The Shrek Ruins in Suotuo City.
Tang San leaned against a half-collapsed wall of Shrek, his breathing as ragged as broken bellows.
His fingertips unconsciously picked at the scorch marks on the wall, sending fragments of stone pattering down.
Dai Mubai sat slumped nearby, sweat soaking his tattered outer robe, his gaze toward Tang San hollow yet dependent.
Oscar crouched in the shadows, hurriedly fiddling with several small bottles, his fingers trembling slightly.
Tang San swept his gaze over the two, intense disgust rising in his heart. Useless trash. They even drag me down when we're running away. But I still need them.
He suppressed his emotions and deliberately lowered his voice, adding a trace of "composure." "We're safe for now. No one would think we'd come here."
Dai Mubai nodded blankly. "Y-yes... Xiao San, what do we do next? We can't go back to Heaven Dou..."
"We go to Star Dou," Tang San interrupted, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. "What I need most is there. It's also our last retreat. Besides, Xiao Wu is there too."
Oscar murmured, "Xiao Wu..."
"All right, then. Third Brother, go and bring Xiao Wu back."
Star Lake, in the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The air hung heavy as congealed blood.
Da Ming's enormous serpentine body lay coiled beside the lake, his deep bovine eyes bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the shattered reflections on its surface.
Er Ming hammered giant trees in a frenzy. His thunderous blows carried grief and rage he could not release, the trunks as fragile as straw beneath his hands.
A sequence of utterly subdued footsteps approached.
Tang San appeared at the edge of the woods, bedraggled from his long journey.
He immediately sensed the despair and destruction permeating the place.
Tang San's