Chapter 181: Shrek Elders Lose Their Composure
Dim yellow lamplight pooled across the polished surface of the mahogany desk, casting long, distorted shadows over Yan Shaozhe's grim features.
He glared down at the intelligence staff member who was currently slumped on the floor, his knees knocking together. Yan Shaozhe slammed his right palm heavily onto the desk. The sharp crack echoed through the side hall, sending the remaining half-cup of premium ginseng tea splashing across the floorboards.
"Bastard! Have the rules I taught you been fed to the dogs?" Yan Shaozhe's voice was kept low and tightly suppressed, carrying the heavy, suffocating pressure of a superior.
"What could possibly be so wrong with a secret report sent back from the Heavenly Soul Empire? Has their northern defensive line completely collapsed? Has the imperial family been slaughtered and replaced? Fan Yu merely went home to handle some private affairs. Is that worth you crawling in here and making such a fuss? I have told you before, even if the sky falls, I will be the one to hold it up. Look at yourself, acting as if the world is ending. Where is your sense of decorum!"
The staff member's face was drained of all color, resembling a sheet of crumpled parchment. With violently trembling hands, he held up the red-sealed urgent secret report. The corner of the heavy parchment was already damp with his cold sweat. He offered it upward once more, his voice coming out sharp and hoarse from absolute terror.
"Dean... it is not... it is not a family matter. You... please, just look at this."
Yan Shaozhe released a cold, disdainful snort. He reached out and snatched the secret report directly from the man's trembling grip.
He had originally intended to reprimand the subordinate further, to drill some Shrek pride into his spineless posture. But as his eyes swept over the few short lines of text printed on the official parchment, his face froze. The deep disdain and simmering anger vanished, replaced by a rigid, hollow stare.
The report was stamped with an official royal seal, the text clear and obvious.
[Heavenly Soul Imperial Family Announcement: Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department Vice Dean, Fan Yu, has today officially accepted the Heavenly Soul Empire's investiture. He has received the title of First-Class Earl and assumed the position of Chief Royal Soul Tool Consultant for the Heavenly Soul Empire, announcing his permanent departure from Shrek Academy.]
"This is impossible!"
Yan Shaozhe let out an exclamation that bordered on a feral roar.
He shot up from his chair. His usual unshakable composure, the deep calmness of a man who would not blink even if a mountain collapsed before him, vanished without a single trace.
He stared fixedly at the words 'permanent departure'. It felt as though ten thousand steel needles had just been driven directly into his skull.
"Fan Yu... has he gone completely mad? He actually dared to betray Shrek?" Yan Shaozhe's hands shook violently. The thick parchment of the secret report crumpled and tore under his tightening grip.
He simply could not comprehend it. Why would a Vice Dean, a man who had been nurtured by Shrek for decades and enjoyed immense respect across the continent, choose to throw himself into the embrace of a secular empire without a single word of warning?
This massive cognitive dissonance shattered Yan Shaozhe's reasoning.
Ignoring the terrified staff member cowering on the floor, he snapped his head toward the window, his eyes locking onto the distant clock tower at the very peak of the Sea God Pavilion. His voice cracked slightly, distorted by raw, boiling fury.
"Pass down my order! Ring the Sea God Bell! Convene an emergency expanded meeting of the Sea God Pavilion immediately!"
"Every Elder currently residing in the Academy, as long as they are still breathing, get them all over here right now!"
Fifteen minutes later.
Sea God Pavilion Meeting Hall.
This was a highly classified secret room deeply enveloped by the rich, thrumming life aura of the Golden Tree. It was supposed to be a place of absolute peace, serenity, and enlightened meditation.
But tonight, the air inside the hall was so heavy and stagnant it felt like breathing liquid lead.
Yan Shaozhe sat rigidly in the vice-chairman's seat, his expression dark and stormy.
To his left and right sat the highest authorities of the academy. Elder Song, Elder Lin, Elder Zhuang, Vice Dean Cai Mei'er, and the other Sea God Pavilion Elders were all present, their faces lined with varying degrees of confusion and concern.
Even Xian Lin'er, the Dean of the Soul Tool Department who had been in a state of deep semi-seclusion, sat in her wooden chair with an ashen, bloodless face.
After Yan Shaozhe circulated the crumpled secret report, the entire meeting hall fell into a long, deathly silence. The only sound was the faint rustling of the Golden Tree's leaves outside.
"Ridiculous... this is simply ridiculous to the extreme!" Vice Dean Cai Mei'er was the first to break the suffocating quiet. Her usually gentle, accommodating eyes were now wide with incomprehension and burning anger.
"Fan Yu was raised by our Shrek. We gave him the absolute best laboratories, unlimited resources, and a status second only to the Pavilion Elders. Why would he ever leave? What could the Heavenly Soul Empire possibly give him? Can a mere empty title of Earl make a man of his caliber sell his life? Has he been placed under house arrest by the imperial family?"
Xian Lin'er gripped the wooden armrests of her chair so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The veins on the back of her hands throbbed visibly against her skin.
