Friends

The blinding red lightning made everyone's pupils contract. They shut their eyes on instinct.

[Perfect disarming timing and resolve]

[Expelliarmus Lv. 2 (2/2) → Expelliarmus Lv. 3 (0/4)]

[Disarming Charm can be upgraded. +1 academic credit]

Wang Dong flew backward. The heavy black hammer hit the ground first with a bang, thin currents of electricity coiling around it.

But Wang Dong reacted quickly. She came to her senses, followed through with an Agile Backflip, and landed on both feet. Even then, she carved two long tracks across the ground before she stopped sliding backward.

A prickling numbness spread through her right arm, as though a thousand ants were biting it. Wang Dong stared at her trembling right hand in disbelief.

When the red lightning struck her, she had clearly felt something torn from her body. At the same moment, her connection to the Clear Sky Hammer had been severed.

Wang Dong looked at the Clear Sky Hammer that had been knocked away. As the red currents wound around it slowly faded, her connection to her Martial Soul gradually returned.

Shaken and unwilling to accept it, Wang Dong demanded, "What Soul Skill was that?"

She had experienced it firsthand. Lu Yi had displayed no fewer than five abilities, yet he clearly had only one Yellow Soul Ring.

Since when could a Hundred-Year Soul Ring grant skills this powerful?

Lu Yi's chest heaved, and sweat streamed down his face, but he maintained his composure. "You should know better than anyone what Soul Skill that was."

He had cast the Disarming Charm purely on instinct. He had never expected it to work on a Martial Soul, much less work so well.

"You!"

Furious, Wang Dong was about to pick up her hammer and fight Lu Yi to the finish when a gentle, aged voice with a force that shook the heart suddenly sounded in her mind.

"Little girl from the Clear Sky Sect, this was only a sparring match. It would be unseemly to keep fighting. Why not stop here and turn your weapons into jade and silk?"

Wang Dong was shaken to her core. She looked around, but saw no sign of the speaker.

She was no stranger to such things, though. Her eldest and second fathers were both reclusive powerhouses. Speaking to someone from afar was child's play for them.

It seemed some powerhouse from Shrek was watching.

Her taut nerves relaxed. Wang Dong brushed her right hand over the hammer's grip, and the black Clear Sky Hammer returned to her body.

Seeing this, Lu Yi lowered his guard and put away his Wand.

Wang Dong walked up to Lu Yi. With so many people watching, she opened her mouth, then closed it again. In the end, she could not bring herself to say it.

"How about we call it a draw?" Lu Yi broke the awkward silence first. "You look like you still have strength left, while I'm almost out of Soul Power."

"Huh?"

Surprise flashed through Wang Dong's eyes. She had not expected Lu Yi to help her save face.

But a loss was a loss. She had even exposed her trump card this time, leaving her no excuse. Still, her pride made her put on that sour expression. "It's not like I can't take a loss. I had the advantage from the start!"

Lu Yi could see now that Wang Dong was not bad at heart. She was just simple-minded and poorly raised.

Compared with many spoiled noble brats, she was already quite decent.

But there was no denying that Wang Dong's memories—or rather, her soul—were incomplete.

She remembered only what had happened after she arrived at the Clear Sky Sect. As a person, she was like a blank sheet of paper.

And at the Clear Sky Sect, she had been raised by Da Ming and Er Ming, two Soul Beasts who had descended to the mortal realm without permission.

What could anyone expect from two Soul Beasts in human form raising a child? Knowing to run home when it rained was already good enough.

No wonder she was simple-minded and liked violence, yet could admit defeat readily when she lost.

That was pure Soul Beast thinking.

Now the truth was out!

Lu Yi felt as though everything had clicked into place. Wang Dong seemed much easier to get along with now.

He also recalled Mu En's message from moments ago. He had no objection to turning weapons into jade and silk, so he took the initiative to give ground.

Once the two shook hands and made peace, the onlookers knew the show was over. They dispersed to their own business, leaving only Huo Yuhao and the old man who had been sunbathing the whole time.

"Wang Dong!"

"Hmm?" Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao as he approached. "What is it?"

"I don't know why, but I can accept you moving into my dorm. First, though, you have to get my roommate's permission. You can't threaten him with violence!"

Huo Yuhao spoke earnestly. Besides, Lu Yi and Wang Dong seemed to have become friends after their fight. There was no need for him to make an enemy of her.

"And I think classmates should treat each other as equals, with respect. If you agree, we can be friends too."

His experiences over the past few days had taught Huo Yuhao the importance of friends. A dependable friend truly could be a solid shield at your back.

"I—" Huo Yuhao's honesty left Wang Dong stunned.

As far back as she could remember, she had been the center of attention, enjoying everyone's care and concern.

Everyone treated her kindly, yet she had always felt that the Clear Sky Sect disciples her age were too deferential around her.

They always seemed to accommodate her. Even when she lost her temper with them, they kept smiling.

Every one of them was her friend. But was she theirs?

Hearing Huo Yuhao's words now, she seemed to understand something.

Friends should be equals. Friends had tempers too. Friends were people.

Resolve flashed in Wang Dong's eyes. She looked at Lu Yi, then at Huo Yuhao. "You're right. Before, I was... I was wrong. Are we friends now?"

"Of course!"

With that, Huo Yuhao held out his hand and shook Wang Dong's.

"Then... what are friends supposed to do together?" The whole thing felt strangely new to Wang Dong, and she put the question to them both.

At Wang Dong's question, Huo Yuhao scratched his head awkwardly.

In his eleven years at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, it seemed his only friend had been a boy one year younger than him.

The friends he had now had all appeared after he left the Duke's Mansion and approached him first: Bei Bei, Sister Xiao Ya, and Lu Yi. He seemed to have been the passive one throughout.

This was his first time taking the initiative to make a friend. Everything he had just said about friendship was something his mother had taught him.

So he turned an imploring look on Lu Yi.

To him, Lu Yi was deeply mysterious and always seemed to have a plan. He was nothing like someone from a small village, as he claimed.

Noticing their gazes, Lu Yi stopped staring up at the sky.

He did not know why he had done it. Perhaps, at the important moment when Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong became friends, he thought he might catch someone's eye if he looked up.

Of course, all he saw were blue skies and white clouds.

"I don't know what friends are supposed to do!"

Lu Yi answered frankly, then changed tack, a note of grievance entering his voice. "But I just took a bath, and now I'm covered in sweat again. That bath was a complete waste, and I missed breakfast too. How are you going to make it up to your friend?"

"No problem. It's just breakfast, right? Today's meal is on me. School hasn't started yet anyway, and I want to explore Shrek City some more!" Wang Dong slipped back into the manner of a rich young noble.

"Fine. Watch us eat you out of house and home today! Let me take a bath first!"

With that, Lu Yi shuffled toward the dormitory in his flip-flops.

Lu Yi's words reminded Huo Yuhao that his scuffle with Wang Dong on the ground had left him sweaty too. He needed a bath as well.

But Wang Dong was a new friend, and he had fought two matches in a row. It would not be right to leave her standing there.

Out of courtesy, Huo Yuhao asked, "Want to come take a bath with us?"

But as soon as the words left his mouth, a shudder ran through him for no apparent reason.