."

Yun Zhiyu tilted her head slightly. Beneath her dark brown contact lenses, the vertical pupils in her violet eyes glowed warmly beneath the streetlight. Looking at Wu Nianbing's cool and stubborn eyes, so identical to Wu Changkong's, the corner of her lips lifted into the faintest curve. "No rush."

"I have to pay you," Wu Nianbing shook her head. The hilt of the Icebound Frost Sword swayed gently at her waist. "Father taught me that I shouldn't accept rewards I haven't earned. At the auction today, you didn't have to buy it for me, but you did. That's kindness, but kindness is kindness and accounts are accounts. They can't be confused."

She paused, meeting Yun Zhiyu's gaze briefly. A complicated emotion flickered in her eyes. "I don't want to... owe anyone."

Yun Zhiyu fell silent for a moment before nodding softly. She understood that pride, that almost obsessive independence. Wu Changkong's daughter bore the same unyielding patterns in her bones as the Frost Sword.

"Fine," she said calmly, as though agreeing to something insignificant. "Pay me when it's convenient."

Tang Wulin stood nearby. Little Golden Light had already retreated into his martial soul space. He lowered his head and looked at his palm, where faint scorch marks from releasing the Golden Dragon Claw still remained.

He tightly gripped the sealing crystal containing the Thousand-Year Sea Dragon Marrow. Its sharp edges pressed into his fingers until his knuckles turned white.

"Big Sister Yun," he suddenly said. His dark blue eyes shone with the clarity unique to a youth. "Once my forging level improves, I'll earn money and repay you. For the Sea Dragon Marrow, and for those rare metals today..."

His voice grew softer and softer, as if he feared people would laugh at him for overestimating himself. Yet the fingers clutching the crystal only tightened, his knuckles turning bluish white.

Yun Zhiyu turned to look at him. A stubborn light burned in Tang Wulin's dark blue eyes. It was the nearly instinctive pride granted by the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, and also a boy's simplest fixation on the word "repayment" during the most helpless years of his life.

"Fine," she agreed again, the curve of her lips deepening slightly. "I'll wait."

She did not refuse, because she knew that refusal would be the greatest insult to that pride.

Between friends, profit had never been the measure of anything. But everyone had their own principles to uphold, their own dignity that refused to be treated like an object of charity.

Yun Zhiyu could casually throw out millions of Federation credits, but she could not casually crush someone's backbone.

Xie Xie watched from the side, his brownish-gold hair blown into a messy puff by the night wind. Thoughtful light flickered in his dark green pupils. He opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but in the end merely curled his lips and spun the Light Dragon Dagger beautifully around his fingertips.

Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi supported each other. Their steps were both somewhat unsteady, but their bickering never stopped.

"Could you activate that Bone Dragon Transformation a little earlier next time?"

"Then make your Eagle Strikes the Sky more accurate. You almost shaved off my hair—"

"You call that hair? A bird's nest would be better."

Wei Xiaofeng walked alone at the very edge. The gloominess of his Azure Shadow Serpent martial soul made him more accustomed to shadows, yet his gaze occasionally swept toward Yun Zhiyu. An indescribable complexity hid in his eyes before finally dissolving into the night with an almost inaudible sigh.

The group went their separate ways in front of the girls' dormitory. Wu Nianbing turned and left with the insulated case in her arms, her lotus-purple figure flashing around the corner of the stairs before disappearing.

Gu Yue stood beside Yun Zhiyu, her hair swaying gently in the night breeze like a crescent moon half-veiled by clouds. Her gaze briefly met Yun Zhiyu's. Something she wanted to say flickered deep within her black eyes, but in the end, she merely nodded slightly and headed toward another stairway.

"Gu Yue," Yun Zhiyu suddenly called, her voice so light it seemed as if she were talking to herself. "Go back first. I have something to do."

Gu Yue's steps paused almost imperceptibly. She did not turn back. Her profile held a soft sheen beneath the lights, and her voice was so calm that no emotion could be heard in it. "All right."

That one word was as light as a snowflake falling upon a lake, yet before it sank to the bottom, it stirred a faint ripple.

Yun Zhiyu watched her back disappear around the stairway corner, then turned around and looked at Xie Xie, who had yet to leave. His brownish-gold hair glowed warmly under the streetlight, and his dark green pupils still held the lingering excitement from the auction. The smile on his face was unruly, like a hyena that never knew restraint.

