Fierce Beast Transfer Student

Zhou Mu has never been this wretched since the day he was born!

He fled all the way without daring to run too fast — if he did, they'd realize he wasn't human. Only after he was out of the guards' sight did Zhou Mu stop, still shaken, wipe his face, and drop his disguise.

Gongzi Cong arrived a step later, glancing back to make sure the guards hadn't followed. 'Huff, huff... that guy just now didn't seem to be Chun Shijiu...'

He could tell something was off — he was, after all, Chun Shijiu's longtime rival.

Zhou Mu ignored all that, furious: 'Why didn't you get the situation straight first! How did security even show up there!'

Gongzi Cong: '...'

Gongzi Cong said, aggrieved: 'I didn't know either. Chun Shijiu picked the spot.'

Zhou Mu spat through his teeth: 'I'm so pissed. I've never been chased by anyone in my life — and it's all because of that Chun Shijiu. And the bastard had the nerve to bring backup, trying to ambush us.'

Gongzi Cong didn't dare respond. In his heart: you're the one I brought as backup, too.

'That's it for today, I still have to go home and do homework.' Zhou Mu's face was dark and menacing, but paired with his words, the effect was somewhat undercut.

Gongzi Cong hesitated: 'Do you want my high-school-second-year physics notebook...'

Zhou Mu looked at him coldly.

Gongzi Cong shut up, inwardly cursing himself for showing off.

But Zhou Mu's physics really wasn't great. After a moment he said: 'Bring it tomorrow and hand it to me!'

Gongzi Cong: 'Sure, sure.'

Just from their tone, they sounded like they were shaking someone down for protection money.

...

The next day.

Gongzi Cong brought his physics notebook to the second-year classroom to find Zhou Mu, but Zhou Mu wasn't there — their class had PE this period, and the moment the previous class ended, everyone had gone to the field.

Gongzi Cong looked down and texted Zhou Mu, planning to tell him he'd left the notebook in his desk drawer.

'Not bad, your nose is getting sharper.'

Someone said coolly from behind Gongzi Cong.

Gongzi Cong turned and saw Chun Shijiu standing there with arms folded, smirking coldly.

Gongzi Cong was startled, not knowing where that came from, but kept his face neutral: 'Your eyes, on the other hand, have never been very good.'

Chun Shijiu's classroom was right upstairs. Passing by and seeing Gongzi Cong there, he'd assumed Gongzi Cong had figured out last night that the one fighting was You Qi — he had no idea Gongzi Cong was just here to see Zhou Mu, who was in the same class.

Hearing Gongzi Cong's words, he subconsciously took it as the other mocking him for failing to identify the mysterious opponent who'd actually managed to match You Qi last night.

'Hah! Getting help doesn't count for anything. I say, whatever's between you and me, we settle it ourselves.' Chun Shijiu said this just as the class bell rang and the noisy students filed back into the room. He pointed at the Roof Terrace. 'Up there?'

Gongzi Cong narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin: 'Fine. Today we settle this once and for all!'

The two of them stalked toward the Roof Terrace, bristling.

Gongzi Cong's hand in his pocket — he deleted the half-typed message and thumbed out a new one blind: 'Roof Terrace showdown 19, help help help!'

Chun Shijiu, hands clasped behind his back, dialed You Qi's number directly. After it connected, he announced loudly, word by word: 'We are settling this to the death on the Roof Terrace—'

Gongzi Cong gave him a strange look. Is this guy insane?

Chun Shijiu glared back viciously.

...

Zhou Mu's class was learning volleyball this period, practicing in groups.

Zhou Mu looked pretty and completely non-threatening, but when he played he was both enthusiastic and aggressive. You Qi got bumped by him several times — he was careful to hold back, only neutralizing Zhou Mu's force, and the two of them ended up tumbling onto the mat together.

'Nice play,' You Qi helped Zhou Mu up. 'Did it hurt?'

Zhou Mu, who'd been afraid of breaking his seatmate and had deliberately used only a tiny bit of force, blushed: 'Just a little.'

You Qi reached up and rubbed the spot for him.

His phone buzzed. Zhou Mu glanced at it casually, swiped it away and pocketed the phone, then raised his hand to ask the PE teacher for leave — stomachache, he said, he needed to go to the nurse's office.

He patted his stomach. 'Sigh, ate too much and then exercised — not feeling great.'

Everyone knew Zhou Mu had a huge appetite and ate at terrifying speed in the Canteen. Eat too much and then exercise hard — of course he'd feel off.

'I'll go with you,' You Qi said at once.

'Nooo, going to the nurse's office after overeating is already embarrassing enough.' Zhou Mu acted coy. 'Just wait for me, we'll meet at the shop after class.'

You Qi: '...'

The moment Zhou Mu left, You Qi got the call. He'd been about to ignore it, but on second thought he went to ask the teacher for leave too — same ready-made excuse: he wasn't at ease about Zhou Mu, he had to go check.

You Qi had always been a good student. The PE teacher, hearing his reason, only had the faintest suspicion — those two seatmates were awfully close — but still agreed.

Once out of the teacher's sight, You Qi changed direction toward the teaching building, taking the right-side staircase. He moved fast and reached the top floor in no time.

Their School's teaching building had stairs on both sides, but from the top floor there was only one door to the Roof Terrace.

Stepping onto the top floor, You Qi saw Zhou Mu walking slowly toward him from the corridor on the other side. His pace wasn't as fast as You Qi's.

You Qi's first thought was pure confusion — hadn't Zhou Mu gone to the nurse's office?

Zhou Mu, looking at You Qi's expression, found it equally strange — why was You Qi, who should be in class, also in the teaching building?

The moment their eyes met, time seemed to stop.

Slow in appearance, fast in truth.

