When Zhu Zhuqing saw Yu Keke, she immediately suspected that the young man often called "Lord" or "Your Excellency" must also be here.
Sure enough, before she could even recover from the shock that Yu Keke had a hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beast companion, she saw that young man's figure.
Facing him, Zhu Zhuqing's heart was filled with complicated emotions.
The first time she met this youth was in the Star Dou Forest.
This young man, who looked about her age, had cut off Zhao Wuji's arms with a single sword strike.
What a dazzling young prodigy he was. The Shrek group, who had always prided themselves as geniuses and monsters, looked like mere fireflies under the brilliance of his sword.
The second time she saw him was at the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy.
This youth was still like the wind, and even the Titled Douluo of the Heavenly Dou Empire bowed before him.
The third time was at Blue Tyrant Academy.
He came carrying a furious storm. She knew those two had made unforgivable mistakes.
Being crushed by him was truly their just punishment.
She didn't hate the youth who had slain her fiancé in name — that person's mistakes weren't worth her sorrow or attachment.
The fourth time they met was here, in Skywater Academy.
He was still like the sun in the sky — wherever he went, his radiance couldn't be dimmed by anything.
But why would this youth, who had left such an indelible impression in her heart, know her?
Zhu Zhuqing nervously asked.
"…"
Aether was momentarily speechless.
He had subconsciously called her just now, but thinking back, besides the image in his memories, he hadn't actually spoken to Zhu Zhuqing in this world before.
"We've probably met several times."
Aether sighed helplessly and put on a look like he'd seen through everything to brush off the question.
He certainly wasn't going to tell her he had some melodramatic memories involving her…
"Yes…"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded in agreement, unsure what else to say.
She probably left an extremely bad impression in Aether's memory.
After all, their past meetings involved the Shrek group offending him multiple times.
"How come you're here?" Aether really wanted to ask this.
As a member of the Shrek team, Zhu Zhuqing appearing alone did surprise him a little.
"That person died… After that incident, I left Shrek Academy. I originally planned to return to Star Lui, but by chance, I met Headmistress Shui Xinrou and followed her here…"
As soon as Zhu Zhuqing spoke, she suddenly realized something and cast an apologetic glance at Yu Keke.
"…"
Aether's eyes darkened slightly as he looked at the girl before him, realizing she had suffered some undeserved misfortune.
But as for what the two from Shrek had done back then, Aether felt no guilt.
If it weren't for their strength on our side, Keke's fate would truly have been tragic…
"Yes, Your Excellency. A few days ago I went to Tiandou and happened to meet Zhuqing. Seeing her exceptional talent, I broke the rules to recruit her into the academy."
Shui Xinrou nodded and echoed Zhu Zhuqing.
She originally admired talent but hadn't expected Zhu Zhuqing to know His Excellency.
Is that so…
Aether thought quietly.
So it wasn't what he had imagined. He had thought that Yu Xiaogang's "beauty confidants" were everywhere in Douluo.
"What about the others from Shrek?"
Aether asked again.
Though he had never looked at the Shrek group with anything but normal eyes, in his memory, they were the protagonists, so he was a bit curious.
"Xiao Wu, Tang San, and Rongrong all disappeared mysteriously."
Though Zhu Zhuqing said they disappeared mysteriously, the timing perfectly coincided with the height of that crisis.
Thanks to her sharpness and the fact that Ning Rongrong's sect suddenly sent people to forcibly take her away, and then His Excellency personally came to demand an explanation…
Zhu Zhuqing roughly understood why.
After mentioning the three, she went on:
"Oscar left decisively as well. Shrek now only has the Grandmaster, Zhao Wuji, Director Liu Erlong, and a few others originally from Shrek."
Zhu Zhuqing told everything she knew.
Perhaps because she had left Shrek too early, she didn't know that Tang San and Xiao Wu had later returned to Shrek.
"Hmm."
Aether nodded slightly.
Looks like Shrek's disbanded?
Of course, whether it's disbanded or not means nothing to Aether.
Even if Tang San had other chances and suddenly became a god standing before him, pointing at him and saying, "You're courting death!"
Aether wouldn't be surprised.
But if such a day really came, he'd just have to put a bit more effort into giving him a thorough beating.
No matter how strong he became, this world's limit was set.
His main goal had always been to break the seal and regain his power — definitely not some so-called child of the plane.
"Keke, how have you been feeling at the academy these days?"
Aether shook his head, no longer dwelling on those matters.
"It's a very special feeling. Sister Bing'er and Sister Yue'er treat me really well. I've also learned so many things!"
Yu Keke's face lit up with excitement, wanting to pour out everything she had learned to her big brother.
"Heh."
Aether smiled faintly, patting Yu Keke's head and continued:
"That's good. If anything comes up, you can tell the headmistress, okay?"
"Mm-hmm!"
Yu Keke nodded emphatically.
"Take good care of Keke, understand?"
Aether lowered his head and gave Fire Meow Meow an order.
"Roar!"
Fire Meow Meow happily responded.
Zhu Zhuqing watched Yu Keke with envy. If only she could gain the favor of His Excellency like Keke had, how wonderful that would be…
A thought suddenly arose in her mind and grew stronger.
"Keke will be in your care, everyone."
Aether greeted everyone.
His purpose this time was to visit Keke.
Now that he had seen her without any incident, he intended to take Paimon out to look for any suitable commissions or opportunities.
"Your Excellency, rest assured."
Shui Xinrou bowed respectfully.
"Keke, we'll be leaving now."
Paimon waved her small hand at Yu Keke.
"Goodbye, big brother. Goodbye, Paimon."
Yu Keke waved back, and Fire Meow Meow stood proudly by her side, gazing at Aether.
Having received Aether's approval, Fire Meow Meow was now fully motivated to perform its duties.
In the days to come, it would be even more rigorous in fulfilling its responsibilities.
_
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