Chapter Three

Early morning, Zhou Mu dressed neatly. Today he had to report to Lake Sea Hermit, then attend the Opening Ceremony.

When Zhou Mu woke, You Qi was already gone from the dorm — off to see his own mentor first thing. Zhou Mu figured the Door-Protecting Grass he'd cultivated this time had an unusually rich vocabulary.

Zhou Mu opened the door carefully and saw the potted Door-Protecting Grass on it, leaves spread wide, looking bright and spirited.

Last night he'd heard nothing but it cursing people out...

The grass had a terrible temper. Chun Shijiu hadn't dared come harass them since. Any student passing by got the evil eye — linger two seconds too long, and it would launch into a wary, furious tirade, unleashing without restraint.

This... this was basically a top-of-the-line anti-theft system!

The Door-Protecting Grass sensed Zhou Mu. Its leaves trembled slightly—

As if it were being sized up.

It wouldn't curse him out too, would it? Was the grass smart enough to tell friend from foe? Zhou Mu reminded it: '...I live here.'

The Door-Protecting Grass really could tell friend from foe, but it showed none of the trembling deference it had under You Qi. It clicked twice, looking quite haughty: 'Mm-hmm, shut the door properly!'

Zhou Mu: (sweat drop)

He locked the door and followed the School map to Lake Sea Hermit's Office to report. At the base of the dorm building, his left foot stepped into empty air — he caught the railing just in time.

A look revealed another hole here. Smaller than yesterday's, but still big enough to swallow four or five people.

What is this? Is there a mine under Hualing? Has the whole place been hollowed out like a sieve?

The infrastructure was terrible. Zhou Mu, used to living in Human Race cities, found it deeply uncomfortable — and had complaints.

Zhou Mu walked, baffled, to Lake Sea Hermit's Office door. Before going in, he caught a thick whiff of aquatic Yao Race aura — more than one source.

It made him deeply uneasy. Weren't Yao Clan academies, especially comprehensive ones, supposed to emphasize concealing one's aura?

He pushed the door open and saw Lake Sea Hermit himself — dressed in casual robes, sporting a fine beard, the image of a refined middle-aged scholar. Several younger-looking disciples clustered around him.

Zhou Mu had only spoken with Lake Sea Hermit by voice, never seen him in person. Seeing his mentor's bearing firsthand, he hurried to greet him: 'Disciple Zhou Mu, greetings, Teacher Luo.'

It wasn't just respect for a mentor — there was also a touch of worship for a great author, since he'd read Romance of the Three Kingdoms cover to cover.

The middle-aged scholar froze, face awkward: 'Uh, I'm... I'm not the mentor.'

Zhou Mu: 'Huh?'

A boy with a backpack stepped forward from the side. He was fair and delicate, even wearing sneakers — just like an ordinary middle schooler in any big city.

The boy: 'You're Zhou Mu, right? I'm your mentor, Lake Sea Hermit Luo Guanzhong. This is your shixiong, Yan Xingke.'

Zhou Mu: '...'

This was Teacher Luo??

It wasn't that Zhou Mu, raised among the Human Race, had forgotten Yao Clan appearance had no fixed relationship to age — it was simply that nine years of compulsory Human Race education had misled him!

This Shixiong Yan... looked exactly like the Luo Guanzhong on the textbook cover!

'Sorry, Teacher, Shixiong.' Zhou Mu obediently admitted his mistake. 'I got it wrong.'

'It's fine, shidi.' Though Zhou Mu was the one who'd mixed them up, Yan Xingke looked even more ill at ease, face awkward, rushing to say: 'Lots of people mix us up. Cough, cough.'

'Yan Xingke, look after Zhou Mu a bit more — he came here from out of province.' Lake Sea Hermit then introduced Zhou Mu to each of his disciples, current and former cohorts alike.

Zhou Mu was a bit dazzled — not just because he couldn't keep track of the names, but mainly because several of them refused to conceal their Yao aura, Lake Sea Hermit most of all.

