Conservative

The next day, Lu Menge was dressed perfectly normally.

What did "normal" mean? It meant that across all of Eastsea Academy, from the dean of discipline to the cleaning aunties, no one who saw her walk out of the teachers' apartments would wonder, "Did she go somewhere she shouldn't have last night?"

She wore a beige thin turtleneck sweater, its cuffs slightly rolled up to reveal a stretch of fair wrist. Below that were charcoal-gray straight-leg trousers, the hems falling right over her ankles, and a pair of low heels—yes, low heels, visibly no more than five centimeters. Her long hair was loosely tied in a low ponytail, and her makeup was light, just brows and a barely-there layer of lip gloss.

Ye Ying ran into her in the hallway and stared for a long while before recognizing her. "Sister Lu? Do you have... an open class today?"

"No. Just a normal day at work."

"Oh." Ye Ying looked her over twice more, her expression plainly saying—You dress like this for a normal day at work?

Lu Menge did not explain. Smiling, she passed Ye Ying with her ever-present thermos in hand. Truthfully, she could not quite explain why she had suddenly wanted to change styles today. Maybe last night's late-night snack had not fully digested yet, giving her a strange thought—since Wu Changkong thought her life was difficult, if she looked a little more proper, would he think his earlier judgment had been right? And if he thought he had been right, he would keep bringing her late-night snacks.

The logic was sound.

Naturally, she did not want to admit to that logic. She unscrewed her thermos, took a sip, and headed for the office. A Nine-Headed White Tiger changing her wardrobe to keep receiving human offerings—if that headline got out, Di Tian would plow the ground with his head in Star Dou Great Forest.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were already waiting on the field. It was the weekend, and Lu Menge had informed them yesterday—no classes today; they were going shopping.

"Good morning, Teacher Lu!" Tang Wulin shouted energetically. Then he got a clear look at what she was wearing, and his expression visibly blanked for a moment.

Lu Menge reached out and pinched his cheek. "What? Do you object to your teacher wearing pants?"

"N-no, no, no—" Tang Wulin frantically shook his head in her grip, his face twisted into all sorts of shapes as he mumbled, "I'm just not used to it..."

Lu Menge released him and turned to Gu Yue. Gu Yue wore the Silver Dragon King's standard expression of indifference today, standing three steps away with her arms folded. Her purple eyes swept over Lu Menge from head to toe, then from toe to head, before her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. Sharp. Too sharp. Nothing could be hidden from this child.

"Come on, let's go." Pretending not to notice Gu Yue's scrutiny, Lu Menge slung an arm over each child's shoulders.

Eastsea City's central shopping district was fairly crowded on weekends. Lu Menge led them into a large clothing store. A sales assistant came up eagerly, only to be sent off to attend to someone else with a single look from Lu Menge. Lu Menge pushed a shopping cart through the racks herself, moving with the practiced ease of a professional buyer.

"Wulin—this one, this one, and this one. Changing room." Lu Menge pulled three tops from the rack and tossed them into Tang Wulin's arms.

"Teacher Lu, I still have enough clothes—"

"Your T-shirts have all faded from washing, and their collars are looser than fishing nets." Lu Menge waved a hand. "Go."

Tang Wulin was shoved into the changing room carrying a pile of clothes. Lu Menge turned toward Gu Yue. Gu Yue stood before a row of plain-colored jackets, pinching the price tag of a light-gray coat between her fingers. It was a tiny movement—she had even deliberately shifted to block Lu Menge's line of sight. Lu Menge had seen plenty of such attempts to conceal one's feelings.

"If you like it, try it on." Lu Menge leaned against the rack behind her.

"I don't like it." Gu Yue withdrew her hand from the tag.

Lu Menge did not press the matter. Being stubborn would come back to bite her.

She picked out three or four sets of clothes and pants from the racks and stuffed them into Gu Yue's arms without discussion. The styling was simple: clean-cut, not flashy, suited to her silver hair and purple eyes. Gu Yue lowered her head to look at the clothes in her arms, her lips moving slightly.

