The moment Ma Xiaotao left, this farce finally came to an end.
The crowd watching in the small courtyard gradually dispersed, and the heads poking out from upstairs windows withdrew one by one.
Mu Tianyi and Gongyang Mo went up to the third floor, found room 307, and pushed open the door.
The dorm room was not large. It had two single beds, two sets of desks and chairs, two wardrobes, and a south-facing window with decent lighting.
A thin layer of dust covered the floor and tabletops. Clearly, no one had lived here for some time.
The two rolled up their sleeves, divided the work between them, and began cleaning the dorm.
By the time they had thoroughly cleaned the dorm, the sky outside had already darkened.
The setting sun dyed the horizon orange-red, shining through the window lattice and casting long streaks of light across the floor.
Mu Tianyi wiped the sweat from his forehead, straightened up, and turned to Gongyang Mo.
"We're more or less done. Want to go out for dinner? My treat."
Gongyang Mo's eyes lit up, and he was just about to agree.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
The two looked toward the entrance at the same time, puzzled.
They had only just moved in and did not even know their neighbors. Who would come looking for them at this hour?
Gongyang Mo put down the rag in his hand, walked over, and opened the door.
A young woman stood outside.
Her smooth black hair fell to her waist, with a few loose strands lifted lightly by the evening breeze, revealing a fair and delicate face.
Her features were gentle and soft, and her clear, watery eyes were slightly curved in a smile.
She wore the purple uniform of a Shrek Inner Court student. The deep-purple fabric made her skin look as smooth as cream and outlined her slender waist.
The twilight shining in from the end of the corridor cast a warm orange glow over her entire figure.
Gongyang Mo froze.
It was not as though he had never seen beautiful girls before.
Born into a prestigious family, he had seen every sort of beauty. Yet the girl before him gave him an entirely different feeling.
Her gentleness seemed to seep into her very bones, like a beam of sunlight pouring through a window on a spring afternoon.
It was neither dazzling nor flamboyant. It simply rested there quietly, yet made it impossible to look away.
"Hello, who are you looking for?..."
Gongyang Mo spoke instinctively.
The young woman did not look at him. Her gaze passed over his shoulder and landed directly on Mu Tianyi inside the room.
Those gentle, watery eyes examined him again and again before she finally let out a slow breath, as if a stone hanging over her heart had finally fallen away.
She stepped into the dorm, the hem of her purple skirt brushing lightly across the floor. As she passed Gongyang Mo, she brought with her a faint floral fragrance.
Gongyang Mo remained in the pose of holding the door open, frozen at the entrance with only one thought left in his mind.
Who was she?
What was her relationship with Brother Tianyi?
Mu Tianyi noticed Zhang Lexuan as well.
Seeing the young woman enter the dorm, Mu Tianyi's eyes widened.
Although... still.
This was the boys' dormitory!
Big sister, what were you doing here?!
There was even someone else present!
As though she had sensed Mu Tianyi's gaze, Gongyang Mo gave him a look that said, "I get it," and gave him a thumbs-up.
Then, with lightning speed, he walked out of the room and conveniently shut the door behind him.
Gongyang Mo: Brother Tianyi truly was Brother Tianyi. On his first day of school, a bold senior sister had already come to confess to him!
The instant the door closed, the dorm fell quiet.
Zhang Lexuan turned around to face Mu Tianyi.
The polite, distant smile on her face vanished, replaced by undisguised concern.
She looked him over for a long time.
From his hair to his toes, then from his toes back to his hair. Only after confirming that every part of him was unharmed did she slowly speak.
"Are you hurt?"
"No." Mu Tianyi shook his head. "She was only a three-ringed Soul Ancestor. It wasn't a big deal."
Zhang Lexuan pressed her lips together and did not respond.
She stepped closer, raised her hand, and gently touched Mu Tianyi's cheek with cool fingertips, brushing a loose strand of hair from his forehead behind his ear.
Her movements were light and slow, as though she feared hurting him.
"When I heard about it, I was in class." Her voice was soft, without any discernible emotion. "First there was a dragon roar, and then people started saying that two new students had gotten into a fight. I knew it was you the moment I heard."
Mu Tianyi coughed dryly. "The news traveled pretty fast."
Zhang Lexuan did not smile.
She withdrew her hand, lowered her lashes, and fell silent for a moment.
Then she looked up at him. Something Mu Tianyi had never seen before appeared in those gentle eyes.
"On my way here, I kept thinking," she said. "What if that woman was an Evil Soul Master? What if she had truly hurt you? What if something had happened to you? What would I do?"
Mu Tianyi was slightly stunned.
"Then I figured it out." Zhang Lexuan's tone remained calm. "Wherever she hurt you, I'd cripple her there. For every drop of blood she made you shed, I'd make her shed a basinful."
The air in the dorm seemed to freeze.
Mu Tianyi looked at the young woman before him.
She still had that gentle face, those clear, watery eyes, and the appearance of a refined young lady from a scholarly family.
Yet when she spoke those words, her tone was utterly calm.
There was no gritting of teeth, no murderous intent.
It was simply the natural, unquestioning belief that:
If someone hurt you, I would make them pay the price.
Mu Tianyi was briefly taken aback.
For some reason, something deep in his heart was touched.
"Lexuan," Mu Tianyi said carefully, "I already drove that woman away, and the academy expelled her. It's over now."
Zhang Lexuan looked at him, fell silent for a moment, and then nodded gently.
"That's good."
A faint curve appeared at the corner of her lips, and she became that unbelievably gentle Lexuan again.
She reached out to straighten Mu Tianyi's collar, patted away invisible dust from his shoulder, and spoke in an indulgent tone.
"Come on. Take your little roommate and let's go have dinner. Big sister will treat you two to a meal."
Mu Tianyi answered and followed her outside.
When they reached the door, Zhang Lexuan suddenly stopped, turned to look at him, and added,
"Tianyi, if anything like this happens again, come straight to me."
"I don't like hearing from someone else that something happened to you."
Her voice was still gentle, but the seriousness in her eyes made Mu Tianyi feel the young woman's clumsy yet sincere affection.
Late at night.
Zhou Yi sat at her desk, her withered fingers holding a file. Excitement glimmered in her seemingly clouded eyes.
Mu Tianyi, twelve years old, level forty-five Soul Ancestor.
His first and second soul rings were thousand-year rings, while his third and fourth soul rings were ten-thousand-year rings.
Martial Soul: Bright Sacred Dragon.
Zhou Yi's fingers repeatedly stroked the words "level forty-five," and the corners of her mouth slowly spread into a grin.
She had taught at Shrek for decades and seen all kinds of geniuses, but this was the first time she had encountered such a monster.
What did it mean for Shrek to assign such a genius to her class?
It meant the academy trusted her and recognized her ability.
Zhou Yi placed the file down in satisfaction and leaned back in her chair.
A genius like this should be trained by her.
However...
Zhou Yi narrowed her eyes slightly, and a shrewd gleam flashed through her cloudy pupils.
The more talented a student was, the more likely he was to be a thorn in the side.
Arrogant, unruly, unwilling to accept discipline, convinced that his talent could settle everything.
On the first day of school, she needed to properly crush his arrogance.
She had to make him understand that at Shrek, in Zhou Yi's class, dragons had to coil up and tigers had to lie down.
A sinister smile curled across Zhou Yi's lips as she put the file into a drawer and blew out the lamp on her desk.
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