Only one more chapter of this volume!
Translated by: TaffyGirl13
Chapter 8: School ceremony’s prelude: Hidden sentiments
Zhu Yue, who had arranged to meet Rachel in the self-study room after class, was unable to stay still as she listened to the other’s explanation.
“…This week, the Cold Weaponry Introduction and Application class assigned a small paper. We’re responsible for analysing the weapons used by both sides during the Crusades and their impact on the war situation. We have to submit by the end of the term.” Rachel took out the homework instructions as well as a reference book that was the thickness of multiple books.
Zhu Yue nodded. She did not dare to speak much, terrified that she would expose any cracks.
Rachel continued, “These are some related documents, though they might not be quite enough. You weren’t here last time the topic was decided on, so that bastard Bohr took advantage of the moment and dumped the hardest subject on us.”
Bohr was the class’s teaching assistant. He was a werewolf that always loved pulling these small pranks on darkbloods.
Zhu Yue continued to nod without uttering a word.
Rachel raised her head to look at Leon. “I’ll hand these documents to you to sort out. Please write a six-thousand words analysis before Friday.”
Zhu Yue furrowed her brows, but she still nodded.
Rachel smiled. “Why are you speaking so little today?”
Zhu Yue’s heart went cold, but she feigned calm as she replied, “Sorry, you know I’ve never enjoyed speaking…” The Leon from her memories was calm and unfeeling. She had assumed that maintaining silence would ensure nothing wrong could happen.
Rachel raised a brow and peered at ｢Leon｣ with a gaze that unsettled Zhu Yue.
Zhu Yue lightly coughed. “Sorry, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave first.”
“Wait.”
“Is there something else?”
“Are you attending the clan alliance banquet in December?”
Zhu Yue paused for a second. “I will…”
“How strange. You never liked those types of large ceremonies.”
“Mn, I was merely curious…” Oh no, I have a bad feeling. I need to leave quickly.
However, Rachel continued with no plans of stopping. “Your part was the only one that wasn’t submitted for the last team assignment. Is it finished?”
I don’t know! “Er, sorry, it probably is not…”
“Because of you, our submission is already late.” Rachel’s tone clearly held reproach.
Hearing the censure in Rachel’s words, Zhu Yue immediately began to panic. “I’m really very sorry!”
Unexpectedly, Rachel’s response was a chuckle. “Hahaha, a leopard just can’t change its spots.”
Zhu Yue was stunned. “Wha-what?”
“You are not Leon.”
Zhu Yue inhaled sharply and tried her best to stay collected. “Don’t talk nonsense…”
“Stop playing dumb, Zhu Yue,” Rachel coldly exposed her and did not hold back as she scanned the other person. “Is it illusory magic or bewitchment? Is this the northern campus’s strategy? Honestly speaking, being played with like this doesn’t make me happy.”
“Ah, that’s not it! I’m really so sorry…” Zhu Yue dropped her head, guilt written all over her face. “There was a bit of an accident. I truly apologise, but I cannot reveal too much. I’m sorry for making you—”
“Enough!” Rachel couldn’t help but break her off with reproval. “Don’t use Leon’s face to say sorry. Leon would never apologise for something he didn’t do wrong! You’re profaning his appearance like this!”
“Sorry—um!” Zhu Yue covered her mouth because she realised that the moment she opened her moth, the apologies would just automatically spill out.
The room sank into silence. Rachel eventually said, “Do you know what part of you annoys me the most? The fact that you use apologies as a means to resolve everything.” She did not restrain herself as she continued, “You’re just making fools out of others…”
“That’s not it! You don’t understand at all!” Zhu Yue roared, shocking even herself.
Too many things had occurred recently, causing her to become abnormal as well.
“Why do I need to understand?” Rachel sneered, “All you know how to do is apologize. What right do you have to ask others to understand—”
“You’re so annoying!” Zhu Yue couldn’t hold back her shout, as though she had given up on persevering.
