Encountering Wang Dong Again

"Where are your teammates?"

Xue Xiao Ran rekindled the campfire and asked Xiao Xiao, who sat obediently to one side.

Yan Yuyan and Yu Ling Lin had returned long ago. Seeing that Xue Xiao Ran was safe and sound, they seemed to have finally relaxed.

However, Xiao Xiao had been on edge the entire time. Being alone in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy's base naturally left her too uneasy to sit still.

Hearing Xue Xiao Ran's question, Xiao Xiao immediately replied, "They went out to look for food. They should be back soon."

"All four of them went looking for food?" Xue Xiao Ran gave an acknowledging sound and turned his gaze toward Xiao Hong Chen.

Xiao Hong Chen nodded, confirming that Xiao Xiao was telling the truth.

"..."

Xue Xiao Ran stared silently into the campfire. He had many things to explain, but with outsiders present, he did not speak.

At the same time, he sensed a faint feeling of incongruity.

It was like walking alone at night and feeling someone watching him.

That prickling sensation that made the hairs on his body stand on end.

Xue Xiao Ran snorted. It seemed Shrek's teachers still did not trust them and were keeping their eyes on this place.

If Meng Hong Chen had acted earlier, who knew what the outcome would have been.

The feeling of being watched was extremely unpleasant, and it made him frown.

"Are you sure your companions will come back?"

Xiao Hong Chen asked with a frown. He had begun to doubt the truth of Xiao Xiao's words as well.

"Believe it or not." The little girl was far less polite toward Xiao Hong Chen and gave a huff.

Xiao Hong Chen treated it like a passing breeze and shook his head, thoroughly bored.

"...We're back."

A lively voice sounded outside the camp.

At once, Xiao Xiao sprang to her feet. She even made a face at Xiao Hong Chen and Meng Hong Chen before saying, "See? I told you they'd come back."

With that, she jogged a few steps forward and waved at the entrance to the camp.

Xue Xiao Ran remained silent as he took rations and meat from his ring and slowly began roasting them over the fire.

His thoughts were clear: You handle your affairs, and we'll handle ours.

For now, all he had to do was play the role of a student from the Sun Moon Royal Academy.

When Yan Yuyan saw him begin roasting meat, she went over to help.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat?"

Xiao Xiao walked over with her arms crossed. Seeing Xue Xiao Ran and the others start making dinner on their own, she could not help asking irritably.

Xue Xiao Ran simply shook his head.

"Yu Hao's grilled fish is delicious. Are you sure you won't come?"

Xiao Xiao asked again.

"Enough, Xiao Xiao. Leave them alone."

A male voice rang out, causing Xue Xiao Ran to raise his head.

What entered his sight was a head of short pink-blue hair.

"You... Xiao Ran!"

The newcomer was, both fortunately and unfortunately, Wang Dong.

"Long time no see." Xue Xiao Ran smiled faintly. Just as he was about to greet her, he was instantly caught in a bear hug.

Xiao Hong Chen and the others' eyelids twitched wildly. Watching that Shrek Academy student push Xue Xiao Ran down and hug him in one fluid motion, they were all stunned.

"What are you trying to do?"

Meng Hong Chen cried out, and the four of them instantly turned hostile toward Xiao Xiao.

The hostility was so tangible that Xiao Xiao could not help taking a step back.

"I'm fine. He's my brother."

Xue Xiao Ran shoved Wang Dong, who was clinging to him, away and sighed helplessly.

"Oh."

Once Xiao Hong Chen and the others heard that they were brothers, they lowered their guard.

"Wang Dong, he really is your brother?" Xiao Xiao asked.

By now, Wang Dong had buried the excitement and longing from their reunion deep in her heart. She nodded and answered in the voice of a boy going through puberty, "That's right. We've known each other since childhood."

"What a coincidence."

Xue Xiao Ran nodded.

Xiao Hong Chen and the others blinked. This development seemed to have moved a little too quickly.

"Come on, Xiao Ran. Let's go eat grilled fish."

Wang Dong grabbed Xue Xiao Ran's hand and pulled him forward, making him cry inwardly, Young lady, there are so many people here. Don't you know you need to hide it a little?

Wang Dong's face had a faint blush, though to others, it merely looked like the healthy flush of a young boy.

"Wait." Xue Xiao Ran raised his hand, and Wang Dong released him.

He turned back to look at the four Sun Moon Royal Academy students, who still wore blank expressions, and could not help sighing.

"Come eat grilled fish with us..."

The ten of them sat around the campfire, eating fish grilled by a blue-haired boy from Shrek Academy. Even Meng Hong Chen and Yu Ling Lin, who had rather picky tastes, showed looks of appreciation. The fish was exceptionally delicious.

Wang Dong sat beside Xue Xiao Ran. She frequently asked him questions, and Xue Xiao Ran answered them with great patience.

The two acted as though no one else existed.

"Could Xue Xiao Ran and Wang Dong like each other?"

Xiao Xiao said with a laugh.

With food before them, the conversation naturally began flowing. Xiao Hong Chen shrugged and replied casually, "How could that be? Back at the academy, Xue Xiao Ran was inseparable from a Senior Sister in the Soul Tool Department."

Xue Xiao Ran shot Xiao Hong Chen a glance.

It was a lifeless, deathly stare devoid of any vitality.

Sure enough, in the next moment, Wang Dong grabbed Xue Xiao Ran's arm and began squeezing it hard.

Xiao Hong Chen, just you wait!

Xue Xiao Ran clicked his tongue in displeasure, then answered calmly, "Nana Senior Sister and I only have an ordinary relationship between senior and junior students. In fact, I asked her about much of my Soul Tool knowledge."

At that, Wang Dong's hand loosened slightly.

"But didn't someone say you teased Nana Senior Sister at the second-floor restaurant last time and made her blush bright red?"

Xiao Hong Chen asked in confusion. Everything he had said was true, and his conscience was perfectly clear.

If he had known that the person sitting beside Xue Xiao Ran was actually a girl, then with his level of emotional intelligence, he definitely would not have said something so traitorous toward his teammate.

Aah!

Xue Xiao Ran felt the flesh at his lower back being twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees. Wang Dong wore a faint smile, as though she were attentively listening to the conversation, but her hand was committing the work of a devil.

"We were only celebrating my becoming a Soul Engineer."

Xue Xiao Ran shrugged.

What should have been a peaceful meal was forcibly turned into a nerve-racking ordeal. Wang Dong's smile grew ever brighter, making Xue Xiao Ran involuntarily shift farther away from her.

"Xiao Ran, weren't you—"

"I'm full. I'm going to rest."

Xue Xiao Ran surrendered cleanly and decisively. He threw the wooden skewer into the fire to burn, then turned and walked toward his own camp.

Xiao Hong Chen watched his back with some confusion. Xue Xiao Ran had been a little strange today.

"Is there anything else about Xue Xiao Ran? I'm a little curious."

Wang Dong asked with a smile.

"I'll tell you." Meng Hong Chen was more observant than her brother and paid more attention to Xue Xiao Ran. She immediately began recounting Xue Xiao Ran's usual daily routine.

Listening from afar to the laughter by the campfire, Xue Xiao Ran looked up at the starry sky and sighed softly.

He had made the wrong friends.