"Boss Fu, here, take this bottle of golden sore medicine. Just look at yourself—flesh and blood everywhere. I'd say this is the worst injury you've had in over ten years, isn't it?"
On the grand avenue leading from Shenyan Hall, twelve female guards dressed in dazzling gold armor escorted Shrek Academy's party all the way to the main gates. Their boots echoed against the brilliant white stone, their expressions cold and untouchable, as though they were throwing out unwelcome beggars instead of distinguished guests.
At the back of the group, Liu Erlong walked beside Flender, a small bottle of medicine held out toward him with both hands. Her eyes flickered with genuine concern, even as her voice carried a note of gentle reproach.
"Boss Fu," she said again, her gaze darting over his swollen cheek and bruised chin, "I know Xiaobei went a little too far, but you can't let your anger fester when we go back. After all, it was still your student who caused trouble first. If you unleash it on them now, this matter will spiral out of control."
Flender grunted, waving his hand dismissively, but the way he leaned on her for balance betrayed pain. Ma Hongjun had already been passed into Dai Mubai's arms, while Oscar provided support at his other side. The rest of Shrek's disciples followed like a defeated column of soldiers after a devastating campaign.
Behind them, Shenyan Hall glittered like a palace of gods; ahead, only the streets filled with whispering commoners awaited.
Flender forced down the soreness in his ribs and rubbed at his puffed-up face. Just the act of touching the bruise forced a sharp hiss of pain out between his teeth.
"Erlong," he said pitifully, his voice trembling on the edge of a groan, "we've truly been beaten to the doghouse this time. Usually when brothers share hardships, they at least comfort each other. But instead of feeling sorry for poor old Boss Fu, you're scolding me instead. Look at me—do I look like a glorious Soul Sage right now? Miserable! Miserable, I say."
His tone invited sympathy, but his words carried enough self-loathing that even Dai Mubai and Oscar exchanged helpless looks.
He continued to mutter, voice lowering into a resentful grumble no less audible to Erlong's sharp ears:
"If it weren't for that boy's pretty face—and him being your dry son—I wouldn't have shown him any mercy today. Otherwise, with my cultivation as a Soul Saint, would two Soul Beasts, even ten-thousand-year ones, have been a problem for me?"
His words dripped with the bitterness of a beaten man, trying to cling to scraps of pride.
But Liu Erlong only smiled faintly. Her sharp eyes gleamed with insight. "Boss Fu, stop comforting yourself with such words. You must've noticed it too—the aura around those two beasts wasn't ordinary at all. The blood in their veins carried the breath of dragon-kind. You can't compare them to typical soul beasts."
Flender stiffened, unwilling to admit it but unable to refute her. His pride demanded silence, and so silence he gave.
Liu Erlong stopped for a breath, her shoulders rising with guilt. "No, if I'm being fair, the fault lies with me. I shouldn't have advocated entering Shenyan Temple without permission, much less escalating things. If I hadn't encouraged you all, none of this would've happened. I truly owe you an apology."
Her words softened something in Flender's chest, chasing away the ache of his wounds as if they had been mended by her kindness alone. Despite his battered state, a smile tugged awkwardly at his split lips.
"Erlong Mei," he said gently, "after all these years, you still haven't changed. I thought the trials of life would shift your temper a little, make you harsher, bitter maybe… but no. You're still the same Erlong—you shine when you shine, and when you frown, you shoulder all the weight."
The sincerity in his tone almost moved Erlong, but she looked away rather than let him see her wavering heart. She had learned to guard it long ago.
Her voice grew quiet, unexpectedly calm: "There was a time, Boss Fu, when I really was lost. So lost that if I had ever heard the faintest news of him, I would have rushed to him and forced him to face me—to force him to be with me."
She smiled bitterly, the shadow of her old self flickering behind her eyes. "But as the years passed, I began to question… was wasting my youth, throwing away so many years on a man like Yu Xiaogang really worth it?"
Her tone hardened. "Then I met Xiaobei. In that moment, I realized something beyond any doubt—that my past life, my loyalty, my suffering… it was garbage. I wasted my best years on trash."
Her words struck Flender like thunder.
But Erlong wasn't finished. "Even so," she said more softly, "I don't hate Yu Xiaogang. Strange, isn't it? If not for him, I might have spent my whole life perfect and untouched, unwilling to bend or compromise. Without him, I might never have had the chance to start these days with Xiaobei."
