Early the next morning.
In the Freshman Class One classroom.
The students arrived one after another.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er found a corner at random and deliberately took up two extra seats.
"Wang Dong, did you sleep badly last night? Why do you keep yawning?" Huo Yuhao asked his roommate with curious concern.
"It's nothing. Maybe I've been under a lot of pressure lately. I'll catch up on sleep at noon," Wang Dong'er said, her words less than sincere.
After all, she couldn't very well tell him.
She had accidentally dreamed about Zhang Yang last night.
And in the dream, the two of them had done some rather strange things.
With her current identity as a "boy," wouldn't saying that out loud scare Huo Yuhao to death?
"Don't worry, we'll definitely get through!"
Huo Yuhao nodded in understanding and thought no more of it.
He mistakenly assumed Wang Dong'er meant the freshman assessment.
As they spoke, the classroom door opened again. Xiao Xiao walked in looking a little weak, with dark circles under both eyes.
When she saw her two teammates, she went straight over and sat beside them. Her sleep-deprived appearance left Huo Yuhao even more bewildered.
"Xiao Xiao, how come you too..."
She looked even worse than Wang Dong!
Luckily, there was no match today. Otherwise, in such terrible shape, they really might have been in trouble!
But unlike the simple-minded Huo Yuhao, whose thoughts were wholly occupied by the assessment, Wang Dong'er had a sharper eye.
She noticed at once that Xiao Xiao's eye bags weren't the only things that were swollen. Her usually petite lips were swollen too, and it was obviously abnormal.
"Yuhao, switch seats with me."
Wang Dong'er grinned and suddenly made the suggestion.
Although the request was strange, Huo Yuhao didn't think much of it.
After switching, she got a closer look. Based on the experience from her dream fantasies, those lips had been kissed swollen!
As for who had done it, Wang Dong'er didn't even need to think. Before returning to the dormitory last night, Xiao Xiao had been with Zhang Yang.
If anything had happened to the girl, a certain someone was the prime suspect! And if her guess was right, both sides had been willing!
"Xiao Xiao, tell me the truth. How far have you two gone?" Wang Dong'er asked in a low voice, both envious and eager for gossip.
"Huh? Huh? Huh? Wang Dong, what are you talking about? I, I don't understand." Xiao Xiao came to her senses as if waking from a dream. She was so startled that her sleepiness vanished, and her face quickly turned red.
She stammered as she spoke; her lie couldn't have been more obvious.
Naturally, Wang Dong'er wasn't fooled. She grinned, a playful smile on her face.
She deliberately teased her, breaking down the little loli's defenses step by step until Xiao Xiao was completely flustered.
"Did you let him play with your Martial Soul again? You didn't go any further, did you? Which one of you confessed? Did he kiss you anywhere besides the mouth?"
Xiao Xiao's face was like a boiling kettle.
Her breathing quickened, and her mind couldn't keep up at all.
Almost sounding aggrieved, she hurried to set the record straight, completely unaware that she'd fallen into the trap.
"We, we didn't do anything! We only kissed a few times. Yes! Just a few times! He made the first move!"
She'd been tricked into spilling it in an instant...
Wang Dong'er looked surprised when she heard it.
That was all? She had thought Xiao Xiao wouldn't be so reserved, and Zhang Yang wouldn't be such a gentleman.
For some inexplicable reason, she breathed a sigh of relief. Recalling her own dream last night, she was flooded with a jumble of emotions: regret, relief, annoyance, and anticipation.
"Quiet! Is everyone here?"
Just then, their homeroom teacher Zhou Yi entered the classroom.
She slapped the blackboard hard, and all the clamor died away. Her stern gaze swept over the room.
"Teacher! Zhang Yang isn't here yet!" Zhang Yang was charismatic and drew attention, so it was easy to notice whether he was present.
"Hm? What's wrong with him? Never mind, I'll go check on him later." Zhou Yi frowned, but she didn't lose her temper over it.
She only wondered whether Zhang Yang had been frightened yesterday.
It was the homeroom teacher's oversight that students from Class Five had cornered him in the woods.
"Everyone except Zhang Yang is here, right? Now I have something important to announce!"
"Yesterday, Dai Huabin from Freshman Class Five bullied Zhang Yang from our class. I expect you all know about it already."
"After deliberation by Director Du Weilun of the teaching office and several homeroom teachers, the punishment has been decided."
"As this was his first offense, Dai Huabin's ranking in the freshman assessment will be revoked, and he will be placed on probation for three months. Further action will be taken depending on his conduct."
Zhou Yi was completely dissatisfied with the punishment.
But she was only a teacher, and there was nothing she could do about the director's decision.
Dai Huabin was the White Tiger Duke's son. More importantly, his older brother, Dai Yueheng, was one of the inner courtyard's top disciples.
Absolute fairness existed only in fantasy. People with status, a background, and someone backing them would always have more room for mistakes.
The White Tiger Duke's Mansion had paid a considerable price, and Dai Yueheng had pleaded earnestly on his behalf, so the academy had chosen to handle the matter vaguely.
The so-called probation was essentially a suspended sentence.
As long as he behaved himself from now on, he would be in the clear in a few months.
At her words, an uproar broke out among the students. They also felt the punishment was too light.
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, and Xiao Xiao, who had experienced it firsthand, were especially upset and dejected. They had thought Dai Huabin would at least be expelled.
"Forget it. Maybe this is for the best."
"At least we'll have a chance to get revenge ourselves later!"
"If that guy really got expelled, it wouldn't be easy to find him. This isn't over!"
In the end, Wang Dong'er was the first to regain her composure. As students, no amount of anger could change the outcome.
And so the matter of Dai Huabin came to an end for the time being. After making the announcement, Zhou Yi began class, though many of the students were distracted.
Because Zhang Yang still hadn't appeared by noon!
Wang Dong'er wore a peculiar expression and couldn't help staring at Xiao Xiao again.
"Last night, did you two really just kiss? Nothing else?"
"If that was all, how could Zhang Yang be so weak that he couldn't even come to class?"
"I don't think you're that kind of person, but... I still have to make sure. You didn't do anything to him, did you?"
Xiao Xiao was utterly bewildered by Wang Dong'er's words.
What is she talking about? We really did just kiss and hug last night.
As for why Zhang Yang didn't come to class, how could I possibly know?
Wait, he seemed to mention it once or twice. The mood was just too good at the time, so I didn't take it in.
"I remember now! Zhang Yang seemed to say he'd gained some insight into the Tang Sect Secret Arts and wanted to study them carefully today."
Was that really all?
Wang Dong'er raised an eyebrow, seemingly unconvinced.
Just then, their homeroom teacher Zhou Yi also came over, concern appearing on her stern face.
"What are you talking about? Kissing? Weakness? Tang Sect Secret Arts? How come I don't understand?"
She had asked them outright.
She was their homeroom teacher, after all, so Xiao Xiao had no choice but to answer truthfully.
Unlike schools in the real world, young romance was no big deal at Shrek Academy!
Back then, the original Shrek Seven Monsters had formed three couples among themselves. The one left over, the Evil Fire Phoenix, had been a regular at brothels.
Only when she heard that the person was Zhang Yang did Zhou Yi frown slightly, feeling a touch of what could be called regret.
"Are you sure you didn't do anything?"
As someone with experience, Zhou Yi was even less inclined to believe her than Wang Dong.
But looking at Xiao Xiao's innocent eyes, she found it hard to press further. Instead, she simply said, "Come on. Whatever happened, I'll go with you to check on him..."