Pervert

"Yu Tong, you have twin martial souls, don't you?"

"Huh?"

Huo Yutong froze.

"How did you figure that out?"

Huo Yutong, whose knowledge of Soul Masters fell short even of her knowledge of soul beasts, looked astonished.

She couldn't imagine how she'd given herself away.

"Your hair color. It's your hair color."

Xiao Xiao held out a finger and gently wound a lock of cool, silky hair around it.

"Ice white."

"Generally speaking, hardly anyone has hair that color unless it's because of their martial soul."

"Only Soul Masters with ice or water attributes have blue or white hair, and a blend of both colors like yours almost never occurs naturally."

As for why it was only almost...

Young Lady Tang: Yes, why indeed?

Huo Yutong understood.

When she had introduced her martial soul earlier, she'd named her mental-type Spirit Eyes, and an eye martial soul obviously wouldn't change her hair color.

Xiao Xiao continued.

"And you're way too strong."

"A mental-type Soul Master shouldn't have that kind of strength."

"Honestly, if I'd thought of that sooner, I never would've tried to tickle you..."

"Uh..."

Remembering how easily she'd picked Xiao Xiao up just now, Huo Yutong blinked.

"So have a lot of people guessed that I have twin martial souls?"

"Probably not."

Xiao Xiao sat up.

"I'd guess only some of the teachers have figured it out? Like Mr. Wang Yan. I heard before that he's an expert in martial soul research."

"He probably guessed."

"As for everyone else, I don't know."

The petite girl spread her hands. "After all, I only just put the pieces together myself."

"As for why I brought it up..."

Xiao Xiao fell silent for a moment. Then she opened her hands, and two different lights shone in her palms.

A small cauldron and a jade flute appeared simultaneously.

"Because I have twin martial souls too!"

"Besides the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, I also have the Nine-Phoenix Ceremonial Flute as my second martial soul."

"The Nine-Phoenix Ceremonial Flute..."

Huo Yutong studied the little emerald-green flute with curiosity.

"You know, Yu Tong, unlike you, who never showed your second martial soul, I told Ms. Zhou I had one not long after enrolling."

"At first, Ms. Zhou was pretty happy."

Disappointment mingled with lingering fear in Xiao Xiao's voice.

"But after she learned that the other classes had Soul Elders, while the strongest students in our class were only Soul Grandmasters, Ms. Zhou Yi started acting a little strange."

"She started calling me in for talks all the time."

"She said that as a student of Class One, as her student, I ought to work hard for Class One's glory."

"She never said it outright, but everything she said hinted that she wanted me to add soul rings to my second martial soul early, to prepare for the upcoming Freshman Assessment."

"That's going way too far!"

For once, anger flared in Huo Yutong's eyes over someone other than the people of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

She wasn't the clueless novice she'd once been. El had long since told her how to cultivate a second martial soul and add soul rings to it.

Under normal circumstances, a second martial soul should receive nine ten-thousand-year soul rings at the very least!

Yet Zhou Yi actually wanted Xiao Xiao to add a hundred-year soul ring to her second martial soul, all for first place in some so-called Freshman Assessment!

"El was right!"

"Someone like that doesn't deserve to be a teacher!"

Xiao Xiao had twin martial souls!

With her talent, Shrek Academy would still devote its full resources to nurturing her even if she didn't win the championship.

So Zhou Yi hadn't been acting for her student's sake at all. She simply wanted to use "the Freshman Assessment champion is in Class One" to secure benefits for herself!

"If El hadn't shown up, maybe I'd already have added a hundred-year soul ring to the Nine-Phoenix Ceremonial Flute by now?"

Xiao Xiao looked at Huo Yutong, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"So I'm really grateful to El, and I really like him."

"Being grateful is fine. Liking him isn't!"

Little Miss Huo, who had just been standing united with Xiao Xiao against their common enemy, instantly switched targets.

"Oh, I was just saying."

"Did you have to react like that?!"

Xiao Xiao poked Huo Yutong's smooth forehead in exasperation.

Seeing her dear roommate swing her guns around so abruptly nearly made Xiao Xiao laugh with irritation.

