Douluo Continent: My name is Lu Mingfei, and my martial soul is Lu Mingze.

Lu Mingfei followed Zhang Lexuan through the woods. The trees on both sides of the path grew taller and denser, blocking out most of the sunlight. Only a few rays of light peeked through the gaps in the leaves, shining on the ground like scattered gold.

Zhang Lexuan walked ahead, her pace neither fast nor slow. Her red school uniform stood out conspicuously in the dark woods, like a moving flame.

Lu Mingfei followed behind, limping, wincing in pain, but gritting his teeth and remaining silent.

After walking for about five minutes, he finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Senior."

"Um?"

"Why does Elder Mu want to see me? Give me a hint so I can be prepared."

Zhang Lexuan didn't even turn her head: "I told you, you'll know when you get there."

"That's as good as saying nothing at all," Lu Mingfei muttered.

"I'm a timid person. The more secretive you are, the more flustered I get. What if Elder Mu wants to fire me personally? Then I'll have made a wasted trip!"

Zhang Lexuan paused for a moment, then finally turned around and glanced at him.

"Old Master Mu personally fired you?"

"Yeah, think about it. I'm a good-for-nothing. Repeating a year is already being lenient with me. What if Teacher Mu thinks repeating a year isn't enough and wants to scold me to my face? Don't I have to prepare myself mentally beforehand?"

Zhang Lexuan stared at him for two seconds, her lips twitched, and in the end she couldn't help but laugh.

"What do you think about all day long?"

"How do you want to live?" Lu Mingfei said seriously.

"Isn't it good to be alive? When you're alive, you can eat, sleep, and bask in the sun. If I get fired, I'll have to go back to that little village where I can't even get enough to eat."

Zhang Lexuan shook her head, turned around, and continued walking.

"Don't worry, Elder Mu isn't going to fire you."

"What's that? A compliment? I haven't done anything particularly good lately."

"Can't you just shut up for a minute?"

"I'm a naturally talkative person; I'd die if I didn't talk."

Zhang Lexuan didn't reply, but Lu Mingfei noticed that she slowed her pace a little, as if waiting for him to catch up.

He quickened his pace and caught up with her.

"Senior."

"What's wrong now?"

"Why are you helping me? We're not even that close, are we? We've only met once, and you come looking for me, even saying in front of so many people that Elder Mu is waiting for me. Isn't this just making me a target? How am I supposed to get along in my second year?"

Zhang Lexuan thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's because they think you're quite interesting."

"Interesting?" Lu Mingfei was taken aback. "What's interesting about me? I'm incredibly boring. All I do all day is eat and sleep, occasionally get into a fight, and then I just lie around like a corpse."

"It's because you find lying like a corpse interesting."

Zhang Lexuan said, "When ordinary people are just lying dead, they just lie dead. But when you lie dead, you can still talk to yourself and say a bunch of nonsense, like you were a dragon in your past life and got tricked to death, or you did good deeds all your life and God was unfair."

"I've never seen anyone like you in all my life."

Lu Mingfei remained silent.

"Senior, you stayed by my side while I was unconscious?"

"No," Zhang Lexuan replied quickly, "I just go to check on things occasionally."

"Oh, occasionally."

Lu Mingfei nodded, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips.

Zhang Lexuan seemed to realize that she had let something slip and quickened her pace.

Lu Mingfei followed behind, and suddenly felt a warm feeling in his heart.

In this run-down college, apart from Old Wang, no one had ever treated him so well.

Although this "goodness" might just be because the senior student thought he was funny, like picking up a stray cat and playing with it when she had nothing to do, stray cats also need warmth.

"Senior."

"What's wrong now?"

"You're such a nice person."

Zhang Lexuan didn't say anything, but Lu Mingfei noticed that the tips of her ears turned slightly red.

I don't know if it's because of the heat or something else.

The two walked for a while longer until they reached the end of the woods, where a bright and open space suddenly opened up before them.

A small lake appeared before us, its water clear and reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.

In the middle of the lake is a small island, on which stands an ancient building. It is not large, but it exudes an indescribable sense of majesty.

Sea God Pavilion.

Lu Mingfei stood by the lake, looking up at the building, and swallowed hard.

"Is that the place?"

"Um."

"Can I swim there? It doesn't look too far."

"There's a bridge." Zhang Lexuan pointed to the left, where a stone bridge connected the lake shore and the island. The bridge was not wide, but it was very sturdy.

The two walked onto the bridge, and Lu Mingfei's feet made a dull sound as they stepped on the stone slabs.

He looked down at the lake; it was very deep, and he couldn't see the bottom.

"Senior, are there any fish in this lake?"

"have."

Is it big?

"It's quite big."

