Yu Xiao Gang stared deeply into Liu Erlong"s tear filled eyes. In them, he could see the vast range of emotions fluttering in her mind.Deep bitterness for leaving her all those years ago, without looking for her once. But the emotions that prevailed over all her negative ones, was her undying love for him.
Yu Xiao Gang could naturally see that Liu Erlong had been waiting these past twenty years, never forgetting him, never hating him, only sorrow and loneliness for being left alone.
Yu Xiao Gang had decided before that one day he would try to look for Liu Erlong again to see if she has forgotten him, but he didn"t expect that day to be today.
Seeing the mult.i.tude of emotions that ran across her face, Yu Xiao Gang choked up as tears filled his eyes, there were many things he wanted to say but his quaking lips wouldn"t move properly.
He could only let out a soft croak, "Erlong…"
Liu Erlong"s tears gushed out as she tried to smile for him. Even when crying, her face was extraordinarily beautiful and the tears running down her face seemed to accentuate her soft and delicate features.
"Xiao Gang, you are finally willing to speak to me!" Her soft and melodious voice was bursting with emotion as she flickered in front of us, a couple metres away from Yu Xiao Gang.
Yu Xiao Gang quickly took a step back, "Wait! Don"t come close!" his voice sounded strange and his eyes were confused.
When she appeared close to him, his heart almost burst. Although he wanted to see her so badly, when he really did, the feeling of love was getting drowned by feelings of anxiety, fear and inferiority.
"I… I"m sorry, I need some more time…" Yu Xiao Gang shakily said, his voice was slightly hoa.r.s.e from his earlier crying and tiredness.
Liu Erlong froze in place as her heart tightened with anxiety, she quickly nodded her head as she gently said, "Alright! I won"t come near… just please… please, don"t leave me alone anymore, I don"t want to lose you!"
I couldn"t help but sigh when I saw Liu Erlong"s pitiful appearance. From what I know, she should be a very domineering figure, yet right now she looks like a little girl, trying her hardest to be understanding for Yu Xiao Gang.
I decided that I should try my hardest to help Liu Erlong out, she has been waiting for more than twenty years, yet Yu Xiao Gang is still unable to face her properly.
Now that I have seen her face, I can do something that can push Yu Xiao Gang to the limits. I walk up to Yu Xiao Gang and grip his shoulder, I might have unconsciously used more force than I needed as Yu Xiao Gang winced.
"You have asked me for advice before, so consider this a bit of help." I say.
I use my Illusion Ice Transformation to create an illusion around all of us. Multiple Liu Erlong"s appear in the area, each of them in a different position.
Some were standing, holding onto trees, curled up on the ground, or sitting against the trees. But there was one thing that was the same, each of them had the same forlorn expression while crying.
"Xiao Gang… I miss you…"
"Xiao Gang… I will wait for you forever…"
"I am so lonely… Xiao Gang… When are you coming to find me…?"
"Xiao Gang… Why did you have to leave me…? I don"t care about others…"
"It has almost been twenty years… Xiao Gang… How long must I wait…?"
"Xiao Gang… I love you…"
Each of the Liu Erlong"s cried while they whispered to themselves. The illusion was so realistic that n.o.body would be able to tell which the real Liu Erlong is if not for knowing her position earlier.
Yu Xiao Gang looked at each of the Liu Erlong"s as tears ran down his face, "Why are you showing me this…?" he softly asked, they seemed so real as his emotions built up.
I ignore him as I look at the real Liu Erlong, she also has tears in her eyes as she looks at each of the clones in shock.
"Are you surprised? You must be wondering how I am able to pull out your past experiences." I say to Liu Erlong.
She nods her head, "How did you know all of this, I have never met you before?" Liu Erlong was genuinely confused, she wondered if I had a mental Spirit Ability that shows the past of others.
But her words were the final straw for Yu Xiao Gang as he fell to his knees, he let out a roar like an injured lion before slamming his fists into the dirt. Tears flows down his face as he clutched onto his hair, wanting to rip it out.
Liu Erlong was frightened by what he was doing and flickered over, stopping him from injuring himself further. She grabbed onto his arms as she yelled, "Xiao Gang, don"t scare me! What are you doing!?"
Yu Xiao Gang looked at Liu Erlong through his tear-filled eyes, "I"m sorry, Erlong, I"m sorry! I"m so sorry!" he could only apologise to Liu Erlong.
Liu Erlong was confused, although he was crying, he didn"t break down like this even when he was watching her past.
I dispelled the illusion as I looked at Liu Erlong, "My Spirit Ability is not to show peoples pasts, but to just create realistic illusions, I don"t know of your past at all."