Being selected as a northern campus representative had given her a big enough headache as it was; she hadn’t imagined that her opponents would be Zhu Yu and Hai Yue. Even worse, she was now in a different body and absolutely nothing was within her control. She just wanted to hide back in the scope of her original lifestyle and quietly spend her days.
I’m in all this trouble already, yet I’m now being criticized like this too—
As though a dike had crumbled, the strong resentment and grievances spilled outwards like crashing waves. “You aren’t a school representative, so you don’t need to bear the burden of everyone’s expectations. You don’t have overly doting parents that make you take care of spoiled younger brothers, and you definitely weren’t forced to switch into another person’s body! What right do you have to criticize me?!”
She’d had enough! No matter what she said, she was always overruled. Explanations would just be considered as excuses. Gradually, she had grown used to conceding, used to keeping her own thoughts private, used to playing the act of an amiable “good person”.
This method always allowed her to stay unhindered, preventing complicated interpersonal issues both at home and outside.
Aside from Rachel.
Rachel raised a brow and smiled thinly. “Oho, spoiled younger brothers? And here I thought you loved them.”
Zhu Yue was dumbstruck for a moment as she realised that she had lost control. Feeling both frightened and angry, she locked eyes onto the easy-going Rachel and ground out through gritted teeth, “I hate you!”
“Same here.”
Zhu Yue shot Rachel a glare, her heart full of resentment and grievance. She furiously stood and grabbed her backpack, then ran out of the classroom without a backwards glance.
In the following days, the northern campus representatives intentionally avoided crowds and avoided interactions with the southern campus to temporarily keep things at bay. No one found out about the soul-swap incident either. As time passed, everyone seemed to get a bit familiar with their new roles and lifestyles. However, they were still unable to flexibly master the power in their new bodies.
For example, Brad had a very difficult time accepting the fact that he could not pick up a marble table in Zhu Yue’s frail body. Zhu Yue could not tolerate every day with her now exceptionally sharp senses. Flora, who had turned into a beastman, could not control her powerful strength and had accidentally shattered two lenses, which had made her nearly lose her sanity. Emerald, who had taken advantage of Rocort’s body at first to fish for money, was starting to get fed up.
As for Fu Xing, from beginning to end he felt like his vision would sporadically go bad. Sometimes he would see strange, hazy shadows.
The others had various issues of all sizes that they had not yet adapted to.
The only common point was that as the competition day neared, every one of them began to grow more anxious. They made zero progress in their trainings in those few days, and zero progress in finding a way to return to their original bodies.
Whoosh! The out-of-control water blade dispersed in midair and fell to the ground as a puddle of water.
Brad stared at the ground in frustration, with ｢Zhu Yue｣’s brows elegant knit tightly together.
“Damn it!” Brad cursed. Although it was in Zhu Yue’s voice, it still sounded plenty threatening.
Fu Xing, who had been standing nearby practicing beast-summoning, jumped in fright and lost control of his spell. The low-level dwarf about to take form in the magic array instead instantly exploded into liquid like an egg in a microwave. The yellow-green fluid spurted onto Samukawa and Dan Juan, who were standing in the vicinity.
“He Fu Xing!” Two beyond furious voices rang out in unison.
“Are you done causing trouble?!” Having not gotten any proper sleep for days, Dan Juan opened fire.
“How much trouble do you want to give us all?!” With his illusory spell removed, Samukawa’s childish baby-face was very lovable, yet his tone was filled with loathing. “There are only four days left before the friendly matches. If we go on-stage in our current conditions, we’ll just be making a disgrace of ourselves!”
“It’s already been a week! When can I become myself again?!”
Fu Xing was unable to refute after the successive blows. It was like there were two Samukawas somehow!
“So-sorry…” Fu Xing timidly replied, “Fu Qing is working hard on researching methods to break the spell…we should be able to return back to normal soon…”
“It’s fine, Fu Xing, don’t worry…” Zhu Yue gently comforted with Leon’s appearance. Although darkbloods were originally pale-skinned, ｢Leon｣’s complexion was clearly wan, and his eyes were bloodshot. There were very dark black circles under his eyes too. For someone of the jiao race that moved around during the daytime, residing in a nocturnal darkblood’s body counted as a type of torment.
