A Secret Escort

Thank you: I Gan A tipped 500 book coins.

The next day, when the blazing sun hung high overhead, Old Man Bao stood outside the hotel with a helpless look on his face. He hadn't expected those two to sleep in this late!

Nothing would happen during the day, sure, but hadn't they agreed to start protecting Liu Ying first thing in the morning?

Inside the hotel...

It wasn't until Old Man Bao called Ling Ling to ask where they were that she realized it was already past eleven! She immediately went to call Tang Miao.

"Ling Ling, didn't we say yesterday that we'd get an early start protecting Liu Ying? Why are you only waking me up now?" Tang Miao yawned, still looking half asleep.

He'd gone to bed early the night before, but after lying awake for a while, he'd started scrolling through videos. Then he'd figured he'd close his eyes for a little nap. After all, Ling Ling was there...

"I spent half the night looking up information. I thought you'd come wake me. Honestly, you're a grown man—how can you be so unreliable?" Ling Ling complained, pouting.

"..."

Blaming each other and nursing their own grievances, the two left the hotel and headed for Magic High School.

It was clear that, on their first job together, they'd both come away with the same impression: the other person loved sleeping in!

But once they reached the academy, their childish bickering faded. One of them hated studying, and the other was in it for the money. When there was work to do, there was no point sweating the small stuff.

They didn't run into Ai Tutu or Mu Nujiao that day, which was a relief. Although both were mages and had all sorts of magic equipment, rookies were still rookies. Who knew if they'd freeze up when they encountered a Demon Beast?

So it was better not to run into them!

But when the two found the place where Liu Ying was, they were stunned. Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu were right there... They weren't approaching Liu Ying, but it was obvious they'd come for her.

After all, even though they were reading, they looked completely distracted...

Ling Ling looked at Tang Miao helplessly. Her expression seemed to say, This is all your fault. Now we have to protect Liu Ying and keep an eye on two rookies!

Tang Miao was just as exasperated!

He'd asked about them because he'd wanted to get to know them a little, but he hadn't expected them to take this matter so seriously... Weren't they in a hurry to cultivate?

Realizing the two girls weren't going to leave easily, Tang Miao led Ling Ling over and sat beside Mu Nujiao.

Mu Nujiao was startled when someone sat down beside her. But when she saw Tang Miao and Ling Ling, she didn't get upset. Instead, she asked in confusion, "Why are you only getting here now? Weren't you supposed to protect Liu Ying all day?"

Tang Miao and Ling Ling looked at each other at the same time, then both turned away. After a moment's silence, Tang Miao explained, "If anything happens to her, it'll probably be at night. She should be fine during the day. Why are you two here again? Don't you have anything better to do?"

Ai Tutu pouted and came over to Tang Miao's side, deploying the Big Rabbit's charm offensive. "This is our school! Why can't we be here? Besides, you two are strangers. It's fine for a day or two, but if we don't stick with you longer term, people might get suspicious."

Tang Miao's resistance to this kind of coquettish act immediately dropped by half... Besides, he wasn't the sort of person who could bring himself to upset a girl. But dealing with Demon Beasts was no joke, so he put on a more serious expression. "This is dangerous. I'm not kidding..."

"We just want to see what it's like... And maybe we can help, too. Right, Sister Mu?" Ai Tutu said, shaking Tang Miao's arm as she turned to Mu Nujiao and spoke softly.

Mu Nujiao was clearly interested as well. They were classmates, after all. If her classmate was in danger, she ought to help. She nodded and replied quietly, "We won't get in the way. Don't worry."

In the end, Tang Miao agreed. And just as Ai Tutu had said, with the two girls there, no one came to ask where they were from or anything like that.

But envious, jealous looks kept coming their way. Tang Miao didn't pay them much attention. If sitting beside a goddess didn't make people jealous, wouldn't that mean the girl wasn't pretty enough?

As the person they were protecting, Liu Ying had been puzzled at first. That day, she'd noticed Ai Tutu and Mu Nujiao kept watching her. Something about it felt off... But after Tang Miao and the others showed up, Liu Ying decided she'd probably been overthinking it.

At first, Ai Tutu and Mu Nujiao had kept glancing at Liu Ying from time to time, but Tang Miao scolded them for it. The two silly girls were obviously doing this for the first time. They meant well, yet somehow they made it look as if they were up to no good...

Fortunately, Ling Ling stayed calm, as if she were used to this sort of thing.

The four of them sat around doing nothing until classes let out in the afternoon. When Liu Ying left, Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu started to get up. But at the same moment, they felt a large hand press down on their smooth shoulders...

Mu Nujiao looked over, a little bashful, while Ai Tutu gave him a look that said, "So you're finally showing your true colors?"

Tang Miao let go. "Don't get the wrong idea. If you follow her right away like that, people might misunderstand."

"Oh," Mu Nujiao replied. Ai Tutu leaned closer to Tang Miao and whispered with a grin, "Well, well~ Making your move already~"

"Big Rabbit, keep this up and I won't tell you about any fun stuff next time," Tang Miao whispered back.

Ai Tutu immediately shut up. But seeing the two of them whispering to each other left Mu Nujiao bewildered...

Before she could think about it any further, Ling Ling stood up and said, "Let's go." The other three followed. When they saw Liu Ying enter the cafeteria, they were all a little puzzled, but they went in too. They could use some food, anyway. Neither of them had eaten all day.

But just as they entered the cafeteria, Liu Ying came over. She looked at Tang Miao and Ling Ling and asked, "Are you the people my father hired to protect me?"

Clearly, she'd already noticed them... Ling Ling wasn't surprised. With Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu watching her from time to time, anyone with a brain would have realized something was up.

Tang Miao nodded. "That's right."

Liu Ying looked at Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu curiously again. Her gaze lingered on Mu Nujiao, and she asked with a hint of mockery, "He's here to protect me, so why is Goddess Mu following me around too? Don't tell me you're here to protect me as well?"

Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu were both embarrassed. Although the three of them were classmates, they weren't especially close. And of the girls overshadowed by Mu Nujiao, who had become the academy's goddess, Liu Ying was the one most affected.

The first and second prettiest girls—though it was only a ranking, those who cared about it often disliked the person who outranked them. That was simply a fact.

P.S. A bro asked me to pair Mu Ningxue with him. Are you interested?