Undercurrents in the Secret Realm: Spirit Hall's Infiltration and Counterattack

The road back to the Shrek Secret Realm was rougher than they had imagined. To avoid Spirit Hall's search parties, they took many detours, choosing to travel through remote mountain forests. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass proved the best guide, sensing not only the movements of nearby Soul Beasts but also the presence of humans lying in wait ahead.

Lin Ye's Golden Crow Fire came in handy at night, driving away wild beasts and drying their damp clothes. After the battle at the altar and the strain of Golden Crow Nirvana, his Soul Power had yet to recover fully, and his face often turned pale. But whenever his companions needed him, he was always the first to step forward.

"Another three days and we'll reach the secret realm." Tang San checked the map Yu Xiaogang had drawn and pointed at the valley ahead. "Once we're through the Mist Forest, we'll be in Suotuo City's territory."

Xiao Wu peeled a wild fruit and handed it to Lin Ye. "When we get to the secret realm, we'll have to get Oscar to make you ten Recovery Sausages to restore your Soul Power."

Lin Ye took it with a smile. "Not just Recovery Sausages. I'll need Excited Pink Sausages too. I'm going to make up for all the training I missed."

Dai Mubai snorted. "I'm just worried you won't be able to keep up. I haven't been slacking off these past six months."

"Who says it'll be me who can't keep up?" Lin Ye raised an eyebrow, and the two exchanged smiles, as though their earlier argument had never happened.

Oscar and Tai Long were packing their belongings behind them. Watching the three bicker up ahead, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since the last argument, the atmosphere had been a little awkward. Now, at last, it had returned to its former ease.

That ease, however, did not last long. On the evening of their second day in the Mist Forest, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass suddenly sent him a strong warning.

"Stop!" Tang San barked. Blue Silver Grass instantly wove a dense net beneath everyone's feet. "There's an ambush ahead!"

Lin Ye immediately used Golden Crow Perception. Sure enough, he picked up dozens of Soul Power fluctuations in the mist ahead, several of them particularly familiar-the black-clad Soul Masters of Spirit Hall!

"How could they be here so quickly?" Xiao Wu's face went pale. "How did they know our route?"

"Never mind how they found out. Get ready to fight!" Dai Mubai used Martial Soul Possession, the claws of the Hell Spirit Cat flashing coldly in the mist. "I'll lead the attack this time!"

Tai Long transformed into a Great Strength Gorilla and stepped in front of everyone. "I'll handle the defense!"

Oscar quickly pulled out a pile of sausages. "Strength, speed, defense-whatever you need, I've got it!"

Lin Ye and Tang San exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass spread rapidly through the mist, weaving a huge net to trap their enemies, while Lin Ye gathered Golden Crow Fire, ready to attack at any moment.

Footsteps sounded in the mist, and dozens of black-clad Soul Masters filed out. Their leader was a man wearing a bronze mask. His Soul Power fluctuations had actually reached the level-fifty Soul King realm!

"Didn't expect this, did you, Shrek brats?" The masked man's voice was hoarse and grating. "Lord Yue Guan was right. You did take this route."

"More Spirit Hall lackeys!" Dai Mubai roared and lunged at the masked man, his body turning into an afterimage.

"You don't know whether to live or die." The masked man sneered. His Soul Power erupted, and a black scythe appeared in his hand. He met Dai Mubai's attack with a chilling presence.

Clang!

Claws collided with scythe, and Dai Mubai was driven back several steps, his arms numb. He was stunned. The masked man's Soul Power was so immense!

"Attack together!" Tang San shouted. Blue Silver Grass burst from the ground and coiled around the ankles of several black-clad Soul Masters.

Lin Ye seized the chance. His Golden Crow Fire transformed into several fire dragons that struck the entangled Soul Masters with precision. Flames scorched their clothes, and screams echoed through the mist.

Under cover of the Blue Silver Grass, Xiao Wu teleported behind the black-clad Soul Masters again and again, using her grappling techniques. The crisp pops of joints being dislocated rang out one after another. Tai Long was like a moving wall, blocking every incoming Soul Skill, while Oscar's sausages were like rain in a drought, always arriving to replenish the others when their Soul Power ran low.

There were too many black-clad Soul Masters, however, and they worked together seamlessly. The masked man in particular swung his scythe so fiercely that he drove Dai Mubai and Tang San back again and again.

"We can't keep this up." Sweat beaded on Tang San's forehead as his Blue Silver Grass consumed more and more Soul Power. "Lin Ye, use Golden Crow Radiant Sun!"

Lin Ye understood at once. The phantom of a Three-Legged Golden Crow spread out behind him, and dazzling golden light instantly dispelled the surrounding mist!

The black-clad Soul Masters covered their eyes and retreated from the intense light, their formation falling into disarray.

"Now!" Purple light blazed in Tang San's eyes. The Blue Silver Overlord Spear took shape and stabbed toward the masked man with a piercing rush of wind!

Caught off guard, the masked man was grazed on the shoulder by the Blue Silver Overlord Spear. Blood instantly stained his black clothes red. He roared and swung his scythe back at Tang San, but Dai Mubai arrived just in time to block it.

Lin Ye seized the opening and attacked. Golden Crow Fire formed a longsword that thrust straight at the masked man's chest.

"Despicable!" Forced to defend himself, the masked man failed to notice that Xiao Wu had already teleported behind him. She unleashed Waist Bow, kicking him hard in the back of the neck!

The masked man's vision went black, and he pitched forward. Tang San seized the chance, and Blue Silver Grass instantly bound him tight.

