A Moment of Peace in the Evening

Lin Yan felt a sudden tightening in his chest.

His usually calm and steady expression froze in an instant.

"Rongrong!"

"Have... have you been at the door the whole time?"

Seeing Lin Yan, Ning Rongrong looked somewhat surprised and broke into a sweet smile.

"Yeah, I've been waiting at your door for ages! Were you taking a bath just now? I heard the sound of water."

At that moment, Lin Yan's expression was extremely unnatural.

It was not really that he was bad at hiding things, but rather that he was unsure whether Ning Rongrong had heard his conversation with Zhu Zhuqing.

Surely not! Surely... not.

Lin Yan laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, haha~ Your ears are pretty sharp."

"So? How was your rest this afternoon?"

With those words, the tables turned, and a flash of guilt crossed the young woman's eyes.

Hehe~ I just went to sleep clutching the feather you gave me, it was beyond comfortable.

"Well, just ask me for it again when you're done."

At that moment, the two of them each harbored their own hidden agendas, dodging each other's eyes to varying degrees, making the atmosphere terribly awkward.

It was not until Ning Rongrong peered into the room once more that Lin Yan finally spoke.

"Let's go, head to the playground to get the barbecue ready."

"Oh, right! By the way, how did your hair dry so fast? There's not a single trace of a bath."

Soon, the two of them arrived at the playground.

Except for Yu Xiaogang, Tang San, and Zhu Zhuqing who had just jumped out of the window and fled, everyone else in the academy was gathered around a newly lit pile of charcoal.

Looking around, Ma Hongjun was the first to spot Lin Yan. "You're finally here, good brother. We were just waiting for you!"

Lin Yan nodded gently with a smile, then turned his gaze toward Zhao Wuji.

"Teacher Zhao, thanks for what happened earlier."

"As a reward, I'll definitely save you a hind leg when the meat is roasted later."

Hearing this, Zhao Wuji gave a helpless shake of his head.

"Sigh~"

"You kid are just too kind-hearted."

Clearly, Zhao Wuji still felt frustrated by Lin Yan's good temper, and was annoyed that Tang San and Yu Xiaogang had not met with a more severe retribution.

"Look at you. People ride all over your face and you still don't get angry. How are you going to survive on the mainland in the future?"

"Against people like Tang San and Yu Xiaogang, you should just beat them into submission! Beat them until they're terrified the moment they see you, until they don't dare raise their heads, you—"

At that point, Zhao Wuji suddenly remembered that Lin Yan was a Healing Soul Master.

Looking at the clean profile before him that always maintained a smile, he suddenly realized... perhaps Lin Yan did not want to maintain a good temper, but rather lacked the ability to direct his anger at those with combat prowess.

For a moment, Zhao Wuji associated Lin Yan with all sorts of humiliating feelings of "living under someone else's roof" and "having anger he dared not vent."

"Forget it, let's not talk about this! Anyway, with me around for as long as I live, anyone who dares bully you has to get past me first."

Zhao Wuji grudgingly shut his mouth and stopped talking, turning instead to poke at the charcoal fire on his own.

Seeing this, Lin Yan felt a warm glow in his heart!

He saw right through Zhao Wuji's hesitation. He had not expected that the most reckless and crude brute in Shrek would also be the most passionate of men, which genuinely moved him.

It turned out that supporting the man in the Star Dou Great Forest had not been a waste of time.

As for those "humiliating" thoughts the man had conjured up...

Heh~

He, Lin Yan, was certainly not the type to quietly swallow a loss after someone rode roughshod over him!

When Tang San first enrolled and simply stiffened his neck to argue with Lin Yan a few times, the Twenty Bridges Moonlit Night, along with all the assets inside it, had ended up right in Lin Yan's pocket.

This time... he had to hit that master and disciple with something even harsher!

Before long, Lin Yan finished processing the carcass of the Light Shadow Panther and mounted the entire thing over the fire.

Watching Lin Yan brush it all over with honey-glazed seasoning, Ma Hongjun swallowed continuously.

"Lin Yan, Lin Yan! I've been longing for this bite of yours for ages. It wouldn't be too much to save me a hind leg, right!"

He was yet another person who disrespected Lin Yan and disregarded Lin Yan's feelings.

Ma Hongjun had not even considered that the Light Shadow Panther was brought back by Lin Yan and roasted by Lin Yan, and that Lin Yan had not even invited him in the first place, yet he had directly booked the most crucial part of the soul beast.

Lin Yan chuckled. "That won't do. There are only two hind legs in total. One goes to Teacher Zhao as a thank you, and the other is for Rongrong."

"Ah?" Ma Hongjun wore a bitter expression upon hearing this. "Then... then I want a front leg!"

"Get lost, the front leg is mine."

Dai Mubai suddenly slapped the back of Ma Hongjun's neck from behind, his eyes filled with dominance.

Ma Hongjun: "You can claim two all by yourself?"

Dai Mubai: "What's wrong with me saving the other one for Zhuqing?"

The two bickered and argued, completely unconcerned with whatever portion Lin Yan might end up with.

The sun set in the west, and twilight descended.

In the night devoid of natural light, everyone's cheeks were reflected in a rosy hue by the firelight.

Soon, the aroma of the roasted meat gradually drifted out, the sweet richness of the honey and the spicy kick of the chili making everyone present salivate and swallow continuously.

The moment Lin Yan stood up and announced that everyone could dig in, everyone swarmed forward at once.

The massive Light Shadow Panther began to be carved up by the group—hind legs, front legs, ribs...

In the end, Ma Hongjun barely managed to get a few ribs, but despite that, his mouth was still covered in grease. While blowing on the roasted meat to cool it down with intermittent puffs of air, he mumbled indistinctly.

"Gosh! So delicious! One bite of this and I could take on ten!"

Ning Rongrong also widened her beautiful eyes.

"Wow~ Lin Yan, I had no idea your cooking skills were so good!"

"Needless to say, Lin Yan's cooking is even better than the master chefs in the city. You'll be blessed if you become his girlfriend!"

Speaking one after another, the crowd showered Lin Yan with endless praise while their mouths kept chewing.

Against the backdrop of the bonfire, the scene was cheerful and harmonious.

Only Flender... he remained as glum as if he had something on his mind.

Just as Lin Yan was accepting a feeding from Ning Rongrong, Flender came over to his side.

"Lin Yan, can the Dean discuss something with you?"

Lin Yan was chatting and smiling sweetly with Ning Rongrong at the moment, but upon seeing Flender arrive, he shifted his gaze toward him.

"What is it, Dean?"

With an awkward expression, Flender hesitated several times before speaking with extreme reluctance.

"It's just..."

"I want to ask you to forgive Grandmaster and Xiao San for what happened, and let this matter go."

"I know this is a bit unfair to you, but..."

Flender's words hung in mid-air; whether he did not know what to say next or found the content too hard to voice remained unclear.

However, Lin Yan quickly sorted out his thoughts, gradually fading the sweetness from his smile.

"But you don't really have any other options either, right?"

"Even though you know it's unfair to me, you still want me to forgive them?"

At those words, Flender's aged face instantly turned exceptionally ugly.

He said nothing for a long time, which clearly amounted to tacit agreement.

With a cold chuckle in his heart at the sight, Lin Yan bit down on the piece of meat Ning Rongrong had handed him and said.

"There's no need for that."

"Even though we're in the same academy, I'm just a Healing Soul Master and won't have any intersection with them. What difference does it make whether I forgive them or not?"