After saying that, Ling Luochen actually intended to kowtow and thank Liu Yuan, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen.
"Hey, you shouldn't do that!" Liu Yuan was quick-eyed and nimble, stepping forward to gently support her arm and stop her. "Helping those in need is only right. You've just begun to recover, so you should rest well and not exert yourself."
Ling Luochen could only stop upon hearing this, but the gratitude in her eyes grew even stronger: "Thank you... thank you all so much."
"I'm Meng Hongchen, and this is my brother Xiao Hongchen," Meng Hongchen introduced with a smile, seeing the atmosphere was a bit serious. At the same time, she took out some clean water and dried meat from her spirit tool and handed them to Ling Luochen. "You must be hungry, right? Why don't you eat something first?"
After surviving a disaster, her stomach was indeed empty.
Ling Luochen was not pretentious; she nodded, took the food and water, and began to eat in small bites.
Meng Hongchen looked at her and could not help but ask, "Speaking of which, Sister Ling Luochen, did your Shrek Inner Academy really only send you alone to perform such a dangerous mission? The opponent included an Evil Soul Master at the Spirit Emperor level."
Ling Luochen swallowed a piece of dried meat and gave a bitter smile. "Actually, at the beginning, the information the Academy received was that only 'Magic Scorpion' was active nearby, so only I was sent to hunt him down."
"I didn't expect... this was a deliberate ambush from the start. Their true target might have been Shrek's students."
At this point, Ling Luochen looked at the three again and said solemnly, "So, I really have you to thank."
"If you hadn't happened to be here and been willing to help, my... fate now would probably be unimaginable."
Meng Hongchen quickly waved her hand. "Actually, my brother and I didn't help much. The one who truly saved you was Brother Liu Yuan."
Ling Luochen's gaze naturally fell on Liu Yuan to the side.
She clearly remembered that at the critical moment, it was Liu Yuan who appeared like a god from heaven and instantly killed the group of Evil Soul Masters.
Looking closely now, she realized Liu Yuan seemed even younger than herself, but that strength...
Ling Luochen marveled inwardly. It seemed the Sun Moon Empire was not as worthless as the rumors suggested—having nothing but soul tool technology and not even a decent Genius Spirit Master.
At least, the talent and strength of this youth named Liu Yuan were far above her own.
Of course, Liu Yuan did not know what Ling Luochen was thinking.
After feeling her grateful gaze, Liu Yuan just sighed helplessly and suddenly said, "Ling Luochen, since we've met, it can be considered fate. Let me give you a piece of advice."
Ling Luochen was slightly startled, a bit confused by Liu Yuan's sudden words, but out of respect for her savior, she quickly replied respectfully, "Please speak."
Liu Yuan looked at her, his eyes calm and deep. "Please love yourself a bit more."
"Your life doesn't belong to you alone; it also belongs to your parents and your Family. If you just died out here inexplicably for a mission, they would be the most heartbroken. And most importantly, it's not worth it."
He paused, his words becoming more direct. "After all, Shrek Academy is just an academy in the end."
"Perhaps you are full of gratitude for Shrek's cultivation, or perhaps you feel supreme glory for being able to join Shrek."
"But in reality, the relationship between you and Shrek is nothing more than an ordinary exchange of equal value."
"You pay tuition, and it is responsible for teaching. Do not be bound by some ethereal, irrelevant things."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the cave suddenly became a bit strange.
Ling Luochen's expression also became odd.
Although Liu Yuan did not explicitly say anything bad about Shrek, let alone criticize the so-called Shrek Supervisory Group system, his words clearly revealed a sense of indifference and detachment toward the academy's honor and mission.
This formed a strong conflict with the sense of collective honor promoted by her Shrek Academy.
She could not help but ask subconsciously, "Could it be... is there some story between you and Shrek?"
Liu Yuan shook his head, his tone flat. "No."
He did not want to continue; those words just now were just a whim, which was why he said a few more things.
As for whether Ling Luochen listened or how much she took in, that was not his concern.
"We have to travel tomorrow, so rest early." Liu Yuan quickly ended the topic, turned to another corner of the cave, found a clean spot to sit cross-legged, and closed his eyes to rest.
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen looked at each other. Although they were surprised by Liu Yuan's words, they were people of the Sun Moon Royal Academy after all, so they naturally would not argue for Shrek.
The siblings also found their own spots and soon fell into a dreamland.
Nothing more was said that night.
Outside the cave, the insect chirps gradually ceased, and the moon rose to the middle of the sky.
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were already fast asleep, their breathing even.
Liu Yuan was in a half-asleep, half-awake state of meditation, always alert to any movement around him.
Only Ling Luochen kept her eyes open, without any sleepiness.
The words Liu Yuan had said seemed to carry a strange magic, echoing in her mind over and over again after she quieted down.
At first, she instinctively felt repelled by these words.
However, when she calmed down and thought back carefully on her experience tonight, Ling Luochen suddenly felt... what he said made a lot of sense.
She was just a student of Shrek; was it really necessary to bet her life entirely on those three words, "Shrek"?
Shrek's glory belonged to Shrek, but her life belonged to her.
For that ethereal glory and to complete the academy's mission, she had almost died just now.
If she really died, what would the academy do? Perhaps they would posthumously award the title of "Hero," or perhaps give her Family a sum of pension money, and then?
And then there would be no "then."
She would become one of the countless predecessors who "shed their blood" for the academy, a model to inspire future generations to continue working hard for the academy.
But her parents would lose their daughter, and her life would forever stop at today.
Was all this really worth it?
For the first time, Ling Luochen felt deeply shaken by this question she had never doubted before.