Nana, the Douluo Series' Leading Heroine, Arrives (Please Keep Reading, Everyone)

(A quick gripe: this really is hard to swallow. In the original, the author put Dong Qianqiu in first-year Class One this semester, when she was clearly supposed to be a second-year student [matching the period when Lan Xuanyu was attacked by the Three-Eyed Demon Ape]. After all, he later wrote that Dong Qianqiu was a little older than Lan Xuanyu. It made absolutely no sense for her not to be in second year. Who had two rings in the first semester of first year? Written that way, Dong Qianqiu would actually be a year younger than Lan Xuanyu.)

School had started, and the school gates were bustling again.

By the time Ye Zhiqiu arrived at the classroom, more than half the class was already there. Most of the students were still basking in the lingering glow of summer vacation, chatting in little clusters about where they had gone, what delicious things they had eaten, and how many levels their soul power had risen.

Ye Zhiqiu went to his usual window seat in the back row, dropped his schoolbag onto the desk, and leaned against the back of his chair with a yawn.

The seat beside him was empty. A few minutes later, Dong Qianqiu arrived too. As she pushed open the classroom door and walked in, her dark blue ponytail swayed behind her shoulders.

She glanced around the classroom, her gaze pausing on the window seats in the back row, then walked over at an unhurried pace and sat down beside Ye Zhiqiu.

"Our first lesson today is Ancient Martial Arts," Dong Qianqiu said as she set down her schoolbag.

"Yeah, in the Gymnasium," Ye Zhiqiu said.

"You don't seem curious at all about what the teacher looks like."

"What's there to be curious about?" Ye Zhiqiu replied casually. I can't exactly say I already know she's a stunning beauty with silver hair and purple eyes.

Dong Qianqiu glanced at him and asked no more.

Before the bell rang for the first morning lesson, their deputy homeroom teacher, Liu You, entered the classroom. "Ancient Martial Arts will be held in the Gymnasium. Head over now."

The thirty-one students straggled to their feet and headed toward the Gymnasium.

The Gymnasium was not far from the classroom building. They only had to cross a path lined with phoenix trees to reach it.

The interior was spacious, with dark, soft flooring underfoot and several rows of windows along the surrounding walls.

The students took their assigned places in three rows at the center of the floor.

Ye Zhiqiu stood at the edge of the back row, both hands in his pockets.

Just then, the door opened.

Someone dressed in a pale blue teacher's uniform walked in.

Her long silver hair was woven into a French braid that hung down her back, its end resting beside her waist.

Her skin was so fair it was almost translucent. In the sunlight, the veins on the backs of her hands were faintly visible.

Her purple eyes were clear enough to reflect every face before her. As her gaze swept across the room, even the air in the Gymnasium seemed to fall silent for a moment.

All thirty-one second-year students held their breath.

Even a few of the boys who were usually the most boisterous stood with their mouths hanging open, forgetting to close them.

"The teacher's so pretty," a little girl with pigtails in the front row murmured.

"Yeah, she's so pretty," someone beside her immediately agreed.

Quiet murmurs spread outward like ripples. The children's eyes sparkled, their gazes glued to the silver-haired teacher, unable to look away.

Ye Zhiqiu stood in the back row with his hands in his pockets, watching her. His face was not filled with amazement like his classmates', but he did not deliberately avert his eyes either.

He had seen illustrations of Nana and read the descriptions of her in the original novel. With silver hair, purple eyes, and god-tier beauty, she was someone people could not tear their eyes away from, no matter the setting.

But reading a description was one thing. Seeing her in person was another.

He had to admit that she looked far more beautiful in person than in the illustrations.

She truly deserved to be called the most beautiful woman in the Douluo series—excluding Lan Xuanyu dressed as a girl, of course.

Nana came to a stop in front of the rows, her gaze slowly passing over the thirty-one students.

Strangely enough, wherever her gaze landed, the children who had still been murmuring naturally quieted down, as though something had gently pressed their shoulders. One by one, they focused their attention on her.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Nana." Her voice was not loud, but every word reached their ears with perfect clarity.

"From today onward, I'll be your Ancient Martial Arts teacher."

"Hello, Teacher!" the children called out almost in unison, surprising even themselves with how perfectly they had synchronized.