Zhou Mu smelled it, and could almost see the fat, living flesh of the snail writhing before his eyes...

Lake Sea Hermit handed out the class schedule and lectured them a bit — especially scolding several shixiong who'd complained about their papers: 'Whining over so few words. Back in my day, conditions were harsh, and I still updated three thousand characters daily.'

The shixiong could only mumble under their breath that novels and papers weren't the same thing, but not loudly — because their teacher's true form was enormous, and whoever he disliked got sucked into his snail shell for one-on-one tutoring.

Lake Sea Hermit saw the time was about right, sent them off to the Opening Ceremony, and gave Zhou Mu specific instructions: 'You just enrolled and haven't had training yet. Stick with Yan Xingke and let him give you some pointers.'

'Thank you, Teacher!' And wasn't he just — Zhou Mu had been falling into holes nonstop since enrollment.

Zhou Mu stared at his teacher without blinking, reluctant to leave the Office.

But barely out of the Office, Zhou Mu couldn't help asking Yan Xingke: 'Shixiong Yan, I want to ask — why aren't they concealing their auras?'

The dean had specifically scolded him during registration, saying not concealing one's aura caused big trouble. He'd assumed everyone at Hualing hid themselves away — a quiet, rule-abiding world.

Yan Xingke countered: 'Are you very uncomfortable?'

Zhou Mu said, awkward: 'A bit, yeah. I have a little Human Race blood, so I'm not used to the smell.'

Oh, Human Race blood — so probably weak. Said he wasn't used to it, but really he was afraid.

Yan Xingke gave Zhou Mu a sympathetic look. Living like this at Hualing would be hard.

But Yan Xingke still dutifully explained: 'The rule is what it is, but teachers naturally aren't bound by school regulations, and it's not enforced strictly. So among students, some think they're skilled enough to be bold, unafraid of their origins being known. Or they're so conspicuous that hiding is pointless, so they just don't bother.'

'Like that You Qi from the department next door. Even though he conceals himself, everyone knows he's transformed from the Fierce Beast You Qi — violent and arrogant by nature, heavy with killing intent, born suffering the entanglement of the six desires. The Principal forced him to self-shackle when he enrolled. Oh, right — you just got here, stay away from him.'

Zhou Mu: '...'

Yan Xingke noted his strange expression and asked: 'You've heard of him?'

Zhou Mu: 'S-slept with him.'

Yan Xingke: '???'

Zhou Mu forced himself to explain the joke: 'Uh hehehe, we're in the same dorm.'

Oh heavens. Yan Xingke sucked in a cold breath: 'How about you ask the teacher to switch your dorm? Our teacher has some face with the Principal.'

'No need, I think.' Zhou Mu recalled You Qi's manner. 'He's actually fine, he looks after me pretty well.'

'Oh, good, as long as you're happy.' Yan Xingke muttered vaguely, head down, one hand over his face. Ah, so awkward.

He'd badmouthed someone's roommate to their face, then been refused — he couldn't meet Zhou Mu's eyes, his toes digging into the ground desperately.

'Oh, Shixiong, do you know why the School has so many...' Zhou Mu didn't finish before he saw Yan Xingke's toes digging, carving out a hole right there.

Zhou Mu's pupils shook—

Yan Xingke's toes were nimble and hard. In minutes the hole had been carved into a one-bedroom, and his figure was almost swallowed.

Zhou Mu: 'Shixiong???'

Good lord — so that's where all the holes in the School came from, narrow at the top, wide at the bottom. Shixiong, your embarrassment phobia is way too severe!

Yan Xingke's voice drifted up from the bottom of the hole: 'Shidi, let's hurry to the auditorium, the Opening Ceremony's about to start.'

He dug below while Zhou Mu chased above, half-dead: 'Shixiong—'

.

At the Opening Ceremony.

