Nineteen

Gongzi Cong was clearly hit hard by You Qi's response, unable to speak for a long while, his handsome face clouded with melancholy.

Until his colleague reminded him it was time to go.

Gongzi Cong finally looked at You Qi with complicated eyes, even showing some incomprehension. Everyone present guessed he couldn't figure out where he'd lost. Even the Spring and Autumn King's Sword's spine wasn't as straight as before. He said, lost: 'Well, I'm heading off then. You all... good luck at the competition.'

He turned, and even the arc of his white robes fluttering in the air was low-spirited.

'Sure, thanks, see you at the venue!' Zhou Mu waved, as if he hadn't noticed anything off about Gongzi Cong at all. Looking at it that way, his enthusiasm was actually a kind of cruelty.

Chun Shijiu analyzed it in his head and suddenly had a new take on Zhou Mu — this Human Race mixed-blood who seemed to survive at Hualing by clinging tight to powerful thighs also had a cold, even callous side?

The next second, Zhou Mu was already stretching and groaning: 'Oof, I'm lame!'

Then was escorted back to the dorm by You Qi, the Campus Civility Star, in a one-on-one supportive arrangement.

Chun Shijiu: '...' Maybe he was overthinking it.

...

After the referee delegation, representative teams from various universities also arrived at Hualing one after another before the Sports Meet Opening Ceremony, moving into specially designated athlete dorms and receiving a brief training session — similar to the freshman orientation Zhou Mu had attended — covering campus taboos.

This time, a total of fifteen hundred students from different universities were competing, plus accompanying staff, making eighteen hundred and thirty-two visitors in all, who would stay at Hualing for twenty days to complete thirteen events.

So Hualing's side was very busy too — so many competitors to host, all different races with their own habits, often requiring differentiated reception.

Tianqi had always been the type who couldn't sit still, and this time she actually became the youngest volunteer, bustling around everywhere, and even secured a small team leader position.

On the day of the Sports Meet Opening Ceremony, Zhou Mu put on the school uniform he hadn't worn once since enrolling.

He'd grown up in a Human Race city and wasn't used to this ancient-style clothing. Hualing didn't enforce dress codes either, so this really was his first time wearing it. He threw it on haphazardly, tied the sash, looked in the mirror: 'Mm, not bad.'

A hand reached over from the side, gripped Zhou Mu's sash, and pulled it open.

Zhou Mu, a beat slow, pressed down on that hand: '...What are you doing?'

You Qi gave a tug and firmly pulled the sash free.

Zhou Mu's body tensed slightly as he felt the sash slip from his grip. Then You Qi pulled the tie loose with one hand and said, looking down at him: 'Your lapels are crossed wrong.'

You Qi switched Zhou Mu to right-over-left, then retied the sash. He wore this outfit year-round, his movements practiced. Once done, he draped the outermost robe over him. The pale blue-green suited Zhou Mu's skin tone, almost translucent in the sunlight. You Qi's hand lingered on the robe's collar for a moment — this seemed like a good moment...

'Oh? You're mixing and matching?' Zhou Mu's eyes landed on his collar and suddenly noticed something. He went up on tiptoe and pulled it open a little, confirming that under the robe You Qi was wearing the shirt he'd given him — the shirt was practically permanently tattooed onto You Qi's body in place of a uniform. Zhou Mu couldn't help laughing: 'Nice, nice, this combo looks good too.'

By now Zhou Mu's phone was buzzing nonstop — the Sports Meet notification group was urging everyone to assemble.

'Time to go!' Zhou Mu grabbed You Qi and ran outside.

You Qi was a little disappointed, then reconsidered — it could wait until after winning the championship.

Per the Games Committee's arrangements, Zhou Mu and his five-person team assembled with the rest of the School's athletes, lining up to wait for the Sports Meet Opening Ceremony entrance. Photography crews roamed the venue, cameras recording the grand event.

— For this gathering, Senior Yan Xingke had been barred from going outside ten days early, to keep him from gouging pits all over the venue. Hualing students falling into holes was one thing, but letting visiting schools laugh at them during the Sports Meet was another.

The assembly area was extremely lively. From above, each university's formation looked like an irregular block of a different color.

The reason for 'irregular' was that their formations clearly weren't as orderly as what Zhou Mu had seen at Human Race schools. Not only were the rows uneven left-right and front-back, but with ghost cultivators who liked to float, there were even bumps sticking up on top...

But within Hualing's formation, there was an obvious empty circle around Zhou Mu's group of five.

Clearly this was mainly because of You Qi; the other four were collateral damage. Most of the time, whether in classroom, Canteen, or on the field — in any venue really — nobody dared stand close to You Qi.

When Zhou Mu appeared alone, classmates always pressed up against him. With You Qi present, they were all 'quarantined' together. But he didn't seem to mind, and instead asked Gui Youqi with concern: 'The weather's about to turn cold — rolling your sleeves up like that, won't you catch a chill?'

Xu Tianyi, floating three feet off the ground, looked down and chuckled: 'Junior Zhou Mu, you're so kind, caring so much about your classmate's body... meat quality... oh, I mean, quality.'

Gui Youqi: '............'

%¥#& Stop pretending, you already said it.

The team standing next to Hualing's squad wore uniforms printed with 'Jingshan' — athletes from Jingshan Academy.

Jingshan Academy was a pure Yao Clan University, only admitting Yao Clan. A few years back they wouldn't take ghost cultivators, let alone anyone with Human Race blood. But society today had more and more mixed-bloods, so they had to move with the times.