Was she really that protective of her food?

"We're close sisters sharing a dorm room! How could I steal your man?"

Xiao Xiao patted her chest in assurance.

Such loyalty!

"Hmph, hmph..."

Huo Yutong said nothing, merely giving Xiao Xiao a look and leaving her to interpret it.

Close sisters... huh?

Lying back down on her bed, Huo Yutong's lips curled slightly where no one could see.

I've made another friend, Mom.

The world outside is completely different from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion...

"You! Hello, El."

After the afternoon classes ended, Young Master Wang hurried back to the dormitory.

The sun had been scorching today, and class had been held in the Soul Fighting Arena, leaving her drenched in sweat.

Her clothes were sticky, her collar clung to the back of her neck, and her back felt terribly uncomfortable too.

She wanted to return to her room and bathe!

However, when Wang Dong pushed open the dorm room door, he discovered a stranger had appeared inside!

Who dared trespass on Young Master Wang's territory?!

Although she knew that the person inside was most likely the roommate assigned to her by the academy, still...

She really was only suited to a single room!

She had to drive this person out!

Wang Dong's anger emboldened him. He planned to intimidate the other person by seizing the initiative, then use threats and incentives to make him change rooms.

If all else failed, she could just fight him!

Unfortunately, with her head muddled by the sun and bathing the only thing on her mind, she hadn't realized.

Who, out of the entire freshman year, would be moving into the boys' dormitory right now?

Not until those crimson eyes entered her field of vision.

"You!"

Wang Dong'er forcibly swallowed the rest of her "friendly" greeting.

She froze in place.

After a brief pause, her greeting picked up seamlessly where she'd left off:

"Hello there, El."

Holy shit!

Why is it him?!

Although Wang Dong wore a stiff but reasonably polite smile, inwardly he was on the verge of becoming the twisted figure in the famous painting The Scream.

I can't beat him. No matter how I look at it, I can't beat him!

"Hello to you too, Wang Dong."

The boy sitting on the bed nodded to her in greeting.

El wore his usual smile, which looked a little flippant and lazy.

But to Wang Dong, that smile looked ill-intentioned no matter how he viewed it.

"Starting today, we're roommates. I look forward to getting along."

"Ah..."

For a moment, like a kitty whose processing thread had frozen, Wang Dong didn't know what to do.

What am I supposed to do now...?

Compared with her standing helplessly outside the door, El, who was inside the room, was much more proactive.

So no laying down rules the moment you walk in, like in the original story...

A hint of curiosity appeared on El's face.

"Why aren't you coming in?"

"I..."

"Look at you, you're covered in sweat. Why don't you go take a bath?"

I'd like to! But the public bathroom is full of people right now!

"Um, El, could we discuss something?"

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Dong spoke cautiously.

"Could you leave the room for a little while? I want to bathe in here."

To Wang Dong's surprise, the boy before him, who had just beaten a teacher into the Infirmary, proved unexpectedly easy to talk to.

"Oh."

El nodded, looked her up and down a few times, and spoke with understanding.

"You should've said so earlier."

"Why keep standing in the doorway?"

With that, he stood up and left the room.

"I'll leave the room to you for now. Remember to clean up the water and everything when you're done."

"Phew..."

Only after seeing him leave did Wang Dong pat his chest and breathe a sigh of relief.

I was scaring myself.

I thought that vicious classmate would swallow me alive and skin me whole...

Turns out he's so easygoing.

He didn't even ask any questions.

"Oh, right."

The head that suddenly appeared beside the doorframe sent Wang Dong's newly settled heart leaping again.

"If you're worried about being seen, the proper thing to do is apply to move into the girls' dormitory."

"Not ask your perfectly normal roommate to hide outside."

"You cross-dressing pervert who moved into the boys' dormitory-Wang Dong."

El's next words made Wang Dong'er blow up completely.

Steam rose from the forehead of the girl who had turned into a steam engine. With no time to prepare herself, Wang Dong'er completely lost her composure when her true identity was suddenly exposed.

"Wh-wh-what do you mean?!!"

"What do you mean, cross-dressing pervert?!!"