"What nonsense are you talking about, child!"
After a light cough, Zhang Lexuan forcibly suppressed the blush on her cheeks with her Soul Power. She tipped her chin toward the dormitory building just ahead, then gave Xue Chen a mildly reproachful look.
"We're already here. Hurry up and let go!"
"Oh!"
Xue Chen nodded, then slowly disentangled his fingers from Zhang Lexuan's, one finger at a time, as though drawing out sticky threads.
A cool breeze slipped into the gap between their separating palms, bringing a trace of coolness to the sticky warmth within and actually making Zhang Lexuan shiver.
Zhang Lexuan had never imagined that merely interlocking fingers could give her such a wondrous, comfortable feeling.
Even her displeasure at seeing Bei Bei and Tang Ya together earlier had vanished completely.
Looking at Xue Chen's hand, which had now completely released hers, Zhang Lexuan actually felt a powerful trace of reluctance rise in her heart.
Xue Chen brought his palm beneath his nose and sniffed lightly, a somewhat intoxicated expression appearing on his face.
"Even your sweat smells sweet, Sister Xue!"
"You... you..."
This time, even Soul Douluo-level Soul Power could not suppress the blush on Zhang Lexuan's face.
A delicate pink began appearing along Zhang Lexuan's alluring collarbones and spread to her face with astonishing speed.
This famously innocent eldest senior sister of the Inner Court was practically a steam princess at that moment.
"From now on... from now on... from now on, you mustn't say things like that to girls!"
Before Xue Chen could properly admire Zhang Lexuan's bashful appearance, she had already turned into a streak of silver light and disappeared, leaving only her voice ringing beside his ears.
"Eldest senior sister... you're really adorable!"
Xue Chen stood there for a moment, then suddenly smiled before strolling into the dormitory building.
Although Shrek Academy had quite a few humanoid creatures, it also had adorable senior sisters like Zhang Lexuan.
The silver light swept across half the Outer Court before finally landing in the Inner Court.
As the silver light dispersed, Zhang Lexuan pressed a hand to her chest, feeling as though her heart were about to leap out of it.
In all these years, this was the first time anyone had said anything so embarrassing to her.
Raising her right hand slightly, Zhang Lexuan wore a complicated expression. The wondrous sensation of interlocking fingers with Xue Chen seemed to linger in her palm.
After looking around, Zhang Lexuan inexplicably brought her right hand to her lips, extended her delicate tongue, and gave it a light lick.
"Zhang Lexuan, I think you've really gone mad!"
Upon realizing what she was doing, Zhang Lexuan covered her face almost immediately.
Only her mortified murmurs remained, telling of the maiden's private thoughts.
Naturally, Xue Chen had no idea what Zhang Lexuan was doing. He had already found his dorm room by following the room numbers.
"Already here?"
Looking at the door, which had not been locked from outside, Xue Chen froze slightly.
The God King's schemes, huh!
Shaking his head, Xue Chen pushed the dorm room door straight open.
"Ah!"
A piercing shriek suddenly erupted from inside the room, making even Xue Chen cover his ears.
Inside the room, a fair-skinned youth with short blue-and-pink hair was wearing undergarments and covering her chest, apparently in the middle of changing into her school uniform.
Glancing at Wang Dong'er's currently unremarkable chest, Xue Chen curled his lips, but still closed the door.
She was just a teenage brat. Even the Ice Empress's measurements looked considerably larger than Wang Dong's.
Only a few breaths later, the dorm room door was flung open from within.
Having finished changing, Wang Dong glared furiously at Xue Chen.
But when she got a clear look at Xue Chen's appearance, she froze too. It was his first time seeing someone more handsome than himself.
Still seething, however, she could not help gritting her teeth and saying:
"Who told you to come in without knocking?"
"Didn't you see I was changing?"
Xue Chen shrugged, sidestepped Wang Dong, and walked into the room, starting to stuff his belongings into the cabinet without consulting her.
"So it's my fault? Who told you to change without locking the door from inside?"
"You!"
Wang Dong'er was furious. She pointed at the dorm room door and said angrily:
"Look for yourself! This room's door can't even be locked from inside!"
As it turned out, the accommodations in Shrek Academy's Outer Court really were terrible!
Never mind dozens or even hundreds of people sharing a single shower room, or the overflowing strawberry towers in the toilets.
Even the fucking dorm room doors had problems!
"We're both boys. So what if you get seen naked?"
Without even lifting his eyelids, Xue Chen stripped off his shirt right in front of Wang Dong.
"Now you've seen mine too. We're even."
Looking at Xue Chen's skin, which was even fairer than her own, Wang Dong blushed and hurriedly averted her gaze, saying with something of a foot-stamping tantrum:
"How is that the same?"
"Tch. How isn't it?"
Xue Chen picked up Shrek Academy's uniform and curled his lips again.
Since this was a boy dressing as a girl, avoiding any losses in the boys' dormitory was impossible.
"Since you're also staying in this room, there are a few rules you need to remember."
Taking two deep breaths, Wang Dong forcibly suppressed her anger and said:
"First, you aren't allowed to bring people into the room without permission."
"Second, you aren't allowed to disturb me!"
"Third, no snoring at night."
"Fourth, you'll be responsible for cleaning the room from now on."
After a pause, Wang Dong pointed at Xue Chen and said sternly, her face red:
"And the most important one, number five: no going around naked in the room and being a nuisance!"
Holding his uniform shirt, Xue Chen said nothing, instead raising his middle finger at Wang Dong.
"What do you mean?"
Wang Dong froze slightly and asked in confusion.
"It means go play somewhere else. Who the hell do you think you are, setting rules for me?"
Except when dealing with older sisters whose strength far surpassed his own, Xue Chen was not good-tempered either.
So what if you're the God King's daughter?
Aren't you still just a rank-twenty Soul Master right now?
"Bastard! I'll make you pay!"
Staring at Xue Chen's raised middle finger, Wang Dong felt a nameless flame surge straight to her head.
Two Soul Rings, one yellow and one purple, slowly appeared beneath his feet, and a pair of butterfly wings sprouted from his back.
Shrek Academy's dorm rooms were small to begin with. In a flash, Wang Dong appeared in front of Xue Chen, raising her right foot high and kicking toward his chest.
"Tch!"
Xue Chen turned slightly to evade the kick and lightly waved a hand through the air.
An extremely smooth patch of ice instantly appeared beneath Wang Dong's left foot.
A layer of frost also covered the wings manifested by Wang Dong's Martial Soul.
"Ow!"
Wang Dong's right foot struck empty air, while beneath her supporting left foot lay slippery ice. Carried by her momentum, her whole body slid uncontrollably forward along the ice.
There was a reason to call Xue Chen wicked: the stretch of ice he had created ended right at the dorm room window.
Perhaps wanting to air out the room, Wang Dong had opened the window long before.
Without even having time to react, Wang Dong slid along the ice and tumbled straight out of the open window.