Poor Shrek Academy, Xiao Wu's Curiosity

At the gates of Shrek Academy.

Lin Yuan stood beneath a signboard hanging crookedly to one side and stared up at it for a long time.

"Tang San."

"Yeah?"

"Nod Ting at least had a complete wall."

Tang San turned to look at the wall on the left, which was missing a section, then at the courtyard wall on the right, which had half collapsed.

"Shrek... doesn't even have walls?"

Flender came up behind them and patted the dust from his long robe. "It's called open-style teaching."

Lin Yuan looked back at him. "It's called having no money."

Flender's mouth twitched. "What do you know? Shrek trains monsters, not flowers raised in a greenhouse."

"Never mind the flowers for now." Lin Yuan pointed to a corner of the courtyard. "What's that pile?"

A heap of scrap metal lay in the corner: rusty swords and shields, along with half a broken flagpole.

Flender's expression did not change. "Teaching equipment."

Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Dean, how long has that teaching equipment been sitting there?"

"Three years."

"No one's touched it in three years?"

Flender fell silent for two seconds. "...Four years."

Lin Yuan turned to Tang San. "Now I understand why Grandmaster said Shrek had trouble recruiting students."

Tang San nodded. "Before we came, I thought Nod Ting was run-down enough."

Flender coughed and forced a change of subject. "Come on. I'll show you the dining hall."

The dining hall.

Calling it a dining hall was generous. It was a large room with a few crooked wooden tables and a big pot in the corner. White rice porridge simmered inside, so thin it could reflect a person's face.

A tall young man with short blond hair sat at a table in a faded academy uniform, staring blankly at a bowl of the porridge.

At the sound of footsteps, he looked up.

"New here?"

Lin Yuan said, "Yeah. You're a student too?"

"Evil-Eyed White Tiger, Dai Mubai."

"Lin Yuan. Fishing rod."

Dai Mubai froze for three seconds. "Fishing rod?"

Lin Yuan laid his rod on the table. "Yeah. Are you hungry?"

Dai Mubai looked down at his porridge, then at the emerald-green bamboo rod, his expression complicated. "...You're going to conjure a fish for me with that thing?"

"No need to conjure one. There are fish in Back Mountain Lake."

Dai Mubai frowned. "That lake? Nobody goes there."

"There are fish in it. Come with me."

Dai Mubai did not move. "You're serious?"

Lin Yuan stood and picked up his rod. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Dai Mubai stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly drained his porridge in one gulp and slapped the bowl upside down on the table.

"Let's go."

Back Mountain Lake.

Lin Yuan crouched on a level stretch of shore, pulled a small handful of Boilie Rice from his pocket, and scattered it over the water.

Dai Mubai stood behind him with his arms folded. "What did you throw in?"

"Boilie Rice. I made it myself."

"What's it for?"

"To draw the fish over."

Dai Mubai watched the water. "Are there really fish in this lake?"

"We'll know in three minutes."

The two of them crouched on the shore. Dai Mubai grew restless and kept looking around.

Lin Yuan said, "Stop moving. The fish underwater can see you pacing back and forth."

Dai Mubai went rigid. "Fish can see what's on shore?"

"Fish aren't blind."

Three minutes passed.

The float plunged beneath the surface. Lin Yuan flicked his wrist, and a two-pound Crucian Carp burst from the water.

Dai Mubai's eyes went wide. "You actually caught one?"

Lin Yuan took the fish off the hook and tossed it to him. "If you want something extra to eat, come with me. But there's one condition."

"What condition?"

"Don't fight me for my fishing spot."

Holding the Crucian Carp, Dai Mubai suddenly laughed. "Deal."

He hefted the fish in his hands, then asked, "How many fish are in this lake?"

"No idea."

"What was your name again?"

"Lin Yuan."

"All right, Lin Yuan." Dai Mubai slung the fish over his shoulder. "I owe you a favor for this fish. If you need anything, just say the word."