In order to allow us to use our Spirit Abilities in the most efficient manner, Yu Xiao Gang done extensive research on each of our Spirit Abilities, including my Illusion Ice Transformation.
He had concluded that the illusions are made purely from myself and have no external factors, so it cannot create illusions using the memories of other people or create specific illusions of people I have never seen.
Yu Xiao Gang broke down when Liu Erlong admitted that she thought I was using her memories to create illusions, proving that she has been suffering from loneliness all this time, waiting for him to search for her.
He was unable to contain his emotions as he felt like a b.a.s.t.a.r.d for leaving her for so long. The only thing he could do was apologise profusely.
Flander also had a strange look on his face, his feelings for Liu Erlong are the same as her feelings for Yu Xiao Gang, so seeing her like this only makes him feel worse.
Liu Erlong was shocked by my words and realised what happened, she hugged Yu Xiao Gang tightly, pushing his head into her bountiful mountain valley.
"It"s alright, Xiao Gang. I do not blame you anymore, I am not angry! I can wait, as long as you need me to!" She cried as she stopped Yu Xiao Gang"s apologies. Together, they cried until they were exhausted.
Yin Shu and the two examiners were completely frozen as they stared at the graceful dean crying in the arms of a man, they never thought that the gentle, yet firm dean could act like a crying child.
The others from Shrek Academy were also shocked that the cold and emotionless Yu Xiao Gang could break down like this.
They continued to cry for ten minutes before they ran out of tears, Yu Xiao Gang lifted his head from Liu Erlong as he said, "Erlong… I am really sorry…"
Liu Erlong shook her head, her eyes red from crying as she smiled, "I told you, I don"t blame you… I just want you to stay with me."
"Alright, you should make it up to Erlong by staying with her for the rest of your lives." Flander chipped in as he joked around, although he loves Liu Erlong, he has already given up, wishing only for her happiness.
Yu Xiao Gang and Liu Erlong got up as they dusted themselves off, Yu Xiao Gang"s hair looked like he just got out of the shower while Liu Erlong"s chest was drenched in tears, her dress turned a little see through from the water.
She blushed as she flickered away before coming back a few seconds later in a different dress. She looked at Flander as she smiled, "Boss Fu, it has been so many years, but you still look the same."
Yu Xiao Gang was still slightly embarra.s.sed as he resumed his normal cold countenance, Flander laughed as he said, "Nonsense, just because I don"t own a mirror, doesn"t mean I don"t know I have aged. You, on the other hand, are still as graceful as ever."
"It has been a long time since our Golden Iron Triangle has last come together, we have to go for drinks later. For now, let me introduce everyone, these are my brothers from Shrek Academy, and these are our students. We came here after seeing the advertis.e.m.e.nt on the city gates, but I didn"t expect it to be your domain." Flander said.
Liu Erlong was a little confused, "Boss Fu, what happened to you guys, why are you reduced to this state?"
Liu Erlong"s straightforward nature showed itself as she directly asked Flander a sensitive question. Knowing her personality, Flander just smiled wryly, not showing any of the anger he usually would and simply recounted everything that has happened until now.
Liu Erlong"s eyes lit ablaze when she heard we were drive away from Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, with fury and vengeance, she said, "Good, good, good! This Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, actually daring to drive you guys away! Don"t say anymore, Boss Fu, isn"t my place also yours? I am in complete control of Blue Tyrant Academy, everyone can stay here, from now on this will be your home."
Flander tried to calm her down as he joked, "Our salary requirements are high, do you think that you can support us?"
"It"s not a matter of whether I can support you, but a question of whether you can. You are the boss of our Golden Iron Triangle, so from now on this Academy is yours." Liu Erlong unexpectedly replied.
Flander was shocked, "Sister Erlong, you have spent over ten years building this Academy, how could you just give it to me so easily!"
Liu Erlong shook her head, "I do not need the Academy anymore, I have more important things now…" She looked at Yu Xiao Gang as she said that, causing him to blush slightly.
"Teacher Yin Shu, I will have to trouble you to announce a general a.s.sembly for all staff and students tomorrow. From tomorrow onwards, Blue Tyrant Academy will no longer exist, in its place, will be Shrek Academy." Liu Erlong turned to the stunned Yin Shu and told him.
He broke out of his stupor as he heard her words, quickly bowing and prepared to leave, "Also, have the dining hall prepare a sumptuous banquet in the elegant room on the second floor, today is a day of celebrations for me, it must be grand." Liu Erlong added.
Yin Shu left, and the other two examiners followed him, Liu Erlong smiled as she gestured us forward, "Come, I will bring you to the dining hall, we haven"t seen each other in so long, I must play the host well and receive you."