When Brad saw this, his irritation immediately exploded too.
“You always need others to deal with the aftermath of the troubles you create,” Brad angrily rebuked. “Think about how much inconvenience you’re giving us! I really can’t figure out why we have to put up with your stupidity! How did I get myself to this point?!”
Everyone else remained silent, momentarily uncertain how to speak up. After all, Brad’s words called out some facts.
Sorry…Fu Xing wanted to say, but he could not voice it. He had already apologised too many times; any more would just be useless. His mouth remained half-open, unable to utter a single word. The remorse and regret blocked his throat, choking him.
I’m so weak…so terrible…
“Heh…” A light chuckle rang out.
The source of the sound was Leon, who wore a cold smirk as he leaned on a large upright sword.
“Has being in the sunlight too much burned your brain, darkblood?” Brad shouted, “What are you laughing at!”
“I thought you were his friend.” Leon paused for a second. “Or rather, ‘you guys’.”
Brad was slightly stunned.
“Or is it that you were only willing to get along with him before because you could gain benefits from him? But now that there isn’t any profit, you completely change attitudes?” Leon sneered, his gaze sweeping across every person present. “You even all ate anaesthetic hotpot last time, how intimate.”
Fu Xing stared at Leon in both surprise and delight. Leon’s speaking up for me?
Although his heart was filled with gratitude and astonishment, he couldn’t help but inwardly correct:
Leon, it’s spicy hotpot, not anaesthetic hotpot…
“As if I’m that despicable!” Brad retorted and defended himself, “Only a darkblood could do something so low!”
Leon scoffed. “I don’t know if your moral character is low or not, but I can at least say for certain that your capability is.” He paused for a moment once more before glancing at everyone again. “Ahem, or rather, ‘you all’.”
“What are you saying—”
“Returning to original bodies and the campus friendly matches. Both problems are stuck in front of you.” Leon solemnly analysed, “If the two objectives cannot be achieved simultaneously, then at least complete one first. That is basic common sense.”
Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, Leon quickly muttered a spell and summoned a wind wall. The wind wall promptly shifted forms and transformed into light green wind blades that danced through the air, whistling sharply as it pierced the space.
This was a wind elf’s first-class special ability manipulation.
The others did not even have the time to feel shocked when Leon continued, “If you have the time to complain, you might as well think of ways to deal with it instead. Changing bodies is nothing more than changing shoes. Don’t tell me that you become crippled whenever you put on new shoes? Are werewolves all like that?”
“Take your words back!” Brad refused to admit defeat. He gritted his teeth and concentrated to forcefully suppress and eliminate all his peculiar feelings. Then he lifted his head and whipped out his arm to swing a water whip at Leon.
Leon easily blocked it by condensing together a wind wall. “Looking like you aren’t as stupid as I thought.” Then his eyes shifted towards the others. “If even this kind of puppy can do it, I’m sure the rest of you can as well.”
“Do you want to die, you bloodsucking bug!” Brad was enraged. His fury caused his thoughts to focus and his strong emotions incited his hidden power. The special ability quietly resting within him began to stir, and the air next to his wrists came together to form two hoops of rapidly-spinning water that emitted an ear-piercing sound. “Go!”
The water rings shot towards Leon like frisbees.
Clang, bang!
The wind wall cracked at the second attack, and the water rings cut past Leon’s shoulders to embed deeply into the wall behind.
“Whoa!” Brad stared in astonishment at his own hands, seemingly not believing he had successfully controlled Zhu Yue’s special ability.
“Looks like you aren’t as airheaded as I thought.” Leon chuckled, then with a snort, he haughtily spun around and left.
Brad’s success boosted everyone’s morale. They gathered around him to praise him and ask for the secret know-how.
