After leaving Qingqiu Mansion, Zheng Qing had felt somewhat groggy all along.
So much so that he had nearly forgotten about his practical class that afternoon.
The entire afternoon, everything he did carried an awkward sense of being out of control, like someone walking with the wrong foot forward. During practical class, he turned the simplest "Ge Zhi Tan Xi" into "Ge Zhi Tan Yi" while chanting, and the vines he summoned were as limp as cooked noodles, leaving more than half the class doubled over with laughter.
Of course, his dazed state also drew quite a few scrutinizing and suspicious looks.
It was not until that evening, when he lay in bed and tucked the Nightmare Doll beneath his pillow, that the young scholarship student felt as though he had found certain "anchors" in life again, steadying his understanding of the world.
The brief "clothes shopping" trip had given the young wizard an enormous shock.
Before that, he had been fairly confident in his wallet, which was not particularly full but still carried some weight. He had thought that although he could not compare with certain deeply rooted Wizarding Families, it ought to have been enough for him to live respectably in the Wizarding World.
Then reality viciously yanked his ear and roared in his face what true "respectability" looked like.
"All right, no outsiders now."
The moment Fatty Xin returned to the dorm that evening, he impatiently grabbed the young scholarship student by the collar, waggled his eyebrows, and pressed, "What did you do with Councilwoman Su at noon?"
Zheng Qing froze at the question.
If he remembered correctly, he had answered that question more than once today. Nearly everyone in the class, including Xin, had heard his answer.
"Bought clothes?" The boy struggled vaguely.
"I want the