As Fan Yu's direct superior and mentor, she took the brunt of this shocking betrayal.
"I know Fan Yu's character," Xian Lin'er said. Her voice was freezing cold, though a faint, suppressed tremor betrayed her emotional state. "He values sentiment and loyalty. He is by no means someone who would be swayed by secular fame and fortune. If the Heavenly Soul Empire only offered noble titles and gold coins, he would not even blink at them. There must be some internal story we are missing."
Elder Lin frowned deeply, his aged fingers tapping slowly against the table. "Indeed. Our Shrek is the absolute best academy on the continent, the undisputed Holy Land in the hearts of countless Soul Engineers. Giving up his position as a Vice Dean of the Holy Land to become a mere Imperial Consultant with an uncertain future? The logic simply does not hold up."
The Elders began to discuss the matter animatedly. Their words were laced with the deep-seated arrogance and superiority inherent to anyone who stood at the pinnacle of Shrek Academy.
In their minds, Shrek was the absolute center of the world. Anyone who willingly chose to leave their ranks was a fool actively destroying their own future.
However, while the room descended into argumentative chaos, Elder Song, who had been sitting quietly at the head of the table with her eyes closed, slowly opened them.
"Everyone, quiet down."
Elder Song's voice was not loud, yet it carried a deep weight that instantly silenced the entire hall.
She turned her gaze toward Yan Shaozhe, her old eyes revealing a seasoned, calculating depth. "Shaozhe, you mentioned earlier that Fan Yu left the academy after receiving a specific phone call. You also mentioned that the Heavenly Soul Empire's northern border defense line was supposedly in critical condition. But the intelligence network just confirmed that absolutely nothing is happening in the north."
"This indicates that the other party deliberately used his sense of duty to trick him into returning to the capital. But after he returned, what exactly made him decide to stay?"
Elder Song paused, letting the question hang in the heavy air. Her tone grew extremely solemn. "Have you all forgotten the top-secret information sent back from Mingdu a while ago? Du Busi of the Body Sect personally led a team of top-tier experts to attack Mingde Hall. They did not just snatch a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast embryo from their vaults. They also stole the core research data for high-level soul tools."
Those words were like a bucket of freezing water poured directly over the heads of everyone present.
Elder Zhuang looked up abruptly, his eyes widening in shock. "Elder Song, you mean... the Body Sect showed that stolen data to Fan Yu?"
"Not just showed it to him," Elder Song sighed, her gaze sweeping across the stunned faces of the pavilion elders. "If I am not mistaken, the Body Sect is the hidden hand pushing this entire situation from the shadows."
"Fan Yu is a pure technical fanatic. For an eighth-class Soul Engineer who has hit a bottleneck, the theoretical truth that allows promotion to the ninth class is far more tempting than any official title, wealth, or status."
"And that specific kind of truth is something our Shrek simply cannot provide right now. The Sun Moon Empire would rather die than share it. Only the Body Sect, who successfully robbed Mingde Hall, holds the ready-made bait in their hands."
Yan Shaozhe's face drained of color in an instant.
He suddenly remembered how confidently he had claimed just a few days ago that Fan Yu would definitely come back. He remembered his utter disdain for the Heavenly Soul Empire's capabilities. At this moment, those arrogant words felt like loud, stinging slaps hitting him directly across the face.
"If it really is because of the ninth-class core data..." Yan Shaozhe ground his teeth together, the words squeezing out from between them. "Then Fan Yu really will not be coming back. He will be completely tethered to the Heavenly Soul Empire by his obsession with that forbidden knowledge."
The meeting hall plunged back into a long, suffocating silence.
Every elder present slowly realized the true gravity of the situation. This was no longer just a matter of losing a talented eighth-class Soul Engineer. It was a glaring, humiliating warning that Shrek Academy had completely fallen behind in the continental arms race for soul tool technology.
"Lin'er, what do you think we should do?" Yan Shaozhe turned his head to look at the Dean of the Soul Tool Department.
Xian Lin'er stood up slowly. A sharp flash of determination cut through the frustration in her eyes. "I do not know what kind of person he has become now. But I must hear him explain this choice clearly with my own ears. I refuse to believe that so many years of teacher-student affection and colleague camaraderie are worth less to him than a few stolen ninth-class blueprints."
After a long period of heavy contemplation, Yan Shaozhe slammed his hand flat against the table and stood up.
His eyes sharpened into dangerous slits. Although his heart was currently a mess of unease and wounded pride, as the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, he could not allow this massive blow to Shrek's prestige to end so unclearly.
"You are right. Sitting here guessing is completely meaningless," Yan Shaozhe ordered, his voice dropping into a deep, authoritative register.
"Lin'er, Elder Song, I will have to trouble the two of you to accompany me. We are setting off for the Heavenly Soul Imperial City right now."
"Whether it is to win him back or to interrogate him for his treason, we must see Fan Yu in person. If the Body Sect is indeed playing tricks behind the scenes to poach our people, then even if Du Busi himself shows up to block our path, Shrek will demand a proper explanation!"
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