“So strong! Even I have a hard time using that kind of water blade ring!” Zhu Yue sincerely praised, “Brad, you are really amazing!”
Being complimented by Zhu Yue made Brad happy, but as she was wearing Leon’s face, he felt very conflicted. “It was just a coincidence that I was able to use them…I still need practice…” He glanced at the direction Leon had disappeared off in with doubts in his heart.
Did Leon purposely irritate me to help me activate my powers? A darkblood actively helping a werewolf?
Brad noticed that Fu Xing’s expression was a bit strange. When he followed the other’s line of sight, he saw bloodstains on the floor where Leon had previously been standing. The water blades just now had injured Leon.
Why didn’t that guy say anything? Why didn’t he argue with me?
Ah! So annoying! No matter what that guy does, it’s frustrating!
On the west side of campus, in the special ability practice area for graduating third-years, was the training room for the southern campus representatives. It was a vacant classroom that had been newly constructed not too long ago, with the most advanced and refined equipment.
Inside the training room, the southern campus representatives were each at their own corners inside wards to focus on practicing for their respective competition subjects. Emily’s summoned wind fiercely struck the inside of the ward with booms as it produced dazzling light. Zhu Yu and Hai Yue created an enormous dark-blue whirlpool that spiraled in the air to strike.
Kyle and Muzter were surrounded by a dozen or more armed familiars. They smoothly blocked the attacks from all directions in practiced movements, as well as skillfully damaged the opponent’s critical points. The armed familiars were destroyed one after another, turning back into their puppet forms.
Yu Tai successfully summoned a high-level monster: Bifang, a bird spirit that was near the level of a divine beast. This single-legged, green monster flew around the inside of the ward spitting out violet and orange flames mixed together.
Shiroizumi easily controlled fox fire, burning five fiery holes in iron rods. Margaret used spells to conjure dozens of gigantic and colourful venomous snakes and scorpions. The next second, a spell caused them to explode into pieces, instantly reduced to ash.
Their actions were quite proficient, though their complexions were poor. Moreover, they were both well aware that their conditions were not ideal.
As the leader, Ryner detected his teammates’ moods. He made a hand signal and everyone immediately stopped their movements.
“The friendly matches will be in two days, but I have noticed that there are people feeling ill at ease.”
Kyle and Muzter shot mocking smirks at Shiroizumi and Margaret, only to receive glares in return.
“Or rather, every person.” Ryner swept his gaze across everyone present.
“Are you sure?” Hu Rong arched a brow as he frivolously flicked his talons. “I’m going to drag Dan Juan out of his ward and teach him a proper lesson.”
“But during the last fight, you kept going until your complexion was ashen yet could not leave the slightest mark on his defensive screen.”
Ryner coldly pointed out, “And as for you, Emily, Shiran completely neutralized your attacks using only weapons last time; Muzter and Kyle, the two of you never managed to even touch Leon from beginning to end; Shiroizumi and Margaret, I won’t say anything more since you are both well aware of yourselves; Zhu Yu and Hai Yue, the two of you have to stop playing around.”
The twins let out unhappy grumbles.
“I already said before, psychological attacks are the best tactic. I thought that only the northern campus guys would be weak enough to be moved left and right by emotions…” Ryner snorted. “But I didn’t think that my teammates would be unable to control even those weaklings.”
An icy blade swept towards Ryner’s neck, stopping less than one centimeter away.
“Take back your words,” Muzter gritted out.
Ryner’s face did not change. He indifferently extended his claws and snapped the edge of the blade, then loftily looked around at everyone.
“In that case, prove it to me.”
Brad and Leon’s successful control of their special abilities boosted everyone’s morale. In the remaining few days, the representatives closed themselves off in the training room to train arduously, barely setting foot outside. They even directly hired the brownies to deliver their meals.
Every person harboured some abnormal feelings, but they tacitly suppressed these emotions to concentrate on practicing.
Two days before the matches, nighttime.
