Two won walked in from outside the Cultivation room; one had a slightly fiery temperant, while the other was as gentle as water.
They were Zhang Lexuan's two good friends: Wu Ming, the "Golden Crow Holy Maiden," and Han Ruoruo, the "Golden Fairy."
"Lexuan, ti's up." Han Ruoruo spoke softly, her voice tinged with a hint of reluctance.
The halo around Zhang Lexuan slowly receded, her long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.
This month-long seclusion had brought her Cultivation to rank 69, but at this mont, her eyes held no joy of a Breakthrough, nor the relaxation of seclusion ending. Instead, there was only a deep, unyielding weariness and silence.
She silently stood up, said nothing, but rely nodded slightly to her two friends and walked out.
Wu Ming watched her retreating back, couldn't help but quicken her pace to catch up, her tone filled with indignation:
"Sister Lexuan, I say, you did nothing wrong! That scoundrel, relying on his father being an elder, how many dirty deeds has he done?
"He forced diligent students to their deaths and got away with it! Your killing him was eliminating a scourge for the people!"
Han Ruoruo also gently took Zhang Lexuan's arm and softly comforted her: "That's right, Lexuan, don't take it too much to heart. Although the dean and the elders made you go into seclusion, everyone understands that you were right."
Zhang Lexuan's steps paused, but she remained silent. Right? Wrong? Her heart was in turmoil at this mont.
Her family was destroyed by the rampant evil Spirit Masters. Precisely because of this, ever since she was adopted by Elder Mu, she had always regarded Shrek as her only ho.
Here, she cultivated peacefully, made friends like Ruoruo and Wu Ming, and spent a few simple and happy years. She thought this place was a pure land, a symbol of light and justice.
However, all these impressions began to change about a year ago.
When she accidentally found so vague clues about her background, out of curiosity, she tried to investigate, but unexpectedly discovered the shadows hidden beneath the so-called "Shrek's glory" that she had never noticed.
She found out about instructors embezzling student resources, senior students bullying junior ones, and even so more unsavory dealings.
Initially, she firmly believed the Academy was just, and each ti she discovered sothing, she chose to report it.
At first, those reported were indeed punished, which she once found comforting, but soon she discovered that these punishnts were often superficial. Not long after, those people would reappear in a different capacity, sotis even in higher positions.
She protested, she questioned, but often received vague responses from the higher-ups and advice to "consider the bigger picture." Until that ti, she reported a logistics director who embezzled student resources, but the person was lightly reprimanded.
Unconvinced, she went directly to Elder Mu, and only then was the matter handled seriously. At that ti, she thought it was just an isolated incident, and that as long as the top was clear, it would be fine.
But similar incidents beca more and more frequent, until this ti, she investigated a teacher responsible for so of the Academy's logistics procurent, who had long oppressed and exploited commoner students who relied on work-study programs to make a living.
His thods were heinous, ultimately leading to several students, unable to bear the burden, choosing to end their lives.
She, as usual, collected evidence and reported it. Watching that person being taken away by the enforcent team, she thought justice had once again been served.
But then, one day, she received a notification from Mingng Chamber of Comrce to pick up a spirit tool she had ordered for auxiliary Cultivation, and also to check so information about the moon Spirit she had previously entrusted the Comrce to inquire about.
However, at the entrance of the most luxurious restaurant near the Comrce, she saw the teacher who should have been punished! He was arm-in-arm with soone, his face flushed with joy, showing not an ounce of remorse?
As if possessed, she followed him, hiding in an adjacent private room, listening to the man boast smugly:
"...A few days in detention is enough. My old man is an elder; who in Shrek dares to touch ? Those poor wretches were psychologically weak, they deserved to die. The money saved is enough for us to live it up for a year or two..."
At that mont, she couldn't hold back. The emotions accumulated over a long ti exploded, and she directly appeared to question him. However, the other party seed to be drunk, showing no pretense, no remorse, but instead hurled insults and arrogantly declared that he would be out in no ti.
Unable to restrain herself, she finally made her move, and then... amidst the other party's final curses filled with malice and contempt, she couldn't hold back her hand... and then ca the Academy's judgnt.
Dean Yan Shaozhe did not report it, directly suppressing the matter, but many elders, especially that person's father, were extrely displeased with her "act first, report later" and "disrespectful" behavior.
The final result was that rits and derits canceled each other out, but she had to go into seclusion for reflection.
She couldn't understand why those high-ranking elders could turn a blind eye to the evil deeds of their descendants, and why, for the sake of so-called "face" and "stability," they would trample upon the most basic justice?
She suddenly felt that Shrek, this place she was once willing to give everything for, suddenly beca sowhat strange and cold... She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the surging emotions, turned her head, and managed a forced smile, "I'm fine now. It's been a month, so the spirit tool I ordered at Mingng Chamber of Comrce should be ready. I'm going to pick it up."
Wu Ming and Han Ruoruo exchanged glances, said nothing more, and just followed her... Inside Shrek City, compared to the more or less resistant atmosphere towards spirit tools within the Academy, the ergence of Mingng Chamber of Comrce undoubtedly brought a new trend.
Various convenient and useful civilian spirit tools had already begun to spread among ordinary people and so Spirit Masters.
Of course, this had little to do with Shrek. It seed that due to the so-called traditions and teaching philosophy of the Spirit departnt, Shrek Academy did not widely introduce them.
However, there were also rumors that the spirit tool departnt was unable to replicate the core components of these spirit tools, which was why they had been slow to act.
Nevertheless, many young students had long been attracted by these novel and practical spirit tools, and not a few ca to purchase them privately.
People ca and went at the Comrce entrance, making it quite lively. As Zhang Lexuan just walked into the Comrce, her gaze casually swept over the crowd, but she unconsciously paused slightly.
Not far away, a figure inexplicably caught her attention. It was a young man who didn't seem old but was excessively handso, with a calm and gentle deanor that seed out of place with the surrounding hustle and bustle, a bit unlike soone his age.
Beside the young man, a short-haired girl with light purple hair was holding his arm, chattering about sothing, looking exceptionally curious.
This peculiar combination, coupled with the indescribable qualities of the young man, made Zhang Lexuan instinctively take a few more glances.
Wu Ming, at her side, followed her gaze and imdiately her eyes lit up. She nudged her with her elbow, lowering her voice and laughing, "Wow! What a handso little brother! Sister Lexuan, so you like this type?"
Zhang Lexuan snapped back, a hint of unnaturalness flashing across her face, and imdiately denied, "Don't talk nonsense, I just found him a bit special."
Wu Ming chuckled, clearly unconvinced, and scrutinized the young man a few more tis: "He is quite special. So young, yet he takes little girls out to play... Tsk, what a pity he's too young. If he were older, I might not be able to resist making a move."
Zhang Lexuan gave her best friend a slightly helpless look.
Wu Ming was like that; she talked big, but in reality, she kept her distance from any male student, directly sending a fireball if anyone got too close... pure bluster.
Zhang Lexuan thought to herself, but she took one last glance in the direction she had been looking, then suppressed that inexplicable feeling of concern and followed her two friends into the bustling doors of Mingng Chamber of Comrce.
anwhile, at the other end of the Comrce, Kong Mingan, who was being pestered by Xu Tianzhen with questions, seed to sense sothing. His gaze casually swept over the direction of the Comrce entrance, then slowly retracted.
It felt like they could all be poached?
Indeed... poaching is a slippery slope, from zero to countless tis, truly addictive.
(End of Chapter)
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