Chu Men deftly sidestepped, slipped on a pair of protective gloves, and bent to pick up the scorching-hot dumbbell. Grinning, he teased:
"My reflexes are half a beat slower than usual. What's got you so angry, Dean? Just say the word and I'll go teach them a lesson!"
Liu Erlong glared at him, her scrutinizing gaze sweeping over Chu Men's oil-slicked mouth and chewing cheeks as she demanded:
"Tell me the truth. What exactly is going on with Xiao Wu?"
Chu Men's eyes darted about. He had no idea how much Liu Erlong knew, so he didn't answer rashly.
He put the dumbbell back on the equipment rack, glanced at Liu Erlong's still-fair, unblemished palm, then asked instead:
"Eh? Where's Xiao Wu?"
"Cut the crap! In just five days, you managed to snatch a six-year-old, twelve-rank genius from Nuoding City on the southwestern frontier. You work fast!"
Liu Erlong advanced one step at a time. The setting sun cast her shadow across the ground, making her look like an ancient Tyrant Dragon awakening!
"Exactly! If anyone at the academy calls Teacher Chu Men lax and lazy again, Dean, you have to stand up for me and set the record straight!"
Liu Erlong ignored Chu Men's nonsense and slammed the door shut behind her with a bang.
Like she was shutting the door to beat a dog.
[Here we go, here we go! A domestic violence scene!]
[I'll bet two packs of spicy strips the streamer's leaving horizontally today!]
[Don't chicken out, streamer! Just say Xiao Wu's your child bride! Then give the she-dragon a loving embrace!]
[Hey, give the streamer a chance to live!]
[Female School Principal's Office.avi]
"It's not that I don't want to tell you..."
Chu Men swallowed the tendon in his mouth, then swallowed again.
He pulled out a black handkerchief matching Erlong's from inside his clothes and wiped the corner of his mouth. His tone grew serious too:
"This is trouble. Big trouble! I don't want to drag you into it."
The sharpness in Liu Erlong's eyes faltered, then turned cold again. Gritting her teeth, she said, "At a time like this, you're drawing such a clear line between us, huh?!"
"Ahem. A graceful lady is a gentleman's desire. I was young and reckless before, and besides, neither of us was married..."
[Holy crap, juicy gossip!]
[Oh my god, what plot did I miss?]
[Bossy principal and trainee teacher! I could watch a hundred episodes with this setup!]
"Quit your damn nonsense!"
Liu Erlong shot out a hand and pinned Chu Men against the equipment rack.
In an instant, she seemed to have returned to the Horn of Slaughter of old. Her beautiful eyes blazed with dominance as she stared straight at Chu Men:
"If you don't explain everything, you're not leaving this room today!"
Her scorching breath brushed Chu Men's face, making his own breathing grow a little ragged.
This she-Tyrant Dragon's got quite a feminine side to her.
Chu Men hesitated for a moment, glanced out the window, then lowered his voice:
"All right. I don't know much either. I only know that people from Spirit Hall are after Xiao Wu. She's wanted, so I'm planning to hide her."
Liu Erlong's expression softened a little, but she still sounded suspicious. "Even with her talent, it's not like Spirit Hall would go after her."
Chu Men curled his lip, grumbling to himself:
This genius of a me is already on Spirit Hall's radar. I've even got one of their deacon's tokens in my pocket. Want to see it?
"Because she has something Spirit Hall is determined to get!"
Chu Men didn't spell it out. He only stressed, "By the way, whatever you do, don't take off the pink necklace around her neck. It can conceal her... identity!"
"So that's how it is. That necklace you gave her... you really put a lot of thought into it!"
Hearing the teasing lilt in Liu Erlong's voice, Chu Men didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
With a turn of his wrist, he took a watch out of his Soul Tool. He had just gotten it from A-Zheng.
It was a dark-red ladies' mechanical watch, crafted from stainless steel and black ceramic, its design radiating a cool, rugged mechanical feel.