Nana nodded slightly, her calm gaze sweeping over them one by one, starting with the first row.

Ye Zhiqiu noticed that her gaze lingered only briefly on each face, until she reached the back row.

It stopped.

Yes, she was looking at Dong Qianqiu.

Dong Qianqiu stood beside Ye Zhiqiu, her long dark blue hair tied into a ponytail that hung beside her shoulder. Her white-and-blue short-sleeved school uniform was perfectly neat, and she stood straight.

Her skin was fair too, but unlike Nana's luminous, crystalline fairness, hers had a cooler tone, like moonlight spilling over the sea.

Her dark blue eyes met Nana's purple ones.

Nana felt a sense of familiarity toward this little girl. Unlike the deeply affectionate familiarity she felt with Lan Xuanyu, this was a familiarity born of birds of a feather flocking together.

Dong Qianqiu grew slightly uncomfortable under that gaze and instinctively drew her foot back a little, but she did not turn away.

Nana looked at her for about two and a half seconds, then left the front of the group, passed through the aisle between two rows of students, and walked straight up to Dong Qianqiu.

The children around them froze, their gazes following Nana's retreating back.

"What's your name?" Nana lowered her head and asked softly.

Dong Qianqiu blinked. Facing this impossibly beautiful teacher, she felt inexplicably tense, but she still answered in a clear, bright voice.

"Hello, Teacher. My name is Dong Qianqiu."

"Dong Qianqiu..." Nana repeated her name, then asked, "How old are you?"

"Almost seven."

Nana nodded, then raised her right hand and reached toward the top of Dong Qianqiu's head.

Dong Qianqiu instinctively hopped half a step backward, moving quickly to avoid that hand.

But Nana's hand followed her like a shadow. The half step Dong Qianqiu had retreated seemed not to exist before her, and her palm continued descending toward the girl's head at the same unhurried pace.

Just then, a figure stepped in from behind and to the side, positioning himself squarely in front of Dong Qianqiu.

It was none other than Ye Zhiqiu, one half of the Twin Autumn Duo.

He had placed himself just right, standing directly in front of Dong Qianqiu without touching Nana. He looked at the silver-haired teacher with a cheerful smile.

"Qianqiu, it's fine to let the teacher pat your head." Without turning around, he addressed Dong Qianqiu behind him in a casual tone, then continued, "She won't do anything to you. Don't worry."

Dong Qianqiu paused. Looking at the back of Ye Zhiqiu's head, she relaxed her tense shoulders a little. She said nothing, but she did not try to dodge again.

Nana's hand paused in midair.

Her gaze shifted from Dong Qianqiu to the little boy who had suddenly appeared before her.

Black hair, well-formed features, fair skin, and a smile at the corners of his mouth. He looked quite well-behaved and handsome too, but what lay hidden in his eyes did not quite belong to a child his age.

Nana looked at him for two seconds, then continued lowering her hand, reaching past Ye Zhiqiu's side to rest it gently on Dong Qianqiu's head.

Dong Qianqiu's whole body stiffened. For an instant, everything around her seemed unreal—the light in the Gymnasium, her classmates' gazes, the sounds in the air—all of it seemed separated from her by a curtain of water.

But the sensation vanished as quickly as it had come, fading after only a second or two.

Nana gently stroked her head, then withdrew her hand.

"I understand now."

Then she turned and walked back to the front of the group at an unhurried pace, as though nothing had happened.

Dong Qianqiu remained where she was. She opened her mouth to say something, then swallowed the words.

She turned her head to glance at Ye Zhiqiu and asked quietly, "What did she understand?"

Ye Zhiqiu had already returned to his place and slipped both hands back into his pockets. At her question, he shrugged and smiled. "Maybe she realized your hair feels nice."

Dong Qianqiu glared at him, but she failed to keep the corners of her mouth still. They curved upward briefly before she pressed them down again.

Standing at the front, Nana swept her gaze over the class once more.

"Today, our Ancient Martial Arts lessons officially begin." Her voice returned to its calm, even tone, carrying little emotion, yet every word was perfectly clear.

"Ancient Martial Arts teaches some of the combat methods and techniques used by Soul Masters in ancient times. Since they concern combat, they are meant for practical use. Therefore, from beginning to end, our Ancient Martial Arts course will prioritize actual combat."