"This one has subtle patterns on the cuffs. It's neither too plain nor too gaudy. It suits you." After saying that, Lu Menge pulled open the door to the neighboring changing room and pushed her inside as well.

Lu Menge sat down in the lounge area outside the changing rooms. Leaning back on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, thermos resting on her knee, she looked at her reflection in the mirror opposite her. Turtleneck sweater, long pants, low heels. She tilted her head, turned slightly, and looked at her back in the mirror.

Honestly, she rather liked the feeling of wearing loose clothes. The fur of a Nine-Headed White Tiger had been the highest-grade defense in ancient times—thick, warm, and impenetrable no matter how fierce the wind. She would never tell anyone, but the tight, tiny skirts humans had come up with over the past few decades had felt constricting every single time she wore them, even after ten thousand years. It was only because, as both a funny woman and a bad woman, she had grown accustomed to hiding those feelings beneath lazy smiles and flamboyant strides. Dressed like this today, she instead felt a long-lost sense of solidity.

"I'm—done—!" Tang Wulin's muffled voice came from the changing room, and the curtain was pulled aside.

The little guy had changed into a navy-blue hoodie with white accents and a pair of light-colored jeans. He looked several degrees more spirited, no longer hunching his neck, his shoulders spread open as well.

Lu Menge gave him a thumbs-up. "Looks good."

Tang Wulin scratched the back of his head sheepishly, then secretly flipped over the hoodie's price tag. His face went pale for a moment. Lu Menge brushed his hand away from the tag. "Your teacher's paying. Your job is to look handsome. This is a mission."

"But I..."

"This is a mission," she emphasized.

Tang Wulin fell silent. He had learned his second rule of survival: do not make Teacher Lu repeat herself.

At that moment, the door of the other changing room opened a crack. Lu Menge immediately caught the sound and got to her feet, walking over. Half of Gu Yue's face appeared through the gap, her purple eyes showing an extraordinarily serious expression as she made her final struggle.

"Gu Yue—"

"Wait."

"What's wrong?"

"...The sleeves are too long." That tone clearly had nothing to do with the sleeves.

Lu Menge leaned against the doorframe and lowered her voice. "Come out and let your teacher see."

Several seconds of silence passed. Then a hand reached out from inside and pulled aside the changing-room curtain.

Gu Yue stood at the entrance. The light-gray trench coat fell right to her knees, its subtle cuff patterns glimmering with faint silver threads beneath the lights. She had arranged the collar with meticulous precision, while the belt remained untied and hung loosely at her sides. She stood there in much the same posture as when she stood at the entrance of the Stone Palace—spine straight, chin slightly raised, arms already poised to fold across her chest—but the tips of her ears were red.

Lu Menge did not laugh. Not because it was not funny—but because she could not laugh right now. She crouched down, picked up the belt hanging at Gu Yue's sides, turned it over a few times with her fingers, and tied a simple bow.

"Pretty."

Gu Yue's ears turned even redder. This was not the embarrassed indignation of being spanked, but something else—softer, more defenseless. She had been hit before she even had time to resist.

Lu Menge stood and patted her shoulder. "Change out of it. We're buying it. I keep my word—I'm your sister, after all."

Gu Yue glared at her but did not argue.

While Gu Yue returned to the changing room to change back, Lu Menge went to the cashier to pay. She set the two piles of clothes on the counter and took out her teacher ID and credit card. As the cashier scanned the items, Lu Menge's gaze casually drifted over the small shelf beside the register—the scarf section. A dark-gray cashmere scarf lay quietly on the top shelf, without a single pattern, only a fine silver edge pressed along its border.

Lu Menge reached out, took down the scarf, and placed it on top of the clothes.

"Add this too."

She turned and glanced toward the changing rooms. The two children were still changing. No one had noticed what she bought. Very good.

The afternoon sunlight shone on her beige turtleneck, warming her from head to toe. She narrowed her foxlike eyes and suddenly felt that being a proper person once in a while was not bad. She had not worn a low-cut dress or stiletto heels, and no one had seen through whether she had come to buy clothes or to cover up her guilty conscience. She had indeed not directly answered Gu Yue's suspicions. But she had kept her promise, while also giving herself half a day off from being interrogated. That was enough.

