This was a real problem: two beds, three people.
What were they supposed to do? Tell me!
"I have an idea!"
Xiao Wu's brain finally worked for once. She pushed one bed beside the other and joined them together, making one big bed.
"We can all sleep together. Li Luo, you sleep in the middle, and Tang San and I will sleep on either side."
"You have an idea too? That's wonderful!"
Li Luo thought to himself, but what he said was something else.
"Th-this might not be a good idea, though?"
"What's wrong with it? I'm a girl, and I don't mind. What are you afraid of? That I'll eat you?"
"Fine, then."
Li Luo agreed, putting up only token resistance.
The three of them opened their large bags of bedding and began making the beds.
Just then, someone knocked on the door of Dorm Seven again.
Wang Sheng went to open it. Standing outside was someone he both knew and didn't know.
"Yu Xia... Grandmaster, what are you doing here?"
Wang Sheng had a poor impression of Yu Xiaogang—an outright bad one, in fact. Though Yu Xiaogang was a specially appointed teacher at the academy, he had never taught a single class.
Wang Sheng had always believed that people should get what they worked for, and he looked down on those who mooched off others. But everyone knew Yu Xiaogang had an unusual relationship with the dean of Notting Academy, so no one dared criticize him openly.
"Sorry to bother you. Did two work-study students named Li Luo and Tang San come to this dorm today?"
"What do you want with Li Luo and Tang San?"
Wang Sheng grew wary.
"I noticed they didn't have any bedding when they arrived, so I came to bring them some blankets. As their teacher, it's only right."
Yu Xiaogang considered himself a teacher at Notting Academy, which meant he was Tang San and Li Luo's teacher too. So he deceived himself, blurring the truth until he believed he really was their teacher.
Only then did Wang Sheng notice the two quilts in Yu Xiaogang's arms.
"No need. Boss Li Luo and Tang San already have bedding."
With a bang, the door shut, leaving Yu Xiaogang outside.
Wang Sheng returned to his bed and looked at Li Luo in confusion.
"Did you two take 'Grandmaster' Yu Xiaogang as your teacher?"
"No!"
"Don't let him fool you. He calls himself a master of Martial Soul Theory, but he's never taught a single class at the academy. And he's only a level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster himself."
"There are rumors that he and the dean have some kind of unclear relationship. That's how he's been freeloading at Notting Academy all these years."
After hearing Wang Sheng's words, Tang San finally understood why Director Su had told them to stay away from this "Grandmaster."
Tang San was glad he hadn't trusted Yu Xiaogang's words back then.
"Let me warn you again: don't take just anyone as your teacher. In the Soul Master World, a person can have only one teacher in their lifetime. If you take another teacher after already accepting one, the entire Soul Master World will despise you."
"Whatever you do, don't believe Yu Xiaogang's nonsense and let him talk you into becoming his disciple."
"Okay!" Tang San took Wang Sheng's advice to heart.
"Once a teacher, a father for life. When I, Tang San, take a teacher, I'll choose a respected and powerful Titled Douluo."
Night deepened. The other work-study students had already gone to sleep, and the three of them soon followed. They could use meditation in place of sleep, after all.
That way, they wouldn't feel tired the next day.
But they were still growing, and the benefits of sleep couldn't be replaced. The harm caused by staying up late was irreversible.
So Li Luo had no intention of pushing himself to cultivate all night.
Li Luo and Tang San slept soundly, but someone else tossed and turned without being able to fall asleep.
Xiao Wu kept rolling around in bed. Her fidgeting woke Li Luo, and after that, he couldn't get back to sleep.
"Xiao Wu, what are you doing?"
"Brother Luo, I'm hungry!"
Xiao Wu rolled over beside Li Luo and clung to his arm, shaking it with a pitiful look.
Her stomach even growled loudly.
Li Luo had guessed Xiao Wu was broke and couldn't buy food, so he had bought a few carrots in advance.
He sat up, took a bag from his pocket, and pulled out six clean carrots. Then he handed them to Xiao Wu.
"I knew you'd be hungry, so I bought these carrots especially for you."
"Thanks, Brother Luo!"
Xiao Wu took the carrots, slipped under the covers, and started munching on them. She ate quietly, not wanting to disturb the other students.
The night passed quickly. When Li Luo woke the next morning, his arm felt heavy, as if two lumps of dead weight were pinning it down.
He opened his eyes and looked at his arm. Good grief—Tang San and Xiao Wu were each hugging one of his arms, occasionally rubbing their heads against him.
"Carrots!"
Xiao Wu was talking in her sleep.
It was still fairly dark outside; dawn hadn't broken yet. Otherwise, Tang San would already have been up to cultivate the Purple Demon Eye.
Li Luo had woken up early purely because these two had tossed him awake.
"Ah, there's no way I'm getting back to sleep now."
All traces of sleepiness had vanished.
Li Luo carefully pulled his arm out of Tang San's grasp, placed a carrot in Xiao Wu's hand, then slipped his other arm free.
"Xiao San, wake up!"
Li Luo shook Tang San awake.
"Come on, let's go cultivate the Purple Demon Eye."
Li Luo and Tang San slipped quietly out of Dorm Seven to cultivate the Purple Demon Eye.
Once morning came, the other students went about their day, eating breakfast and attending class.
Li Luo brought Tang San to the office of Notting Academy's dean.
Knock, knock, knock!
Li Luo knocked on the office door.
"Come in!"
A middle-aged man's voice came from inside.
Li Luo and Tang San pushed open the door and entered.
"You two students, what can I do for you?"
Notting Dean didn't recognize Li Luo or Tang San.
"Tang San has Innate Full Soul Power. We came to ask if you could help him obtain a Soul Ring."
Li Luo placed Tang San's Martial Soul certificate and enrollment certificate on the dean's desk.
The dean picked up the certificates and glanced over them before setting them down with a smile.
"So you're the two children with Innate Full Soul Power in this batch of new students. You're from Holy Soul Village?"
"Yes, Dean."
"Very well. Since you two little geniuses have come to me, I can hardly refuse. I happen to be free now, so I'll accompany you to Soul Hunting Forest."
Notting Dean was very friendly toward others. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let Yu Xiaogang lounge around Notting Academy for so many years.
They set off at once, finding a carriage headed for Soul Hunting Forest.
"Xiao Luo, Xiao San, has Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang approached either of you?"
Notting Dean asked. As Yu Xiaogang's friend, he knew better than anyone what kind of man Yu Xiaogang was.
He was worried those two promising youngsters might be tricked into becoming Yu Xiaogang's experimental disciples.
Hearing Yu Xiaogang's name again made Tang San feel as if his head were about to explode.
Why is this Yu Xiaogang everywhere? Why is he like a dog, biting down and refusing to let go?
After Yu Xiaogang revealed that he had Twin Martial Souls, Tang San had wanted to kill him to silence him. But he was afraid he'd end up branded a murderer, so he had held back. That wasn't the sort of thing someone from the Tang Sect would do.