“At the moment, nearly all of you are at least eighty percent proficient in your new body’s special ability.” Samukawa looked at the data as he announced, “Those selected as representatives would not be weak in the first place. If your responses during the match are well-coordinated, there seems to possibly be a chance of winning.”
“Sounds extremely uncertain…” Dan Juan muttered.
“At least the loss won’t be too terrible.”
“Well, that sounds quite certain.”
Samukawa continued, “Then the current issue left is—” His stern gaze shot towards Fu Xing, who was hiding furtively in the corner. “How is your summoning practice going, Student He?”
“Ahem, I’ve made a bit of progress…”
“How many low-level monsters did you summon today?” Samukawa raised a brow as he stared at the pulp and pus covering the floor around Fu Xing. “Or rather, how many did you kill.”
Most low-level monsters did not have bodies or awareness. They were creatures that were more like a combination of insects and plants. Although they were a very low rank, their appearances were more than enough to make one lose their appetite.
“You have to eat clean everything that you summoned~” Rocort chuckled and reminded, “That way, the brownies won’t have to clean every day, and you can save yourself from dinner too.”
“Rocort, do you hate me so much that you want me to die…” Fu Xing felt a wave of nausea as he looked at the vein-covered, dark purple-red chunks of flesh mixed with sticky brownish, yellow-green pus.
“It makes no difference. The friendly matches collect the scores from each round. Even if Fu Xing loses his round, the eight of us can just work harder.”
“That’s true too.”
Fu Xing dropped his head, feeling beyond dejected. “I’m really very sorry…” Again. Others are dealing with the aftermath for me again…Not only am I unable to help, but I keep causing more trouble too—
He hated himself like this.
The rest of the members returned to their spots to continue training. The figure watching from outside the window let out a soft, frustrated sigh.
Pull yourself together, Fu Xing.
Logically speaking, Zi Ye’s body is that of a completely awakened, high-level variant. After entering that kind of body, you should be able to activate your abilities and have no problems summoning a mid-level divine beast like a Qiongqi or Shijiu.
Could it be that the resonance between soul and flesh still hasn’t harmonized? But it’s already been ten days, wouldn’t that be too long?
Don’t disappoint me, Fu Xing. My patience has its limits.
If this king chess piece could not win him the entire board, then he would remove it from its place without any hesitation.
And then destroy the entire chess board.
During the middle break period, Fu Xing sat in the corner and silently drank his water. His forehead was dripping with sweat; it seemed as though he had expended quite a large amount of strength, yet the results he had received in exchange were not equivalent.
Why is it like this? He had already tried very hard, following the steps that Zi Ye and the professors had said: focus, concentrate, feel the energy flowing within the body, feel the connection with the spirits from the underworld. So why was it that he only ever called bizarre low-level fish?
It felt as though he was using all his strength to pull at a fishing pole until his hands blistered and bled, thinking he had caught tuna. Instead, he only reeled in jellyfish.
“The flow is scattered…” A young yet somewhat stiff voice rang out next to him. Zi Ye had at some point taken a seat by his side and was peering at him with large expressionless eyes on Taeharu’s face.
“Huh?”
“What do you want to summon?”
“Of course a powerful monster, the stronger the better.”
“Name?”
“Eh? What name?”
“If only the steps are correct, you won’t succeed…” Zi Ye quietly murmured, “You need a specific target; think about its name and characteristics, use your thoughts to resonate with theirs. That is the only way they will respond to your summons…”
“Are you teaching me?”
Zi Ye did not respond.
Fu Xing sighed. While Zi Ye was difficult to communicate with, the fact that the other had taken the initiative to speak to him was enough to make Fu Xing feel touched.
“Is your vision not very good, Zi Ye?” Fu Xing rubbed his eyes. “I sometimes can’t see very clearly.”
“No, it’s too good…” Zi Ye closed his eyes. “There are many things that I don’t wish to see yet am required to see…”
“Ah?”
Zi Ye was silent for a few seconds. Then he used an extremely low and faint voice to whisper, “You must be careful of the one in the darkness…”
“What?”
