They set off as soon as they decided to.
When Qing Linyun reached the classroom door, the bell had rung less than two minutes earlier.
He stood outside and peeked through the crack in the door.
Wu Changkong stood at the lectern, explaining the key points of circulating Soul Power.
Well, it was a class, after all. It wasn't much different from those on Blue Planet.
The students below fell into three groups: those listening attentively, those pretending to listen, and those not listening at all.
Tang Wulin was the model of an attentive student. He sat ramrod straight, eyes fixed on the blackboard, his pen flying as he took notes.
Gu Yue was the model of a student pretending to listen. Her head was raised, but her eyes weren't on the blackboard or Wu Changkong at all. With her head lowered, she was writing or sketching something, her pen moving back and forth across the paper. There was no telling what she was drawing.
Xie Xie was the model of a student not listening. He lay sprawled on his desk, his lips moving nonstop as he muttered under his breath. There was no telling what he was going on about.
Qing Linyun looked at the scene and clicked his tongue inwardly.
Xie Xie never learns, no matter how many times he's beaten.
Being the homeroom teacher for this class hasn't been easy for Senior Brother, either.
He hesitated no longer and reached out to push the door open.
The door opened with a creak.
The whole class's eyes swung toward him at once.
Wu Changkong stopped speaking at the lectern and looked toward the door. When he saw who it was, his brows twitched.
"Linyun?"
"What is it?"
What a thing to say. Qing Linyun was a perfectly respectable teaching assistant. Why make it sound as though he had just dropped in on the class on a whim?
"Senior Brother."
Qing Linyun walked in with a smile.
"I'm here to borrow someone."
"Who?"
"Tang Wulin."
The classroom fell silent for a moment, then erupted.
The whole class was stunned.
They knew Teacher Qing Linyun's background. He was a heaven's chosen from Shrek, only nominally affiliated with the academy.
Now he had come all the way here specifically to take Tang Wulin away alone?
Although Qing Linyun was a teaching assistant in name, he never showed his face ordinarily, let alone came to the classroom specifically to fetch someone.
He had made an unprecedented visit today and asked for Tang Wulin by name. No matter how they looked at it, the whole thing seemed strange.
Everyone's eyes turned to Tang Wulin in unison.
Some were envious, some curious, and a few had already turned sour with jealousy.
"What kind of dogshit luck did Tang Wulin stumble into?"
"Teacher Linyun is a top genius from Shrek. Being taken away by him alone means Tang Wulin's about to soar to glory, doesn't it?"
"Tell me about it. Even basking in a little of his reflected glory would be enough to live on for a lifetime."
Hearing that, Xie Xie perked right up. He straightened his back, and his voice grew three notches louder.
"That's right! Teacher Linyun has taken a shine to my brother Tang Wulin! I've always said my brother was no ordinary person!"
Tang Wulin's face turned bright red.
He opened his mouth and waved his hands in a fluster.
"No, no, don't talk nonsense. I just, I just... I don't know what Teacher Linyun wants with me."
"You just what?"
Xie Xie leaned over, waggling his eyebrows.
"All right, brother, stop being modest. Teacher Linyun came to fetch you himself. No one else in the whole academy gets that kind of treatment!"
The teasing around them grew even louder.
Put on the spot, Tang Wulin couldn't leave and couldn't stay. He was so embarrassed that even the tips of his ears turned red.
He secretly raised his eyes and shot a quick glance at Qing Linyun by the door, then hurriedly lowered his head again.
I'm done for.
With all this commotion, Teacher Linyun won't think I'm terribly unreliable, will he?
I can't embarrass him the very first time.
Qing Linyun, on the other hand, didn't care at all.
But looking at the bashful Tang Wulin, he was suddenly seized by a shudder of revulsion. Why did this look so gay? He wasn't into guys.
Still, there really was an indescribable eagerness in Qing Linyun's gaze as it rested on Tang Wulin.
Red-braised pork belly.
Tang Wulin is practically a walking slab of red-braised pork belly now.
And a shy slab of red-braised pork belly at that.
In his eyes, Tang Wulin was practically glistening with appetizing grease from head to toe.
The Golden Dragon Spear, the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, and all those other indescribable good things were hanging off this kid.
Little Wulin, you really are a treasure.
The more he thought about it, the more delighted he became, and his smile grew a few degrees more genuine.
And while his head was full of Emotion Cards, he failed to notice a pair of eyes in the back of the classroom boring into him.
Gu Yue.
At first, she was stunned.
Qing Linyun had come to the classroom specifically to take Tang Wulin away?
What? Had what she imagined yesterday come true?
She couldn't react for a moment. Even the pen in her hand stopped, leaving the line she had been drawing halfway across the paper unfinished.
Then an indescribable surge of anger flared up.
She raised her head and glared straight at Qing Linyun by the door, the resentment in her eyes almost taking tangible form.