[Holy crap, the streamer's finally caught on! I give this flirting a nine!]
[Ahhh, I ship them, I ship them! Long live the Dragon Gate Faction!]
[Did Sister Erlong just blush? Screenshot taken, shared already!]
[Did the streamer get an ad deal? What brand is this? That's some slick marketing!]
[I looked it up. It's just some obscure domestic brand, but I have to say, it really suits Sister Erlong!]
Neither Chu Men nor A-Zheng knew that the watch they'd picked out on a whim would later save the struggling watch factory from bankruptcy.
The tips of Liu Erlong's ears reddened slightly. She was about to politely refuse when a knock at the door interrupted them.
Chu Men swiftly lifted Liu Erlong's arm aside, shoved the watch and its box into her hands, then turned and opened the door.
"Ah, it's the Head of Academic Affairs! Come on in!"
"Teacher Chu Men, you're finally back. Several groups of students have already come to ask me about you. Your Soul Tool class is really popular!"
The Head of Academic Affairs saw Chu Men and immediately broke into a smile.
"Not at all, not at all. I'll be back to teaching as usual tomorrow. You're here to see the dean, right? You two go ahead; I won't bother you. I'm off!"
Without waiting for either of them to respond, Chu Men took the opportunity to slip away.
Liu Erlong turned her wrist as well, stowing the watch before the Head of Academic Affairs could turn around.
Her fingertips glided over the cool face of the watch, and a smile crept onto her lips.
Blue Tyrant Academy had the largest stretch of greenery in Heaven Dou City.
Birdsong, fragrant flowers, and shady trees—its grounds were beautiful beyond compare!
[Isn't Blue Tyrant Academy supposed to be a school for commoners? The landscaping is incredible!]
"It only admits commoner students! Besides, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is backing it. Otherwise, how could it claim such a huge plot of land in the imperial capital?"
"Little bunny, good bunny, won't you open the door~~
"Excuse me, have you seen a little girl wearing pink, about this tall?"
Chu Men stopped a female student and gestured to show her the girl's height.
"No... Are you Teacher Chu Men?"
"I'm not. Thank you, student!"
The little girl's eyes were practically sparkling. Seeing that, Chu Men hurriedly made himself scarce!
"Hello, student..."
"I'm not..."
He asked four or five people in a row and still couldn't find a single clue about Xiao Wu. Instead, he'd been cornered and made to sign his name three times.
"Teacher Chu Men is really popular at school!"
"Female students in this otherworld are way too pretty! That girl in green just now, all shy and bashful—ah, I'm in love!"
"It's not just the students. I've watched livestream clips on the website, and women in the Douluo World are all stunning!"
"If I were Liu Erlong, where would I hide Xiao Wu? A cabin deep in the forest!" Chu Men's eyes lit up. He slapped a fist into his palm!
He hurried down the academy's straight main avenue, then followed a familiar tree-lined path for a while. A few secluded little cabins came into view.
This was where Liu Erlong had lived in seclusion before!
Too bad I couldn't roll a tracking function onto that pink necklace! Then I wouldn't have had to search so hard.
Chu Men had plenty of livestream points now, but he'd already given the necklace away.
Chu Men had no choice but to rummage through the goods A-Zheng had shipped him and find a soft pink silicone bracelet decorated with an adorable little white rabbit.
With more than 300,000 livestream points, Chu Men had enough to roll an attribute onto an item!
Confirm: Pink Rabbit Bracelet—specified attribute—purple grade!
1,000 points per try!
It took a full ten attempts before he rolled the purple-grade "Advanced Tracking" attribute.
"The odds for specified attributes are still way too low. If I went with random attributes, I could get a black-grade one with just 10,000 points!"
Just then, a pair of snowy-white rabbit ears cautiously poked out from the window of a little cabin not far away.
Xiao Wu opened her round eyes and watched Chu Men's back, wary but curious.
Before you continue