Someone once said, "Life is a kind of rhythm; it needs light and shadow, left and right, sun and rain. Its flavor lies in those twists and turns that change without becoming violent." But Zheng Qing had never imagined that life's twists and turns could be so full of "rhythm."
Doggy was a peeping tom. That had always been his impression.
But Doggy was also a good dog, a helper who could catch frogs and ducks for him. The young government-sponsored student had just confirmed that tonight.
This identity, blending light and shadow, was like those gray-robed school workers at the academy—impossible to fully figure out.
Dormitory 403, which had only recently fallen asleep, woke once more amid the racket of a duck.
The lights came on.
The three male wizards squatted in the open space at the center of the dormitory, staring wordlessly at the duck crouching on the floor between them for a long while. Farfetch'd tucked in its neck and crouched on the floor, its small eyes blinking frantically as its cries grew softer and softer.
The academy's animals were all highly perceptive. They could tell which beings threatened them and which did not. When Doggy had just been running around with its neck in his jaws, Farfetch'd had clearly felt death descending upon it. But once it was surrounded by the three young wizards, that shadow of death clinging to it like bone-deep rot abruptly vanished.
Farfetch'd felt that it could still live.
So its cries became much more calm and measured. This change also earned it the favor of Dormitory 403's other residents. The fat cat had originally been irritated by the duck's noise and had glared maliciously at its plump, tender neck. Only when the duck's cries softened did the fat cat's gaze become