Big Black Ox: Am I Emergency Food Again?

Tang San: "A selection?"

Wang Sheng cleared his throat, struggling to put on a serious expression.

"Allow me to introduce you to our new brothers—"

He pointed to himself: "My name is Wang Sheng, War Tiger martial soul, level eight battle soul master, and acting head of Dormitory Seven."

He then pointed to the children beside him: "This is Gou Dan, this is Er Gou, this is San Wa, this is Tie Zhu, this is Shi Tou..."

He rattled off seven or eight names in one breath, not a single one of which Tang San remembered.

Su Mo, however, remembered a few—mostly because the names were so distinctive.

Gou Dan, Er Gou, San Wa, Tie Zhu, Shi Tou...

The naming style in this dormitory was remarkably consistent, very much in line with simple, rustic farmers.

Once Wang Sheng finished his introductions, he said with great solemnity: "We have a rule here in Dormitory Seven."

Tang San asked curiously: "What rule?"

Wang Sheng took a deep breath, his voice becoming impassioned:

"New roommates must face an assault from all current members! Win, and you become the new dormitory head! Lose, and you obey!"

Tang San blinked: "Why do it this way?"

Wang Sheng's gaze deepened.

He spoke slowly, his voice carrying a sense of world-weariness that didn't match his age:

"Because Notting Academy is just a miniature version of the soul master world!"

Tang San's expression turned serious.

Wang Sheng continued: "Survival of the fittest, where the strong are respected! We work-study students are at the bottom of the academy, the most vulnerable group! If we cannot unite and choose the strongest leader, we will end up like the humans of the ancient era—"

He paused, his voice rising:

"Enslaved by all races! Bullied by the strong! Abandoned by the world!"

Tang San's eyes lit up.

Wang Sheng grew more excited as he spoke: "Therefore, we must use combat to select the strongest head! To lead us in surviving this treacherous Notting Academy!"

He finished, clenching his fists, his gaze burning like a torch.

The dormitory fell silent.

Tang San also clenched his fists, his gaze equally intense: "As I thought, the soul master world is exactly as I imagined! Brother Wang Sheng, I understand you! The path of a soul master is one of great contention! Every step is fraught with danger!"

"Exactly, exactly! This brother, you understand me!"

The two six-year-old children locked eyes, as if they had found a kindred spirit, lamenting that they hadn't met sooner.

Su Mo watched this scene from the side, speechless.

He had lived too peacefully back in Holy Soul Village, almost forgetting that he was in a soul master world filled with extreme peril.

Yet, he felt something was off...

He couldn't help but ask: "Wang Sheng, where did you hear all this?"

Wang Sheng replied as if it were obvious: "From storybooks, of course!"

Su Mo: "..."

Wang Sheng: "Soul Master Anecdotes, Legend of Douluo Heroes, Legend of the Seven Devils... there are so many!"

They were all local Douluo novels.

Su Mo fell silent.

He had almost been dragged into the pit by these two middle-school-syndrome sufferers.

Wang Sheng continued: "Especially that book, Battle Through the Heavens! Xiao Yan is so cool! 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't bully the young because they are poor!' It's a pity they're all incomplete volumes; I still haven't finished reading them!"

Tang San's eyes brightened even further: "You've read it too?!"

Wang Sheng nodded: "You've read it too?!"

"My master wrote it!"

"Your master?!" Wang Sheng looked at Su Mo, his expression changing instantly.

Su Mo: "..."

He suddenly had a bad premonition.

Wang Sheng took a deep breath, about to say something, when Gou Dan spoke up weakly from the side:

"Um... Brother Wang Sheng, haven't we gone off-topic?"

Wang Sheng froze.

Gou Dan pointed at Big Black Ox: "We were just attacking it, and it won, so... shouldn't it be the new dormitory head?"

Everyone looked at Big Black Ox.

Big Black Ox held his head high, his tail flicking even higher.

"Moo." (That's right, it's me.)

Wang Sheng's face fell.

Let a cow be the dormitory head?

How could that work?

A cow couldn't even speak; how was it supposed to lead them?

Tang San noticed his hesitation and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Brother Wang Sheng, I have an idea!"

Wang Sheng looked at him.

Tang San pointed at Su Mo: "Big Black Ox belongs to my master! So, we can just acknowledge my master as the boss!"

Su Mo was stunned.

Wait.

What had he just done?

He had just been standing at the door watching the show, doing absolutely nothing.

How did he suddenly become the boss?

He opened his mouth to refuse: "No, I—"

"Boss Su!"

Tang San raised his arms and shouted.

"Boss Su! Boss Su!"

Wang Sheng followed suit.

"Boss Su! Boss Su! Boss Su!"

Gou Dan, Er Gou, San Wa, Tie Zhu, Shi Tou... the whole group joined in the chanting.

Su Mo: "..."

Before he could even get a word in, he was hoisted up by a group of children.

"Oh, oh, oh—Boss Su! Boss Su!"

They carried him on their shoulders, spinning around the cramped dormitory, their cheers shaking the room.

Su Mo lay suspended in mid-air, staring at the swaying ceiling above, his expression one of utter despair.

He just wanted to watch the show in peace.

How did he end up being carried like this?

Big Black Ox watched the scene from the side, his tail wagging happily.

"Moo." (Serves you right.)

After spinning around several times, the group finally set him down.

Wang Sheng was panting, but his face was full of excitement: "Boss Su! From now on, you are the head of Dormitory Seven! We will all listen to you!"

Su Mo rubbed his head, which was spinning from the jostling, and said weakly: "...Fine."

Wang Sheng looked at Big Black Ox again, his eyes filled with awe.

"Boss Su, since Senior Big Black Ox is so powerful, he must be your bodyguard, right?"

Su Mo glanced at Big Black Ox.

Big Black Ox looked back at him, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Bodyguard?

That title wasn't bad.

Su Mo thought for a moment and said:

"Not a bodyguard."

Wang Sheng was taken aback: "Then what is he?"

Su Mo replied with a deadpan expression:

"Emergency rations."

Big Black Ox's expression froze instantly.

"Moo???"

(What the hell???)

Wang Sheng and the others were also stunned.

Emergency rations?

Eat?

Eat the Big Black Ox?

They looked at the Big Black Ox, then at Su Mo, and back at the Big Black Ox, their expressions gradually growing complicated.

The Big Black Ox grew anxious.

"Moo, moo, moo!" (Make yourself clear! Who's the emergency food?!)

Su Mo patted its head. "Just kidding."

The Big Black Ox glared at him.

"Moo." (You'd better be kidding.)

"Is anyone here? Is this Dormitory Seven?"

Suddenly, a crisp female voice rang out.

Hearing this, Su Mo turned his head to look.

Then, he froze.

A girl stood at the doorway.

She was about six or seven years old, wearing her hair in a long scorpion braid. Her large eyes were clear and bright, and her cheeks had a faint pink hue; she looked just like a freshly washed peach.

Most importantly—

That face.

Su Mo's pupils contracted sharply.

Lin Xiaowu.

It was Lin Xiaowu.

The girl who had confessed to him in the library, the student he had risked his life to save, the figure he had held tightly in his arms as he fell from the building—

She was standing right in front of him now.

Only, a few sizes smaller.

Like a miniature version.

Su Mo's mouth moved faster than his brain.

"Xiaowu?!"

The girl was taken aback.

She tilted her head, blinked those large eyes, and looked puzzled.

"You know me?"

The girl walked in quite naturally, her braid swinging behind her.

"My name is Xiao Wu, 'Wu' as in dance! What about you?"