Pre-War Ex-Girlfriend, Part 2

"Hall Master, the Sky Phoenix Douluo is here."

War God Hall, main hall.

Ya Li stood atop the raised platform, dressed in a dark green battle robe, her long hair casually pinned behind her head with a jade hairpin. Below was the War God Hall's council chamber.

She had come here to handle official business, only to encounter an unexpected visitor.

Leng Yaozhu entered through the south gate. She was not wearing her usual little white dress today, having changed into the standard crimson robes of the Spirit Pagoda's Vice Tower Master. The flame-like red stood in stark contrast to Ya Li's composed dark green. She walked to the center of the council chamber, stopped, and looked up at Ya Li on the platform.

One stood high, the other low, facing each other from afar.

These two, publicly acknowledged as century-long rivals, had always believed that the reason for their breakup back then had been the other person.

Yet neither knew that it had only been an excuse.

But the two of them could never compare notes, so this misunderstanding was destined to continue.

The air remained silent for roughly half a minute.

Leng Yaozhu studied her with an amused smile.

"You're not all that pure either."

Ya Li's brows furrowed slightly. She disliked those two words.

She had disliked them for many years.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Leng Yaozhu did not answer. She gave Ya Li another once-over, from head to toe, her gaze carrying an indescribable sense of smugness.

Then she actually turned around and left.

"Nothing. I just came to take a look at you."

She took a few steps toward the south gate, then suddenly tipped her head back and laughed several times, her laughter crisp and loud as it echoed around the hall.

"Hahaha...

Ya Li, carry on with your work. I'll be leaving first."

Her laughter still lingered among the beams and pillars, but the red figure had already vanished beyond the hall doors.

A draft swept through the hall, making the hem of Ya Li's robe sway.

Ya Li remained where she was, her brow knitting tighter and tighter.

It felt as though that woman had come to show off, but what exactly she had come to flaunt, Ya Li had no idea.

The Xu residence in Eastsea City.

"I remember you saying your brother's name was Xu Xiaoyu?"

"Mhm."

"Then let's break up."

The blue-haired twin-tailed girl sat cross-legged on the bay window in her room, hugging a rabbit plush pillow to her chest, her chin resting on one of its ears as she stared at the screen of the soul communicator in her hand.

On the screen was the chat window between her and "Donghai's Deepest Romantic."

When she sent another message, a red exclamation mark appeared.

For the first time in her life, King Xiaoyan had received the deluxe deleted-and-blocked package.

Xu Xiaoyan stared at that red exclamation mark for a full ten seconds. Tears began to pool in her big eyes. She hurled the rabbit plush pillow against the wall, hugged her knees, buried her face in them, and let her shoulders tremble.

"Waaah—"

Just then, there were two knocks on the door before it was pushed open directly.

Xu Xiaoyu walked in, his long blue hair still styled in the standard fashion of the student council's vice president, and he had not even had time to change out of his school uniform.

He had just arrived home when he heard something going on in his sister's room, so he had come to check on her. The moment he pushed the door open, he saw Xu Xiaoyan sitting on the bay window, crying her eyes out. That innocent rabbit plush pillow lay on the floor, its ears knocked crooked.

"What happened?" Xu Xiaoyu frowned, somewhat confused. "Who bullied you? Tell me who it was, and your big brother will settle the score with him."

Xu Xiaoyan abruptly raised her head.

Her big eyes were swollen like walnuts, the tip of her nose red, and her cheeks puffed up high.

The girl stared at Xu Xiaoyu for two seconds, then leaped down from the bay window at astonishing speed and grabbed his arm.

Her little tiger teeth flashed as she opened her mouth and bit down.

"Ow... Are you a dog or something?!" Xu Xiaoyu sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. He wanted to pull his arm away, but did not dare use too much force for fear of hurting her. "Let go! Xu Xiaoyan, let go!"

Xu Xiaoyan refused to release his arm, shouting indistinctly through her bite:

"It's all your fault! Stupid big brother! It's all because of you!"

Early the next morning.

Lin Xun and Xie Xie headed out to the training grounds. It was not because they had class, but because today was the weekly credit match against the upperclassmen.

"Look, aren't those Gu Yue and Tang Wulin?"

From a long way off, Xie Xie rose onto his tiptoes and tugged at Lin Xun's sleeve.

Beneath the old banyan tree by the training field, Gu Yue stood in the shade, her black hair swaying slightly in the breeze. She still wore that indifferent expression, her lips moving at an unhurried pace as though she were reminding someone about something.

Tang Wulin stood across from her with her head lowered, listening intently. She nodded now and then, occasionally responding with a quiet "Mm." The way she obediently accepted the lecture somehow made her look a little delicate.

(Another reminder: Tang Wulin had undergone a gender swap, not turned into a feminine boy, and there was no NTR involving the male protagonist.)

Anyone unaware of the situation would probably have thought an older sister was lecturing her younger sibling.

Rubbing his chin, Xie Xie wore a gossipy expression. "Isn't Gu Yue a little too concerned about her? Lin Xun, even you don't get this kind of treatment."

Lin Xun said nothing. As he watched the two beneath the tree, his brow furrowed slightly. He naturally knew that Gu Yue had approached Tang Wulin because of the Golden Dragon King bloodline.

What made him frown was Tang Wulin's posture. Her hands hung in front of her, fingers lightly intertwined, toes turned slightly inward, shoulders drawn in.

That posture was perfectly normal on a girl. On Tang Wulin, though, something felt a little off.

Still, he did not think much of it.

Wu Changkong had already arrived at the edge of the training field. Dressed in white, he stood perfectly straight.

Xie Xie jogged over, still chattering away. "Teacher Wu, who are we fighting in today's credit match? Which class from the advanced division? How strong are they? How many soul rings do they have? Can I—"

The classic Xie Xie five-question barrage.

"You'll find out soon enough." Wu Changkong shut down his torrent of questions with a single sentence.

Gu Yue stood beside Lin Xun, less than a fist's distance between them. She did not look at him, her gaze level and forward, her expression as cold as ever.

But Lin Xun caught a faint scent. It was neither perfume nor body fragrance, but something more natural—a scent belonging to dragonkind.

He had smelled it countless times ten thousand years ago. There was no way he could mistake it.

Clearly, Gu Yue was testing him.

Using a dragon's method, she released a trace of her aura and watched for his reaction. An ordinary person would not feel anything. But if he was not ordinary...

Lin Xun yawned naturally, opening his mouth wide and covering it with the back of his hand. Afterward, he rubbed his nose and muttered, "The pollen's really heavy this morning."

Gu Yue's eyelashes twitched faintly.

She withdrew her aura and did not look at him again.

Before long, three people approached from the other side of the training field. Leading them was a female teacher who looked to be in her twenties. She wore a white uniform, her hair pinned up with meticulous neatness, and two shallow dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth whenever she smiled.

Two advanced division students followed behind her.

The female teacher stopped in front of Wu Changkong and smiled first, making her dimples deepen slightly.

"Teacher Wu, long time no see."

Her voice was gentle, utterly lacking the usual airs of an advanced division teacher.

Wu Changkong gave a slight nod. "Teacher Li."

"The last time we met was at the faculty meeting at the end of last semester. You were sitting in the last row, and I didn't even get the chance to say hello."

Teacher Li said it with a smile, then seemed to realize the occasion was inappropriate. She gave a light cough and turned to introduce them. "These are the two students from my class participating in the credit match: Ouyang Zixin and Liu Yuxin."

What?

Lin Xun's expression froze as his eyes immediately met that vibrant figure with orange-red hair.

What kind of credit match was this? Who the hell fought their ex-girlfriend in a competition!?