"Xie Xie," she said with an unquestionable solemnity in her voice, "there are some things I want to ask you."

Xie Xie raised an eyebrow, and the Light Dragon Dagger stopped spinning at his fingertips. "Class monitor?"

"About your family." Yun Zhiyu's gaze rested on his face. Beneath her dark brown contact lenses, the vertical pupils in her violet eyes narrowed slightly. "About your martial souls."

Xie Xie's smile stiffened for a moment. He instinctively stepped back half a pace. The auras of shadow and light dragon fluctuated around him at the same time, like an instinctive reaction to having his reverse scale touched.

"Family secrets," his voice lowered, vigilance flashing through his dark green pupils, "must not be spread outside."

"I know." Yun Zhiyu's voice remained calm, like a bottomless lake. "So I'm not asking about secrets. I'm asking about... possibilities."

She stepped forward. They were close enough to smell the faint sweetness of the auction refreshments lingering on each other. She lowered her voice further, as though afraid to disturb some sleeping existence. "Your Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger, Twin Martial Souls, one light and one shadow, complementing each other. But have you ever considered that they could become stronger?"

Xie Xie's pupils abruptly contracted. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, as though some invisible force had seized his throat.

"Martial soul evolution." Yun Zhiyu spoke those four words in a voice as soft as an ancient legend. "It isn't impossible. Something even older is hidden in your bloodline, but it hasn't awakened yet. If you're willing, I can help you."

Xie Xie's eyes lit up in an instant. It was an almost blazing light. His dark green pupils dilated and contracted beneath the streetlights, like a soul-guided lamp suddenly switched on. His body leaned forward slightly, his brownish-gold hair nearly brushing Yun Zhiyu's forehead. His voice trembled faintly. "Class monitor, are you serious?"

"I am." Yun Zhiyu tilted her head slightly, avoiding his overly close breath. "But I'll need your father's cooperation. I've heard about the Xie Family's influence in East Sea City. Some materials and some channels will require the family's strength."

She paused, her gaze falling on the streetlamp in the distance that flickered on and off. A complicated emotion flashed through her eyes.

She knew of Xie Xie's mother from the original story, that gentle woman who had waited alone upon her sickbed and ultimately passed away with regret. She knew of Xie Xie's resentment toward his father—the obsession that family affairs outweighed everything, the regret of not even being able to see his mother one last time.

But she also knew that the Xie Family's network of influence in East Sea City was an indispensable link in her plans.

To change Shrek's fate of being bombed, prevent the tragedy of the Tang Sect headquarters being destroyed, reverse the Federation hawks' rise to power, and even alter the coming Abyssal War that would devour countless lives—she needed to make her moves early and weave a web of connections broad enough to cover the entire Federation.

"Let your father know," her voice returned to its usual aloofness, as if stating an established fact. "When there's an opportunity, I'll pay him a visit."

Xie Xie's eyes shone astonishingly bright. He nodded heavily, his brownish-gold hair bobbing messily in the night wind. "I'll notify my family as soon as possible! Class monitor, you... you can really help me?"

"I can," Yun Zhiyu said softly, as though making a promise about a distant future. "But not now. We'll discuss the details when the time is right."

The two spoke quietly, their voices intertwining into fragmented whispers in the night wind.

Xie Xie's excitement nearly overflowed. Hope for the future burned in his dark green pupils. The joy of being acknowledged and valued made him temporarily forget all his usual arrogance and caution. He leaned in so close that he could see the fine shadows Yun Zhiyu's eyelashes cast beneath the light, close enough to smell the strange, faint scent in her hair—a blend of vegetation and thunder.

He did not notice that beneath the shadow of the old locust tree behind him, a white figure had been standing there for a long time. Gu Yue had not returned to the dormitory.

She had stopped at the stairway corner, like a puppet pulled by an invisible thread. Unable to control herself, she turned around, went downstairs, and crossed the tree-lined path.

In the end, she stopped behind the old locust tree. Her sensitivity to energy fluctuations through the power of the elements allowed her to clearly sense Yun Zhiyu's aura, as well as another soul power fluctuation that should not have appeared at this time—Xie Xie's.