Every word she spoke came from her heart. To Erlong, Flender was more a trusted elder brother than colleague, someone she could confide in without fear.
Flender's chest tightened at her relieved smile. She was radiant, more dazzling now than even in her twenties, a woman reborn into spring again. The tenderness she carried made his heart itch unbearably.
He stepped forward, blocking her path and fixing her with an uncharacteristically serious gaze.
"Erlong Mei," his voice trembled. "Seeing you moved beyond Xiaogang at last… it makes me happy beyond words. I—"
The sentence broke. His throat worked, heart warring with fear. For decades, he had lived carrying regret, convincing himself that helping Yu Xiaogang back then was the right thing to do, that sacrificing his own feelings was noble. But now? Yu Xiaogang was gone, disgraced, forgotten by Erlong. No excuse remained.
Don't be a coward, Flender. Don't let this chance slip away again!
His pulse pounded in his ears as he finally spoke, eyes burning:
"Erlong Mei, I have always liked you. No… more than liked. I loved you long before Xiaogang did. Back then, I was a coward. But now? I won't be."
His voice lowered, thick with desperate sincerity. "That child—you know he needs a father. And you, you need a home. Let me be that person. Erlong Mei, will you accept me?"
The old "toolman" of the Golden Iron Triangle finally tried to rise above his fate.
But Liu Erlong's expression twisted into something gentle yet complicated. A sigh slid from her lips.
Flender's stomach dropped. He forced a bitter smile. "Erlong… does this mean you're rejecting me?"
She didn't give false hope; she never had. That wasn't her style.
"Boss Fu," she said firmly, "you'd do better continuing to be timid. Because I have not the slightest feeling for you."
The words struck deeper than any blow, but she didn't stop there. "And as for Xiaobei—are you truly blind, or pretending to be? If Xiaobei needed a father, the Snow Night Emperor himself would recognize him gladly. Why would it ever be you?"
She turned then, pointing gracefully toward Shenyan Hall. Her eyes blended pride with joy. "This place is my home. As long as Xiaobei is there, it will always be my home. I don't need another."
Flender's voice cracked, full of desperation: "Then do you mean you'll never marry, all for that child?"
Erlong tilted her head in thought. Her answer was calm, almost joyful. "Whether I marry or not doesn't matter. As long as I can watch him grow, live with him, that's enough for me."
And then her words sharpened like a dagger hidden in silk.
"Moreover, Xiaobei and I… we aren't bound by blood. Who can say what might happen in the future?"
Flender froze as though lightning had struck him.
The meaning was crystal clear—too clear. Beneath the veneer of foster mother and son burned unspoken desires.
His breathing hitched, panic and horror twisting his features.
"Erlong… you—" His pupils dilated until nearly swallowing his eyes whole. "Your feelings for that boy… don't tell me… you lust after his body!"
The disbelief in his tone made even Dai Mubai glance back uneasily.
But Liu Erlong only met Flender's gaze steadily. "And why not?"
Her reasoning was terrifyingly calm. "Human life may be fleeting, but powerful Soul Masters can live three to four centuries. In truth, I am still a girl in such a span."
Flender staggered. "But only a Super Douluo can live such years! Can even you reach that, Erlong Mei?"
She smiled faintly, and behind her flared a flame-lit dragon of thunder and fire, majestic enough to shake the heavens.
Flender's owl spirit cowered instinctively, his very soul trembling under the domination of her evolving martial spirit.
"This… this has surpassed even the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. A Thunderfire Dragon…"
The awe in his voice trailed into despair.
Erlong's words ended things with finality: "Maybe Xiaobei is right. Our paths have split. Boss Fu, let us part ways here."
She walked away, resolute, leaving no doors open for retreat. For her, to carry on friendship with a man after rejecting his love would only make her a heartless scoundrel. Better to cut cleanly than drag things out.
Flender watched her back vanish into the brilliance of the temple, bitterness curdling in his throat. From this moment on, he knew—it was not only the Golden Iron Triangle shattered, but their friendship itself turned cold.
The rest of the chapter continues with Shrek's humiliation among passersby, their retreat to the forest, Ma Hongjun's collapse, Flender's painful revelation about irreversible martial spirit damage, and at last his grim warning:
"Remember this—never, ever provoke Shenyan Hall. And never cross that child, Subei. No one in this world can bear his wrath."
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