1729 Old Chen The Sweeper

"Did I say something wrong? You knew that it was that boy. Furthermore, you knew that he was the one that haunted my nightmares in the past too. Then, you purposely brought him to me. Are you supposed to do that to your blood sister?" At that point, Shen Xing was about to cry.

Looking at her younger sister's reddened eyes, Shen Yue could not help feeling pity. She sighed softly. "Silly little girl, people from our clan are supposed to be able to endure more than average. Yes, I admit that I arranged all of it. In reality, Shrek and our clan have been working closely together for a long time. Or I should say, within the military, our clan has the closest relationship with Shrek. You don't know about this because you have yet to join the inner circle of our clan. Otherwise, why would I have been in the Northsea Army Corps back in those days? In reality, we have always been guarding the Demon Island for Shrek."

Shen Xing was stunned. "Sister, why haven't you told me about this before?"

Shen Yue heaved a sigh. "You're so willful. I was afraid that you would turn the place upside-down if I told you earlier. Perhaps, it was genuinely a nightmare for you. However, don't you think that you've grown precisely because of that nightmare? That you've advanced at an accelerated rate in fact? If not for that, how did you get promoted to colonel at such a young age?"

Shen Xing bit her lower lip. She was suddenly at a loss for words.

Shen Yue took a meaningful glance at her. "If you really can't get past it, go look for him. Head to Shrek."

Shen Xing was stunned for a moment. "Go to Shrek? What can I do there?"

Shen Yue said, "I don't know. This is your choice. What sort of impression do you have of him in your heart? Moreover, there's something I wish to ask you. What if I did arrange a real matchmaking session between both of you on that day?"

Shen Xing's charming figure shivered as she came to a sudden realization. She raised her head and looked at her sister in astonishment.

Shen Yue heaved a sigh softly. "You should know that I've kept many things from you. The elders in the clan hope that you can be his companion after encountering him on so many occasions. Meanwhile, his status grows more important each day. Even if we have to lose, they still hope that you can partner with him. This is the best scenario for our clan. However, are you willing to do so?"

Shen Xing looked at her sister in a daze.

'Am I willing to do so? I have no idea. I really have no idea.'

When she thought about how this had been arranged by her clan, she felt an ice-cold chill in her chest. She loathed being born into a clan like this.

Undoubtedly, the clan was doing this because it had its own ends. If she were to couple with him for real, perhaps the clan would begin to make all sorts of demands. Could she really be with him in that case? Moreover, he had someone else in his heart.

"Alright, don't ponder too much on that. The clan has genuinely used you in this incident. That was why your military rank was promoted so swiftly. I've done whatever I could to keep you from being exploited. I'm doing my best to free you so no one will demand anything from you in the future. Do what you wish to do then."

At this point, Shen Yu's voice had softened a lot.

"Sister…" With her eyes still red, Shen Xing threw herself into her sister's arms and hugged Shen Yue tightly.

Shen Yue smiled bitterly. "I'm destined to be tied to the clan for the rest of my life. I've .sacrificed way too much for it. I don't want the same thing to happen to you because you're my only little sister. I shall bear the responsibilities of our generation so you don't need to bear even more. I don't regret the things that I did in the past. At least, it helped you to grow and gave you the strength to do things on your own. You can do whatever you wish to do in the future."

"But I really don't know what I want, Sister."



At Shrek Academy, Shrek City was still undergoing constant construction with the Sea God Lake at its center. The environmental greening in the areas around the main building was largely complete. The building that belonged to the Titan Giant Ape was already finished as well.

Shrek Academy made an official announcement that one-fourth of the land at the shore of the Sea God Lake would be permanently granted to the Tang Sect to use as they wished.

Tang Sect itself was handling the construction on the land given to them. The process was also going swiftly.

The entire Shrek Academy was thriving and flourishing.

Some of the students from the first batch had already been eliminated due to the strict requirements. However, the majority of the students still managed to fulfill them and eagerly went on.

No one knew at what point someone new had arrived at the Shrek Academy campus.

It was an old man with a head full of gray hair. He would come to the sports field at the first glimmer of dawn every day. He brought along a huge broom and would sweep the sports field in front of the academy's main building.

He swept from dawn until the sun was high in the sky before he had completed the sweeping duty. It was the same every day.

The students cultivating in the morning would frequently encounter this man. When they greeted the old man enthusiastically, the old man would reply with a smile too. He seldom spoke and merely repeated his routine every day.

He was dressed in plain attire as well. It was always the simplest of robes.

Yi Zichen was already used to waking up early in the morning. Luo Guixing had always paid the most attention to Yi Zichen out of all the students in his class. It was because the child was blessed with extraordinary natural talents and he was extremely hardworking.

Luo Guixing had told Yi Zichen that there was never a lack of geniuses at Shrek, but only a small portion of students managed to become powerhouses. They were the prodigies who were willing to sacrifice themselves.

Yi Zichen found that he was growing fond of Shrek. Ever since he witnessed Tang Wulin's graceful demeanour during a battle, he had his mind set on becoming powerful like the Pavilion Master when he grew up.

As a result, he worked just as hard despite his extraordinary natural gifts. He spent every day painstakingly training and a vast majority of his time was spent thoroughly engrossed in cultivation.

He jogged and warmed up on the sports field every morning as preparation for the actual battle lesson that followed.

He had just begun to jog when he noticed the old man that he encountered frequently in recent times.

Frankly, Yi Zichen had his doubts about the academy in view of this old man. He looked to be at least seventy or eighty years old. It seemed like the academy was overworking a senior citizen like him by putting him in charge of sweeping such a huge sports field.

"Hello, uncle. Let me help you to sweep the floor." Yi Zichen could not help himself anymore. He went over to the old man in long strides.

The old man looked up to see the young man with a sincere gaze before himself. The old man smiled and said, "I'm not sweeping the floor. This is my morning exercise! It's the same as what you're doing, only that I don't want to jog anymore because I'm old. I sweep the floor to exercise my legs. Go on with your jogging."

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Yi Zichen in a slightly concerned manner.

The old man smiled and nodded. "I can see you jog here every morning. You're really a hardworking boy. Are you doing this because the academy asks you to?"

Yi Zichen shook his head. "The academy would never ask this of us. I'm doing this for myself. The teacher said that the greater one's natural talents, the more effort one should put into achieving one's goals."

"Oh? So you're saying that you are blessed with great natural talent?" The old man looked at him with interest.

Yi Zichen blushed and hastily shook his head. "Not really, not really. Who has the courage to say that their talents are outstanding at Shrek? Take care of yourself. I'm going to continue my jog."

Upon saying that, he turned back to his jogging path.

The old man could not help smiling as he gazed at the boy's departing figure. He shook his head gently and muttered to himself, "It's good to be young! It's actually very interesting to look at these young people."

Meanwhile, an icy cold voice came from beside him, "Are you finished sweeping?"

The man's eyes showed that he was pleasantly surprised. He hastily turned around just in time to see the woman that was on his mind night and day.