A Senior?

At the same time, he didn't forget to throw Lu Lin an encouraging look.

Lu Lin saw it and felt a dark cloud settle over him.

The moment Xu Yaoyao sat down, he felt most of the cafeteria's eyes fall on him.

Zhang Wuji's mom had been right. Women were trouble... No, beautiful women were even better at lying.

As far as Lu Lin was concerned, it amounted to the same thing.

"Mm, what a coincidence."

Lu Lin took a deep breath, looked up at Xu Yaoyao, and gave a perfunctory reply.

Then he placed his hands at the edge of his tray, intending to leave and sit with Qin He.

But Xu Yaoyao, across from him, spoke again:

"Are you that afraid of me, junior?"

At that, Lu Lin thought for a moment.

"Princess Yaoyao, you're joking. It's just that it wouldn't be good if people got the wrong idea seeing a man and a woman dining together."

"Oh? What wrong idea?"

"For example, if word got out that the dignified princess of the Star Luo Empire had invited a man to eat with her, it might not sound very good."

Xu Yaoyao had already picked up a bite of food and brought it to her rosy lips. She spoke calmly, "We're only sitting together in the cafeteria. What could people possibly say? Or are you hoping to go out and eat alone with me, junior?"

It had to be said that Xu Yaoyao, born into the Star Luo Royalty, had an air of nobility and graceful manners.

Even the way she ate was pleasing to the eye, flawless.

Lu Lin thought it over and gave up on moving to another table, but he didn't answer Xu Yaoyao's question.

Instead, he picked up his chopsticks, intending to hurry up, finish his meal, and leave.

When Lu Lin didn't answer, Xu Yaoyao seemed unwilling to let it go.

"You still haven't answered me, senior. Well, if it were you, I'd be willing to..."

Lu Lin was exasperated. Not even half a punctuation mark of this woman's words could be trusted.

Lu Lin didn't think Xu Yaoyao had any feelings for him.

After all, this was only the second time they'd met.

If it were Ning Shuang, that might be another matter. After all, Lu Lin was somewhat interested in the Nine Treasure Glazed Sect's Heart Separation Control secret method.

But as for Princess Xu Yaoyao, Lu Lin just wanted to keep his distance.

However...

Looking at Xu Yaoyao sitting gracefully across from him, Lu Lin's eyes shifted as an idea occurred to him.

It was obvious that Xu Yaoyao had a good first impression of him.

Perhaps it was because he'd encountered her in the Mimic Forest at noon and voluntarily stepped aside.

Lu Lin knew he'd done it because he didn't want to invite trouble.

But Xu Yaoyao certainly wouldn't see it that way.

The spot Lu Lin had carefully chosen was a good one—quiet, with stunning scenery.

In Xu Yaoyao's eyes, she probably thought they shared similar tastes.

So the solution was simple: he just had to change her impression of him.

Unfortunately, Lu Lin hadn't played Valorant in his previous life and was too shy. Otherwise, it would've been even simpler.

Of course, if he really did that, his reputation would be ruined.

Lu Lin thought for a moment, then looked at Xu Yaoyao across from him with a smile.

"Princess Yaoyao, it seems you've been mistaken about something from the very beginning. I have to point it out."

"If I remember correctly, Princess Yaoyao is currently in her second year, right?"

"I'm a third-year student. You should call me senior, not junior."

Xu Yaoyao was taken aback. Then she thought it over, blinked her lovely eyes, and immediately apologized.

"I hadn't seen you before, senior, so I assumed you were a new student. I was mistaken. I apologize."

Lu Lin smiled. "You didn't know, so there's no blame. Just don't call me the wrong thing again."

After saying that, Lu Lin lowered his head and dug into his food, no longer sparing Xu Yaoyao a glance.

A glimmer of amusement flashed in Xu Yaoyao's eyes, then vanished in an instant.

She'd guessed right. This junior was really interesting.

A moment later.

Xu Yaoyao looked up at Lu Lin and pressed him again. "Does that mean you don't forgive me, senior?"

She deliberately stressed the word "senior."

But Lu Lin seemed not to notice, and didn't take the bait. He said calmly, "Princess Yaoyao, I'm finished. Enjoy your meal."

As soon as he said that, Lu Lin picked up his tray and walked away.

Qin He hurried after him.

Xu Yaoyao kept watching Lu Lin's back.

She continued to gaze after him until he disappeared from view.

When she turned back, she had composed herself and resumed eating the food on her plate.

Every movement was graceful and pleasing to the eye.

Yet now she seemed less approachable, almost like a different person from before.

A little while later, Lu Lin and Qin He left the cafeteria together.

Qin He wore an extremely odd expression.

"Lu Lin, you... you said you were a third-year student and even tricked Xu Yaoyao into calling you senior?"

"What'll you do when she finds out?"

Qin He had been sitting at the next table over. Lu Lin hadn't exactly been quiet, so he'd heard everything clearly.

Qin He hadn't expected Lu Lin to dare do something like that.

It would be easy to find out the truth with a little asking around.

"So what if she finds out? At worst, she'll get angry out of embarrassment."

Lu Lin shrugged.

After a brief pause, he continued, "Oh, right. Didn't you say she had a lot of admirers? Maybe she'll get them to beat me up. That would be a bit of a hassle, but the academy doesn't allow private fights. Soul duels are fine, though..."

Lu Lin went on talking to himself.

Qin He listened, dumbfounded. They'd known each other for quite a while, but this was probably the first time he'd heard Lu Lin say so much in one go.

"Oh, right, Lu Lin. What does 'bootlicker' mean?"

Bootlicker?

Lu Lin stopped in his tracks. He hadn't meant to let a bit of slang from his past life slip out.

"It means Xu Yaoyao's admirers. The ones who devote themselves to sucking up to her, do nothing but please her, and follow her around, ready to do anything for her."

Qin He was stunned at first, then his expression turned odd.

"So that's what it means... It's a pretty fitting description. But Lu Lin, Xu Yaoyao does have a lot of admirers, though I don't think any of them are quite that devoted. Well, you never know. I'll ask around later."

"Oh, right, Lu Lin. How did you meet Xu Yaoyao?"

At that, Lu Lin sighed and told Qin He the whole story, from beginning to end.

After hearing it, Qin He couldn't help wondering: what if—just hypothetically—Xu Yaoyao fell for Lu Lin and had him marry into her family...

Uh, that actually didn't sound so bad.

But seeing how glum Lu Lin looked, Qin He didn't dare say it aloud.

What happened afterward was somewhat unexpected to Lu Lin.

He still ran into Xu Yaoyao at his usual cultivation spot, the Mimic Forest.

They didn't talk much when they saw each other.

If they ran into each other in the cafeteria, Xu Yaoyao would simply sit with him. She called him "senior" over and over, and the two seemed to get along like friends who'd known each other for years.

And yet Xu Yaoyao hadn't even asked Lu Lin's name.

As a result, Lu Lin's reputation continued to grow, and the story even reached the new students in Class Two.

This left Lu Lin utterly speechless.

But what baffled him even more was Xu Yaoyao's attitude. As Qin He had said, it was actually very easy to find out the truth about him.

Xu Yaoyao acted as though she didn't know and kept calling him "senior" as before.

There seemed to be an extraordinarily strange understanding between them.

Not long afterward, the scene Lu Lin had anticipated finally unfolded.

A second-year Three Ring Soul Elder came looking for him and issued him a challenge to a soul duel.