"Retreat!" Seeing their leader captured, the remaining black-clad Soul Masters lost the will to fight. They fell back and soon vanished into the mist.

When the battle ended, everyone collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. The mist gradually dispersed, revealing the wreckage strewn across the ground and the wounded black-clad Soul Masters.

"What do we do with this guy?" Dai Mubai nudged the bound man with his foot.

Tang San stepped forward and ripped off his bronze mask, revealing a young, sinister face.

"It's you!" Tang San and Lin Ye cried out at the same time.

They knew that face all too well-it was Yu Tianheng, the captain of Canghui Academy!

"Yu Tianheng? How could you join Spirit Hall?" Tang San's eyes filled with disbelief.

Yu Tianheng sneered, his gaze venomous. "Join Spirit Hall? I was forced to! After Canghui Academy was destroyed, they caught me and gave me a choice: join or die! What would you have chosen in my place?"

"That doesn't give you the right to help a tyrant do evil!" Xiao Wu said angrily.

"Help a tyrant do evil?" Yu Tianheng burst out laughing, his laughter full of despair. "I'm a failure. What right do I have to talk about right and wrong? Besides, Spirit Hall can give me strength. It can help me get revenge!"

"Revenge? Against whom?" Lin Ye keenly seized on the key point.

Yu Tianheng fixed his hateful gaze on Tang San. "You! All of you from Shrek! If you hadn't defeated us, Spirit Hall wouldn't have treated Canghui Academy as a pawn to be discarded, and our teachers and classmates wouldn't have died!"

Tang San was stunned. He had never imagined that Canghui Academy's tragedy would be blamed on him.

"You're wrong." Lin Ye shook his head. "Even if we hadn't defeated you, Spirit Hall wouldn't have spared Canghui Academy. They planned their purge of those who opposed them long ago. We just happened to become their excuse."

"I don't believe it!" Yu Tianheng roared. "If it weren't for you, we'd still be a long-established academy of the Heaven Dou Empire. Our teachers and classmates would still be here!"

Seeing how stubbornly he clung to his belief, everyone fell silent. Hatred had blinded him, and no amount of explanation would do any good.

"Do you know how Spirit Hall managed to find us so precisely?" Tang San changed the subject, fixing Yu Tianheng with a sharp gaze.

A flicker of panic crossed Yu Tianheng's eyes, but he stubbornly replied, "I don't know!"

Tang San did not press him. He merely signaled to Lin Ye, who understood. Golden Crow Fire danced in Lin Ye's palm as he brought it close to Yu Tianheng's arm.

"You won't talk?" Lin Ye's voice was icy. "My Golden Crow Fire can burn away your Soul Power bit by bit and make you suffer pain worse than death."

Yu Tianheng's face turned deathly pale. He had seen the power of Golden Crow Fire with his own eyes and hurriedly shouted, "I'll talk! I'll talk! It was... someone in the Shrek Secret Realm who sent us word!"

"Someone in the secret realm?" Everyone's expressions changed drastically. "The dean and Teacher Zhao? Impossible!"

"Not them!" Yu Tianheng hastily shook his head. "It was... a new odd-job worker the academy hired. He said he had a way to contact us, and that if we could capture you, we could join Spirit Hall's inner circle."

A new odd-job worker hired at the Shrek Secret Realm?

Tang San and Lin Ye exchanged a glance, each seeing the gravity in the other's eyes. Spirit Hall's infiltration ran so deep that it had planted a spy even in their safest haven!

"It seems we can't go straight back to the secret realm," Tang San said gravely. "If there really is a traitor inside, going back would be walking into a trap."

"Then where do we go?" Xiao Wu asked.

Lin Ye thought for a moment. "Maybe... we can go to Heaven Dou Royal Academy. We still have the token Dean Yu Luomian gave us. We should be safe there for the time being."

Everyone agreed to the suggestion.

"What about this guy?" Dai Mubai pointed at Yu Tianheng.

Tang San looked at Yu Tianheng, a complicated emotion flickering in his eyes. "Let him go. He's a victim too."

"What?" Xiao Wu could hardly believe it. "If we let him go, he'll definitely seek out Spirit Hall again!"

"He won't." Tang San shook his head. "I left Blue Silver Grass seeds on him. As soon as he gets close to anyone from Spirit Hall, I'll sense it. Besides, I believe he still has a conscience."

With that, Tang San released the Blue Silver Grass binding Yu Tianheng.

Yu Tianheng stared at him for a moment, his gaze complicated.

"Go." Tang San turned away. "Don't help a tyrant do evil anymore."

Yu Tianheng opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end he merely snorted, turned, and disappeared into the mist.

Watching him leave, Lin Ye sighed. "I hope you haven't misjudged him."

"We can only take a gamble." Tang San looked in the direction of Suotuo City, his gaze grave. "Now we need to find a way around Suotuo City and head straight for Heaven Dou City."

The wind in the Mist Forest grew stronger, stirring their clothes and the unease in their hearts. If even the safest secret realm might harbor a traitor, was there anywhere in this world truly worthy of their trust?

But they had no time to lose their way. After packing their belongings, the five set out once more. This time, their destination was Heaven Dou City, the imperial capital that seemed prosperous on the surface but was likewise roiled by undercurrents.

Not long after they left, a small, thin figure emerged from the mist and looked in the direction they had gone. A strange smile curled at the corners of the figure's mouth before they turned and ran toward Suotuo City.

A contest of trust and betrayal had only just begun.