I Saw Them Naked

"Yeah, but the Jade Spirit Fox seems to be a purely supportive Soul Beast that boosts its allies. How can it have healing abilities?" Tang San asked in confusion.

"Because Little Funi is a mutated Soul Beast," Tang Liu said, delivering the excuse he'd prepared long ago.

Tang San's face lit with realization, then turned eager. "Right, Xiao Liu, tell me all about how you and Dad got by these past few years."

"Third Brother, don't rush me. I'm starving. Take me to find something to eat first, and I'll tell you on the way." Tang Liu rolled his eyes and said with a pained expression.

Tang San slapped his forehead. "Right, I'm a little hungry too. Let's get Xiao Wu, then go eat together."

With that, he pulled Tang Liu toward the girls' dormitory.

"Third Brother, don't you live with Oscar?" Tang Liu asked curiously.

"If I went to live with him, who would look after you?" Tang San replied as if it were only natural.

"Fair enough." Tang Liu nodded. "Do you know where we can get something to eat?"

"No. We'll just look for smoke from a cooking fire later," Tang San said.

"Oh." So he was still going to have to meet Ma Hongjun.

Soon, they reached the dormitory where Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong were staying.

Tang San knocked on the door and called, "Xiao Wu?"

The door quickly opened, and Xiao Wu cautiously stepped out, making a shushing gesture. "Shh, Rongrong's cultivating."

After quietly closing the door, Xiao Wu smiled at Tang San. "Let's go."

"Sister Xiao Wu," Tang Liu greeted her first.

"Xiao Liu, long time no see. How come you still haven't grown any taller?" Xiao Wu said with a laugh, immediately ruffling his hair hard.

"Sister Xiao Wu, stop messing it up. If you keep at it, I might really never grow taller. Why don't you go ruffle my brother's hair instead?" Tang Liu leaned away and said helplessly.

Xiao Wu laughed. "Little San's my brother now too. How could I dare ruffle his hair?"

"Hm? Is there anything in this world you wouldn't dare do?" Tang San said, putting on a puzzled expression.

Xiao Wu blushed and punched Tang San, chiding him, "Oh, you! What kind of thing is that to say?"

Tang San laughed.

Watching the two of them flaunt their affection without the slightest restraint, Tang Liu felt as if his head were shining with an impossibly bright light. He let go of Tang San's hand and said, "Third Brother, I suddenly don't feel hungry anymore. You two go find something to eat. My Soul Power hasn't fully recovered, so I'll head back and cultivate. See you later."

Tang San and Xiao Wu watched Tang Liu run off, both looking a little confused.

"Oh, right, Third Brother! I'll tell you about Dad tonight!" Tang Liu called back after he'd already run some distance.

Of course, Tang Liu wasn't actually going back to the dormitory to cultivate. His stomach was still empty, after all. Xiao Wu and Tang San had blindsided him with a mouthful of dog food, but he still needed to fill his stomach.

He headed for the boys' dormitory to ask Oscar where the cafeteria was. If all else failed, he could get Oscar to make him a few sausages to tide him over.

The problem was, he had no idea which room Oscar was in, so he had to search one by one.

Fortunately, there were only three little wooden dormitories for the boys and three for the girls. Since one was shared by him and Tang San, Oscar had to be in one of the other two.

But Tang Liu was clearly out of luck today. He barged through a door and found Dai Mubai standing there completely naked, just about to change.

"Sorry, I just wanted to ask where the cafeteria is." Tang Liu had just seen someone naked, but he wasn't the least bit flustered.

Dai Mubai hurriedly pulled on his pants to cover himself and said in exasperation, "Don't you know you're supposed to knock before entering?"

Tang Liu stepped back out of the dormitory and closed the door behind him. Then he knocked, pushed it open again, and asked, "Better now?" Before Dai Mubai could reply, Tang Liu shut the door again and headed for the last wooden hut.

Dai Mubai: "..."

Tang Liu was a little embarrassed to have caught someone completely naked, but fortunately, he'd already lived two lifetimes and had thick skin.

Besides, they were all classmates, and they were all still kids. So what if he'd seen them naked?

It wasn't as if he'd never seen other men in the dormitory back in his previous life.

Well, Dai Mubai was in much better shape than those roommates from his previous life, who'd either been string beans or fat sows.

According to the original story, Oscar should still have been asleep, so Tang Liu had pushed the door open so casually. He just hadn't expected the first room to belong to Dai Mubai.

"Uncle Oscar, you in there?" Tang Liu called, then pushed the door open and walked in again.

Oscar: "..."

Tang Liu: "..."

A shrill scream rang out across Shrek Academy.

"Why didn't you knock?" Oscar cried, clutching a blanket over himself as he stared in horror at Tang Liu, who'd just walked in.

Tang Liu's face turned dark. The hell, weren't you supposed to be asleep right now? Why are you changing too? Did you and that guy Dai Mubai plan this together just to give me eye cancer?!

"It's broad daylight. I'm allowed to get up after I've slept enough, aren't I? And it's almost mealtime at the cafeteria!" Oscar said with a dark expression, clutching the blanket tightly around himself.

"Forget all that and hurry up and get dressed!" Tang Liu said, his face dark too. Then he walked in and shut the door behind him.

"What are you trying to do?" Oscar eyed him warily, his head ducked beneath the blanket so only his eyes showed.

"Nothing! Just tell me, where's the cafeteria?" Tang Liu knew that the more he tried to explain, the worse it would sound, so he decided to cut the conversation short and get out of there as fast as possible.

"It's east of the academy. Leave the dormitory and keep walking that way. You'll find it in the wooden building with a cafeteria sign hanging on it." Oscar finally poked his head out from under the blanket and answered hesitantly.

"Thanks. Also, your junk's hanging out." Tang Liu nodded, glanced down at Oscar, and left through the door.

Oscar had been feeling a chill for a while. At Tang Liu's words, he looked down.

Oscar: "..."

Little Oscar: "..."

Hearing the scream from inside the room, Tang Liu shook his head helplessly, looking thoroughly disgusted.

He lifted his eyes and saw Dai Mubai standing nearby, watching him with an amused smile.

"How about it? Think you'll still go into other people's dorms without knocking?" Dai Mubai teased.

Tang Liu glared at him. "Mind your own business!"

Dai Mubai just smiled without replying.

"By the way, why are you still here? Aren't you going to find my brother and the others?" Tang Liu suddenly remembered and asked.

"You mean Tang San?" Dai Mubai said, looking startled. "Where are they? Why would I go looking for them?"

Tang Liu slapped his forehead. He'd completely lost his appetite. He turned and ran out of Shrek Academy, with just one thought left in his mind: the butterfly effect.