I Like You

Because the Humanity's Luck had washed through his meridians and body the previous night, Xuanyuan Sheng had slept exceptionally well.

The knocking outside had gone on for ages, but it still hadn't woken him.

After waiting a while,

outside the door,

[Daily Mission: Wake Him with Love, Constitution +1]

"This is just my sister showing she cares."

Zhang Lexuan's ears turned red as she corrected the system's mistaken description of the mission.

There was plenty to like about the system, but it did have a habit of using such mistaken descriptions and misinterpreting her sincere concern.

The missions it issued each day weren't difficult; they were all part of their daily lives. But no matter how many times she heard one, a blush of embarrassment always rose inside her.

She gently patted her cheeks with her fair hands.

Zhang Lexuan placed her hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door.

Seeing the boy sleeping peacefully, she walked over and gently pressed two fingertips against the tip of his nose.

Before long,

the boy opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Lexuan, who wore a gentle smile, with a resentful gaze.

"Sis, don't classes start tomorrow?"

[Mission Complete: Soul Power Training Days +2]

What Xuanyuan Sheng really meant was: why not let him sleep a little longer? Young people needed their rest while they were still growing.

Zhang Lexuan reached out and smoothed down the hair sticking up on his head, then pinched his cheek. "You really do forget everything."

Xuanyuan Sheng scratched his head.

He thought about it carefully. Aside from having to go to Class Nine tomorrow for the start of term, and not being able to sleep in, there really wasn't anything else.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Lexuan could only rub her forehead helplessly.

"Have you forgotten who gave you your pass? And you still don't know your way around the Outer Courtyard, do you?"

Only after hearing that did Xuanyuan Sheng remember what he needed to do today.

At an age when all he wanted was to sleep, he still had so many things to take care of.

Sorry, body of mine. I know you're in great shape.

Xuanyuan Sheng sat up, shuffled toward the inside of the bed, then lay back down and sprang to his feet with a stylish flip.

After tidying himself up and grabbing a small bite to eat,

Xuanyuan Sheng left with Zhang Lexuan.

As soon as they stepped out from under the wooden eaves, the glaring sunlight shone straight into his eyes.

The sun was clearly past noon and well on its way into the afternoon, but he didn't find that strange at all. Zhang Lexuan doted on him so much that, if there had been nothing to do today, she probably would have let him sleep until evening.

Xuanyuan Sheng couldn't help wondering why. He usually used Humanity's Luck to nourish his meridians and body, so why had he slept so deeply this time, as though he couldn't wake up?

"Could it be because yesterday I almost thought someone was confessing to me?"

Zhang Lexuan, walking ahead of him, heard him mutter.

A confession?

And when Xuanyuan Sheng thought of Zhou Yi's old face from the day before, he couldn't help shaking his head, banishing her from his mind.

What kind of teacher crossed her arms and stood there to talk with a student? Wasn't that the classic move of a junior confessing to a senior?

With Zhang Lexuan leading the way,

the two of them crossed Huxin Island without trouble and reached their destination.

However, Zhang Lexuan stopped outside the pavilion.

"Dean Cai, is Dean Yan here? I came to thank him for making an exception for me."

"Is that so?"

A woman in a brown dress came over to Zhang Lexuan and shook her head. "Didn't I tell you? You only need to call me Teacher."

Cai Mei'er looked at Xuanyuan Sheng and nodded approvingly.

"This must be your younger brother, Lexuan—the genius that Yan Shaozhe praised, right?"

Then she changed tack.

"You're a little late, though. That fellow took Xiaotao to an auction."

Zhang Lexuan exchanged a smile with her. "That's all right. Thanking you, Teacher, is just the same as thanking Dean Yan."

Cai Mei'er waved her hand and teased her.

"There's no need to be so formal, Lexuan. But tell your brother to be careful. When Xiaotao heard Yan Shaozhe praise him, she said she wanted to challenge him to a duel."

Xuanyuan Sheng listened with a completely bewildered look.

What had he even done to make her want to challenge him?

Yan Shaozhe hadn't even seen how talented he was.

Xuanyuan Sheng would bet on it: if he didn't want to show his Soul Power, not even a device made specifically to measure Soul Power could detect it, let alone someone sensing it directly.

He had only glanced at his Martial Soul.

Zhang Lexuan looked at Xuanyuan Sheng with amusement.

"Don't worry. Xiaotao was just saying that. She wouldn't really bully someone younger than her."

Cai Mei'er chimed in, too. "That's right. Xiaotao's always been a very level-headed girl."

But the more they said, the more Xuanyuan Sheng felt like they were tempting fate.

Were they serious?

Sis, he could understand the outsider beside her saying that, but why was she setting him up too?

Ma Xiaotao's nickname was Volcano. How could they call someone who'd explode at the drop of a hat level-headed?

Xuanyuan Sheng shrugged indifferently.

"Fine, then. Let's just say she's level-headed."

If that girl really came after him, he'd use Humanity's Luck to strip her bare. He'd make it a welcome gift for their first meeting.

The two women covered their mouths and chuckled.

Cai Mei'er looked at Zhang Lexuan with some curiosity. "Lexuan, you didn't come today just to accompany this child and thank us, did you?"

The things this girl called important weren't important at all. She could have mentioned them the next time she came to help as a teaching assistant. There was no need to bring her younger brother along.

Zhang Lexuan smiled faintly and chose not to answer Cai Mei'er.

Seeing her dodge the question, Cai Mei'er pursed her lips. As if she couldn't see right through her.

Without a trace of a teacher's decorum, she put an arm around Zhang Lexuan.

"You just wanted to take your brother around and let everyone know that the Great Senior Sister has his back. What's there to be embarrassed about?"

Zhang Lexuan glanced at Xuanyuan Sheng and saw that he was still dwelling on Ma Xiaotao. She gently slipped out from under Cai Mei'er's arm. "Teacher, we're leaving."

Behind them, Cai Mei'er's eyes gleamed with interest as she watched Zhang Lexuan's retreating figure.

After Zhang Lexuan led Xuanyuan Sheng off Huxin Island and around the area, she noticed he still hadn't said a word.

"Don't worry. If Xiaotao dares to bully you, your sister will get even with her."

She was sure her words would reassure him, like a calming pill. Xuanyuan Sheng looked up at her, a little embarrassed.

Wasn't it a bit much for the two of them to gang up on her?

He was already planning to use Humanity's Luck to manually farm those light orbs. If Ma Xiaotao got beaten up on top of that, just imagining the scene made him a little excited.

"No, I was just wondering where we're going next."

Zhang Lexuan clapped her hands. "Come with me."

She was taking Xuanyuan Sheng to the East Gate, where merchants from all over gathered. You could often find all sorts of unusual things there.

It was the perfect last stop for a student getting to know the Outer Courtyard.

The East Gate was only a short walk away.

A small figure darted between them and stopped in front of them.

Grabbing Xuanyuan Sheng by both hands, she shouted,

"I like you, Xuanyuan Sheng."