He turned to leave, then looked back after a few steps. "By the way, that rod of yours—is it really just a fishing rod?"

Lin Yuan cast his line back into the water. "It really is just a fishing rod."

Dai Mubai left.

Lin Yuan stayed crouched on the shore and kept fishing.

Footsteps sounded behind him.

"You're Lin Yuan?"

It was a bright female voice.

Lin Yuan looked back.

A young girl with a Scorpion Braid stood three paces away. She wore a pink dress and had a slender waist, long legs, and large eyes. She tilted her head as she studied him.

Xiao Wu.

"Yeah. And you are?"

"Xiao Wu. I'm Tang San's friend." She came over and crouched beside Lin Yuan, staring at his fishing rod for a long while. "Tang San said your Martial Soul is a fishing rod?"

"That's right."

"Can you fight with it?"

"I can."

"Can you beat Zhao Wuji?"

Lin Yuan smiled. "I took him for a run just yesterday."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. "How?"

Lin Yuan glanced at her. "Want to learn?"

"Yes."

"Watch first. We'll talk once you understand."

Xiao Wu said nothing more and crouched obediently beside him to watch.

Lin Yuan cast into the lake. The float stood upright on the surface, perfectly still.

After five minutes, Xiao Wu grew impatient. "Why isn't anything happening?"

"What's the rush?"

"It's been five minutes."

"Time is the one thing an angler never runs out of."

Xiao Wu turned to study his profile. Suddenly, she said, "You're not quite like other people."

"How am I different?"

"When other people awaken a Trash Martial Soul, they either accept their fate or complain." Xiao Wu counted on her fingers. "You do neither. It's like you knew what you could do right from the start."

Lin Yuan did not turn around. "You're pretty observant."

"I've been observant since I was little." Xiao Wu paused, her tone turning earnest. "Can I look at your rod?"

Lin Yuan handed it to her.

Xiao Wu took it, weighed it in her hand, then ran her fingers along the shaft. Suddenly, she made a curious sound.

"What is it?"

"This rod... it feels like it has a heartbeat."

Lin Yuan froze.

Xiao Wu handed the rod back, stood up, and brushed the bits of grass from her skirt. "I don't know what kind of Martial Soul you have, but I've seen a lot of Soul Beasts. The only things whose heartbeats I can feel are living things."

She looked down at Lin Yuan, something different in her eyes.

"That rod of yours is alive."

Lin Yuan gripped the rod, feeling the faint, elusive pulse against his palm.

A system notification suddenly sounded:

[Ding! Shrek Academy map unlocked. Soul Beast distribution around the academy: unknown. Recommendation: complete the Newbie Quest Chain as soon as possible.]

Lin Yuan muttered to himself, "Newbie Quest Chain? This system has a main quest too?"

[System: This system is an Open World. The host must explore and find his own main quest.]

Lin Yuan laughed. "Fine. I'll set my own main quest."

Xiao Wu tilted her head at him. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one. Just talking to myself." Lin Yuan stood and reeled in his line. "Come on. Let's go back and eat."

Xiao Wu followed him. "You still haven't told me what you want to do most."

Lin Yuan took a few steps, then looked back at her.

"Fish every body of water on this continent."

Xiao Wu froze.

Then she smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "You'll have to outfish me first."

"Why?"

"Because the biggest lake on this continent," Xiao Wu said, raising one finger, "is under my watch."

Lin Yuan looked at her. Something about that did not sound right.

"Under your watch?"

Xiao Wu blinked. "You'll find out someday."

She skipped away, leaving Lin Yuan standing alone by the lake.

The system notification sounded again:

[Ding! Key NPC detected: Xiao Wu. Identity: Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form. Assessment: Host, you just spent ages talking about fishing with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.]

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, drinking white rice porridge in the dining hall every day." Lin Yuan shook his head and muttered, "This academy is even more absurd than I thought."