Guard against fire, thieves, and Xiaotao

As a fish-belly white spread across the horizon, Ling Luochen stretched and slowly woke.

As her awareness returned, the memory of inviting Huo Yuhao to join her last night flooded her mind.

Ling Luochen instinctively reached out to feel beside her. It was empty, without the slightest warmth.

No one?

Her heart jolted, and she woke completely, sitting up and looking around blankly.

Wait... this spot seemed to be Huo Yuhao's.

With a boom, scorching embarrassment swept through her. She had clearly put a stuffed toy between them.

Looking again, she discovered that last night's stuffed toy was now lying on the floor.

Then hadn't she squeezed Yuhao out?

Her embarrassment went through the roof. With a soft whimper, Ling Luochen plunged into the soft pillow, clutching it tightly with both hands to cover her entire face and burying herself firmly in it.

"I'm done for... this is so embarrassing..."

Her cool, dignified image had shattered completely.

"It smells so nice."

To Ling Luochen's surprise, the scent on the pillow was not entirely hers. The fresh fragrance of ice and snow from Huo Yuhao still lingered on it.

"..."

As though reluctant to part with that reassuring trace of scent, Ling Luochen tilted her head and gently rubbed her cheek against the pillow again.

Once, twice...

"Sister Luochеn..."

Huo Yuhao's calm voice suddenly came from the doorway. Ling Luochen shuddered, then instantly went rigid, remaining motionless with her cheek pressed to the pillow.

She had never imagined that she would become so absorbed that she completely missed Huo Yuhao's footsteps-and let him see her doing this.

For a moment, the bedroom was so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.

With her face buried in the pillow, scarlet spread from Ling Luochen's ears down to her neck. She did not want to move at all, only hoping he would think she had not gotten up yet.

Huo Yuhao stood outside the door, still holding a cup of brown sugar water. He had only been worried that Sister Luochеn might feel weak after waking, never expecting to encounter this scene.

After his mind raced, Huo Yuhao spoke again to ease the awkwardness. "Sister Luochеn? Are you awake?"

When Ling Luochen did not respond, Huo Yuhao turned and quickly left.

Only after the footsteps gradually faded did Ling Luochen abruptly raise her head and draw a deep breath, trying to calm her wildly pounding heart.

"Yuhao, your cooking is so delicious!"

By the time Ling Luochen came out, Huo Yuhao had finished making breakfast. It tasted countless times better than the cafeteria food.

I really want to keep Little Yuhao by my side forever-wait, this possessiveness... Ling Luochen immediately set down her chopsticks and looked solemnly at Huo Yuhao.

Startled by Ling Luochen's behavior, Huo Yuhao asked curiously, "S-Senior?"

"Yuhao, from now on, you absolutely have to watch out for a woman named Ma Xiaotao!"

As a Soul Master with an ice-type martial soul, she had naturally been brought in by the academy to suppress Ma Xiaotao's evil fire. Although their levels and martial soul quality differed only slightly, she had still found it somewhat too much to handle.

If Huo Yuhao exposed his ultimate ice and that woman discovered it... the consequences would be unthinkable!

Huo Yuhao looked puzzled. "Ma Xiaotao? Is she a Shrek student too?"

"That's right. And listen to what I have to tell you."

Next, Ling Luochen embellished Ma Xiaotao's deeds, listing them one by one.

She had a bad temper, bullied younger students every day, insulted the elderly, put itching powder in people's shoes, showed teachers no respect, never knew how to pull her punches, had someone backing her, and, in one particularly serious incident, had nearly burned down the Golden Tree...

"In short, stay as far away as you can whenever you encounter that crazy woman, Ma Xiaotao!"

Looking at Ling Luochen's serious face, Huo Yuhao could not help nodding.

Huo Yuhao arrived at the entrance to a white building. Hmm, this dormitory looked pretty nice from outside too.

An old man wearing a hood and grayish-white hemp clothing was reclining in a chair by the entrance. His eyelids drooped, and he looked like a candle guttering in the wind, comfortably basking in the sunlight.

Huo Yuhao approached and said respectfully, "Hello, Grandpa. Do I need my freshman badge to move into the dormitory?"

Without raising his head, the old man held out his right hand. "Let me see your badge and dormitory key."

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao handed them straight over.

The old man took them but seemed not to look before handing them back.

"It's the third room on the left on the first floor. The third and fourth floors are the girls' dormitories. You mustn't go up there."

"Thank you."

Huo Yuhao nodded and thanked him again before heading into the dormitory building.

"Polite, and exceptionally gifted too. This year's students really are quite good."

Mu En usually enjoyed lying outside the freshmen's dormitory and observing. He had discovered several Soul Elders among this year's students, as well as several with twin martial souls.

The boy just now possessed talent that far surpassed the others.

Shrek really was flourishing with each passing day!

Suddenly, he remembered the incident involving Xuan Zi, and anger rose in his heart again.

He could hardly be blamed for some losses against a stronger ferocious beast, but to make such a mess over a single hundred-thousand-year Blood Moon Wolf King-how did he have the nerve?

Xuan Zi had resigned from all his positions since returning, but he was still a Level 98 Super Douluo, after all. Besides, with Mu En's own mobility limited, he could not simply be left to roam free.

So Yan Shaozhe had spent the past few days trying to persuade him to return. It really left Mu En feeling powerless.

Right, that boy seemed to share a dormitory with the one from the Clear Sky Sect... forget it. Since the Clear Sky Sect had arranged it that way themselves, he would respect their wishes.

The moment Huo Yuhao pushed the door open and entered, he saw a snow-white back.

The other person's narrow but rounded shoulders led downward into the gentle curves of a waist. Droplets of water trickled over fair skin, making it look even more crystalline and translucent.

"..."

Had he entered the wrong room?

Huo Yuhao closed the door and checked the room number, 108, at the entrance. After confirming it repeatedly, he opened the door again.

Inside, Wang Dong had changed in an instant, but her ears were already crimson with embarrassment. Of all the times he could have arrived, why did it have to be now!

Her watery eyes glared at Huo Yuhao, her clear, boyish voice tinged with anger. "Y-you, why did you come in without knocking!"

Hearing that voice left Huo Yuhao utterly baffled. Finding this inexplicable, he asked directly, "Are you a girl?"

"I-I'm in the boys' dormitory. How could I be a girl?"

"There you go, then. What are you getting embarrassed about?"

At those words, Wang Dong froze.

R-right, we're both boys... but that wasn't the same thing at all!

Embarrassment mingled with frustration welled up in Wang Dong's heart. She studied the boy before her: tousled blue-and-white hair, large ice-blue eyes, fair skin... You know, he could give the great me a run for my money. He was pretty cute, too.

The longer Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao, the more adorable she found him, and she could not help wanting to tease him a little.

"Forget it. I'll forgive your rudeness this once, but listen carefully to what comes next."

"First, you're not allowed to bring people back to the dormitory whenever you please. Second, you're not allowed to go naked in the dormitory. Third, no snoring at night. Fourth, don't disturb me."

"Fifth, I cleaned the dormitory when I arrived, and I made your bed for you too, so from now on, cleaning the dormitory is your responsibility."