The corner in the back row had become a sanctuary, cut off from all the noise.
As class time drew near, footsteps in the hallway grew denser, and the new students began filing into the classroom in pairs and threes.
These boys and girls had only just stepped through Shrek's gates, and were at an age when they were full of curiosity about the opposite sex. Whenever a girl entered Class Nine, her gaze was invariably drawn to the boy in white sitting in the back row.
A few of the bolder ones even tried to make their way to the back under some pretext, hoping to strike up a conversation. But when they met Xiao Xiao's wary gaze, they ultimately lost their nerve, blushing as they chose seats near the front.
Just then, another set of footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Two girls entered Class Nine side by side.
The girl on the left was tall and slender, with a cascade of smooth golden hair falling down her back and a rare pair of golden-blue eyes.
Her skin was fair, her features delicate, and every movement spoke of the poise and nobility instilled by a great clan.
Pressed close beside her was a girl with short, fiery red hair.
Her presence was the polar opposite of her golden-haired companion's. Her red eyes held undisguised defiance and wildness, and her skin was snow-white. She was also far more developed than girls her age, her figure full and curvaceous.
She was practically hanging off the golden-haired girl, her movements quite intimate.
The two were Ning Tian, young mistress of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, and Wu Feng, her fiercely loyal bodyguard and childhood friend.
Ning Tian entered the classroom, her golden-blue eyes sweeping across the room out of habit. When her gaze passed over the corner in the back row, it came to a stop.
There sat a handsome young man so striking that even the finest jade sculptors in the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect would be hard-pressed to capture his features.
His gaze was deep and tranquil, free of the restlessness of his peers. That air of detachment made Ning Tian's always unruffled heart skip a beat.
Ning Tian's eyes lit up. Without the slightest hesitation, she reached back and grabbed Wu Feng, who was still looking around at the female students, then strode down the aisle toward the back of the classroom.
"T-Tian-jie, why are we sitting so far back?" Wu Feng stumbled as Ning Tian tugged her along, her face full of confusion.
Ning Tian ignored her complaints and pulled her into the two empty seats directly in front of Xiao Yan.
As soon as she sat down, Ning Tian turned around and naturally extended her right hand, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile as warm as a spring breeze.
"Hello, classmate. I'm Ning Tian. Would you like to be friends?"
Ning Tian's approach was open and gracious, with the confidence unique to a scion of a great clan.
Xiao Yan turned his gaze away from the window.
His eyes fell on Ning Tian's outstretched hand. Her beauty and friendly overture stirred not a flicker of emotion in him; his Dao heart was as firm as stone.
Still, having another clan's resources at his disposal could only be a good thing.
He extended his right hand and lightly clasped Ning Tian's fingers, then let go at once.
"Hello, I'm Xiao Yan. This is my younger sister, Xiao Xiao." His voice was calm and clear. After introducing himself, he casually gestured to Xiao Xiao beside him, who was puffing out her cheeks and eyeing Ning Tian warily.
Hearing the words "my younger sister," Ning Tian's smile deepened.
She nodded to Xiao Xiao in greeting and was about to find another topic to discuss.
But an ill-timed voice sounded beside her.
"Hmph. Pretty boy."
Wu Feng leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.
Her red eyes swept over Xiao Yan, hostility plain in her gaze.
In Wu Feng's subconscious, Ning Tian belonged to her alone. Anyone of the opposite sex who tried to get close to Ning Tian or catch her attention was an unforgivable enemy.
This ridiculously good-looking guy had not only prompted Tian-jie to approach him first, but had even made her smile so happily. That was enough to ignite Wu Feng's jealousy.
The air fell silent.
Ning Tian's smile vanished, and a hint of anger surfaced in her golden-blue eyes.
She turned sharply, her voice stern.
"Feng-mei, apologize. Now."
Wu Feng bit her lip and stubbornly turned her head away. Not only did she show no sign of apologizing, but she even glared at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan leaned back in his chair, his calm, deep gaze resting on Wu Feng's defiant face.
He wasn't angry.
An ant barking at a dragon wouldn't make the dragon angry. It would only find the noise irritating.
But he was a man who valued efficiency. If he didn't deal with this ignorant nuisance once and for all, she would surely keep buzzing around his ears like a fly.
Since the fly had stuck her face in front of him, he would plant a seed in her Sea of Consciousness—one that would keep her from ever daring to act out again.
Xiao Yan lowered his eyelids.
In that single instant, deep within his bottomless black pupils, the intricate Fuxi Bagua Formation Map spun rapidly.
The Li Trigram, symbolizing illusion and confusion, lit up.
Then a formless, intangible string of music crossed the distance and soundlessly entered Wu Feng's Sea of Consciousness.
In reality, time stopped for only a brief moment. But in Wu Feng's world of awareness, it stretched without end.
Wu Feng felt the scene before her twist. The Class Nine classroom and all the students around her vanished.
She found herself standing beside Sea God Lake, unable to move her body or even make a sound.
She rolled her eyes in terror, then saw a sight that nearly stopped her heart.
