Mixed-Bloods and Dragonkind

Returning home and opening the door, Lu Mingfei found the house in total darkness; he hadn't told his aunt and uncle he was coming back tonight.

He walked quietly to his room, looked at the sleeping Lu Mingze, and opened his battered laptop.

Logging into QQ, a long string of messages popped up, including inquiries from Old Tang and the gaming group about when the game would go live.

After closing the many meaningless messages, he saw one from Su Xiaoqiang.

"Are you home yet?" was the message she had just sent.

Lu Mingfei typed a reply: "I'm back."

"Mhm, got it, goodnight, Xiao Ming!"

"Goodnight!" Lu Mingfei replied.

Su Xiaoqiang lay on her bed holding her phone, looked at Lu Mingfei's reply, smiled faintly, then placed the phone beside her pillow and drifted into a deep sleep.

Lu Mingfei remembered Su Xiaoqiang saying she had messaged him on QQ a few days ago, so he scrolled up through the history.

"Lu Mingfei, what are you doing?"

"Lu Mingfei, why aren't you saying anything?"

"We're going camping in a few days. Have you prepared your things? If not, I can help you."

It seemed he would have to check QQ more often from now on. It had been a week; Lu Mingze should have moved on from his last relationship by now, and he couldn't let him hog the computer anymore.

Having made up his mind, Lu Mingfei clicked "Accept" on Chu Zihang's friend request.

"Lu Mingfei, are you home?" Chu Zihang's message arrived instantly.

"I'm home. Senior Brother Chu, let me know when you're free so I can come find you and learn more about those things."

The message he typed seemed a bit strange, but Lu Mingfei couldn't quite put his finger on why, so he just left it and hit send.

Chu Zihang replied quickly: "Tomorrow works."

After they agreed on a time to meet, Lu Mingfei went to sleep.

On Sunday morning, Lu Mingfei brought a bag of apples to the Peacock Mansion. That's right, the place they had agreed to meet was Chu Zihang's home.

When Lu Mingfei arrived, he found Chu Zihang already waiting at the entrance of the villa complex.

Seeing Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang walked over to meet him.

"Why did you bring apples?" Chu Zihang asked, looking at the bag in Lu Mingfei's hand.

"I'm coming to your house as a guest, so of course I have to bring something. Doesn't that show a bit more courtesy?" Lu Mingfei replied.

Nodding slightly, Chu Zihang reached out: "I'll take them then."

Entering the house, Chu Zihang set the apples down, with Lu Mingfei following behind him.

Chu Zihang's mother walked downstairs, still looking sleepy, but her eyes lit up when she saw Lu Mingfei.

She hurried over to Lu Mingfei: "Hello there! Are you a friend of Zihang's? This is the first time I've seen Zihang bring someone home."

"Hello, Auntie. I'm Lu Mingfei, Senior Brother Chu's junior, and his friend," Lu Mingfei introduced himself.

"Zihang, why didn't you tell Mom your friend was coming? I could have prepared something good for him," Su Xiaoyan said, looking at Chu Zihang with dissatisfaction.

"It's alright, Auntie. We only decided on it last night, which is probably why Senior Brother Chu didn't tell you," Lu Mingfei said with a smile, explaining on Chu Zihang's behalf.

"Alright then," Su Xiaoyan said, accepting the explanation.

"Mom, I'm taking my friend to my room. You and Aunt Tong shouldn't come in today; I have some things to discuss with him," Chu Zihang instructed.

"Fine, then," Su Xiaoyan said, looking a bit reluctant.

Lu Mingfei followed Chu Zihang into his bedroom. The room was large and very tidy, showing that Chu Zihang was a person who valued cleanliness. The sunlight shone perfectly into the room, giving it a warm color palette.

Chu Zihang pulled over two chairs and poured a cup of tea for Lu Mingfei.

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask," Chu Zihang invited Lu Mingfei to sit.

"Tell me about the relationship between hybrids, the Dragon race, and the Dead Servant."

Lu Mingfei had been hearing these terms constantly since yesterday. Now, he only had some guesses based on their conversations, and he needed someone like Chu Zihang, who was part of the system, to explain the specifics.

"Simply put, the Dragon race was the race that once ruled the world. Hybrids are the descendants of humans and dragons. A stable bloodline means the percentage of dragon blood in the human body is below 50%. If it exceeds 50%, the hybrid will lose control and eventually turn into a Dead Servant."

Chu Zihang gave Lu Mingfei a rough explanation of the relationship between the three.

"So, we are all descendants of humans and dragons?" Lu Mingfei asked Chu Zihang. "What about the dragons? Didn't you say they used to rule the world?"

"Because the Dragon race is born cruel, our mission as hybrids is to slay dragons. Every time a dragon awakens, hybrids will spare no cost to exterminate it," Chu Zihang replied.

Lu Mingfei thought of the vision he saw when he first gained this power—it was a war between dragons and humans.

As he spoke, Chu Zihang lit up his Golden Pupils: "This is the mark of a hybrid. After a hybrid awakens, their body is enhanced, and they perform better than the average person."

Lu Mingfei closed his eyes and then opened them, revealing scorching golden pupils.

Chu Zihang looked into his eyes and felt waves of pressure: "You are very outstanding. Your bloodline rank is much higher than mine."

After saying this, Lu Mingfei returned his pupils to their normal color.

"You'll learn more specific details once you get to Kassel College. Kassel College is the headquarters for dragon slaying, and everyone there is one of our own," Chu Zihang said, introducing Kassel College to Lu Mingfei.

"Oh." Lu Mingfei merely responded, saying nothing more.

"The Four Dragon Lords are currently awakening, and Kassel College is in need of talent like you."

Finally, Chu Zihang added, "The Principal asked me to tell you this."

Lu Mingfei remained unmoved. What a joke, he thought. He had just jumped out of his last duty, and now they wanted him to leap into another fire pit? Couldn't he just enjoy himself after coming back?

"There is also an annual scholarship of 36,000 USD, plus the Principal's Scholarship personally awarded by the Principal," Chu Zihang added.

"I think our Eastern Depot—ah, no, Kassel College—is in dire need of talent like me," Lu Mingfei said, grinning at Chu Zihang.

Chu Zihang didn't know what to say for a moment; Lu Mingfei's face changed truly fast.

"Right, Senior, does this school guarantee job placement upon graduation?" Lu Mingfei continued to ask.

Chu Zihang was silent for a moment. "It does, and the salary is very high."

"Then I have no problems," Lu Mingfei said, sitting obediently.

"The admissions team will likely arrive after the new year, so be prepared."

Lu Mingfei nodded repeatedly.

For some reason, Chu Zihang always felt a bit mentally exhausted when talking to Lu Mingfei.

After finishing their conversation, the two went downstairs.