Chapter Ten

Zhou Mu held You Qi's chin, his fingers still folded together giving it a little squeeze, laughing very happily.

You Qi could sense his own behavior had drifted a bit from the original plan, but he seemed not to care — in that instant just now he just wanted to see Zhou Mu's reaction.

"Clap clap clap clap clap!!"

A burst of applause sounded right by his ear.

Seeing Zhou Mu tame Senior Xiao Xiao, and even the terrifying Senior You Qi behaving obediently, all the little students actually clapped together, clapping with great sincerity.

You Qi, who had been nonchalant a moment ago, was now a little awkward...

You Qi, as if nothing had happened, pressed Zhou Mu's hand down.

The young ones were all innocent — their fear was pure, and their cheers were pure too. This might have been You Qi's most popular moment at Hualing.

So amazing—

Not only clapping, a few bold ones even stepped closer, clearly wanting to reach out and pet him too.

Xu Tianyi's face changed.

Fortunately Zhou Mu stopped them in time, pushing Xiao Xiao out: "Hey, pet this one!"

Then Senior was buried in an instant.

Xiao Xiao: "…whine!"

It seemed Zhou Mu wasn't thinking of the little ones — he drew a clear line between private and public. After speaking he turned his head and saw You Qi squinting at him.

What did "pet this one" mean — that one was him? Did Zhou Mu really treat him as the same kind as Xiao Xiao?

"Why are you looking at me," Zhou Mu said with mock innocence, "Oh, don't tell me you want to shake hands with them?"

You Qi knew Zhou Mu was probably saying it on purpose, but now surrounded by noisy children, hearing Zhou Mu deliberately act up, his mood actually improved quite a bit.

You Qi snorted, pressed one hand on top of Zhou Mu's head, rubbing his hair into a mess.

Xu Tianyi: …………gradually suspicious.

He had seen people discussing on the school forum that You Qi hadn't been punished, and his relationship with Zhou Mu was even better than before, suspected of being raised to be eaten later.

But today he really didn't understand — no way, surely he wasn't the only ghost in the whole school who felt something was off? What exactly was the "eating method" between those two?!

"Everyone, please put Senior Xiao Xiao back, next we'll continue with the rest of the training." Xu Tianyi said numbly. He could only be numb — after all, he didn't dare ask You Qi whether he was really keeping Zhou Mu as a pet.

When had Senior Xiao Xiao ever suffered such grievance — the whole dog was nearly rubbed to a patina. Once released, he forcefully snorted through his nose: "Hmph!!"

Reorganizing the line, Xu Tianyi led everyone to finish unlocking the map they hadn't completed last time.

Honestly Hualing was quite big, built into the mountains with varied terrain, and you couldn't just burrow through freely. Even the little ones had to walk with Xu Tianyi, which was quite a test of stamina.

And among all these panting little students, Zhou Mu, who already "stood out like a crane among chickens," sat in the accompanying You Qi's arms when he got tired.

The other little students glanced at Zhou Mu with every step — their initial worship of Senior had turned into quiet resentment.

Zhou Mu said smugly: "Why are you looking at me, I'm an injured person!"

Xu Tianyi thought, damn, the junior adapts really well.

At first: training with little students is so awkward.

Now: I look down on all heroes!

Tianqi was quite used to climbing up and down terrain. Though they were all little students, different races had different stamina. And he'd already worked his way from group leader to Xu Tianyi's side, in charge of carrying the Microphone Cable and maintaining order.

Tianqi, who had been running at the very front, suddenly stopped after stepping up a stair, looking back uneasily: "Senior, this place…"

Not just him — the other new students also sensed something to varying degrees. This place was permeated with a feeling that made everyone uncomfortable.

Xu Tianyi drifted gracefully to the front: "Everyone here is enrolled, no need to be afraid. This place is called Jinyuan — the 'jin' is a homophone for 'jin,' meaning 'forbidden.' When the School was first founded, this was called the Forbidden Garden.

"I've introduced many of the school's Restrictions to you before — they're all because our School is the first comprehensive school in the Three Realms, set up to maintain order on campus.

"And precisely because of these sophisticated Restrictions, when Demon Beasts appeared in the Human Realm, Hualing's grounds were once borrowed to perform Demon Beast Suppression here. But for the students' safety, the school leadership specifically picked the safest spot on campus. Remember what the Principal said at the Opening Ceremony — that the founding ancestor left a trick up his sleeve?"

Xu Tianyi walked to a spot, reached his hand forward, and the surrounding air warped for a moment — there was an invisible barrier here, concealing the real scenery.

"This is inside — the ancestor's trick is right here. So even if you sense residual Demon Aura when you arrive, don't be afraid, because this place also has the safest Restrictions. You could say it's safer than your classroom building."

After all, in the classroom building you might still get bitten by seniors or bullied by classmates. And because this place was both safe and quiet, some students even made special trips here to review at the end of term.

With Xu Tianyi's explanation, everyone relaxed considerably.

"Alright, we have two paths — one goes through Jinyuan, the other goes around. See which one you want to take." Xu Tianyi said.

Zhou Mu probably didn't like the residual Demon Aura either, lying limp on You Qi's shoulder: "Senior, if we're going, let's go."

"Hehe, alright, let's head through Jinyuan." Xu Tianyi took the lead and passed through, his body disappearing into the air. Seeing this, everyone followed.

On the other side of the barrier, the full view of Jinyuan was revealed.

Many stone pillars stood here, carved with ancient Fuwén. In the middle was a large sunken courtyard, and at its center was a Ritual Formation with a radius of two zhang. At the formation's eye, a Luyi Terrace stood conspicuously, upon which a single, plain hand rested quietly.

