Wang Dong'er lay quietly, her long eyelashes fluttering as her bright eyes opened a sliver. She sat up and felt around beside her. Huo Yuhao's bed was empty.
She rubbed her eyes, stretched her smooth calves out from beneath the covers, and touched her pink toes to the floor. She stood up and wiped her face with a towel before looking around the dorm room.
Huo Yuhao was not in the room. He seemed to have gone out long ago.
"How strange. Why did I suddenly fall asleep? Yuhao, it's the middle of the night! You'd better not be fooling around!" Wang Dong'er gazed out the window, the smile on her face a little chilling.
She swiftly got dressed and walked straight out without looking back.
Bang!
The dorm room door slammed shut.
In a corner of the room, up by the ceiling, a figure clung to the wall like a spider, both hands gripping it tightly. Huo Yuhao was sound asleep there.
Wang Dong'er knew nothing of this. Dressed in white, she wandered through the campus like a midnight ghost.
A male student in the neighboring room woke with a bursting bladder. As he rubbed his eyes, he suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He rubbed his eyes frantically, trying to get a clearer look.
Suddenly!
The distant ghostly figure abruptly turned, tilted her head, and slowly waved at him...
The male student was so frightened that he fell straight to the floor, his legs trembling nonstop. A wet patch spread across the ground.
"It's probably just someone playing ghost..." the male student reassured himself, shakily bracing himself against the wall as he stood up.
Standing up proved disastrous. He actually saw a white-robed female ghost with disheveled hair staring straight at him and approaching the dormitory. There seemed to be something red on her hair, dripping down like blood.
"Aah!... Holy crap..."
"A ghost!..."
The male student screamed and fled back into his room in a blind panic.
Lights came on one after another throughout the dormitory building. Some people poked their heads out in confusion, but the white figure had long since vanished.
The others saw nothing at all and shouted angrily, "Which little brat was that?! Don't let me catch you! What are you yelling about?! Go to sleep-it's the middle of the night!"
Then, over the next few days, other people also saw that white figure, and an eerie campus ghost story slowly began circulating through the academy.
"Yuhao, why are you here so early today? I was just about to go wake you up."
Xiao Xiao held up the breakfast in her hand and waved it in front of Huo Yuhao. She had deliberately gotten up bright and early to buy it in Shrek City.
"Yuhao, are you still half asleep?" Xiao Xiao rose onto her tiptoes, placed the breakfast in Huo Yuhao's arms, and touched his face.
Huo Yuhao yawned as he accepted the breakfast. "Mm... I was afraid I'd be late." He took out a steamed bun and let Xiao Xiao take a bite before eating it himself.
"Should we wait for Wang Dong?" Xiao Xiao asked, wrapping her arms around Huo Yuhao's arm.
Huo Yuhao hurriedly shook his head and led Xiao Xiao forward at a brisk pace. "N-no need. He'll come on his own. You eat too."
Xiao Xiao was a little puzzled, but she did not dwell on it. A happy smile spread across her face as she ate breakfast with Huo Yuhao, slowly making their way toward the assessment area.
Inside the dormitory building, Wang Dong'er watched Huo Yuhao leave through the window, her hand gripping the table beside her. Fine cracks spread across the tabletop from beneath her palm.
The assessment area.
The outer courtyard students had gathered here. After several days of competition, they had now reached the crucial round of thirty-two, where sixteen teams would advance.
Zhou Yi stood on the platform, watching Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao as they prepared to enter the arena. She frowned, looking around without finding Wang Dong'er.
While Zhou Yi was still thinking, a female teacher in her thirties strolled over and chuckled. "Teacher Zhou, why does your seeded team only have two people?! Our class's seeded team just happens to be facing yours."
"Why not have them forfeit, Teacher Zhou? At least they won't lose too disgracefully." Mu Jin covered his mouth, doing his utmost to conceal his mockery, but his eyes never stopped brimming with derision.
Zhou Yi's gaze immediately sharpened. "Mu Jin, don't tell me you think your students are guaranteed to win?"
Although Mu Jin was slightly older, he could certainly still be described as youthful, attractive, and full of charm. He shook his head slightly and said, "Not at all. I just think-what do you think? How many teams can a class without a single student above rank thirty get into the top eight? I'm afraid your senior professional title is going to go down the drain this time."
"And that little fellow who isn't even rank twenty is on your seeded team too. You'd better give up early." Mu Jin wore a provocative expression.
Zhou Yi kept her gaze fixed on Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao below the platform and said flatly, "That's no concern of yours. Just do your own job."
Seeing that he had failed to anger Zhou Yi, Mu Jin was not discouraged. He took a curved-saber-shaped close-combat Soul Tool from his Storage Soul Tool. A tiny mark was engraved beneath its blade; on closer inspection, it looked like a sail.
Zhou Yi's pupils contracted slightly, but soon returned to normal. She continued calmly watching Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao in Area Eight.
"Fan Yu made this especially for me, Teacher Zhou." Mu Jin smugly waved it in front of Zhou Yi a couple of times, showing off the Soul Tool in his hand.
Zhou Yi remained unmoved, but her hand gripped the spectator railing so tightly that she even crushed a dent into it.
Mu Jin soon noticed this. "Hahahaha! Best of luck, Teacher Zhou!" He smugly put away the Soul Tool and slowly left the stands.
Just then, Wang Dong'er's figure slowly appeared at the entrance to Area Eight, heading toward Huo Yuhao.
Only then did Zhou Yi feel a little more at ease. She turned to look at Mu Jin's retreating back and thought, Mu Jin, just wait and see...
Area Eight, the contestants' rest area.
Huo Yuhao yawned, then lay down on Xiao Xiao's lap and slept comfortably.
As Xiao Xiao stroked his hair, she spotted Wang Dong'er slowly approaching them. She nudged Huo Yuhao. "Yuhao, Wang Dong's here. Hurry and get up."
Huo Yuhao sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes as he looked toward the entrance.
Wang Dong'er looked haggard, with heavy dark circles beneath her eyes. She clearly had not slept well, but her eyes could not help lighting up when she saw Huo Yuhao.
"Wang Dong, you're here..." Before Xiao Xiao could finish, Wang Dong rushed straight past her and grabbed Huo Yuhao by the collar.
Huo Yuhao was yanked hard. He looked up to find Wang Dong'er staring at him with terrifying eyes, a faint smile hovering on her face as she let out a series of giggles.
Xiao Xiao was truly startled. She had no idea what had happened or why Wang Dong'er had suddenly become like this.
"Freshman Class One, Huo Yuhao's team, please enter the assessment arena immediately. The assessment is about to begin." A voice came over the assessment area's loudspeakers, urging them on repeatedly.
"Wang Dong, the assessment's starting. Are... are you going to be all right like this?" Xiao Xiao asked tentatively upon hearing the announcement.
Wang Dong'er slowly turned her face, her expression frighteningly gloomy, only to reveal a warm smile in the blink of an eye. "I'm fine. What could possibly be wrong with me? Come on, let's go take the assessment."
Smiling with narrowed eyes, Wang Dong'er dragged Huo Yuhao toward the assessment arena.
"N-no! Don't!..."
Huo Yuhao shook his head this way and that, but he had no way to refuse and was forcibly dragged into the arena.
Xiao Xiao patted her chest, only then suppressing the panic in her heart. Wang Dong'er really had frightened her just now.
Looking in the direction the two had gone, she hurried after them.