Luo Feng's POV
Night fell heavy and sudden in the depths of the Star Dou Forest. The group had retreated to a small, defensible hollow ringed by ancient roots—Luo Feng's subtle suggestion, though he let Tang San claim credit for finding it.
A fire crackled low in the center, its light dancing across tired but triumphant faces. Oscar flexed his new invisibility-enhanced flight, earning laughs. Ning Rongrong demonstrated her Dream Veil to the group: a soft, shimmering aura that settled over them like warm mist, easing the ache in overtaxed spirit channels and dulling the day's lingering tension.
Everyone felt the difference immediately. Muscles relaxed. Breathing deepened. Even Dai Mubai's perpetual scowl softened.
"Rongrong… this is incredible," Tang San said quietly, genuine admiration in his voice. "Recovery speed like this changes everything for prolonged battles."
She flushed under the praise, waving it off with a haughty tilt of her chin that didn't quite hide her pleasure. "It's nothing. Just doing my part."
But her eyes flicked to Luo Feng, who sat a little apart, sharpening a simple wooden stick with a small knife he'd produced from nowhere. He hadn't said much since the hunt ended, content to watch the team celebrate their victories.
When their gazes met, he gave her the smallest nod—approval, pride, something deeper she couldn't name. It warmed her more than the fire.
Ning Rongrong's POV
She couldn't sleep.
The others had drifted off one by one, wrapped in cloaks and bedrolls. Even Xiao Wu's soft breathing had evened out beside Tang San. The fire burned low, embers glowing like scattered stars.
But every time Ning Rongrong closed her eyes, she saw the illusions again—the Dreamweaver Butterfly forcing her to face every doubt she'd ever had. And then she saw Luo Feng standing at the edge of the glade, holding back a beast that should have incinerated them all, just so she could prove something to herself.
She sat up quietly, hugging her knees. Across the dying fire, Luo Feng was still awake—back against a tree, eyes half-lidded but alert. In the dim light, his profile looked carved from stone: strong jaw, straight nose, the faint scar she'd noticed earlier running through one eyebrow (a mark that somehow made him seem more real).
He noticed her movement immediately.
"Can't sleep?" His voice was low, meant only for her.
She shook her head, then scooted a little closer to the fire—close enough that conversation wouldn't wake the others. "Too much happened today. My spirit power feels… different. Lighter, somehow."
"That's the ring settling," he said. "Your soul is accepting the new strength. It can be restless at first."
She studied him openly now, emboldened by the darkness. "You talk like you've absorbed a thousand rings."
A soft huff of laughter. "Something like that."
Silence stretched, comfortable rather than awkward. Crickets sang in the underbrush. Somewhere far off, a soul beast roared and was answered.
"Why did you really help us?" she asked suddenly. "You could have stayed hidden. Lived your quiet life. We were strangers."
Luo Feng poked the fire with his stick, sending sparks upward. He considered the question longer than she expected.
"Because," he said at last, "I recognized something in all of you. In Tang San's determination. In Xiao Wu's gentleness. In Oscar's humor covering insecurity. And in you…" He paused, choosing words carefully. "In your refusal to stay small, even when the world expects it of you."
Her breath caught. No one had ever described her that way before—not her father, not her clan elders, not even her teammates.
"I'm not small," she whispered fiercely.
"No," he agreed, voice warm. "You're not."
The fire popped. An ember landed near her foot; she brushed it away.
"I used to think strength meant being untouchable," she admitted, surprising herself. "Back at the clan, everyone catered to me. I thought that was power. But since joining Shrek… I've learned real strength is choosing to stand in the fire for people who matter. Even when it hurts."
Luo Feng's dark eyes reflected the flames. "That's rarer than any spirit ring."
She swallowed, heart thudding too loudly in the quiet. "What about you? What's your strength for?"
For the first time, something shadowed crossed his face—ancient, weary.
"Once, it was for survival. Then for family. Then for an entire world." He looked up at the canopy, where faint starlight pierced through leaves. "Now… I'm still figuring that out."
The confession hung between them, raw and unexpected. Ning Rongrong felt the weight of centuries in those words, even if she didn't fully understand them.