“He is always watching you…”
Fu Xing wanted to ask further, but their conversation was cut off by a loud noise.
Bang!
A large crater was blown out into the wall. A moment later, a restoration spell was activated; the shattered pieces on the ground floated up one after another to go back into place. The crack vanished bit by bit.
Momiji proudly stood in front of the wall, a pale blue, basketball-sized wind sphere floating above her palm. The impact just now had been because of her.
“Very good!” Samukawa clapped hard, looking quite excited. “Excellent! That special ability control is already close to top-level! Seems like there is hope in winning this competition!”
They all stared at Samukawa in astonishment. This was the first time he had given praise so directly.
It appeared that Samukawa really did place a heavy importance on the results of the friendly matches.
Momiji glanced at Emerald and smiled. “It’s nothing, it’s just because this body has good aptitude.”
“You flatter me.”
“Although there isn’t a chance to use that function, I’m sure it also—”
“Cough, cough, cough, cough!” Dan Juan coughed forcefully, interrupting the vulgar words Momiji was about to voice. “Alright let’s continue training!”
Momiji turned her head, about to mock him in response. However, when she saw Dan Juan’s face, her brows shot up in surprise.
“What-what are you looking at?”
Momiji did not hold back as she suddenly reached out to lightly grab hold of the other’s chin and turn it closer to her to scrutinize it. “Not bad. The mix of eye shadow and coral-pink blush matches well.” She grinned as she complimented, “As expected of a student with great ability.”
Dan Juan turned his head away to extricate himself from Momiji’s hand and he loftily crooned, “It’s just a minor accomplishment. This kind of basic make-up is still simple…”
“Dan Juan, your body is terrible!” Rocort suddenly charged out clutching his stomach, cutting their exchange. “I only ate seven macarons and three cups of apple soda and my stomach hurts so much!”
“Who let you mess around with my body?!”
“Why is your body so troublesome…” Rocort grumbled as he crouched on the ground. “I had diarrhea the entire night yesterday, and even now my behind is stinging. It’s all your fault!”
“Damn it! If you keep messing around like that, I’ll be the one hurting when we switch back!”
“Pfft.” A strange chuckle sounded out. Zhu Yue was covering her mouth, her entire body trembling faintly as she seemed to be forcefully suppressing herself.
“Zhu Yue, are you feeling unwell?” Fu Xing worriedly bent down to study her face.
“No, that’s not it…” Zhu Yue had an unusual smile. On Leon’s face, it just made one’s blood run cold at the sight.
“Er, are you very happy?” Where’s the joke?
“Nothing, it’s absolutely nothing!” Zhu Yue waved her hand in dismissal with a glittering smile. Then, due to her excitement that no one else could comprehend, she swiftly brandished her rapier.
The automatic magic puppets being used for practice was sliced into thousands of fragments, as though it had been tossed into a meat grinder. The others were stupefied as they watched Zhu Yue use a high-level sword technique; even Leon wore a shocked expression.
Too formidable, Zhu Yue. Though there’s no knowing what suddenly drove you to show such ferocity.
As though unwilling to fall behind, as well as for the sake of showing off, Brad whipped out two beautiful water dragons. They circled each other to form a rainbow whirlpool, then stretched outwards into a helix-shape before piercing through a solid iron rod.
Brad let out a light cough. “Sorry, I lost control a bit.”
Fu Xing couldn’t help but snigger. He had immediately seen through the act; Brad had wanted to put on a show in front of Zhu Yue.
The remaining people performed quite remarkably as well. Samukawa was so emotional that he nearly started spilling tears as he continued to repeat, “Great, great”, “victory should be ours”, etc.
Fu Xing suddenly felt that Samukawa was actually somewhat cute like this.
Seeing everyone’s conditions relieved Fu Xing’s worried and heavy mood just a bit. However, he then immediately sank into remorse and low self-esteem.