After a couple of glances, Zhou Mu noticed two athletes on that side in a similar situation — also 'quarantined,' with people keeping a certain distance around them.

Fellow sufferers.

When the two turned, Zhou Mu saw they had identical faces — skin a little dark but gleaming with health in the sunlight, long hair pulled up with two loose strands framing their cheeks, bright eyes. A pair of healthy sporty beauties, holding hands and standing together, their looks doubled.

Zhou Mu looked at them; as their eyes wandered they saw him too. Both sides clearly read each other's situation, and couldn't help showing a look of mutual sympathy.

'Hey.' Zhou Mu greeted them first.

The twins said in unison: 'Lei hou.'

A little accented — Yao Race from Lingnan.

Zhou Mu said sympathetically: 'You guys getting bullied on campus too?'

Hualing students: '............?'

The twins' expressions synced too, pitifully shaking their heads: 'No, it's our fault. We've cultivated for years and still can't shake our original habits. We don't blame everyone for keeping away — this isn't bullying.'

Sympathy filled Zhou Mu's eyes. 'So pure and good.' He looked up at You Qi and said gravely, 'Really hits home. Wuwu.'

The classmates saw You Qi actually agreeing: 'Yeah.'

Hualing students: '...'

Seeing Zhou Mu chatting up two pretty classmates, Gui Youqi's lecherous heart stirred. Putting on a look of shared grievance, he squeezed over and said: 'Your Jingshan people are too much, discriminating like this. Who here didn't cultivate bit by bit to shake off their racial habits?'

Hearing Gui Youqi's words, their little faces flushed. They lowered their heads shyly, looking at him, both hands twisting together, rubbing at their hems.

Gui Youqi reached out and grabbed their hands. 'Fellow victims like us should huddle for warmth. Come, stand with me. What are your names?'

The twins said: 'I'm Xixi.'

'I'm Susu.'

Gui Youqi felt something slick in his hands and said with a grin: 'I'm Gui Youqi, a South Sea ghost-head fish.'

He never hid his true form, and now there was even a touch of showing off, of stepping forward. As he spoke he glanced around at Xixi and Susu's classmates, but they all looked cold, some even rolling their eyes at him.

Xixi and Susu exchanged a glance. Seeing Gui Youqi had revealed his roots, the two honest girls also confessed: 'We're sisters — we're Feilian.'

Gui Youqi: 'Oh, Feilian.'

Mm, wait, Feilian?

Gui Youqi's expression went blank. That was...

Zhou Mu asked curiously from behind: 'American cockroach or German cockroach? From Lingnan, should be the big ones, right?'

The twins shyly rubbed their hands together again, making a rustling sound: 'Mm!'

Gui Youqi: '............'

Cockroaches?!

Now looking again at those two rubbing their hands, and those two strands by their cheeks that looked like long whiskers — everything felt wrong. No wonder his hands felt so slick; he'd assumed it was hand cream, but now it seemed the twins had probably just been rummaging through garbage!

Wait, maybe they weren't twins at all, just two out of fifty siblings...

Just then, a venue photographer flew past, zooming in on Gui Youqi and Xixi and Susu — probably trying to capture friendly interaction between athletes from two schools.

Xixi and Susu noticed they were being filmed and shyly pressed against Gui Youqi from either side.

Gui Youqi, who'd been planning to slip away, couldn't move now. He showed the camera a numb smile. He was tainted.

......

Gui Youqi, in an awkward spot, toughed it out and stayed with the beauties until the athletes marched in for the Sports Meet Opening Ceremony, finally able to rejoin the team — only for Zhou Mu to remind him to wash up thoroughly. Not that he was discriminating against those two classmates; he treated everyone equally. It was just food safety.

As hosts, Hualing's representative team entered last.

Nearly the entire student body and faculty had come to watch the Sports Meet Opening Ceremony. When Hualing's athletes appeared, a tidal wave of cheers and applause immediately erupted — and when the big screen's camera swept to Zhou Mu, the noise hit another peak.

The commotion startled athletes from other schools. Who was that, with such popularity? Some hot favorite for the championship?

But looking closely...

So weak.

Even his breathing wasn't steady or continuous — like an ordinary Human Race, and not even one of the strongest builds. Every inch of him practically screamed 'easy to bully.'

Since Zhou Mu was a new enrollee, other teams' intelligence-gathering had missed him. Nobody here knew who he was or what event he was competing in.

What these people also didn't know was that Hualing students weren't cheering just because Zhou Mu was indeed on a championship-favorite team — more because everyone had already discussed it: even with You Qi there, given how dangerous combat matches were, there was no guaranteeing Zhou Mu wouldn't take some hits.

If he got hurt, everyone could smell that lovely fragrance again! Even if they couldn't eat it, it was better than nothing. You Qi gets the meat and drinks the soup — surely they could at least get a whiff?

Zhou Mu, being warmly welcomed — or rather, coveted — also noticed himself on the big screen and waved enthusiastically.

The live director boldly worked the camera to bring You Qi into frame too.

Zhou Mu loved this lively crowd, and the atmosphere was electric. He saw You Qi appear on the big screen too — though he had to admit, when You Qi came on, the crowd's cheers dipped for two or three seconds, something stuck in their throats.

But Zhou Mu noticed on the screen that You Qi was looking down at him, seemingly unaffected by the atmosphere. He turned, jumped up, and climbed onto You Qi's back. You Qi's left hand reached back to support him, and a smile appeared on his face too.

Zhou Mu grabbed his hand and waved: 'I love Hualing!'

The cheers that had dipped at You Qi's appearance instantly exploded again.