stjorthotic Chapter 29: Our Future Partners Are Still on Their Way!
Chapter 29: Our Future Partners Are Still on Their Way!
Chapter 29: Our Future Partners Are Still on Their Way!
Dinner was cooked by Teacher Shao Xin.
The ingredients were plentiful: fresh vegetables and rice noodles that we brought before setting off, plus the leftover jerky from the Mighty Bear we hunted last time.
Shao Xin sliced the dried meat into thin slices, stewed a large pot of soup with wild vegetables and mushrooms, and steamed a large bowl of white rice.
The fragrance wafted through the forest clearing, attracting a few howls from some unknown spirit beast in the distance, but it dared not approach due to the aura emanating from the group.
Ma Hongjun and Oscar each held a large bowl and slurped their food down.
"Hongjun, can your light spear bend?" Oscar asked while eating.
"cannot."
"Can it fire in rapid succession?"
"No. You have to wait a few seconds after using it once before you can use it again."
"Then could it be—"
"Can't you eat properly?" Ma Hongjun picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into Oscar's mouth.
Oscar's mouth was gagged, and he couldn't speak, only able to stare wide-eyed as he chewed his meat.
Several teachers smiled as they watched the two children bickering.
Shrek Academy may be dilapidated, poor, and have only two students.
But this feeling is good.
After we finished eating, it was completely dark.
Zhao Wuji set up a simple warning array around the camp. Although it was unlikely that any powerful soul beasts would break in from this outer area, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Ma Hongjun and Oscar lay side by side in the tent, staring blankly at the tent top.
"Hongjun," Oscar suddenly spoke.
"Um?"
"Do you think Shrek Academy will have more students in the future?"
Ma Hongjun remained silent for a moment.
"meeting."
"real?"
"Really." Ma Hongjun's voice was calm. "And not just one. There will be many. We will be the Shrek Seven Devils, not just the Shrek Two Devils."
Oscar was amused by the phrase "the two Shrek monsters," but after laughing for a while, he became serious again.
"The Seven Monsters—seven people? Where are the other five?"
Ma Hongjun did not answer.
Of course he knew where those five people were.
In the Star Luo Empire, Dai Mubai is vying with his brother for the position of Crown Prince.
In Holy Soul Village, Tang San lived with his father, Tang Hao, relying on each other for survival.
Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Wu lives as a neighbor to the Titan Giant Ape and the Azure Bull Python.
Ning Rongrong was treated like a precious jewel in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
In the Star Luo Empire, Zhu Zhuqing, like Dai Mubai, suffered oppression from her family.
They are now scattered all over the world.
But one day, they will all come to Shrek.
This is fate.
"It will come," Ma Hongjun said. "Someday."
Oscar didn't know why he was so certain, but he chose to believe.
The group set off to return early the next morning.
Nothing unexpected happened on the road, and the two-day journey went smoothly.
It was evening when they returned to Shrek Academy.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the dilapidated courtyard wall, turning the earthen wall golden.
The wooden stakes in the yard are still there, the white lines are still there, and those dilapidated classrooms are still there.
Nothing has changed.
But Ma Hongjun knew that it was himself who had changed.
He stood in the center of the courtyard, looking at the crooked old locust tree, the stone table and benches under the tree, and the dormitory where he had lived for three months in the distance.
This place is dilapidated and poor; there isn't even a decent training ground.
But this is his home.
"Kid, get up and stop standing there." Flander's voice came from behind. "Starting tomorrow, the training volume will double."
Menma Hongjun turned his head, looked at Flander's harsh face, and suddenly smiled.
"Teacher, can't you let me take a day off?"
"Take a day off?" Flander sneered. "You just got your second spirit ring, and your spirit is in a critical period of evolution. Taking a day off is a waste. Get up before dawn tomorrow and increase your load to 120 pounds."
Ma Hongjun took a deep breath.
"it is good."
Flanders looked at him, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes, then turned and left.
Oscar appeared from behind and patted Ma Hongjun on the shoulder.
Hongjun, please accept my condolences.
"You can't escape either."
"Of course I can't run away, but I feel at peace seeing you suffer."
"—Oscar, are you really my brother?"
"Of course! Even brothers should keep clear accounts!"
The two looked at each other and smiled simultaneously.
The setting sun cast long, long shadows of the two boys onto the dilapidated courtyard wall.
Shrek Academy, two students.
But soon, there were more than two.
Another day of training has come to an end.
Ma Hongjun lay on the bluestone ground in the courtyard, his limbs outstretched, like a dried starfish.
After running with 120 pounds of weight, doing 500 push-ups, 300 pull-ups, and two hours of sparring, his body was exhausted to its limit.
Oscar lay beside him, panting even harder than he was.
"Hongjun—you said—what's the point of us practicing like this every day—?" Oscar asked weakly.
Ma Hongjun looked up at the sky and did not answer.
The sky was grayish-blue, with a few white clouds drifting lazily by.
In the distance, there is a low earthen wall with a few wild grasses growing on top, swaying gently in the evening breeze.
Further away were several dilapidated classrooms, with several roof tiles missing, revealing the thatch underneath.
This is Shrek Academy.
A place so poor that people could barely afford to eat.
Ma Hongjun turned his head and looked at the crooked table at the entrance of the cafeteria.
Tonight's dinner was multigrain porridge with pickled vegetables. The porridge was so thin you could see your reflection in it, and the pickled vegetables were so salty they tasted bitter.
Teacher Shao Xin is a sixth-ring Soul Emperor. If he were outside, he could easily become a respected figure in any major family, living a life of luxury.
But he chose to stay here, earning a meager salary each month, using his superb culinary skills to make simple meals taste a little better.
Flander is a seven-ring Soul Saint, capable of becoming an elder in the Spirit Hall, yet he stays in this dilapidated place and can't even bear to buy a decent set of clothes.
He was still wearing his long robe, which was faded from washing and had frayed edges on the cuffs.
Zhao Wuji is also a seven-ring Soul Saint, more than qualified to be a general in the Star Luo Empire.
But he stayed with Flanders in this godforsaken village, training the two young boys every day, working himself to the bone.
Li Yusong, Lu Qibin, and Shao Xin are all Soul Emperors; any one of them could do very well outside.
But none of them left.
Thinking of this, Ma Hongjun felt a surge of indescribable emotions.
When he read the original novel in his previous life, he only thought that the Shrek Seven Devils were cool, Flander was stingy, and Zhao Wuji was reckless.
But only when he was actually there did he realize how precious these people were.
To persevere despite being so poor is not because of money, but because of faith.
But beliefs can't put food on the table.
Ma Hongjun sat up, his gaze falling on Shao Xin, who was clearing away dishes in the corner of the cafeteria, and then on Oscar, who was lying on the ground pretending to be dead.
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
"Professor Shao Xin, I have something to ask you."
After dinner, Ma Hongjun didn't rush to take a medicinal bath, but instead went to find Shao Xin.
Shao Xin was washing a pot in the kitchen when he heard this, so he turned around and looked at him with a smile.
"What is it?"