Zhou Mu listened as the Principal emotionally recounted the School's founding history. The founding Principal had apparently been a disciple of Erlang Shen Yang Jian, which was why the great plaza had an Erlang Shen statue.

Including the main gate — where other schools put stone lions, Hualing had two stone Howling Celestial Hounds.

Hualing Academy wasn't just a high school — it included attached middle and elementary schools, and because it admitted beings from the underworld, there was also a night school.

The Principal clutched a long manuscript — no one knew who wrote it — and read it woodenly for half an hour, his tone excruciatingly awkward, causing Shixiong Yan to carve out another room on the spot.

By the end of the ceremony, his legs had gone stiff from standing.

Zhou Mu thought: long-winded speeches really were a universal constant across the Three Realms.

Finally, two hours later, the Principal reluctantly set down his manuscript. 'Lastly, I have one piece of advice for all you students. Hualing is a place of learning — please don't let your desires destroy your studies, don't let this pure land be drenched in blood again! Hualing has produced generation after generation of the strong; my teachers may have blind spots in their care, but the founding patriarch left a hand in the mortal world.'

Having said this, his gaze swept sternly across the students.

Many students looked in one direction — You Qi.

Without a doubt, the Principal had just been taking a swipe at this born Fierce Beast.

In the sea of bobbing student heads, Zhou Mu smiled at the Principal, then followed the crowd's gaze toward You Qi — only to lock eyes with Chun Shijiu at the other end. Chun Shijiu blinked, then made as if to come over.

Zhou Mu quickly jumped into the pit Yan Xingke had dug nearby.

He could still faintly hear Chun Shijiu cackling outside.

…What a freak!

Hearing the Principal announce the ceremony's end, Zhou Mu hurried off with Yan Xingke.

On the way, they passed a field.

Hualing occupied a vast stretch of land, much of it given over to student classes and experiments. This plot, for instance, was planted full of immortal herbs and lingzhi — homework from students of various majors.

"Whoosh—"

"Whoosh—"

The sound of cutting wind circled overhead.

Yan Xingke glanced up and immediately said, 'Oh-ho, where did a Tiger Hawk sneak in from? Someone's homework is about to get wrecked.'

Zhou Mu looked closely — a creature larger than an ox, but with vast spread wings. 'Tiger Hawk? Never seen one before.'

'You're Human Race, of course you haven't — wild Yao beast.' Yan Xingke didn't care that Zhou Mu claimed only a trace of human blood; he just called him human outright.

It's not like a pulpy orange drink with 5% pulp can call itself pulpy orange — rounding up, Zhou Mu was basically Human Race…

The Tiger Hawk circled for a moment, surveyed the situation, then dove toward the immortal herbs.

Zhou Mu and Yan Xingke were standing right at the edge of the experimental plot. The Tiger Hawk dove straight down — the situation looked as if it were heading right for them.

A wave of bloodlust hit them from far off; the Tiger Hawk opened its jaws and roared: 'ROAR—'

Yan Xingke, a little flustered: 'This thing's vicious, shidi. Step back.'

He stepped back a few paces and found Zhou Mu still rooted to the spot, staring fixedly at the Tiger Hawk — looking utterly frozen with fear.

At that very moment, a figure flashed out from behind them, leaping several zhang into the air, a gleaming long blade cleaving down from the sky — piercing through the Tiger Hawk's body!

No — what first pierced it wasn't the blade itself, but the invisible wind before the blade, savagely tearing through hide and flesh. Then the massive body was run through by the long sword, hitting the ground without the slightest resistance, with a thunderous crash.

The motion flowed like clouds and water — precise, light, almost graceful, yet carrying terrifying force.

The blade was withdrawn; the Tiger Hawk cried out once, blood gushing forth!

Its head slowly drooped…

And fell at the blade-bearer's feet.

Half an inch from its fangs, You Qi stood with blade in hand.

