Tang Wulin drifted back to the dorm, dazed, with an enormous pile of love letters in his arms.
He was still a little out of it.
He pushed open the door.
Well, would you look at that. Zhou Changxi was actually doing his laundry like a good boy.
Had the sun risen in the west?
Even more surprising, a stunningly pretty upperclasswoman was beside him, helping Su Wenjun fold his bedding.
That upperclasswoman was...
A few shades prettier than Ouyang Zixin, the upperclasswoman he'd run into outside the cafeteria earlier.
But after secretly comparing them in his mind, Tang Wulin still thought Ouyang Zixin's type suited his tastes better.
Fresh and lively, like sunshine.
Of course, he wouldn't dare say that aloud.
He only muttered it to himself, then carried the stack of letters straight over to Yao Chuan.
"Yao Chuan."
He shoved the whole colorful bundle of letters into Yao Chuan's hands.
"These... are all for you."
He added a little sheepishly, "A bunch of upperclasswomen stopped me on the way and insisted I give them to you."
Apart from that huge stack, he was also holding the very first letter Ouyang Zixin had solemnly entrusted to him. It was pink, and the envelope bore the elegant words "To be opened by Yao Chuan himself."
Tang Wulin felt that since he'd promised Ouyang Zixin he would give it to Yao Chuan "in person,"
he had to keep his word.
So he carefully offered Yao Chuan that letter separately.
"This... was entrusted to me by Ouyang Zixin, a fourth-year upperclasswoman. She insisted I give it to you personally."
Yao Chuan had just started to reach for it when the pretty upperclasswoman beside him, who'd been helping fold the bedding, moved as fast as a gust of wind. In a flash, she snatched the pink letter from Tang Wulin's hand.
"Oh, just give it to me."
She smiled brightly, her voice clear and sweet.
"I'll collect Yao Chuan's letters from now on. You don't need to trouble yourselves passing them along."
As she spoke, she naturally took the whole colorful stack from Yao Chuan's arms, quick and efficient.
Tang Wulin stared at his suddenly empty hands.
He froze.
Wh-what was going on?
The upperclasswoman was collecting his letters?
Xie Xie took one look at the scene.
He immediately grinned, nudged Tang Wulin with his elbow, and whispered with a knowing wink,
"See that? See that?"
He tipped his chin toward the pretty upperclasswoman.
"That's Mu Xi."
Then he gave a meaningful glance toward Yao Chuan.
"Our big brother Yao Chuan's... ahem?"
He deliberately drew out the sound.
"Looks like Mu Xi is planning to take advantage of being close by to get ahead. She's guarding him like a hawk, making sure none of those other lovestruck girls get anywhere near our big brother."
With Xie Xie so bluntly exposing her little scheme, Mu Xi's cheeks instantly bloomed with two red clouds.
But she quickly straightened up, planted her hands on her hips, and deliberately put on a stern, serious look as she retorted,
"Xie Xie! What nonsense are you talking about?"
She glared at him, her tone carrying a hint of pride.
"I'm keeping an eye on him for Na'er. Na'er specifically asked me to. Understand?"
She paused, then added,
"Besides, Yao Chuan is at the age when he should be focusing on his studies and cultivation. How could he have time for this kind of nonsense? Dating? Absolutely not! It'd distract him!"
Tang Wulin listened from the side, watching Mu Xi take on the air of a guardian.
Then he looked at Yao Chuan's helpless yet indulgent expression.
He suddenly understood. So this impossibly beautiful upperclasswoman, Mu Xi, was another one of Yao Chuan's "admirers."
And from the sound of it, she seemed to be quite close to him.
At last, he deeply understood what Xie Xie had meant earlier by "following the boss is painful and joyful."
The joy, of course, came from the fact that their boss, Yao Chuan, was so outstanding he seemed almost inhuman, the center of attention wherever he went.
The pain came from constantly being "compared" and "crushed," and from scenes like this: so many love letters that someone had to collect them for him, with other girls kept at a "safe distance."
Th-this really was a happy problem?
No. For ordinary guys like Xie Xie and him, it was probably more shock, with just a touch of... heartache.
Tang Wulin silently marveled to himself.
"Impressive. Truly impressive..."
He had no idea that just as this thought crossed his mind,
deep within his consciousness,
in a long-dormant corner, a tiny crack opened in a thread of awareness so faint it was almost impossible to detect.
It was a fragment of Tang San's divine sense, only recently awakened, and still exceedingly weak.
It sensed the emotional stirrings inside Tang Wulin.
It heard that little mutter in his mind.
"Yao Chuan?"
God King Tang's newly awakened wisp of divine sense instinctively furrowed its "brow."
A vague sense of displeasure quietly stirred.
"Who's this kid? Where did he come from?"
It tried to gather enough strength to probe what Tang Wulin was sensing, hoping to find out who had overshadowed his precious son.
But it found that its newly awakened divine sense was simply too weak.
It couldn't even communicate clearly with Tang Wulin, let alone investigate what was happening outside.
"Hmph."
A thought, cold and contemptuous, echoed through his sea of consciousness.
"Never mind."
It consoled itself—or rather, forcibly suppressed that trace of displeasure.
"Once my divine power recovers a little more and I can communicate reliably, I'll personally guide Wulin."
Thinking of the day when its power had recovered enough to personally teach Tang Wulin how to cultivate,
the wisp of divine sense couldn't help but grow smug again.
It could practically see Tang Wulin rapidly growing under its guidance, crushing all his peers and basking in glory.
Then, what girl wouldn't he be able to win over? What spotlight wouldn't he be able to claim? Why envy anyone else?
A sinister cackle rippled silently through the depths of his sea of consciousness,
carrying the arrogance of someone who believed everything was under his control.
However, Tang Wulin hadn't the slightest inkling of the "inner drama directed by the God King" playing out inside his head. Like a well-running computer, he had no idea that a program called "Tang San"—a grandfather program—had just started up in his "background processes."
Tang Wulin had simply been amazed by Yao Chuan's charm.
He felt a tiny bit envious.
But more than anything, he felt that the gap between them was enormous.
Still, he didn't feel the slightest jealousy.
Yao Chuan had helped him, and he was a good person. It was only natural that he was so strong.
Tang Wulin shook his head, tossing aside his tangled thoughts.
Remembering what he'd come to ask, he turned to Xie Xie and Zhou Changxi.
"By the way, what time is our class meeting this afternoon?"
He still wanted to take care of some business at the Blacksmith Association that afternoon.
Xie Xie was lounging lazily against the bed. At the question, he waved a hand.
"This afternoon? No class meeting. School officially starts tomorrow. Do whatever you want this afternoon. Just get back before lights-out."
He winked at Tang Wulin.
"What, got plans?"
Tang Wulin's eyes lit up. "That's great!"
He immediately perked up.
"Then I'll ask for leave and head out this afternoon."
He clenched his fist, giving himself a pep talk.
"I need to go to the Blacksmith Association and take my rank assessment."
He thought, On the path of Soul Masters, in popularity, and in... appetite, big brother Yao Chuan had crushed him across the board.
He had to find somewhere to get some confidence back, right?
Blacksmithing was the field he knew best, and the one he felt most confident in!
He'd start there!
Prove himself!
Before you continue