The next day.
Knock knock knock!
A knock at the door.
"Arthur! Are you up, Arthur!"
Knock knock knock!
Xie Xie's voice came from outside the door. "It's already noon! We're planning to have one last meal together here in Skysea City before heading back!"
Arthur stirred groggily awake. He really had been exhausted yesterday. He walked out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes. "Alright, give me a few minutes."
"Oh, one more thing."
Xie Xie added quickly, "No one can find Gu Yue and Na'er. Xu Xiaoyan went to their room and they weren't there. Their phones aren't going through either."
"You don't think they went off to fight each other, do you?" He speculated with gleeful malice. "Na'er's behavior yesterday was way over the line. Gu Yue looked fine on the surface, but she was definitely burning up inside."
"Dragged her out in the middle of the night for a duel to the death."
Arthur snapped fully awake at that. He shot Xie Xie a sharp look and quickly tried to cover. "Don't go jumping to conclusions. Maybe something else came up?"
Xie Xie pointed at him. "How is it jumping to conclusions? I have solid grounds for this theory."
"Remember when Na'er first showed up? Those two got into it over you right away."
"Seemed fine at the time, but then that same night they went at it in the dorm room. The whole place was shaking. I thought the building was going to come down."
Shut your mouth! Are you trying to get yourself killed?
Arthur gave Xie Xie a pitying look and patted him on the shoulder. "As long as you're happy."
Then he turned and headed off to wash up.
"Weird." Xie Xie hadn't quite figured out what that reaction meant, but the next second he froze completely.
Because the moment Arthur walked away, Na'er and Gu Yue stepped out from his room.
Na'er was barefoot on the carpet, silver hair falling loose over her shoulders, her eyes still heavy with sleep. "Xie Xie," she said, "who exactly was going to fight to the death just now?"
Before her words even finished landing, a subtle, suffocating pressure had already begun to fill the air.
Gu Yue followed her out, composed as ever. She tilted her head. "You seem rather eager to watch Na'er and me come to blows?"
Xie Xie felt the world collapse around him.
"Ahaha." He waved his hands frantically. "I have a split personality. That was my other personality having a breakdown just now. Don't mind it."
"Wait!" Something suddenly hit him and he cried out in alarm. "What are you two doing in Arthur's room?!"
"Is there a problem with that?" Na'er fixed him with the expression of someone who ran an underground operation.
"No, no problem at all." Xie Xie swallowed hard.
Gu Yue didn't bother explaining. She turned and walked away without a word.
Once everyone was ready, they gathered together and set off down the road toward the restaurant.
"Xie Xie, what's wrong with you?" Tang Wulin noticed that his good friend was off. "Are you feeling sick?"
Xie Xie stiffened, instinctively hunching his shoulders, and lowered his voice. "Nothing. I'm just... holding something in."
He snuck a glance at Na'er walking ahead of them. She seemed to sense it and glanced back, offering him a "friendly" smile. He straightened up like a rod the instant their eyes met.
"Holding something in?" Tang Wulin frowned. "Do you need to use the bathroom?"
"You just don't get it," Xie Xie said, shaking his head with a sigh.
Who could possibly understand his suffering? He had stumbled onto a bombshell of gossip and couldn't say a word about it.
It was killing him.
Arthur and Wu Changkong walked at the front of the group.
"Wu Changkong," came Wu Changkong's voice.
"What is it?"
"The Elders of Shrek would like to meet with you."
"Oh?" Arthur glanced over, his expression surprised. "What do they want?"
"I don't know. I'm only here to make the introduction." Perhaps worried Arthur might misread things, Wu Changkong was quick to draw a line.
"You don't know? That doesn't exactly make me feel safe."
"You don't need to worry about that." Wu Changkong shook his head. "The person leading things on their end is the Holy Spirit Douluo. Nothing will go wrong."
"The Holy Spirit Douluo." Arthur was of course aware of Ya Li's situation.
If she was involved, then at the very least Shrek hadn't come looking for trouble or revenge.
Still, better to be cautious. He pulled out his soul communications device.
"Hey, old man."
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by an aged but vigorous voice laced with amusement. "Go ahead. It'll be fine."
Arthur nearly dropped the device in shock.
He hadn't even said anything yet. How did Su Wuyan already know?
A moment later, something seemed to occur to him, and Arthur tilted his head back to look at the sky.
This old man hadn't been watching him from up there this whole time, had he?
He set the device aside and pushed his Spiritual Power outward instead. "You there?"
Sure enough, Su Wuyan's voice rang directly in his ear. "Right here."
But it wasn't only his.
Mu Ye joined the Spiritual Power group chat: "I'm here too."
Mu Chen joined the Spiritual Power group chat: "Present."
Zhen Hua joined the Spiritual Power group chat: "Me as well."
Arthur's eye twitched hard. He had known someone must be watching over him from the shadows, but he hadn't expected all four of these old men to have come in person.
He pulled his Spiritual Power back sharply and kept his voice low, seething inwardly: "Have you four been spying on me this whole time?"
"Spying? What spying?" Su Wuyan's voice carried a smile. "We're looking out for you."
Mu Ye chimed in agreeably: "Exactly, exactly. The waters around Shrek run deep. We're just worried about you."
Mu Chen added: "Don't worry. We won't interfere. We'll just quietly be your backup."
Zhen Hua kept it short: "Say the word if anything happens. We'll be there immediately."
It was a little exasperating, but at least he felt at ease.
With these four generals present, there was nothing to fear.
The group chat closed. Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose and noticed Wu Changkong watching him with a puzzled expression. "Something the matter?"
"Nothing." Arthur shook his head. "Just ran into a few old troublemakers."
Wu Changkong seemed to understand and didn't press further.
The two continued walking, and before long they arrived at the restaurant entrance. Xu Xiaoyan had already rushed inside ahead of everyone and was calling out excitedly: "I've already booked a private room! Come on in!"
Everyone filed into the restaurant and settled into their seats. No sooner had they sat down than Xie Xie leaned toward Tang Wulin and dropped his voice. "Wulin, let me tell you a secret."
Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow. "What secret?"
"I found out that Gu Yue and Na'er..." Xie Xie got no further. Na'er's cold stare cut him off mid-sentence, and he instantly changed course. "I found out that the food at this restaurant looks absolutely amazing!"
Tang Wulin stared at him. "..."
He was starting to think Xie Xie had been acting very strange all day.
Na'er and Xu Xiaoyan both wanted to sit next to Arthur, but he turned them down.
Today was Wu Changkong's time.
Arthur sat down beside Wu Changkong and asked, almost as an afterthought, "Teacher."
"What?"
"How long have you been at the peak of Spirit Sage?"
At that, Wu Changkong went quiet. After a moment, his voice came out cool and measured: "What are you trying to say?"
"I can tell your cultivation has stalled because of something going on with your state of mind," Arthur explained. "Don't argue with me on that. I see it clearly, because my great-uncle hit the same wall for the same reason."
"I don't know what you've been through. But I don't want to watch you stop here."
That was a lie.
Arthur knew everything. Wu Changkong was trapped by a matter of the heart.