Dugu Yan's dormitory.
Ye Lingling watched her cry one moment, fuss the next, and then laugh, her heart full of worry.
She didn't know exactly what had happened yesterday, but she knew Dugu Yan had gone to Wu Xing's dormitory wearing that enticing nightdress.
At the time, Dugu Yan had even come over especially to ask what she thought of her outfit. Ye Lingling had nearly dropped her jaw.
She had never seen Dugu Yan like this before. Not only had she dressed up carefully for a man, but from the look of things, she'd intended to throw herself at him.
It completely overturned everything Ye Lingling had thought she knew about her good friend!
But who could have guessed that early the next morning, she would find Dugu Yan looking furious, eyes red-rimmed and clearly having cried.
At first, Ye Lingling thought Wu Xing had bullied her. She looked Dugu Yan up and down. The sheer nightdress from yesterday was a little rumpled, but nothing seemed to have happened.
Besides, given Yan Yan's excitement and anticipation last night, if she really had been bullied, she'd probably still be grinning like a fool. So why would she be sad?
Could it be...? Ye Lingling suddenly thought of a possibility and blurted out without thinking.
"Yan Yan, could Wu Xing be no good?"
It wasn't unreasonable of her to think that. Dugu Yan had dressed like that, and even if Ye Lingling had been a man, she would have been tempted. Wu Xing hadn't made a move all night, so what else could it be?
As for whether Wu Xing might not like women and prefer men, that seemed impossible. If that were the case, he wouldn't have let Yan Yan stay in his dormitory all night.
Then the answer was obvious.
Wu Xing! Powerful, a genius among geniuses, but no good in that department!
Dugu Yan had just reached an agreement with Qian Renxue and was about to tell Ye Lingling she was fine when she heard her good friend ask if Wu Xing was no good.
She nearly choked on her own breath, her whole face turning bright red on the spot.
"Lingling, what kind of outrageous thing is that to say? No, no, no! How could Brother Wu Xing possibly be no good?"
Dugu Yan glared at Ye Lingling, flustered and annoyed. Her good friend had actually cursed her future sex life.
Though she hadn't gotten what she wanted last night, in the heat of the moment, her pretty hands had touched Brother Wu Xing's manhood. How could he possibly be no good!
"Then why were you crying?" Ye Lingling asked, baffled.
At that question, Dugu Yan's face grew even redder. There was no way she could say that last night she'd become an incompetent wife, only to have that woman Qian Renxue steal her man right from under her nose—and right in front of her.
Qian Renxue might not care about her dignity, but Dugu Yan did.
She was the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo and a genius of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. If word got out that she'd been cheated on right in front of everyone, how could she ever show her face again?
"No reason. Just remember, Brother Wu Xing is very strong—really, really strong."
Dugu Yan had no idea how to explain, so she could only keep praising her Brother Wu Xing to stop Ye Lingling from letting her imagination run wild.
"Oh, I get it," Ye Lingling said, suddenly enlightened.
Dugu Yan stared at her blankly and asked without thinking, "Get what?"
"Your Brother Wu Xing is just too strong, and you can't handle him, Yan Yan," Ye Lingling teased out of the blue.
"Pfft—!"
Dugu Yan spat out a mouthful of blood. When she came to her senses, she glared viciously at her good friend and reached out to tickle her.
"Lingling, you're dead! I'll tickle you to death. What kind of filthy things are you saying?"
"Hee-hee, don't tickle me! Yan Yan, I was wrong," Ye Lingling giggled, quickly begging for mercy.
After they'd fooled around for a while, Dugu Yan finally pulled her hands back. She looked at her good friend and let out a sigh.
"Lingling, if only you hadn't turned down the Chat Group's invitation back then."
If her good friend had joined the group, what would Qian Renxue have had to do with last night? Dugu Yan wouldn't have been ambushed, either.
And she wouldn't have been left with no one to confide in, fighting all alone.
Ye Lingling paused, surprised that her close friend was still regretting it on her behalf. She was quite touched.
How could she know that Dugu Yan wasn't regretting that at all? She was regretting that if her perceptive friend had been there, she wouldn't have failed to notice Qian Renxue's arrival.
If Ye Lingling knew what Dugu Yan was thinking, she might have shouted that she'd been touched for nothing.
"It's fine. What's past is past. Didn't you say I'd still have a chance?"
Ye Lingling replied, pretending not to care.
"Yeah, that's right. Anyway, Brother Wu Xing joined Heaven Dou Royal Academy, so you've got plenty of chances."
Dugu Yan nodded firmly, then grabbed the other girl by the arm. "Come on, let's go find Brother Wu Xing."
But when she tried to step out of the room, she couldn't pull Ye Lingling along.
"Yan Yan, you're going out dressed like that? It's not nighttime anymore."
Ye Lingling looked at Dugu Yan's impulsive manner and rolled her eyes.
Only then did Dugu Yan realize what she was wearing. Her face reddened, and she turned back to change into her usual clothes.
When the two of them reached the doorway, Wu Xing also came out.
"Brother Wu Xing!" Dugu Yan immediately let go of Ye Lingling's hand and slipped her arm through his.
Watching Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling's mouth twitched.
They'd been such devoted friends a moment ago, and now she couldn't wait to ditch her. Some good friend she was!
Seeing that Dugu Yan was no longer bristling like she had when she first woke up, Wu Xing teased her, "Calmed down?"
"Brother Wu Xing."
Dugu Yan stamped her snake-scale high heel, her face full of grievance. She'd been there first yesterday, but Qian Renxue had stolen him away. He hadn't comforted her and was teasing her on top of it.
"Haha, don't be mad. She's starved for affection."
Wu Xing felt a little uneasy under Dugu Yan's aggrieved gaze, so he hurriedly reached out and patted her on the head to comfort her.
Wu Xing's gentle head pat soothed Dugu Yan, and all the hurt in her heart vanished at once.
"Mm, I'll listen to Brother Wu Xing and won't hold it against her."
Watching Dugu Yan act so demurely, Ye Lingling had already gone numb. She reminded them, "Yan Yan, it's getting late. Let's head to the cafeteria first. We still have class later."
"Right, right, Brother Wu Xing, you just joined the academy, so you need to introduce yourself to the class first. Then they'll assign you to a team. With your strength, you'll definitely be assigned to our team."
Only then did Dugu Yan remember what the teacher had told her yesterday. She nodded repeatedly.
The three of them had a quick breakfast, then headed to Senior Class One.
Quite a few students were already in the classroom, including Yu Tianheng from the day before.
Wu Xing walked into the classroom with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, naturally drawing the attention of the entire class.
Especially when they saw Dugu Yan intimately holding his arm with both hands, they instinctively looked toward Yu Tianheng.
But Yu Tianheng showed no reaction, so the others soon stopped paying attention.
Of course, there was still some quiet discussion, all of it about Wu Xing.
Not long after they sat down, the class bell rang, and a middle-aged man walked in carrying a textbook.
As Dugu Yan had said, he first had Wu Xing introduce himself to the class, then assigned him to Heaven Dou Royal Academy Core Student Team One.
He took the place of one of the nameless students, becoming the seventh member.
The student who had been there before was transferred to Core Student Team Two, replacing another member whose overall strength had been among the lowest on the team.
That was how a world where the strong were respected worked: strength meant everything...
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