"I refuse."
Lu Yi's words rang out with conviction. For a moment, Xuan Zi thought he had misheard. The struggling Three-Eyed Golden Lion also went still and looked up at Lu Yi.
"Lu Yi, there's only one Auspicious Beast in the world. Plenty of people never see her even once in their lives. Don't pass up such a fine opportunity."
Xuan Zi truly could not understand why Lu Yi would refuse.
Lu Yi, meanwhile, had just forced his thoughts to settle. Once he shut out the thought that had been guiding him—or rather, bewitching him—he could not help considering a great many things.
If someone intended to use him for some unspeakable purpose, then his answer was no.
But with Xuan Zi, he needed a different explanation.
"Xuan Zi, it's precisely because she's the only Auspicious Beast in the world that everything about her affects the entire Soul Beast population. We can't gamble with all of them, can we?"
At that, Xuan Zi burst out laughing.
"So that's what this is about. You're worried it'll hurt her?"
Xuan Zi thought he understood: the Auspicious Beast's reputation had frightened Lu Yi.
"She may be an Auspicious Beast, but she's hardly as miraculous as you make her sound. At most, she carries a trace of ancient blood. An ancient text at Shrek says Attribute Guidance poses no danger to an Auspicious Beast. In fact, communing with her brings enormous benefits. You might even gain a wisp of auspicious energy."
Xuan Zi spoke with absolute certainty, clearly putting great faith in the text.
Hearing this, Lu Yi knew Xuan Zi was not lying, but the text he had read was unquestionably flawed.
Shrek had existed for only ten thousand years—five thousand years less than the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had been alive. And she