She did not know why she had come.

She only... wanted to wait and return with her, just as they had on countless evenings and nights before. They would walk side by side along the road back to the dormitory, their hair gently intertwining in the evening breeze. That companionship had become a habit, an obsession whose source she did not wish to examine too deeply. Then she heard it.

"Pay him a visit," "go to his home," "the specific details"...

Those words were like fine needles piercing her ears, stirring an unfamiliar, scorching emotion within her sea of consciousness. She "saw" Xie Xie's leaning figure, the blazing light in his eyes, his brownish-gold hair nearly brushing Yun Zhiyu's forehead—

The elemental power erupted in an instant.

Wind element formed a visible vortex around her, sweeping the fallen leaves from the ground into the air before violently shredding them apart. Water element condensed into ice in her palm, only to be vaporized into white mist by excessive heat the next second. Fire element burned in her eyes, reflecting them in an almost reddish-gold hue.

Gu Yue stepped out from behind the tree.

Her pace was slow. With every step she took, a thin layer of frost formed over the bricks beneath her feet. Her hair danced wildly in the night wind like a mass of enraged, burning black flame. Her gaze pinned itself directly onto Xie Xie. The coldness in her black eyes became tangible, like two sharp swords tempered in an ancient icy abyss, ready to nail that clueless brown-haired boy to the ground.

"Gu... Gu Yue?" Xie Xie's voice changed pitch in an instant, like a rooster being strangled. He subconsciously stumbled back two steps. The Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger sprang from his palms at the same time, yet under Gu Yue's gaze, they trembled so violently that he could barely hold them.

He remembered the first day of school, when he had carelessly joked about Gu Yue's appearance and been drenched like a drowned rat by a sudden waterspout. He remembered a practical combat class when he had accidentally knocked over Gu Yue's cup and been frozen in place for an entire quarter hour, even ice crystals hanging from his eyelashes. He remembered countless moments of being "educated" by Gu Yue, each one making him profoundly understand the true meaning of the phrases "trouble comes from the mouth" and "do not provoke her."

And now, he could clearly feel that the killing intent around Gu Yue was stronger than it had ever been. The air pressure froze in an instant.

Xie Xie's pupils contracted violently. Gu Yue's approaching figure reflected in his dark green eyes. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, wanting to defend himself, but it was as though an invisible force had seized his throat, and he could not utter even a single syllable.

"Xie Xie!" Gu Yue spoke in a voice as calm as if she were calling a dead person's name. The chill contained within those two words sent a shudder up Xie Xie's spine. He no longer cared about loyalty or dignity. With a clatter, the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger fell to the ground.

His entire body became a blue shadow—not the speed of an agility-type battle soul master, but the pure instinctive flight of someone driven by terror—as he sprinted madly toward the boys' dormitory.

"Gu Yue, listen to my explanation—not—class monitor, save me—"

His voice faded farther and farther into the night wind before disappearing at the end of the tree-lined path. Only a few crushed leaves remained, spinning in place.

Awkward... dead silence...

An almost tangible awkwardness filled the air.

Yun Zhiyu stood where she was, watching the direction Xie Xie had vanished in. The corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily. Slowly, she turned and met Gu Yue's gaze. The coldness in those black eyes had not yet faded, like thin ice on the surface of a deep pool that had yet to melt completely. Beneath it surged a more complicated, heart-palpitating undercurrent.

"Gu Yue," she said, with a trace of helplessness she had not even noticed in her own voice, "it's not what you think."

Gu Yue did not respond immediately. She stepped forward, and they were close enough to smell the faint fragrance in each other's hair. Her black hair swayed gently in the night wind, several strands brushing against Yun Zhiyu's cheek, bringing a trace of coolness, a trace of itchiness, and an indescribable pressure that made the heart race.

"What do I think?" Gu Yue asked. Her voice was calm enough to reveal no emotion, but the flame burning in her eyes exposed the truth.

Yun Zhiyu fell silent. She looked at the face before her, the face destined in the original story to be entangled with Tang Wulin for a lifetime, only to end with Gu Yue slitting her own throat and freezing herself away.

Gu Yue, the incarnation of the Silver Dragon King's primary consciousness, a fragment of the soul beast ruler, carried the obsession of reviving her entire race. Yet in the human world, she had learned to smile, learned pain, and learned the most lethal poison of all—something called love.

