Zhang Lexuan had gone into seclusion, while Ling Luochеn, Xi Xi, and the others had gone off on a group mission. The entire inner court fell quiet all at once.
Between cultivation sessions, Mu Yueye studied the Black Dragon Bracelet Long Xiaoyao had given him. The thing was equivalent to a Defensive Soul Tool that activated automatically, combined with a Storage Soul Tool.
And just as Mu Yueye had thought, it could indeed serve as something like a storage core from a game in his previous life.
Through it, he could automatically identify the items contained in any Storage Soul Tool placed inside it.
Then he could summon those items with a thought, allowing him to take everything out through a single Soul Tool.
But the functions described for the thing were not what Mu Yueye spent most of his time studying.
Instead, he relied on his own superficial knowledge of Soul Tools to investigate whether it might have other, more dangerous capabilities.
After all, there was absolutely no way Long Xiaoyao could have cobbled together a Soul Tool like this himself. In the best-case scenario, Ye Xishui had made it.
It was more likely that Long Xiaoyao had found a Level 9 Soul Engineer from the Sun Moon Empire to make it.
It was hard to believe the maker would not have tampered with it, knowing Long Xiaoyao had commissioned it, much less if the maker knew it was meant for someone at Shrek.
Setting a self-destruct program to blow the recipient's hand clean off would count as merciful.
After his excitement on the first night had passed, Mu Yueye had thought of this problem. Since then, he had often studied the thing to see whether it was dangerous.
He had never actually used its storage function, and he would not even carry it on him unless he was prepared.
In any case, no one at Shrek Academy would be crazy enough to steal his things. If anyone was going to steal, it would be him swiping other people's stuff.
For example, the bottle of special blue drink sitting on his desk had been swiped from Yan Shaozhe's desk.
According to Yan Shaozhe, it was some kind of highly effective pick-me-up tea, made by a veteran food-type Soul Master from Shrek.
"Knock, knock-knock, knock."
A brisk knock sounded at the door. Mu Yueye looked up and narrowed his eyes. Usually, apart from Ling Luochеn and Zhang Lexuan, only one other person knocked on his door with that rhythm.
Mu Yueye opened the door and found Bei Bei standing outside. He raised an eyebrow and said to him,
"You really are an idiot. You couldn't have picked a time when there were more people around? If great-great-grandfather catches you now, he'll swing his belt so fast it'll leave afterimages."
Back when Bei Bei wanted to study with Tang Ya in the outer court, Mu En had tried to dissuade him. But Bei Bei had acted first and reported later: before Mu En had agreed, he told Du Weilun that Mu En had already approved his enrollment.
And Du Weilun had actually assigned Bei Bei to a class, though he had given him special consideration. Bei Bei and Tang Ya were placed in the class taught by the academy's most senior teacher, who also had the best methods for teaching students.
It was not an explosive class like Zhou Yi's, with its extremely high expulsion rate.
In the end, Mu En still cared about saving face. With Mu Yueye staying obediently in the inner court, he had not chased after Bei Bei to drag him back.
Even so, Bei Bei had not returned to the inner court to see Mu En for a long time afterward.
Hearing Mu Yueye's teasing, Bei Bei scratched his head and said awkwardly,
"Brother, let me in first, will you?"
Mu Yueye glanced at Bei Bei, then chuckled and stepped aside, letting him into his room.
Mu Yueye was now a proper inner court disciple, so naturally, like any other inner court disciple, he had been assigned a room beside the Golden Ancient Tree.
But Mu Yueye's room was less a dorm room than a high-end suite.
The sitting room was at the front, with the bedroom farther inside. Mu Yueye sat down on a sofa in the sitting room and gestured for Bei Bei to sit on the sofa beside him.
Once the brothers were seated, Mu Yueye got straight to the point. He set the Black Dragon Bracelet aside and asked Bei Bei,
"All right, out with it. Don't tell me you came to see your brother just because you were feeling kind and had nothing else to do. I know you too well, you brat who puts romance before friendship."
Bei Bei sighed, then held out a hand to Mu Yueye and said,
"Brother, I have a story. Do you have any wine?"
Mu Yueye pointed at the door and said to Bei Bei,
"If you have something to say, say it. If you don't, get out. Don't stand here clearing your throat when you don't even have a fart to let out. I don't have that much time to waste shooting the breeze with you."
Seeing that Mu Yueye was genuinely getting angry, Bei Bei hurriedly gave a couple of sheepish chuckles and waved a hand at him.
"Brother, what are you getting worked up for? There is something, there is. Of course I came to discuss it with you because it's important."
Mu Yueye wasted no more words on him. He tapped the coffee table with his fingers and said,
"Your tea is filled to the brim. You should know what I mean. I'll give you three more minutes. If you still can't explain it clearly, go back and get your thoughts in order first. Come see me again when your chain of reasoning is clear."
Bei Bei scratched his head, then quickly said to Mu Yueye,
"Actually, it's still about Tang Ya..."
Mu Yueye pointed a finger at Bei Bei and said,
"Can you get out? These days, just hearing the name Tang Ya makes my head spin. To put it bluntly, ever since you met Tang Ya, you've done every absurd thing imaginable."
Bei Bei gave a wry chuckle, then said to Mu Yueye with a hint of stubborn pleading,
"But I fell for her, that's all. Brother, help me out. We're brothers; we can't turn against each other..."
Mu Yueye sighed, then looked at Bei Bei and said,
"What is it, exactly?"
Bei Bei quickly broke into a smile and said to Mu Yueye,
"It's actually very simple. Xiao Ya has been down in the dumps lately. I asked her what was wrong, and she said she missed the Tang Sect.
"She left the Tang Sect in too much of a hurry back then. Her parents' memorial tablets and her grandparents' tablets were all left behind in the sect, and now the Iron Blood Sect is holding on to all of them..."
Mu Yueye could not help laughing. His laughter left Bei Bei puzzled, and he scratched his head and looked at Mu Yueye in confusion.
"That's what this is about? You really are something."
Mu Yueye gave a wry chuckle, then tapped Bei Bei on the head as he spoke.
Bei Bei looked at Mu Yueye somewhat helplessly after being tapped on the head. Mu Yueye smoothed his hair and said,
"Never mind a few broken memorial tablets. Even if you wanted the Tang Sect's entire foundation back, it would only take a few words."
Bei Bei blinked in confusion. Mu Yueye took a uniform out of another square-shaped Storage Soul Tool beside him, tossed it to Bei Bei, and instructed him,
"Tomorrow, wear this uniform when you negotiate with the Iron Blood Sect. Tell them either to respectfully bring the tablets out and take them wherever you specify, or to get back to wherever they came from."
Bei Bei looked at the uniform in confusion. The name tag on it still bore his name, and he looked up at Mu Yueye in a daze.