Every one of them had already gotten used to their new bodies and showed outstanding results, while he alone was still stuck in the same place…
Sigh…pull yourself together, He Fu Xing!
The night before the friendly matches.
While the previous few days had been joyous and noisy, campus tonight was filled with an anxious and solemn atmosphere. Not a single student dared to act rashly. Whenever they passed by the classroom or dorms that the representatives were in, they would quietly leave, terrified that they would accidentally disrupt something and affect the competition situation.
The northern campus’s secret group trainings officially ended today. The representatives stayed in the training rooms themselves or went to the dorms to rest and reserve their physical strength.
Fu Qing and Samukawa never stopped researching and searching for various ways to break the soul-swap. However, there was still no clear-cut conclusion. This made everyone feel as though a needle was stabbing their hearts, causing them to feel worry and stress that would not subside.
However, the friendly matches before their eyes weighed more on their minds.
What about the day after tomorrow? After the friendly matches ended? If they lost, if their souls could never be switched back—
These questions wrapped around everyone’s hearts like a layer of mist.
Fu Xing stayed in Zi Ye’s room, staring intently at the Introduction to Summoning that he had already destroyed from how much he had flipped through it. He vividly remembered every single step written inside yet had never succeeded.
He had originally wanted to look for others in the afternoon, but every representative had students sending gifts standing outside their rooms. He saw Emerald directly hang a donation basket outside his door, allowing the supporters to drop money inside; Dan Juan had a bunch of refined, bookworm-looking juniors standing outside. A group of darkblood students had built an arch made with crimson roses in front of his and Leon’s room to represent glory and vitality; it stretched from their doorframe all the way to the end of the corridor.
Only ｢Zi Ye｣’s room did not change at all. It was still as vacant as before, still as lonely as before. His roommate that had not showed up in ages remained out of sight. The quiet room made Fu Xing feel sadder and more depressed. It was like he had returned to his elementary school days that he had hated the most…
Knock knock. A knocking came from the door. Before he could respond, the door was suddenly opened by itself.
Fu Xing, who had been sprawled across a desk, turned his head expecting the visitor to be his comrades.
“Heh, as dispirited as usual, huh.” A rude mocking followed the sound of footsteps pompously intruding.
“Yu Tai?” Fu Xing was somewhat astonished.
“Tomorrow is the competition.”
“Mhm.” Fu Xing stared at Yu Tai with wide eyes. The latter looked back with arms crossed in front of chest, then arrogantly strode over.
“No training today?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Hmph, given up on meaningless struggling? Finally understanding your powerlessness?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Yu Tai surveyed the entire space. “What a bleak room. Your teammates’ support groups have stuffed the corridors so much they’re about to explode, yet this place is like a funeral hall.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Enjoy the proper taste of defeat tomorrow!” Yu Tai provocatively went to stand right in front of Fu Xing, cockily smirking down at him from above.
“Mn, ok.”
Faced with Fu Xing’s half-hearted compliant responses, Yu Tai couldn’t help but arch his brows. “Ahem, you’ve learned to talk back?”
“Eh, no.” Honestly speaking, he was quite taken aback by Yu Tai’s appearance. He also felt…a bit happy.
Ah, am I just too deprived and bored, or can loneliness actually turn someone crazy?
“Hmph! Boring…”
For some reason, Fu Xing suddenly had the strong urge to laugh, and the corners of his lips unconsciously lifted upwards.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Um, I don’t know…” Fu Xing scratched his head. “I just feel very happy that you came to find me…”
Yu Tai’s arrogant smirk of disdain instantly stiffened on his face.
“Hehehe…” Fu Xing laughed dumbly.
“Are you feeling that smug? What are you laughing at?!”
“I have no idea…” He found it so absurd, yet strangely comforting.
By all rights, he should detest Yu Tai. After all, the other had intentionally run over to provoke him, to shame him. Yet he felt weird inside; for some reason, he was unable to sincerely hate Yu Tai. There should’ve been a reason, but he was in such a mess at the moment that he could not figure it out.
