Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai Clash

Ji Ye remained expressionless, eating his meal quietly.

His movements were neither fast nor slow, chewing each bite meticulously before picking up the next.

He looked quite the gentleman.

Elegant!

The look in Ning Rongrong's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Zhu Zhuqing glanced at him occasionally, quickly looking away, yet a faint curve appeared at the corner of her lips.

The more Dai Mubai watched, the angrier he became; he poked his chopsticks into his bowl twice and cursed under his breath.

"Pah!"

"What's with the act while eating?"

The voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet cafeteria, everyone heard it clearly.

Ji Ye looked up at him, a hint of a smile on his lips.

He didn't speak.

Because he knew he didn't need to.

Someone would speak for him.

Sure enough.

"Bang!"

Ning Rongrong slammed the table and stood up, her chair toppling backward and hitting the floor with a clatter.

"Dai Mubai, what is your problem!"

Dai Mubai looked up at her, his gaze unfriendly.

"You can't even stand the way someone else eats? Is it because the girl someone likes is serving food to another person, and you're feeling unbalanced?"

Ning Rongrong's words were crisp and sharp, striking Dai Mubai hard across the face.

Dai Mubai's face flushed red, clearly stung by shame and anger.

"None of your business!" He stood up abruptly, his chair falling over as well.

"This is Shrek Academy, not your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! It's not your place to meddle here!"

Ning Rongrong laughed in anger, hands on her hips, her chin tilted even higher.

"Oh, can't chase a girl yourself, so you won't let others talk about it? Can't even handle a little girl, how useless."

This sentence stabbed into Dai Mubai's heart like a knife.

His fists clenched, cracking audibly, as soul power gathered in his right palm.

"I'm warning you, others might fear your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but I don't!"

His voice was low, squeezed out from his throat.

"Anger me, and I'll kill you!"

As these words left his lips, the air in the cafeteria instantly dropped to freezing.

Tang San set down his chopsticks, his brows slightly furrowed.

A hint of coldness entered Zhu Zhuqing's eyes as she looked at Dai Mubai.

Oscar's mouth hung open, his eyes hesitant, not knowing what to say.

Ning Rongrong, however, was not afraid in the slightest.

She patted her flat chest, curled her lip, and spoke in a crisp, ringing voice.

"I'm so scared~"

Dai Mubai's eyes turned red.

He clenched his right hand violently, a layer of golden soul power condensing on his fist, and lunged directly at Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong's smile froze.

She hadn't expected Dai Mubai to actually dare to strike.

The fist grew larger in her vision, and the instinct of death rushed toward her.

Terrified, she squeezed her eyes shut.

Boom!

A muffled thud.

Ning Rongrong opened her eyes.

Ji Ye had stood up at some point, blocking the path in front of her.

His right hand was balled into a fist, wrapped in a layer of transparent halo.

Dai Mubai's fist was blocked in mid-air, unable to advance even an inch.

Ji Ye's fist was faster than Dai Mubai's.

While blocking Dai Mubai's punch, his other fist had already slammed into Dai Mubai's abdomen.

"Urgh!"

Dai Mubai's body flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing into the cafeteria wall with a dull, thunderous thud.

Dust rained down from the wall as cracks spread out from the point of impact like a spiderweb.

Dai Mubai slid down the wall and slumped onto the floor, clutching his stomach, his face deathly pale as he gasped for air.

He looked up at Ji Ye, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He hadn't even seen how the other man had struck.

The cafeteria was so quiet that one could hear the dust settling.

Tang San looked at Ji Ye, his gaze shifting.

He hadn't seen how Ji Ye moved either.

It was too fast.

Exactly what level of spirit power did he have?

Ning Rongrong stood behind Ji Ye, watching his back.

Gray cloth robes, loose black hair, shoulders that weren't particularly broad but held a straight, upright posture.

She swallowed, her heart beating rapidly.

It wasn't out of fear, but something else entirely.

Ji Ye retracted his fist, turned around, and looked down at Ning Rongrong.

"Are you alright?"

Ning Rongrong shook her head, her voice small.

"I... I'm fine."

Ji Ye nodded, turned, and sat back down in his seat, picking up his bowl to continue eating.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

Dai Mubai remained on the floor, clutching his stomach, unable to stand for a long time.

Tang San walked over and leaned down to check on him.

"You okay?"

Dai Mubai gritted his teeth, braced himself against the wall to stand up, and brushed the dust off his clothes.

He didn't speak, walking back to his seat to sit down, picking up his chopsticks, and bowing his head to eat.

Throughout the entire process, he didn't glance at Ji Ye once.

The atmosphere in the cafeteria became very subtle.

No one spoke; there was only the sound of chopsticks hitting the rims of bowls.

Ning Rongrong sat back down, straightened her chair, and snuck a glance at Ji Ye.

Then, she picked up a piece of spare rib and placed it into Ji Ye's bowl.

She didn't say anything this time, but a smile graced her face.

Zhu Zhuqing stopped pushing her food away, but her posture shifted slightly toward Ji Ye.

Oscar watched Ning Rongrong's hand as she served the food, then lowered his head and silently ate the now-cold little sausage in his bowl.

Tang San and Xiao Wu ate with their heads down, neither saying a word.

Xiao Wu leaned in, lowering her voice.

"Brother, what's wrong with them?"

Tang San also lowered his voice.

"Shh, just eat."

Xiao Wu pouted and went back to shoveling rice, though her eyes couldn't help but dart from side to side.

Ji Ye ignored it all, quietly eating his meal.

Braised pork, spare ribs, greens, and rice.

The taste was decent.

After dinner, the sky had turned completely dark.

From the distant village, the occasional bark of a dog could be heard.

The group returned to their respective dormitories.

Ji Ye stood at the entrance of the boys' dormitory, watching Tang San and Oscar go inside, and watching as Dai Mubai limped in after them.

"Ji Ye, aren't you going to sleep?" Tang San asked, puzzled.

Ji Ye shook his head.

"I'm going to watch the moon for a while."

Tang San didn't say anything more and walked inside to sleep.

As Dai Mubai passed by Ji Ye, he deliberately bumped into his shoulder. Ji Ye didn't dodge, nor did he retaliate; he simply smiled.

A clown, nothing more.

Dai Mubai walked away, gritting his teeth.

Ji Ye stood at the doorway for a while, and only after confirming that everyone's breathing had settled did he slowly begin to walk.

He did not return to the dormitory.

Circling past the flowerbed in front of the boys' dormitory and crossing a patch of overgrown wasteland, the girls' dormitory appeared before his eyes.

It was a small two-story building, slightly newer than the boys' dormitory, though not by much. Several patches of plaster had peeled off the walls, and one of the second-floor windows wouldn't close properly, creaking and groaning whenever the wind blew.

Ji Ye stood below the building and looked up.

The room on the left of the second floor was where Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing lived.

The room on the right was where Xiao Wu lived.

The light was still on in Xiao Wu's room. A dim, yellowish glow seeped through the paper window, casting the silhouette of someone sitting on the bed, a long scorpion braid hanging down behind her back.

Still awake?