The figure who'd appeared so suddenly was You Qi — and could only have been. Apart from You Qi, born to Wind Riding, no one could have delivered that strike.

You Qi turned his head to glance at them, his eyes still reflecting the blood-light, his face bound by the Mouth Cage's Restriction carrying a dangerous aura impossible to meet directly.

Forget his back, Yan Xingke felt his very blood run cold — this was far more terrifying than the Tiger Hawk!

He looked at Zhou Mu — same expression, still not back to himself.

You Qi glanced over, a faint disappointment passing through him, but he was long used to it. He flicked the long blade lightly; a string of blood drops seeped into the earth. Then he raised his hand, about to dispose of this Tiger Hawk that had dared to ruin his homework.

His small, weak roommate raised a hand: 'Wait — what are you going to do with it?'

What did that question mean? Surely he wasn't trying to save it — the Tiger Hawk was already thoroughly dead.

You Qi raised an eyebrow: 'Cremate it.'

He saw his roommate's brows knit, as if wrestling with something, then — as if reaching a decision — solemnly declared: 'I do not consent to this funeral arrangement!'

You Qi: '?'

Yan Xingke: '??'

Yan Xingke desperately didn't want to be here, would have loved to claw his way out of the ground and flee, but couldn't just abandon his shidi. Why are you picking fights with You Qi of all people… 'Um, shidi…'

'Don't you think this is a waste?' Zhou Mu stepped forward, crouched down, and examined the carcass. 'The cut is precise, the edges clean — we could totally sell the hide and feathers, soak the bones in wine, dry the organs for medicine. Hualing probably doesn't lack materials at all, but back home there's plenty who'd buy it!'

You Qi: '…'

On his face — made extra ferocious by the Mouth Cage — a trace of bewilderment actually appeared.

Yan Xingke stared, picking out a logical flaw in Zhou Mu's words: 'Shidi, you've known the Tiger Hawk for five minutes and you're already thinking of making medicine? Do you even know what effects it has? Who's going to buy what you make?'

'I resell to the Human Race — as long as it's not poisonous.' Zhou Mu said. 'Anything weird whose effects you don't know, just market it as an aphrodisiac.'

Yan Xingke: '…………'

Ignoring Yan Xingke's strange, horrified, even slightly admiring gaze, Zhou Mu's calculations clicked loudly: 'Then — then we can stew the meat and eat it. The flesh looks really firm.'

What wildly bold talk, completely at odds with his usual image — Yan Xingke couldn't help but reach for his own kidneys.

You Qi was silent.

As expected of…

Zhou Mu had the temperament of the Human Race.

Compared to the Yao Clan, the Human Race seemed to sit at the bottom of the food chain — terrified out of their wits at the sight of yao and beasts. But contradictorily, the Human Race was also the most recklessly bold.

They'd dare to fall in love with yao, with ghosts…

Even like this — frozen in fear one second, the next already scheming to devour it whole.

Interesting.

Then Yan Xingke watched You Qi actually smile, and toss the Tiger Hawk to Zhou Mu: 'Take it.'

.

On the way back to the dorm, Yan Xingke still wore that complicated look. So this works too, huh — You Qi just gave the Tiger Hawk to Zhou Mu like that.

Even though You Qi had never had another roommate before, so there was no reference point — this was absolutely not any version of how Yan Xingke had imagined You Qi interacting with a roommate! Beyond the syllabus!

Zhou Mu said: 'Bye-bye, I'm going to dismember it.'

Yan Xingke: '…'

Under Yan Xingke's distant gaze, Zhou Mu leisurely dragged the Tiger Hawk back to Building 5.

The thing was too big — he nearly got stuck in the corridor, hefting the Tiger Hawk with both hands and squeezing up to the door to open it. It was no small effort, and his nostrils were full of the thick, metallic scent of blood.

The Door-Protecting Grass hanging there was silent for three seconds, then said with perfect politeness: 'May I help you, sir.'