Does this man really have some connection to Tang Wulin, or does he know something?
And he's smiling so happily?
What's more, he hasn't even looked at me once today. Do you even see me?
She cursed him over and over in her heart, but after all that cursing, the man by the door still didn't spare her a glance.
Qing Linyun was talking to Wu Changkong with a smile on his face. His gaze occasionally swept across the classroom and in her direction, but it passed right over her as though he hadn't seen her at all.
Gu Yue's face gradually darkened.
Ignoring me?
You actually dare ignore me?
How dare you ignore this Dragon King! Damn it, this is outrageous!
Her pen went crack, punching a small hole in the paper.
But no matter how much she raged impotently in her heart, the man by the door simply couldn't see her.
However great her anger was, it couldn't so much as singe a hair on Qing Linyun. She could only bottle it up, growing angrier the more she thought about it, until her cheeks puffed out.
The Silver Dragon Fish brand pufferfish was born.
At the lectern, Wu Changkong was silent for a while.
He looked at Qing Linyun by the door, then at Tang Wulin. Recalling how Qing Linyun had kept Tang Wulin behind alone last night, he seemed to understand something too.
"Go on."
"Come back early."
"You got it, Senior Brother."
Qing Linyun beamed.
"It won't take long."
Wu Changkong said no more. He turned and continued teaching, as though nothing had happened.
Qing Linyun beckoned to Tang Wulin. "Let's go."
Tang Wulin froze for a moment, then hurriedly stood, put his desk in order, and walked briskly toward the door with his head lowered.
As he passed Xie Xie, Xie Xie patted him on the shoulder and lowered his voice, his face full of pride. "Brother, don't forget me when you make it big!"
Tang Wulin was terribly embarrassed. He walked even faster, practically fleeing the classroom.
Qing Linyun smiled at everyone in the classroom, pulled the door shut, and followed Tang Wulin away.
The door closed behind them.
The classroom fell quiet again, but quite a few people's minds were elsewhere. Several students secretly glanced at the door and whispered to one another, wondering what lofty branch Tang Wulin had managed to latch onto.
Only Gu Yue remained in her seat, staring at the closed door, her fingers gripping her pen so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
Qing Linyun.
What exactly are you trying to do?
You took Tang Wulin away alone. Do you really know something?
The more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
Qing Linyun had kept Tang Wulin behind alone last night, and today he had come to fetch him with such fanfare. Once was a coincidence, but what about twice?
And the way he had looked at Tang Wulin-though there had been a crowd between them, she had seen it clearly.
There had been a light in his eyes, as though he were looking at some treasure rarely seen in the world.
What exactly does Tang Wulin have that makes him care so much?
Or did he really see the truth about the Golden Dragon King Bloodline at a glance?
Gu Yue sat there with no expression on her face, but inside, rivers and seas were overturning.
She longed to chase after Qing Linyun right now, grab him by the collar, and demand an answer.
But she couldn't.
If she really did that, wouldn't it make her look as though she cared an awful lot about him?
Calm down, she told herself. I'll deal with it tonight.
The monk can run, but the temple can't.
In the corridor, Tang Wulin followed close behind Qing Linyun, his head lowered, not daring to breathe too loudly.
His heart was in turmoil, and he kept replaying the scene in the classroom in his mind.
The whole class had been teasing him, and Xie Xie had been bragging about how Teacher Linyun had taken a shine to him.
He had been so embarrassed that he had wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, afraid that this teacher would think him frivolous and unreliable.
Teacher Linyun must have seen everything that happened just now.
Will he think I'm terribly unreliable?
Will he think that all I do as his student is embarrass him?
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became, and his steps slowed.
The man ahead suddenly stopped.
Tang Wulin nearly ran into him. He hurriedly stopped and looked up to see Qing Linyun looking back at him with a smile.
"What are you thinking about?" Qing Linyun asked.
"N-nothing."
Tang Wulin quickly lowered his head.
"It's just... what happened in the classroom. Sorry you had to see that, Teacher."
"And I really didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't know the others would make a thing out of you."
Tang Wulin hurriedly explained.
"Sorry I had to see it?"
Qing Linyun blinked, seemingly a little puzzled.
"What happened?"
"The way everyone was teasing me. Xie Xie, he just has a quick mouth. He's actually a good person, so please don't take it to heart, Teacher."
"Oh, that."
Qing Linyun waved a hand, looking unconcerned.
"I wondered what it was. All right, stop overthinking it and come with me."
Tang Wulin was taken aback.
He secretly raised his eyes and looked at the figure before him, half a head taller than he was. Most of the unease in his heart suddenly scattered as though blown away by the wind.
It seemed Teacher Linyun really hadn't taken that silly matter to heart.
Thank goodness. Next time, he had to make sure to shut Xie Xie's mouth. They couldn't make that kind of mistake again. It wouldn't be good to leave Teacher Linyun with a bad impression.