Night fell over Shrek City.
The bustle of the day ebbed like a tide, leaving only a few scattered pedestrians and the rumble of carriage wheels over the cobblestones.
Huo Yuhao slipped out of Shrek Academy. After making sure no one was following him, he turned into the familiar alley on the west side of the city.
The wooden sign of the Forget Her Tavern swayed gently in the night breeze, creaking back and forth.
Huo Yuhao pushed open the door.
But this time, things were completely different.
The tavern was empty. A lone yellow lamp illuminated the person sitting at the bar.
Short dark-blue hair, a lean figure, and a glass of bright green Green Mood before him.
Bei Bei.
He looked nothing like the drunkard reeking of alcohol, his eyes unfocused, whom Huo Yuhao had met before.
His eyes were clear and deep. The instant Huo Yuhao entered, his gaze locked onto him.
Huo Yuhao closed the door as though nothing were amiss and walked behind the bar.
He took a lime and some mint from the shelf and mixed himself a Mojito.
"Where are the customers?"
Huo Yuhao asked casually as he muddled the mint leaves.
"I'm not serving anyone else tonight," Bei Bei replied evenly.
"You're the only person I'm waiting for."
Huo Yuhao's hands did not pause.
Lime juice dripped into the glass, mingling with the fresh scent of mint and the richness of Rum.
"So that 'Drunkard Beibei' who grabbed me and sobbed about Tang Chuan was acting from the start?"
"That's right."
Bei Bei picked up his Green Mood and took a small sip.
"I also arranged for you to meet that senior student when you were asking around in the Outer Academy."
Huo Yuhao raised his Mojito to his lips and took a sip.
The cool liquor slid down his throat, sharpening his mind.
"So you were watching me even before I enrolled."
"I've been watching you for a long time."
Bei Bei set down his glass and looked at him calmly.
"I started watching you years ago, when you were still at the White Tiger Duke's Estate."
"And seven or eight Transmigrators tried to get close to you, just as I did. I eliminated every one of them."
"Except Ye Beixuan."
The corner of Bei Bei's mouth twitched.
"His cultivation was weak, but he happened to catch me while I was away handling some business. He slipped into the White Tiger Duke's Estate."
"Back then, though, I didn't know you were a Transmigrator too."
Huo Yuhao did not rush to respond. He simply listened.
Bei Bei continued.
"Then Ye Beixuan was blown up by Dai Huabin's Fixed-Install Soul Tool Shell. Soon after, the two Transmigrators who took Shrek's entrance test alongside you also died under mysterious circumstances."
"That was when I realized you were one of them."
"So you gave me the information on Tang Chuan."
Huo Yuhao finally spoke.
"Exactly." Bei Bei nodded.
"I wanted to see whether you could qualify."
"Qualify for what?"
Bei Bei gently pushed his glass aside and leaned forward, speaking one word at a time.
"To become my ally."
The glass in Huo Yuhao's hand swayed slightly, the mint leaves slowly turning in the amber liquor.
"Perhaps you're wondering whether I'm a Transmigrator like you."
Bei Bei seemed to read his mind. He smiled and shook his head.
"Unfortunately, I'm not."
"I'm Bei Bei. The real Bei Bei."
He paused.
"But when I was three, I received a book."
"A book called Peerless Tang Sect."
Huo Yuhao's fingers tightened slightly around his glass.
"That book recorded every story on this continent, from ten thousand years ago to ten thousand years from now."
A look Huo Yuhao had never seen before flashed through Bei Bei's eyes.
It was cold and sharp, filled with the anger of someone toyed with by fate.
"I saw the entire plot. I saw how everyone's story ended."
"I saw Tang Ya's fate, the Grand Ancestor's fate, and my own."
"The Grand Ancestor would die young after failing to absorb the Dragon Core, once you obtained your third Soul Ring."
"And I would become that wretched woman Tang Ya's puppet, trailing after her like a lovesick fool every day and making the Tang Sect's revival my life's purpose."
"I would give her every cultivation resource, every connection, and every coin I had, holding nothing back."
"And what did Tang Ya ever give me? From beginning to end?"
"A smile? A kind word? Or even a proper place at her side?"
Bei Bei drew a deep breath.
"And all of it pointed to the same person."
"Tang San, who ascended to the Divine Realm ten thousand years ago!"
"What right does he have to decide our fates?!"
Bei Bei slammed his palm onto the bar, making the entire counter shudder.
"He ascended to the Divine Realm, then left behind one rotten scheme after another."
"He sent his daughter down to bind you, made the Tang Sect a shackle around both our necks, and turned me, Bei Bei, into Tang Ya's dog!"
"Who the hell does Tang San think he is?!"
Huo Yuhao lowered his head and took a sip of his drink, offering a silent verdict.
Well said!
"And the Transmigrators I eliminated told me an even more revolting truth."
The fury in Bei Bei's eyes flared hotter.
"Tang San's shameless parents, Tang Hao and Ah Yin, are actually living inside the Golden Ancient Tree like parasites."
"They devour the souls of every Sea God Pavilion Master to sustain themselves. They've been feeding on them for ten thousand years!"
"My parents died when I was young. The Grand Ancestor raised me himself."
"He's closer to me than my own parents ever were!"
"And what happens to him? He devotes his entire life to Shrek Academy, only for his soul to end up on the menu for Tang San's half-vegetable parents after he dies?!"
Bei Bei's breathing quickened, his chest heaving.
It took a long while for him to regain his composure. Then he gave a faint smile.
"Luckily, something else appeared alongside that copy of Peerless Tang Sect."
"The Light Dragon King's Divine Legacy and the Dark Dragon King's Divine Legacy!"
"So on the day of my Martial Soul Awakening, when I was six, I awakened the Twin Ultimate Martial Souls of the Radiant Sacred Dragon and the Dark Sacred Dragon."
A trace of pride entered Bei Bei's voice.
"When the Grand Ancestor found out, he personally taught me to cultivate and groomed me as the Holy Son of Sea God's Pavilion."
"Barring any surprises, I'll be the next Sea God Pavilion Master!"
Huo Yuhao froze with his glass halfway to his mouth.
Black and White Twin Holy Dragons?
Sure enough, it was that tired old trope from fanfiction.
Twin Martial Souls with both light and darkness at their extremes, plus a God King-level Divine Legacy. Those numbers were absurd!
In his mind, Huo Yuhao quietly raised Bei Bei's threat level to the highest setting.
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