Seeing Tang Feng preparing to leave, Zhu Zhuqing felt her heart tighten slightly and asked instinctively, "Are you leaving? Where are you going?"
"Yes, I'm planning to visit Suotuo City in the Balak Kingdom." Tang Feng put the Golden Cudgel into his Soul Tool and answered casually.
Suotuo City. Hearing that name, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes brightened slightly. She bit her lower lip and hesitated for a moment before asking, "Can I come with you?"
Tang Feng turned in surprise at her words and gave Zhu Zhuqing a puzzled look, only to see a faint blush rising on her fair cheeks. He couldn't help thinking, Has she decided to latch onto me?
Zhu Zhuqing noticed his confusion. "I'm going to Suotuo City too, to see someone."
"Sure, let's go together." Tang Feng nodded, his tone brisk. With a beautiful girl for company, the journey would be a little less lonely.
The two briefly packed their belongings. They reached the cave entrance, where the waterfall roared, with a pool over a hundred feet below.
Tang Feng looked at Zhu Zhuqing, then down at the steep, slippery rock face, and rubbed his nose awkwardly. "There's a deep pool down below, and the rock face is too slippery. I'll fly you out."
Zhu Zhuqing's pretty face instantly flushed crimson, and she said softly, "Okay... thank you."
Tang Feng came to Zhu Zhuqing's side. For a moment, he didn't know where to put his hands, so he could only slip an arm gently around her waist.
Through her thin leather clothing, Zhu Zhuqing's waist felt soft and slender, but Tang Feng's palm burned as though it had touched a hot coal. He hurriedly collected himself, and the dragon markings at his shoulder blades lit up.
"Flame Dragon Wings!"
Whoosh!
Crimson dragon wings burst open, their golden-red flame patterns flowing across them. The Flame Dragon Wings had fully fused with him, so Tang Feng was no longer afraid of exposing them.
Holding Zhu Zhuqing around the waist, Tang Feng leaped out of the cave, his dragon wings beating as they passed through the thundering curtain of water.
In the blink of an eye, they landed on the grass beyond the waterfall. The mist dispersed, sunlight streamed down, and the green grass rippled in the wind.
Tang Feng released her and patted the hem of his clothes, feigning composure. "We're here."
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head to straighten the hair at her temples, dampened by the mist. A faint blush still lingered on her cheeks as she said softly, "Thank you."
The two exchanged a glance, then looked away at the same time.
In the distance, the morning breeze brushed through the forest, carrying the fresh scent of vegetation and earth. The boy and girl walked side by side toward the forest's outskirts.
Two days later, at Soul Hunting Town on the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The midday sun blazed fiercely, yet there were plenty of people on the streets, with vendors' cries and horses' neighs rising one after another.
Zhu Zhuqing had just followed Tang Feng out of the woods. Sunlight fell over her, seeming to gild her cool, pale skin with a layer of soft light. Her exquisitely crafted, nearly perfect face and tall, slender figure still drew countless gazes in an instant, like a magnet.
Traveling merchants stopped haggling, Soul Masters cast admiring looks her way, and several half-drunk burly men even whistled outright.
Their gazes pricked like needles from every direction. Zhu Zhuqing frowned slightly, unconsciously stepping half a pace closer to Tang Feng.
Tang Feng swept his gaze around, inwardly calling it trouble. It wasn't that he feared trouble, but his identity was sensitive, and he didn't want Zhu Zhuqing's beauty to attract lechers or the eyes of various factions and create needless complications.
He strode over to a roadside stall and casually picked out two plain white masks, one unadorned and the other traced with a few wisps of drifting clouds, both simple and discreet.
Returning to the girl's side, Tang Feng coughed awkwardly and offered her the cloud-patterned mask. "Uh... your looks might draw a bit of attention. Put this on for now to avoid unnecessary trouble."
Zhu Zhuqing glanced around and saw those undisguised, burning stares. The tips of her ears instantly reddened. She took the mask and lowered her head to put it on, leaving only her clear eyes visible. "Thank you," she said softly.
Although the mask hid her city-toppling beauty, it couldn't conceal Zhu Zhuqing's uniquely cool bearing, instead lending her a touch of mystery.
Tang Feng inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, then bought a veiled bamboo hat for Zhu Zhuqing to wear as well. Only then did he feel reassured.
Tang Feng waved over a carriage. Its body was simple, and it was hitched to two sturdy horses with dark manes. The driver was a capable-looking middle-aged man. Seeing his employer's distinguished bearing, he hurriedly lifted the curtain and invited them aboard.
Tang Feng and Zhu Zhuqing stepped inside one after the other. The curtain dropped, shutting out the burning gazes outside.
The wheels rolled over the flagstones with crisp creaks as the carriage swiftly left the town and headed toward Suotuo City.
Inside the carriage, sunlight filtered through the gauze curtains, scattering patches of light and shadow.