A moment later, You Qi raised a hand toward Zhou Mu. '...Is your stomach better?'

That was his concerned inquiry.

Zhou Mu had already walked up to him, and replied with a shy smile: 'Doesn't hurt anymore.'

Neither asked the other why they were here.

Though in the past five seconds, their minds had each been spinning faster than the other's.

Both landing on an absurd yet perfectly reasonable answer...

Zhou Mu didn't slow down. After they met, he walked openly toward the last short flight of stairs leading to the Roof Terrace. You Qi silently fell in beside him.

Zhou Mu pushed open the iron door to the Roof Terrace. The brilliant near-noon sunlight spilled across both their faces at once. Zhou Mu squinted, politely let You Qi in first, then turned and shut the iron door behind them.

In that instant, Zhou Mu had his back to You Qi — wide open, you might say.

In the same instant, Chun Shijiu and Gongzi Cong both saw the two of them and said in unison: 'You brought someone?!'

After saying it, even Chun Shijiu's brain caught a hint that something was off...

Everything happened in a flash—

You Qi exploded into motion from behind, gripping Zhou Mu's arm joint — but Zhou Mu's so-called open stance was only an illusion. His body twisted with unbelievable flexibility, breaking free of You Qi's hold, catching You Qi's wrist in return, and slamming him hard against the door!

'It's you.'

Pinned down, You Qi thought: no wonder last night the opponent had felt somehow familiar, yet he couldn't place it — or rather, at the time he would never have thought of Zhou Mu.

Zhou Mu now understood why last night's opponent had seemed familiar. That boiling, exhilarated feeling surged up again. 'So you're not human either.'

The 404 Office had all sorts of Yao Race protection laws. One of the most important was the protection of Yao who held student IDs — to safeguard their learning environment, the 404 Office helped conceal their identities, using technology provided by He Shi.

That was why even Zhou Mu's nose had never picked up on You Qi's identity.

Chun Shijiu and Gongzi Cong roughly understood what was going on now...

'Sneaky!'

'Lowlife!'

They both cursed the other at the same time.

Then Chun Shijiu shouted: 'You Qi, get him!!'

Gongzi Cong didn't dare tell Zhou Mu what to do, and could only say weakly: 'Young master's sure to win.'

You Qi and Zhou Mu looked at each other.

Their feelings now were complicated. Outright angry? Not quite — though they had indeed hidden their identities from each other, and Zhou Mu had even been playing the victim.

But to call it a happy surprise that they were of the same kind — that wasn't quite right either. Even mid-fight, the unfinished battle-hunger from last night was being roused.

There was even a touch of the absurd — so all this time he'd been so careful about his identity, afraid of scaring his seatmate, and his seatmate wasn't human either.

After a few heartbeats of eye contact, both Fierce Beasts chose to move at the same time — finish this fight first, talk later!

You Qi slammed into Zhou Mu, Wind Riding sweeping toward him. In the sunlight, Zhou Mu's silhouette overlapped with last night's ruthless opponent, and You Qi didn't know what to marvel at anymore. Is this really the seatmate who stuffs himself with a whole cake and then lies around kneading his belly in satisfaction?

Zhou Mu, too, was discovering that the seatmate who indulged him endlessly could fight like this!

And to think he'd been so careful all this time, afraid some careless detail might scare You Qi, holding back even when he ate. Zhou Mu thought, let his body be swept by the wind into You Qi's chest — and slapped a palm out at him.

With his strength, even You Qi was sent stumbling back several steps.

Last night they'd barely started before pulling back. Now Zhou Mu looked at him with appreciation: another good quality discovered about his seatmate — he could take a hit!

Because they were on the School's Roof Terrace, both were holding back, but for Fierce Beasts with a natural talent for combat, that was enough to gauge each other's abilities.

After several rounds of exhilarating exchange, You Qi could be certain: his cute seatmate wasn't just Yao Clan, but a Fierce Beast — the top of the food chain.

Now, thinking back on his usual behavior, the picture looked completely different.

He even felt he'd been a fool. You Qi couldn't help but laugh softly twice.

Zhou Mu, caught up in the fight, though in human form, pounced like a beast and tackled You Qi to the ground. He figured that even though he'd rarely fought since moving, his ferocity was no less than before.

Hearing You Qi's laugh, he wrinkled his nose. He'd fought prey before, but never his seatmate.

Zhou Mu growled: 'What are you laughing at!'

With the decisive, sharp Fierce Beast overlapping with his seatmate, You Qi felt he could no longer look at Zhou Mu the way he had before, nor face Fierce Beasts normally. 'I just remembered — how could I ever have thought you didn't understand things because you grew up abroad?'

Zhou Mu had never been ashamed of luring prey before — blushing and timidity had only been his tools. Now, thinking of himself playing pitiful, his ears burned for no reason.

You Qi saw the red, glowing ear-tip right before his eyes, then Zhou Mu's gaze turning toward him, those dewy, moistened pupils — his taut body seemed unable to get back into fighting shape...

Chun Shijiu watched, frantic: 'Stop talking, get up! Get him!!' If you don't fight back you're going to lose!!

'...' Gongzi Cong opened his mouth, then closed it, wanting to say something but holding back.

Just then, the iron door rattled noisily — someone outside wrenched it open roughly and quickly, catching all four of them, each with their own thoughts, off guard.

'What's going on, who's fighting, all of you stop!' The dean of students, who'd caught fragments from outside, flung the door open anxiously. The sight of two people tangled on the ground made him draw a sharp breath — a group brawl during class, the impact would be terrible.

'Which class are you from! The School strictly forbids...' The dean, mid-reprimand, took in the details with his second glance. His sharp eyes went wide, and his words veered at the edge of his mouth into a rigorous roar: 'The School strictly forbids Early Romance!!'