"Is it edible?"

Zhang Lexuan turned around and glanced at him, her expression somewhat complicated.

"Those are the koi fish that Elder Mu keeps."

"Oh, then you can't eat it." Lu Mingfei wisely shut his mouth.

Only someone who's tired of living would eat a fish raised by a Limit Douluo.

After crossing the bridge, the gate of the Sea God Pavilion came into view.

A faint sandalwood scent wafted from inside, its aroma calming the mind.

Zhang Lexuan stopped at the door, straightened her clothes, and her expression became serious.

Lu Mingfei followed suit, tugging at his wrinkled school uniform, but after tugging for a long time, nothing changed.

"Don't say anything after you go in," Zhang Lexuan whispered.

"Understood, play dumb."

"Don't play dumb. Just answer whatever Elder Mu asks you. Just be honest."

"Understood, play the honest guy."

Zhang Lexuan glanced at him, feeling that the word "pretending" was used rather inappropriately, but she didn't have time to dwell on it.

She stepped inside.

Lu Mingfei followed behind, his heart suddenly racing.

The interior of the Sea God Pavilion is much larger than it appears from the outside. The hall is spacious and simply furnished, with a long table, a few chairs, several paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls, and a censer of sandalwood burning in the corner, its smoke curling upwards.

An elderly man sat in a wheelchair with his back to the door.

He was wearing a gray robe, his hair was completely white, and he looked thin and small, like an old tree.

But Lu Mingfei sensed it as soon as he entered.

That sense of oppression.

It's not the kind of pressure that's deliberately released, but a natural sense of presence, like lighting a lamp in a dark room; whether you like it or not, the light is there.

Zhang Lexuan walked three steps behind the old man, stopped, clasped her hands together, and bowed slightly.

"Elder Mu, the person has been brought."

Lu Mingfei quickly followed her example, clasping his hands and bending over. The movement was a bit too big, which aggravated his injury, causing him to wince in pain.

"Student Lu Mingfei has met Elder Mu."

The old man didn't turn around, but his voice came through.

It was slow and gentle, like the wind blowing through an old tree.

Get up.

Lu Mingfei straightened up and stood properly, not daring to breathe loudly.

"Mingfei," Old Mu called his name casually, as if he were calling his own grandson.

"Yes," Lu Mingfei replied.

"Turn around and look out the window."

Lu Mingfei was taken aback for a moment, but still did as instructed.

He turned around and faced the window.

Outside the window is that small lake, its surface rippling in the wind, glistening in the sunlight.

"What did you see?" Old Mu asked.

"The lake," Lu Mingfei said.

"Anything else?"

"water."

"Anything else?"

"Fish?" Lu Mingfei asked uncertainly.

A soft laugh came from behind, so soft that it was hard to tell whether it was from Elder Mu or Zhang Lexuan.

"I'm asking you, what do you see when you look out of this window?" Old Mu's voice remained slow.

"It's not about whether you have a lake, water, and fish. Anyone can see that."

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and said, "I saw a pretty nice place."

"What makes it good-looking?"

"Quiet."

Lu Mingfei said, "Sitting here looking out the window, I feel like all the messy things outside have nothing to do with me anymore. No fighting, no exams, no worrying about failing a grade, I can just stay here quietly."

He paused, then added.

"Suitable for retirement."

Zhang Lexuan almost couldn't hold back her laughter from behind.

Old Mu laughed, but his laughter was very soft, like a withered leaf being swept up by the wind.

"Retirement? How old are you to be thinking about retirement?"

Lu Mingfei said, "I'm precocious; I have the body of a teenager but the mindset of someone in their fifties."

"What's your mindset?"

"If you can lie down, don't sit; if you can sit, don't stand."

Old Mu remained silent for a while.

"Then why did you come to Shrek?"

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and said, "He was brought here by someone."

"By whom?"

"Old Wang. That's Teacher Wang, Wang Xun."

"Wang Xun..." There was something else in Old Mu's voice, "He was a good teacher."

"Yes, he's been very good to me." Lu Mingfei nodded.

"So what does he want you to do when he brought you to Shrek Academy?"

Lu Mingfei thought about it again.

"You want me to succeed, don't you?"

"So, have you made something of yourself?"

Lu Mingfei gave a wry smile.

"It seems not."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Lu Mingfei opened his mouth, wanting to say, "Let's just muddle through like this," but swallowed the words back.

He looked out the window at the tranquil lake and remained silent for a few seconds.

"I want to prove that he didn't misjudge me." The words were spoken softly, but with great seriousness.

This is completely different from the joking tone we just heard.

Zhang Lexuan stood behind, looking at Lu Mingfei's back with a puzzled look in her eyes—such a quick change?