She walked forward and grabbed Yu Xiao Gang"s hand as she led the way. Yu Xiao Gang was embarra.s.sed and slightly anxious but couldn"t bring himself to pull his hand away, he owed her too much.
Liu Erlong, Yu Xiao Gang and Flander walked together at the front as Flander and Liu Erlong talked, Yu Xiao Gang rarely speaks normally, so he only chimed in a couple times.
"Boss Fu, I heard your Shrek Academy only accepts monsters, don"t tell me all of these children are monsters?" She was curious, it is rare for so many genius level people to gather at the same academy, and we have a total of 11 students right now.
"Of course, they are all little monsters, each one is stronger than the last. Heaven Dou Academy will regret driving us away, we will destroy their teams in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament!" Flander had a vengeful smile on his face.
Liu Erlong also had an angry look, "Right! We will make them regret it!" Before she shook her head, "It"s a pity, our academy only has one place in the qualifiers, there are a couple decent students this year, we could have created two teams if we add in your students."
"It"s alright, we will just have to alternate the student"s, to show that we have more than enough people that are able to defeat their best teams." Flander was confident in our abilities.
As usual, Little Jing"s appearance attracts the attention of others, Liu Erlong looked back at her as she asked, "Is this child one of your students? Why does she have animal ears and a tail?"
"Little Jing had a mutation during her Spirit Awaken Ceremony, causing her to take on the features of her Spirit. She also grows at a rate three times slower than normal people, she is actually thirteen years old." I answer her.
Little Jing is walking on my left as she holds my hand. She leans into me as she rubs her head against my arm, her soft and silky hair stroking my arm along with her tiny ears. She lets out a soft guttural noise with an expression of satisfaction on her face.
Liu Erlong changes her gaze to me, "You were talking to Xiao Gang earlier, are you his disciple?"
I shake my head before pulling Little Yue who is walking on my right. I wrap my arm around her waist as I give her a kiss on the head, "You could say that we are in similar situations, so he came to me for advice before."
Liu Erlong understood what I meant as she smiled, "Congratulations, I am glad it worked out for you two." There was no use being jealous since she has finally gotten Yu Xiao Gang for herself now, even if he is still apprehensive.
We quickly reached the dining hall as Liu Erlong brought us to a room on the second floor. There were plates of food decorating the table, it was so full that the table cloth could barely be seen.
We all sat down and started eating, the food was delicious and there was so much to choose from. Even Fatty wasn"t able to stomach it all.
After lunch, Liu Erlong showed us around the main campus before bringing everyone to the dorms to get our living arrangements made, I specifically asked for a large dorm since I share with all the girls.
Liu Erlong wasn"t that surprised when she saw the four girls around me, during lunch they were placing food on my plate, forcing me to eat a lot.
She arranged for us to have a large dorm to ourselves. Surprisingly, Tang San also asked for a room for Xiao Wu and him, causing everyone to tease the two of them until they went red like tomatoes.
After arranging all our living and studies, we had a simple dinner at the request of Flander. Even the miserly Flander can"t handle such grand meals every time.
"Alright, today has been a rollercoaster of emotions for all of us, I am sure everyone is tired. Go and get some rest early, starting tomorrow, we will be busy again." Flander announced.
Yu Xiao Gang got up as he looked at Tang San, "Come, I will tell you about everything." He left the dining hall followed by Liu Erlong.
Tang San also got up and quickly followed the two of them while the rest of us went back to our dorms and went to bed.
The next day, all of us gathered for breakfast. Xiao Wu was anxious as she came in, telling us that Tang San didn"t come back to their dorm last night.
The girls gathered around Xiao Wu as she was tearing up, I also went by her side as I said, "It"s alright, Xiao San will be fine, Yu Xiao Gang probably knows where he is, so just wait for them to come."
She nodded her head but didn"t stop crying as the other girls tried to console her. Mu Bai and the others wanted to go searching for him, but I reasoned with them that we don"t know the area well enough, and that we should wait for Yu Xiao Gang and the other teachers.
Soon, Yu Xiao Gang, Flander, and Liu Erlong came in with a heavy expression. Xiao Wu quickly jumped up and ran to Yu Xiao Gang, "Grandmaster! Tang San is missing! He didn"t come back to our dorm last night!"
Yu Xiao Gang sighed as he looked at Xiao Wu"s tearful face, "Xiao San is undergoing special training right now, he will take between six months to a year. You can send him letters occasionally but you cannot see him."
Xiao Wu broke down in tears as she sat on the ground. Liu Erlong knew that she is Tang San"s adopted sister and can see that Xiao Wu"s feelings aren"t any less than hers for Yu Xiao Gang, she knelt down and hugged Xiao Wu gently, allowing Xiao Wu to cry on her shoulder.