Seeing Zi Ye’s smile, Yu Tai felt his heart get thrown into disarray for no reason. He angrily roared, “You damned variant!”
“Did your embarrassment turn into anger?” Why?
“Shut up!” Yu Tai furiously slammed down on the table, causing branch-like cracks to appear on the juniper wood. “Looks like being at the northern campus has given you more guts. Very well! This way, I won’t need to hold back against you.”
Fu Xing blinked. “So you were originally planning on holding back?” Sounds kind of considerate.
Yu Tai was rendered speechless for a good second. Then he gritted his teeth and hissed in a low voice, “Just wait until your body is dismembered into thousands of pieces…”
Then with a toss of his head, he indignantly stomped away, leaving behind an astonished Fu Xing.
What did this guy come here to do…
At nearly the same time, on the other side of the male dorms, in Brad’s room.
The hallway that had been crammed with an impenetrable crowd of beastmen only messily dispersed after the dorm advisor had “kindly” advised them with a smile and a meteor hammer in his hands.
Only Flora and Zhu Yue remained in the dorm. Taking advantage of their free time, the two gathered to share the recent “spoils of war”.
“Oooh! This photo is great.” Zhu Yue took out a picture of ｢Fu Xing｣ and ｢Emerald｣ in an intimate embrace. Her lips curved upwards in a smile. “The capture of Emerald’s collarbone is amazing! What a high-quality product!”
“Hehehe…wait until you look at this roll before you come to any conclusions.” Flora smugly tossed out another photo album.
Zhu Yue picked it up and carefully flipped it open. Then she let out a sharp gasp and immediately shut it. After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she asked in a low and dead-serious voice, “How did you take these photos…”
The-these are photos of Leon, Emerald, Rocort, Dan Juan, Fu Xing, Shiran, Brad, and several other of Shalom’s top-ranked males in intimate and dubious positions together!
A super dreamy, unparalleled product!
“Professional secret.” It was just casting a bit of Photoshop magic.
“I want to get some developed.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.” As she declared this, she boldly whipped out her wallet and immediately paid in cash.
“You’re quite an expert…” Flora gave a thumbs-up and immediately add a few marks on the long orders list.
Zhu Yue giggled to herself as she flipped through the other photos. There were some that were not of the people themselves, but after the soul-swapping, such as the selfie she was holding of ｢Leon｣ and ｢Brad｣. The column for number of orders next to it had multiple tallies.
“Sigh…” Zhu Yue let out a long breath.
“What’s the matter?”
“I wonder when we’ll be able to go back to normal.”
“Ah, hm. Since there is no knowing when, worrying about it won’t help.”
“That’s true too…” Zhu Yue was silent for a while. Then she quietly stated, “Although changing bodies causes a lot of complications…” She reluctantly confessed, “I feel like these past few days have been pretty relaxing…”
There was no one coming to annoy her, there was no need for her to face Zhu Yu and Hai Yue, and she could freely go in and out of the male dorms—Erm, that’s not important. The important thing is that I feel like I’ve become freer and can express my true self.
“Yeah, I understand.” It was when one was not oneself that the true self could be expressed. It was extremely bizarre. “Perhaps it is because we’re hiding under another guise that we can be completely unrestrained in revealing our nature…”
“Sounds a bit sad…” Zhu Yue bitterly smiled.
“It’s nothing, everyone is like that.”
“Is Flora like that as well?” Zhu Yue continued on without thinking, “Flora always looks shrewd and capable while staying calm and collected without caring about others’ opinions. It’s really great…”
Flora paused and remained silent.
Naturally, it was an act. Appearing uncaring and laid-back was her guise…to avoid awkwardness and not be hurt, she had just feigned indifference from the beginning.
“No matter what,” Zhu Yue stood. “I think that this soul-swap might not have been entirely a bad thing. What about you?”
“Let’s wait until the competition is dealt with tomorrow first.”
~Taffy Translations~ 
I wonder what kind expression the people involved shown if they see the photobook?
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