By the time they left the mall, it was already afternoon. Warm sunlight spread across the pedestrian street. Lu Menge walked in front, now carrying an extra paper bag—the scarf was inside. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue followed behind her, each holding their new clothes.

"Gu Yue." Tang Wulin lowered his voice. "Don't you think Teacher Lu is a little different today?"

"She wore pants," Gu Yue said.

"No..." Tang Wulin whispered. "She just feels much more proper. Even her voice isn't as loud as before."

Gu Yue fell silent for a while. Then she said something that nearly made Tang Wulin drop the clothes in his arms.

"She might have met Wu Changkong last night."

"...Are you sure?" Tang Wulin awkwardly straightened out his tongue.

"At around nine last night," Gu Yue said, "there was a routine contact from Di Tian's side. He said he sensed an extremely faint residual trace of Soul Power in the direction of Eastsea Academy—the Heavenfrost Aura of the Heavenfrost Sword. He asked whether Senior Lu had fought Wu Changkong."

An image appeared in Tang Wulin's mind—nine at night, Wu Changkong and Lu Menge, a lone man and woman. First they drank milk tea and ate a late-night snack, then Teacher Wu softened and escorted Teacher Lu back to her dorm. "Maybe the Heavenfrost Aura was left behind because he walked her back..." Tang Wulin said blankly.

Gu Yue did not respond. She recalled another strange detail from late last night—after reading Di Tian's secret message, she had been preparing to rest when she suddenly sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of tiger soul energy from Lu Menge's room. It had been brief, like a growl suppressed to its lowest possible level. She had not thought much of it at the time, assuming Lu Menge was cultivating. But now that she thought about it, had that not been within minutes of the Heavenfrost Aura appearing?

"She hides herself deeply around him," Gu Yue said.

Tang Wulin was confused again. "Why hide?"

"Do you think someone with absolutely no combat ability would be nervous when facing the Heavenfrost Sword?"

Tang Wulin hesitated, then nodded.

"Then that's it." Gu Yue's tone did not change, but the meaning of her words had already exploded in both their hearts. "She's pretending around him. Pretending to be weak, pretending to be pitiful."

Tang Wulin opened his mouth, wanting to say that was impossible, but swallowed the words before they came out. Because as he followed Gu Yue's reasoning, he realized something—if someone like Teacher Wu really developed a protective instinct toward a woman with "no combat ability," that instinct would be strong enough to water every flowerbed in Eastsea Academy.

"So how long does Teacher Lu plan to keep pretending?" Tang Wulin asked softly.

Gu Yue carried her newly bought coat and looked at the figure ahead in beige sweater and long pants. The sharpness in her purple eyes faded, replaced by a trace of helplessness that could almost be called gentle.

"Until Wu Changkong learns how to take care of people."

Tang Wulin was silent for a while, then said something that made Gu Yue pause for half a second.

"What if Teacher Wu feels like he was deceived?"

Gu Yue did not answer. Up ahead, Lu Menge suddenly stopped, turned around, tilted her head, and called to them, "What are you two whispering about? Hurry up, I'm hungry—hotpot for lunch."

Tang Wulin hurriedly tucked away his thoughts, hugged his bag of clothes, and caught up at a brisk pace. Gu Yue walked last. The wind lifted her silver hair, hiding her expression. But her gaze remained fixed on Lu Menge's back. That woman concealed her strength, her identity, everything—except when she was enjoying being cared for, she could not hide it very well.

"Hotpot—spicy broth or clear broth?" Lu Menge asked over her shoulder.

"Spicy," Gu Yue said.

"Clear," Tang Wulin said.

Lu Menge wore an expression that said, I knew you two wouldn't agree, then announced, "Split pot. I'm treating after the discount. Gu Yue can eat more."

She walked ahead, holding one child's hand in each of hers. When they passed a milk tea shop, her steps quietly slowed by half a beat. Her gaze brushed over the words "Signature Pearl Milk Tea," and her lips curved slightly before she continued walking without changing expression. Next time, she would treat him, using this week's salary.