Yun Zhiyu recalled Gu Yue and Tang Wulin's love in the original story, their vow before the ice sealed them apart, and Gu Yue's resolve to freeze the Far North for thousands of miles. It had been the regret of so many readers, the unresolved ache that kept countless people tossing and turning through the night. Yet now, the expression on this face, that nearly obsessive possessiveness, that domineering insistence that no one else could touch what was hers, was directed at Yun Zhiyu.

Why? Yun Zhiyu could not understand.

She could only attribute it all to the attraction of the Torch Dragon Bloodline, the resonance between dragon bloodlines, some bond from ancient times that transcended race and boundaries. She was the inheritor of the Torch Dragon Bloodline, while Gu Yue was the incarnation of the Silver Dragon King. The auras of two supreme dragon clans drew each other together in the unseen. Perhaps that was why Gu Yue had always been especially indulgent and gentle with her.

"I only wanted to help Xie Xie," she patiently explained, her voice gentle as though soothing a bristling cat. "His martial souls have the potential to evolve, but he needs his family's cooperation. Visiting his father is to discuss serious matters. There was no other meaning."

Gu Yue's gaze lingered on her face for a long time, as though trying to pierce through the dark brown contact lenses and look directly into the depths of those violet-gold vertical pupils. Yun Zhiyu felt her cheeks grow slightly hot beneath that stare. An unfamiliar, almost embarrassed emotion spread through her heart. She instinctively looked away toward the flickering streetlamp in the distance, only to realize that her heartbeat was faster than usual.

"Serious matters?" Gu Yue repeated the words, her voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible mockery.

"Did you need to stand so close to discuss them?"

"He leaned in," Yun Zhiyu instinctively defended herself, then realized how feeble that defense sounded. The corner of her mouth twitched. "I didn't notice."

Gu Yue took another step forward. They were now close enough to feel each other's body heat.

The night wind blew from behind, carrying Gu Yue's hair tips across Yun Zhiyu's neck. They brought an itch, a tingling numbness. Yun Zhiyu's back tightened slightly like a fully drawn bow, ready at any moment to face some unknown change.

"From now on," Gu Yue said. Her voice was as soft as a whisper, yet carried an unquestionable dominance. "Stay away from him."

Those four words were not a request or a suggestion, but an almost declarative notice. Yun Zhiyu's pupils narrowed slightly. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, wanting to refute her, but under Gu Yue's gaze, she swallowed every word.

The emotions in those black eyes were too complicated. There was anger, jealousy, and the violence of seeing something that belonged to her coveted by another. Yet deeper down hid an indescribable vulnerability, like a creature that had wandered alone in the abyss for too long and finally grasped a ray of light, refusing to let go no matter how tightly it had to cling to it, even if that light did not belong to it.

Yun Zhiyu suddenly remembered that Gu Yue, as a fragment of the Silver Dragon King, had carried the fate of the entire soul beast race from the moment she was born. She had no childhood, no friends, no experience of being cared about.

Before meeting Tang Wulin and the others, her world had contained only duty, schemes, and cold, lofty divinity.

But now, she cared.

She cared about someone enough to lose control and release killing intent over a shoulder leaning too close, over a quiet conversation. That concern was so fragile it was almost pitiful, yet so domineering that it made one's heart tremble.

"Fine," Yun Zhiyu heard herself say, her voice as soft as a sigh. "I'll stay away from him from now on."

Gu Yue's eyes lit up for an instant. The light was brief, like a Meteor streaking across the night sky, gone in a flash. Yet the corner of her lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile. That nearly satisfied expression, like a feline whose fur had been smoothed down, made Yun Zhiyu's heartbeat miss another beat.

"Let's go back." Gu Yue turned around, her skirt drawing a soft arc through the night wind. "It's late."

Yun Zhiyu followed behind her. The two walked side by side along the road back to the dormitory, their clothes fluttering in the night wind. Their shadows overlapped beneath the streetlights, separated, then overlapped again, like two souls entangled for too long finally finding a fragile balance at this moment. She did not explain further, and Gu Yue did not question her again.

But something deeper quietly took root amid the ripples and compromise of that night.