Without thinking, she reached across the small space and touched his hand—lightly, just fingertips against his knuckles.
"You don't have to figure it out alone," she said softly.
His hand turned beneath hers, calloused fingers closing gently around her smaller ones. Not romantic—not yet—but grounding. Human.
They stayed like that for a long moment, neither moving, the fire's warmth seeping into their joined hands.
Eventually, he released her, but the warmth lingered.
"Get some rest," he murmured. "Tomorrow we head back toward the forest edge. Your friends will want to return to their academy soon."
She nodded, suddenly exhausted in the best way. As she lay back down, the Dream Veil aura still shimmering faintly around the camp, sleep came easily.
Just before drifting off, she thought she heard him whisper—too quiet for certainty:
"Thank you, Rongrong."
Tang San's POV – Pre-Dawn
Tang San woke before first light, as always. Years of discipline and danger had trained him never to sleep too deeply in the wild.
He sat up silently, scanning the camp. Everyone was accounted for—Xiao Wu curled trustingly against his side, Dai Mubai on watch (though half-asleep), the others breathing evenly.
Then he noticed Luo Feng.
The man hadn't moved from his spot against the tree, but his gaze was fixed on Ning Rongrong's sleeping form with an expression Tang San couldn't quite read—protective, thoughtful, almost… tender.
Tang San's instincts prickled. Luo Feng was unfathomably powerful and, so far, benevolent. But power like that always came with complications.
He rose quietly and approached, settling a respectful distance away.
Luo Feng acknowledged him with a slight nod, not surprised.
"You care about them," Tang San said quietly in greeting. It wasn't a question.
"I do," Luo Feng admitted without hesitation. "More than I expected to."
"Especially Rongrong."
A pause. "She has potential far beyond what her clan imagines. And a heart strong enough to wield it."
Tang San considered this. He knew Rongrong's insecurities better than most—her fear of being seen only as a tool, her fierce desire to matter as herself.
"She's growing into someone extraordinary," Tang San agreed. "But she's still young. Fragile in ways she hides."
Luo Feng's gaze sharpened. "I have no intention of harming her. Or any of you."
"I believe that," Tang San said. "But intentions and consequences aren't always the same. Your power… it changes everything around you without effort. That can be dangerous—for you as much as for us."
Luo Feng looked back at the sleeping girl. "I'm aware. Which is why I've held back more than you realize."
Tang San nodded slowly. "Then we understand each other."
A faint smile touched Luo Feng's lips. "We do."
Dawn began to creep through the trees, painting the sky in soft pinks and golds.
Group Awakening – Morning
The camp stirred to life with the smell of warmed spirit fruits and herbal tea—Luo Feng's quiet preparations again.
Ning Rongrong woke feeling rested in a way she hadn't in months. The new ring thrummed harmoniously in her spirit, Dream Veil ready at a thought.
As the group packed up for the journey out of the deep forest, she found herself walking beside Luo Feng more often than chance allowed.
Conversation flowed easily now—light topics at first: favorite foods (he claimed simple rice reminded him of home; she confessed a weakness for sweet osmanthus cakes), funny stories from Shrek training, questions about the forest he answered without revealing too much.
But beneath the words ran a current of something new. Awareness. Curiosity. The slow, steady kindling of connection.
When they finally reached the forest's outer perimeter late that afternoon, the familiar sights of human roads and distant villages visible through the trees, the mood grew bittersweet.
They would part soon—Shrek Academy waited, and Luo Feng's hidden home lay deeper in.
But no one suggested goodbye yet.
Instead, as the sun dipped toward the horizon, Tang San turned to their cosmic guardian with quiet resolve.
"There's a village inn a few hours south," he said. "We'll rest there tonight before heading back to Soto City. Will you… join us one more night?"
Luo Feng glanced at Ning Rongrong, who met his eyes with unspoken hope.
He smiled—small, genuine, warmer than any he'd shown before.
"One more night," he agreed. "I'd like that."
The path ahead led out of the wild, but the threads binding a wanderer from the stars to seven young soul masters—and especially to one proud, growing girl—had only just begun to tighten.