Xie Xie ran a long way before he began to think things through.
He only stopped once he reached the little grove behind the Work-Study Student Dormitory. Bracing both hands on his knees, he bent over and gulped down air.
Morning light filtered through the branches and leaves of the Chinese parasol trees, falling on his sweat-dampened nape. His heart was racing, pounding in his chest as though someone were beating a drum inside it. And not just because he had been running.
"Whoa! Animals! How old are those two, anyway?"
Xie Xie clutched his head with both hands, his eyes filled with disbelief. His fingers dug into his short brown hair, rubbing his already messy locks into a tangled heap.
His ears were still red, burning hot enough to fry an egg from tip to lobe. His mind kept replaying the scene he had seen when he pushed open the door—Tang Wulin sitting on the bed, Gu Yue perched on its edge, their faces so close together, Gu Yue's hand still hovering beside Tang Wulin's shoulder, the tips of her ears pink.
"Forget it. I'll just cultivate first. I couldn't care less about all this lovey-dovey stuff!"
He shook his head, trying to shake that image right out of his mind. Straightening up, he rolled his shoulders. All the injuries he had suffered yesterday had healed. His back no longer hurt, the bones in his right arm no longer creaked, and the Soul Power in his meridians was so full it was nearly overflowing. His body felt lighter than yesterday, and his footsteps barely made a sound.
"Hehe, what I said back there was pretty cool."
He scratched his head.
His short-haired brown head tilted to one side, and the corners of his mouth lifted, revealing a row of