Inside the dean's office, the air was thick with unspoken memories.
Liu Erlong stepped aside slowly, allowing Yu Xiaogang to enter. He walked in stiffly, his eyes refusing to meet hers. She watched him with a complicated look—part guilt, part exhaustion, part cold detachment that had taken years to cultivate.
Flander sat calmly at his desk, though his eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of his old friend.
Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat, voice tight but composed. "I came to see how the Academy was doing. I've… heard it has grown under your leadership."
Flander nodded once, guarded. "It has."
Yu tried to keep his tone neutral, as if what he had seen through the window had never happened. "And Erlong… you're here too, helping as always. I'm glad to see you both well."
Liu Erlong didn't speak. She merely crossed her arms and leaned silently against the window frame, eyes unreadable.
But then the words slipped from Flander like a hammer strike.
"We're married, Yu. We've been married for years. We have two children."
Yu Xiaogang froze. His lips parted but no sound came out. It was as if the very air had been knocked from his lungs.
"I…" he began, but no words formed.
He looked at Liu Erlong—her expression calm, unwavering.
"Married…?" he repeated, as if testing the word in his mouth, disbelieving it could belong to them. "You… married her? And had children?"
Flander leaned forward now, voice firmer. "Yes. And not in secret. Not in shame. She moved on, Yu. We moved on."
Yu's face contorted—shame, betrayal, confusion battling across his features. "You betrayed me," he said at last, quietly. "Both of you. You knew what she meant to me."
Flander's fist slammed the desk. "Don't you dare."
"You were the one who ran from your wedding, remember? You left her standing alone. You abandoned her!" Flander's eyes burned with restrained fury. "You had your chance. You chose your pride. Your theories. Your damn cowardice over her."
"I was trying to fix myself!" Yu Xiaogang shouted, voice finally cracking. "I was afraid—ashamed of my weak spirit. I didn't want to drag her into a life of disappointment!"
"And yet," Flander snapped, "you let her live in disappointment anyway. Alone. Heartbroken. While you vanished. Don't you dare act like the victim now."
He stood now, eyes level with Yu Xiaogang's.
"You were my friend once. The only reason I didn't hunt you down after you hurt her was because I still remembered that friendship. But make no mistake—if you were anyone else, I would've killed you for what you did to her."
Yu's hands trembled. His gaze fell to the floor. "So that's it," he muttered. "You both just… erased me?"
Flander's voice dropped low. "We didn't erase you, Yu. You did that yourself."
The silence that followed was heavy.
After a long moment, Yu Xiaogang straightened. "Fine," he said, eyes hollow. "Then… I'll take what I came for. Let me take Tang San with me."
Liu Erlong's eyes widened slightly.
But Flander shook his head, scoffing. "Take him? What for?"
Yu looked up. "He's my student. My legacy."
Flander narrowed his eyes. "Your legacy? You want a legacy now, after running away from everything? Yu, Tang San isn't even in the top 30 students anymore. Not in this branch, and certainly not in Tian Dou."
"T-That's not possible," he muttered. "He was the strongest talent of his generation. He followed everything I—"
"And look where it got him," Flander cut in. "A crippled spirit. A confused path. The boy's barely keeping up. He doesn't need more theory, Yu. He needs truth. Experience. Strength. Something you couldn't give him."
Yu staggered back a step, as if the words had physically struck him.
"I see," he whispered. "Then… there's nothing left here for me."
Flander didn't reply. Liu Erlong didn't stop him.
And so Yu Xiaogang turned away once more. The door closed behind him with the finality of a tomb sealing shut.
Outside, the Academy bustled with life—young spirit masters laughing, training, dreaming of greatness.
None of them knew the name Yu Xiaogang.
Not the students training under the morning sun. Not the teachers discussing strategy under the shade of the spirit trees. Not even the passing assistant instructors who looked at him as if he were just another forgotten elder from a rural sect.
It stung more than he could express.
Is this what I've been reduced to? A stranger to the very academy that was built upon my knowledge?
Yu Xiaogang's fists clenched tightly at his sides, veins pulsing as he stared at the vibrant courtyard of Shrek Academy. The colors, the laughter, the confidence in their steps—all of it mocked him.
They laugh now. But they won't laugh for long.
His gaze narrowed as he spotted a familiar silhouette in the distance.
Though the boy was older now, there was no mistaking the slouch of his shoulders, the faint trace of blue spirit energy that hovered near his fingers. He looked worn. Faded. Forgotten by the very Academy he had once dreamed of dominating.
Yu Xiaogang's lips twisted into a bitter smile.
"Through him... I will rise again."
His thoughts raced, sharpened by spite. I'll take Tang San with me. I'll train him personally. Away from this pathetic academy. I'll refine his cultivation, correct his spirit path, and prove to them all that my theories were never wrong—just misunderstood.
And when he returns… when he rises to the top… they'll all remember the name Yu Xiaogang. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fıre·net
But he couldn't look desperate. Not yet.
He took a deep breath, brushed the dirt from his robes, and carefully adjusted his posture. He raised his chin, smoothed his expression, and began walking with slow, deliberate steps. Each footfall calculated to appear calm, scholarly—wise.
Let them think he was a traveling sage. A philosopher come to visit the younger generation.
Let them believe he had returned not in disgrace—but in dignity.
After all… history remembers the victors, not the fallen.
And Yu Xiaogang had no intention of remaining among the fallen.
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