Zhu Zhuqing took off her bamboo hat and lightly touched the mask on her face, still feeling traces of her earlier embarrassment.
She secretly raised her eyes and saw Tang Feng sitting quietly by the window, the light outlining the sharp contours of his profile. That blend of composure and vigilance in his bearing left her unable to look away for a while.
Tang Feng, however, didn't notice Zhu Zhuqing's gaze. His thoughts had already drifted toward distant Suotuo City, where he would have his first encounter with the protagonist's group.
The wheels rolled on, dust flying in their wake. The silhouettes of the forest outside the window gradually receded.
From the southern foothills of the Star Dou Great Forest to Suotuo City, it was over thirteen hundred li in a straight line. The mountain roads twisted and turned, and with the early summer rainy season upon them, the roads were a muddy mess.
Tang Feng wasn't in the slightest hurry, though. Shrek Academy's admissions were still a month away, leaving him plenty of time.
Tang Feng simply treated the journey as a sightseeing cultivation trip. Whenever they passed through a major city, he stopped the horses to rest, stayed at the best inn, sampled all the local specialties, and occasionally took Zhu Zhuqing around the markets to buy a few changes of clothes and watch an acrobatics show.
Zhu Zhuqing was initially ill at ease, but gradually grew accustomed to it. She discovered that although this masked boy didn't speak much, he always knew how to take care of someone in the little details.
For instance, he would push the signature dishes toward her during meals and occasionally buy her small trinkets at the night markets.
To Tang Feng, these were merely simple acts of gentlemanly courtesy, and he hadn't thought much of them. After all, his two lives added up to over forty years.
For over a year, he had done nothing but fight and kill or heal and cultivate, his nerves constantly taut. Now that he had someone traveling with him, it had instead become a rare chance to relax.
They traveled in fits and starts, admiring the scenery, eating, and meditating. Twenty-five days passed in a flash.
At the tail end of June, the carriage entered the heartland of the Balak Kingdom. At the end of the plain, a massive reddish-brown city rose from the ground, its walls a hundred feet high and its banners snapping in the wind. Merchants and travelers formed long lines at the gates, and a wave of clamor rushed to meet them.
They had reached Suotuo City.
Tang Feng paid the fare, and the two merged into the crowd side by side, passed through the city gates, and headed straight for the city's most eye-catching building, the Rose Hotel.
The hotel's outer walls were painted rose-red, and its domed roof resembled layers of overlapping petals. Flower baskets adorned its entrance year-round. Its name alone made it clear that it catered specifically to young couples.
Inside the lobby, crystal chandeliers glittered, the attendants wore crisp uniforms, and a faint fragrance drifted through the air.
"Two adjoining premium rooms." Tang Feng approached the counter, his voice quiet.
Although Zhu Zhuqing wore a mask, her cool beauty and exaggerated figure still drew a ripple of hushed exclamations through the lobby.
"Are you sure you want two rooms?" The receptionist looked puzzled.
Tang Feng quickly understood what the receptionist meant. Not wanting to waste time, he said, "We're not a couple. Yes, we want two rooms!"
Hearing Tang Feng's firm tone, the receptionist hesitated no further and immediately booked two rooms.
An attendant eagerly led the way. Before entering her room, Zhu Zhuqing said a quiet "Thank you."
Tang Feng waved a hand, returned to his room, and fell straight into bed. Although the journey had been leisurely, his mind had never relaxed. The Rose Hotel's soft bed finally allowed him to let down his guard completely, and he sank into a deep sleep.
Only when the sun was high the next day did Tang Feng slowly wake. He washed up briefly and knocked on Zhu Zhuqing's door next door.
The door opened. Zhu Zhuqing had removed her mask, revealing a face as exquisite as a porcelain doll's. After a night's rest, her complexion looked much better, her skin as fair as snow and her deep blue eyes as clear as water.
Tang Feng met her eyes and asked casually, "Have you eaten? I'm going to the restaurant across the street for something to eat. Want to come?"
"All right, just a moment." Zhu Zhuqing nodded, then turned back into her room to put on her mask.
The two went to the restaurant opposite the Rose Hotel, ordered several signature dishes, and found a well-lit seat by the window. Before long, a waiter brought over the fragrant dishes.
Tang Feng was just about to ask the waiter for information about Shrek Academy when Zhu Zhuqing spoke first. "Excuse me, where is Shrek Academy?"
The waiter paused, then answered enthusiastically, "Shrek Soul Master Academy? It's in a village outside the city to the west. If you're looking to apply, tomorrow happens to be their admissions day."
"All right, thank you." Zhu Zhuqing nodded politely.
Tang Feng's heart gave a slight jolt. He set down his chopsticks and looked up at Zhu Zhuqing across from him, thinking, She's going to Shrek too? With her age and Soul Power, getting in shouldn't be difficult. Could Zhu Zhuqing be one of the Shrek Seven Monsters from the original story?