That's right — a hand. A fresh Human Race hand with five distinct fingers, a right hand, cleanly severed at the wrist, inlaid with a Golden Jade Ring.

Tianqi noticed first, shrieked: "Senior, there's a severed Human Race hand over there!"

The hand had been resting there peacefully, but upon sensing visitors he actually moved — standing upright on the platform and waving, which scared Tianqi back two steps.

"Don't panic," Xu Tianyi said calmly, "Didn't I say — the ancestor's trick, is this one."

Everyone: "…………"

Even though basically none of those present were human, hearing Xu Tianyi's words left them speechless for a moment.

They hadn't expected that the Principal, who was full of platitudes at the Opening Ceremony, had actually slipped in such a plain, unadorned truth.

Xu Tianyi explained: "Our founding ancestor had half Qingge Bloodline, so he was born with more hands. After attaining the Way, he cut a few off and refined them, leaving one here at the School. This hand has thirty percent of the ancestor's abilities — more than enough to protect the campus."

The ancestor had not only cultivated for many years but was also a top disciple of Erlang Shen. So the trick he left behind was indeed formidable — no wonder Hualing had stood firm until now, managing so many students with rare incidents of disorder.

The new students visiting for the first time, like every generation of predecessors when they first enrolled, passed by the ancestor's hand with reverence. Though there was no rule, starting with Tianqi, the little ones all waved at it.

The hand, seeing this, also waved back slowly and very friendly.

But when You Qi passed by carrying Zhou Mu, the hand stopped waving and quietly lay back down on the Luyi Terrace. Different from his initial prone position — his fingers were slightly bent, in a posture ready to form a hand seal at any moment.

The new students whispered among themselves at the sight.

Easy to understand — after all, the Principal had used this hand to warn You Qi at the Opening Ceremony. As the strongest Restriction protecting Hualing, he became alert when facing the highly dangerous You Qi.

Everyone had just been applauding Senior You Qi, but now the atmosphere had grown a bit strange again.

You Qi wasn't visiting Jinyuan for the first time — he just sneered disdainfully at the sight.

Only Zhou Mu in his arms suddenly got angry, bracing against You Qi's shoulder and arching up to shout: "Shou Teacher! Everyone paid tuition, why won't you wave at us?!"

You Qi: "…"

It wasn't really about tuition…

Zhou Mu protested to the hand: "Our School Motto is still Inclusive Harmony. Shou Teacher, be more enthusiastic, OK?"

Shou Teacher was silent for a while, then actually pinched his thumb and index finger together, returning an "OK."

Then he resumed his noble, elegant waving amplitude — though this didn't seem to be his actual job.

Zhou Mu withdrew his gaze, said quietly: "So rude, right?"

He looked up and saw his roommate staring at him. The next second You Qi actually rested his chin on top of Zhou Mu's head, nuzzled him through his mask, and laughed quietly: "Yeah, you're right."

……

"Let's rest here for a bit." After leaving Jinyuan, Xu Tianyi saw everyone was tired and called a stop for water — though he himself didn't need to drink.

Xu Tianyi had been keeping himself floating about two meters up — otherwise, with the still-somewhat-hot weather, if he landed everyone would have to cuddle up against him.

Oh, not everyone — Zhou Mu was clinging to You Qi…

Xu Tianyi saw You Qi had walked aside to reply to a WeChat message due to poor signal, and took the chance to drift over: "Junior, haven't had a chance to check on you yet — about that thing before… are you okay?"

Zhou Mu looked at him in confusion: "Shixiong, why do you always look like I'm about to be eaten by You Qi." From their first meeting, Xu Tianyi had hinted at this — and after seeing them being so affectionate the whole way, he was still asking this question.

Xu Tianyi's ghost eyes widened, he couldn't help blurting out: "Why do YOU look so confident!"

"Oh," Zhou Mu answered, "because during the time we've lived together, I've found You Qi is genuinely warm-hearted and kind, honest and trustworthy, and doesn't eat much."

"What the hell does 'doesn't eat much' even mean…" Xu Tianyi had wanted to ask how not eating much could be a virtue, then thought maybe it really was.

Xu Tianyi was both concerned about his junior and a little sour — when he first met Zhou Mu, he'd even wanted to ask him out.

"You might have Stockholm syndrome — under this kind of pressure, are you really happy? Is your happiness real? Epicurus said recognizing error is the first step to saving oneself." Halfway through, he noticed Zhou Mu's focal point had shifted, landing behind him, and calmly analyzed: "He's behind me, right?"

Zhou Mu nodded.

Xu Tianyi smiled: "But what do I know of happiness — Hui Zi also said, 'If you are not a fish, how can you know the joy of fish?'"

Without changing expression, taking advantage of being a ghost and not even bothering with an excuse, his translucent body gradually faded and vanished on the spot.

Zhou Mu: "…Senior?"

You Qi walked over, flexed his fingers, ready to drag Xu Tianyi out.

"Forget it, forget it." Zhou Mu stopped You Qi.

You Qi's face cooled slightly, feeling genuinely annoyed inside. Xu Tianyi had been talking nonsense just now, yet Zhou Mu wasn't holding a grudge about it. He lowered his head, his body's shadow completely enveloping Zhou Mu, his tone dangerous: "Why?"

Zhou Mu hung himself back onto You Qi.

Actually, at this point You Qi's irritation had already faded considerably.

Zhou Mu gazed into the distance: "Our Human Race has an old saying, 'the dead deserve respect'…"

You Qi: "…"