"Yan Yan, you know boys from outside the academy?"
After entering the academy, Ye Lingling asked curiously.
Dugu Yan shook her head, thought for a moment, then shook it again.
"I don't know. As far as I remember, I don't have any close male friends. Maybe he's looking for my grandfather."
Her grandfather was a Titled Douluo with a residence in Heaven Dou City, though he was rarely around. Perhaps someone had come to see him with an urgent matter and, unable to find him, had decided to look for her instead.
"Then why didn't you ask the guard what his name was?" Ye Lingling asked.
Dugu Yan paused, glanced back toward the gate, then waved a hand.
"Forget it. What do I care? It has nothing to do with me. If he's really in a hurry to find my grandfather, I'll find out soon enough."
Honestly, she hated this sort of thing, but there was no getting around it. You had to put up with the give-and-take of social relationships, whether you liked it or not.
Watching Dugu Yan act so carefree and indifferent, Ye Lingling couldn't help giving a wry smile.
If she hadn't been so cautious back then, she probably would have entered that place of opportunity with Yan Yan.
The two chatted and joked as they walked for about five minutes.
Suddenly, a male student came over.
If Wu Xing had been there, he would have recognized him as the boy he'd met when he first entered Heaven Dou Academy.
"Senior Dugu Yan."
Dugu Yan glanced at him. He didn't ring a bell. There were so many people at the academy; she couldn't know everyone.
"What is it?"
"This morning, a man came by and specifically asked where you were," the boy said politely.
Dugu Yan frowned slightly. Someone else looking for her.
"Fine, I know. The guards at the gate already told me."
Her tone was a little impatient.
Hearing that, the boy said no more and turned to leave, but Dugu Yan called after him.
"Wait."
Remembering what her best friend had said, Dugu Yan casually asked, "Do you know his name?"
"I think it was Wu Xing," the boy said after a moment's thought.
"What?"
Dugu Yan's eyes widened, and her voice rose several pitches. She hurriedly pressed him, "What did you say his name was?"
Her voice brimmed with excitement and delight. She looked as if she'd heard something unbelievable, and she could barely hide her trembling.
Her reaction startled Ye Lingling, and the boy beside them was even more unnerved.
Could that man from this morning have offended Senior Dugu?
"He... he was called Wu Xing. I remember clearly. That was definitely the name." The boy was nervous, but quickly repeated it anyway.
"Wu Xing!"
Dugu Yan cried out in shock. An uncontrollable rush of joy shot through her, delight bursting across her face as her breathing quickened.
"Tell me, where is he now?"
She never would have imagined that the Group Leader she'd been longing to see had actually come to Heaven Dou Royal Academy!
"He... he seemed to be going to the Academic Affairs Office to take care of—"
Before he could finish, Dugu Yan spun around and hurried toward the Academic Affairs Office. In the blink of an eye, she vanished down the path, leaving him and Ye Lingling standing there, utterly bewildered.
"???"
Ye Lingling's mind was full of question marks. Had her best friend really forgotten all about her?
At the same time, her curiosity surged. What was this boy named Wu Xing to Yan Yan, and why had he made her so excited?
As she wondered, she started walking too.
By then, Wu Xing had finished all the necessary paperwork. He'd also received several sets of the academy's fine pale-yellow uniforms, and the middle-aged man who had shown him around was taking him to the boys' dormitory.
But as soon as they left the Academic Affairs Office, a girl in a short skirt of green snake scales, with short purple hair and matching green snake-scale high heels, came rushing toward them.
She was moving so fast that she stirred up a breeze. Barely able to contain her excitement and joy, she was none other than Dugu Yan, who had run all the way here.
Her eyes immediately found Wu Xing beside the teacher. She skidded to a stop, chest heaving, and stared at him with her beautiful, strange snake eyes, filled with incredulous delight.
"W-Wu Xing?"
Dugu Yan's voice trembled.
She needed to make sure it was really him.
"What a coincidence, Dugu Yan," Wu Xing said with a faint smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, Dugu Yan threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.
Her soft, fragrant body filled his arms, and he could smell the faint scent of her youth.
"It really is you, Wu Xing! It really is!"
"Yan Yan isn't dreaming, is she? You really came all the way to Heaven Dou Royal Academy to see me!"
Dugu Yan was overjoyed. The arrogance and haughtiness she usually carried had vanished, and she nestled against Wu Xing, reluctant to let go.
The middle-aged teacher watched Dugu Yan throw herself into Wu Xing's arms. The keys in his hand clattered to the ground, and his mouth fell slightly open.
Ye Lingling, who had just caught up, was even more shocked. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Her best friend, her closest sister, had thrown herself into a man's arms? Was this really the proud Yan Yan she knew?
"I didn't come here specifically to see you. I was planning to attend Heaven Dou Royal Academy anyway."
Wu Xing put on a stern expression.
"Hehe."
Dugu Yan giggled and finally let him go, but she slipped her arm through his. Then she asked curiously, "Wu Xing, why didn't you tell me beforehand that you were coming to Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"
Wu Xing didn't answer. Instead, he looked at her as if she were an idiot.
Dugu Yan immediately caught on, and her little face flushed red. If the group members found out the Group Leader had come to her academy, wouldn't they all go wild?
Still, this was for the best. For the next little while, Wu Xing would belong to her alone.
The thought filled her with anticipation.
"Student Wu, so you and Dugu Yan already knew each other."
The middle-aged teacher came to his senses and broke into a broad smile.
He'd thought Wu Xing was an extraordinary genius from the start: young, already a thirty-ninth-level Soul Elder, and with Spirit Rings far beyond the norm.
Now that he'd seen how close Dugu Yan was to him, he regarded Wu Xing with even greater respect.
After all, Dugu Yan was the granddaughter of the esteemed Poison Douluo. Her status at this noble-filled royal academy was extraordinary. If she was this excited to see him, Wu Xing must have an impressive background. Of course he couldn't afford to treat him casually.
"Student Wu?"
Hearing the teacher, Dugu Yan jolted. Then her eyes lit up. "Wu Xing, you joined our academy?"
"That's right. Are you happy about it?" Wu Xing nodded with a smile.
"Of course! Of course I'm happy. Yan Yan is delighted!" Dugu Yan was so excited she nearly jumped. Her hands, still linked around his arm, pressed even tighter against her Bear Paradise.
She'd thought Wu Xing had come to Heaven Dou Royal Academy for some other reason. She'd never expected him to join. If the group members found out, they'd be green with envy.
No, no, she had to keep a lid on it. She absolutely couldn't let the news slip because she was too excited. At least until he'd taken her to the secret room a hundred or eighty times, she couldn't let a single group member find out.
"Yan Yan, who is this?"
While Dugu Yan fantasized about how she should welcome Wu Xing to the secret room—whether she should make the first move, wait and play along, or pretend to resist, since she'd heard resistance appealed to men more—Ye Lingling had already come up beside her.
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