Ning Tian, dressed in a finely tailored gown, leaned shyly into the arms of the young man called Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan gently smoothed the stray hairs on Ning Tian's forehead. They exchanged a smile, their eyes overflowing with a tenderness that could not be dispelled.
No! Tian-jie! Look at me! Wu Feng screamed frantically in her heart, but no sound escaped into the outside world.
The scene began to fast-forward.
Red petals drifted down from the sky.
It was the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect's wedding ceremony.
Ning Tian wore a phoenix coronet and a red wedding gown, beautiful beyond compare. Holding Xiao Yan's hand, she bowed to Heaven and Earth before the witnesses of the sect's elders.
Wu Feng herself was forced to stand in a corner like an invisible ghost, watching helplessly as the person she loved most fell into someone else's arms.
Her heart was torn apart. That suffocating pain was worse than a thousand cuts.
The scene changed again.
Outside a bridal chamber where red candles flickered, Wu Feng's point of view was fixed before the lattice window.
The intimate sounds conveyed by the scene were like poisoned daggers, stabbing into Wu Feng's heart and twisting viciously inside it.
She struggled to close her eyes, to cover her ears, but her body would not obey.
She could only listen, forced to conjure up in her mind the scenes that drove her mad.
No one knew how long it lasted. Perhaps a night, or perhaps many long months.
The scene jumped to the outside of a delivery room.
A baby's clear cry rang out, and the door to the delivery room opened.
Xiao Yan carried a newborn girl wrapped in swaddling clothes and walked to the bed.
Ning Tian, pale but happy, leaned against the headboard.
"Yan, what should we name our child?" Ning Tian's voice brimmed with maternal warmth.
Xiao Yan looked down at the baby in his arms, a tender smile curling his lips as he softly said a few words.
"Let's call her... Xiao Feng."
Boom!
Those final two words became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Seeing the name she treasured most given to a baby who embodied her misery and humiliation, Wu Feng's mental defenses collapsed completely.
"Yamero!"
A scream of utter anguish exploded deep within Wu Feng's consciousness. Her entire soul trembled with overwhelming terror and despair.
The illusion shattered in an instant.
In the real world, only two seconds had passed.
Wu Feng sprang up from her chair, gasping for breath.
The back of her school uniform was soaked with cold sweat, and her face was as pale as paper.
Her eyes were bloodshot, her pupils contracted violently, and she trembled all over as if she had just been pulled from the water.
She turned her head and saw Ning Tian frowning at her, still angry that she hadn't apologized.
Then she turned the other way and met Xiao Yan's dark eyes, as still as an ancient well yet filled with unfathomable meaning.
That gaze was just like the abyss hidden beneath his tranquil exterior!
"Waaah—!"
Wu Feng's mental defenses crumbled completely. She threw her arms around Ning Tian, buried her face in Ning Tian's shoulder, and burst into shameless sobs.
Ning Tian was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.
One moment Wu Feng had been defiant, refusing to back down; the next she was crying like a child who had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
She hurriedly patted Wu Feng's back, then turned to Xiao Yan with an embarrassed look.
"I'm truly sorry, Xiao Yan. Feng-mei isn't usually like this. Maybe she's been training too hard lately and it's affected her mental state." Ning Tian explained apologetically. Hoping to build a friendly relationship, she casually added,
"What happened today was our fault. If you ever need help at the academy, you can come to me anytime."
To an ordinary person, those words were an exceptionally friendly courtesy.
But to Wu Feng, who had just been put through an entire illusion of "getting married and having a child," they were nothing short of a death knell.
Come to her anytime? Wasn't that how the two of them started falling for each other and spending time together in the illusion?! Was that nightmare about to come true in real life?!
Extreme fear gave Wu Feng astonishing speed.
She abruptly let go of Ning Tian and sprang to her feet.
Standing rigidly before Xiao Yan, she pressed her hands to her trouser seams, then bent sharply at the waist and bowed a full ninety degrees.
"I'm sorry!" Fear made Wu Feng's voice shrill and cracked.
Even after bowing, she still felt it wasn't enough.
Looking at Xiao Yan's heart-stoppingly handsome face, she raised her right hand.
"Smack!"
A crisp, loud slap rang out in the back of the classroom.
Wu Feng slapped herself across the face without holding back. A vivid red handprint immediately appeared on her otherwise snow-white cheek.
After that slap, she seemed to have used up every ounce of strength she had. She turned and threw herself into Ning Tian's arms again, wrapping both arms tightly around Ning Tian's neck and crying even harder than before, her tears and snot smearing across Ning Tian's shoulder.
The entire back of the classroom fell utterly silent. The few students nearby stared as if they were looking at a monster.
Ning Tian sat frozen in her seat, her hands raised.
She looked at Wu Feng, who was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, then at Xiao Yan, who remained composed across from her. For a moment, she had no idea which of them to comfort first.
Watching the sudden farce, Xiao Xiao blinked her big eyes twice.
She leaned close to Xiao Yan's ear and muttered, "Bro, is that red-haired girl crazy?"
Xiao Yan turned a page in his book and lightly tapped the tabletop with his finger.
"Maybe. But she should know better now."