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Translated by: TaffyGirl13
Chapter 6: The so-called enemy is just one of your own people standing on the other side
Margaret led Fu Xing to the communal area of the guest hall.
Most of the southern campus representatives were present, aside from Emily and the twins. The heavy blackout curtains over the window were drawn, cutting off the sunlight. Although there were muted yellow lights inside the room, there was still the feeling of being sealed in darkness.
When everyone present noticed the uninvited visitor behind Margaret, they all looked up at her with “what did he come here for” written all over their faces.
“Er, hi, sorry for the interruption.” Fu Xing raised a hand and waved. His existence suddenly felt very out of place, like a robed monk that had just entered a church.
“This is your new pet?” Hu Rong shot a provoking glare at Fu Xing, who was sitting in the middle of the sofa. His eyebrow piercing made his gaze look even more threatening. “The wind elf’s blow was too great for you, so your tastes changed to something even lower?”
“Why don’t you go eat some of your own shit, okuri-inu?” Margaret flashed a glittering smile. “Perhaps the sight of you crawling in filth like a worm will strike pity in that spider spirit’s heart and he’ll be willing to go back to serving a master like you.”
Fu Xing was struck speechless at the barbed back-and-forth exchange between Margaret and Hu Rong.
Does all of the southern campus interact like this? The northern campus really is super harmonious in comparison.
“I saw you mingling with Isaac.” The darkblood Kyle had a wine glass in his hand. He gently swirled the dark red liquid and asked, “What relationship do you guys have?”
“Isaac and I are friends. We’re also both Aquarius intern reserve members for our class.” Isn’t drinking alcohol this early in the morning too depressing?
“Friends with the Child of Sin?” Muzter was gripping a short blade to carefully sharpen it against a whetstone. When he heard Fu Xing’s words, he burst out into disdainful laughter, as though he had heard an extremely amusing joke.
It was inexplicable to Fu Xing, and it also made him feel displeased.
What’s the joke?
“Can Isaac not have friends?” Fu Xing retorted.
Kyle and Muzter exchanged a look, then smirked in contempt. “Looks like you don’t know his identity.”
“I know that Isaac is a good person that’s kindhearted, studious, and shy. That’s enough.”
“He shouldn’t be a ‘good person’!” Kyle suddenly slammed the table and shot onto his feet, looking extremely furious. The wine glass was knocked over, tumbling over the edge of the table and falling onto the floor with a crisp shatter.
“Isaac Kirst Nyeva is the monarch that will lead the darkbloods to vanquishing humans. He should not be a good person!” Kyle hissed, his eyes turning a dangerous crimson. This was a warning sign of a darkblood’s irritation.
Seeing Kyle’s sudden outburst, Fu Xing shrank back in fear. However, he was still completely lost. He did not know how his words had set off the other person’s landmine, nor did he understand what Kyle’s words meant.
Kirst…I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before
“You’ve frightened the guest, Kyle.” A low, steady male voice rang through the room. “Watch your attitude.”
Fu Xing’s line of sight shifted to the inner parts of the room and discovered Ryner smiling thinly at him from the windowside.
“Hi…”
“Your sister still hasn’t responded to my invitation.” Ryner crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Would it be possible for you to confirm if it is tacit acceptance or a rejection?”
“Um.” Fu Xing scratched his head and honestly replied, “I think she probably forgot.”
This answer made Ryner’s handsome face stiffen slightly as his doubts rose.
“Are you certain?” An invitation from the eldest son of the Albert family was an invitation given after rejecting the precious daughters of bigwigs. This did not seem like something that should be forgotten.
“Yeah. After all, this isn’t anything important. From what I remember, Sis might not attend the banquet. She seems to be doing some kind of yeast research…” Fu Xing continued to say, subtly sending a sudden attack to Ryner’s psyche.
Ryner looked slightly embarrassed, but he maintained a frivolous calm as he asked in a commanding manner, “”Alright, Margaret, could you please state the reason you’ve brought him here?”
“I’m going to make him win Shalom’s Star.” Margaret cut straight to the point. “Help me, help him.”
These straightforward words drew everyone’s attention and curiousity.
“Why?”
“Because I owe him a favour.”
Fu Xing stared at Margaret in astonishment. She owes me a favour? Really? Why don’t I know? Don’t tell me that Margaret also fell so deep into the charm that she cannot free herself? Oh heavens! I’m really a sinner!
“What benefit is that to us?” Kyle folded his arms over his chest, his interest piqued. “We aren’t a charity.”
Margaret snorted. “I know. The word ‘charity’ turns obscene just by coming from your mouth. I can do anything as remuneration.”
“Margaret!” Fu Xing hurriedly stopped her. This was too great of an inconvenience for her! “You can’t do that. At least share half with me!”
“What can you do?” Yu Tai, who had been turning a blind eye at Fu Xing the entire time, spoke up in disdain. “You aren’t even a representative, just a low-level jingguai. Do you have any ability to help?”
“He has a very close relationship with your beloved Zi Ye. If you plan on continuing to use your pitifully botched ways to win Zi Ye’s attention, you’d be better off asking him to intercede for you.”
“What did you s—”
“As for you all,” She turned her head to look at Kyle, Muzter, Shiroizumi, Ryner, and Hu Rong. “If you can’t lower your pride to express your feelings towards the people you care about, you can request for him to help.”
“People we care about?”
“Request for him to help?”
“Dream spirit, save the sleeptalking for sleeping.”
Margaret crossed her arms and sneered as she stabbed every person. “Who were the ones that tried anything to approach Isaac, only to end up excessively drinking and sharpening their blade after being avoided? Who was it that started having stomach pains and diarrhoea after seeing their ex-fiancee interacting intimately with others? Who was it that couldn’t wait for an invitation reply and began impatiently clawing out the corner of the table? Who was it that began pulling his hair in a bad mood when he saw his self-acclaimed ‘servant’ of a childhood friend laughing with others?”
“Bullshit!” Kyle struck the table as he stood up, his cover-up attempt painfully obvious.
Muzter secretly placed his short blade back into the inner pocket of his clothes.
“The corner of this table already had a quality issue.” Ryner awkwardly moved his hand from the table to place into his pocket.
“He’s just a lowly servant!” Hu Rong furiously scratched his teased red hair in annoyance. “Why didn’t you mention your issue with the wind elf?”
“I was dumped by him, that’s it. Satisfied? Your bald patch at the top of your head is showing, okuri-inu.” Margaret shot a coquettish smirk. “Just cut the fake acts. It’s impossible to hide emotional fluctuations and thoughts from a dream spirit’s eyes. Do you want me to talk in more detail? Need me to raise more examples? I’m afraid someone might swallow their own hairball out of humiliation.”
They exchanged looks with each other. Aware of the situation, they did not recklessly reply again.
Everyone’s gazes suddenly gathered on Fu Xing.
Although Margaret’s words hit quite a few of their sore points, their faith dropped by quite a bit when they saw that the person they were supposed to entrust was the simple and blank-looking He Fu Xing.
“Rely on him?”
“I know he looks very unreliable. But he definitely has some kind of charm, some kind of trait that we lack which attracts the people we care about.”
“What?”
“A priceless pureness. An innocence that is almost stupid in our eyes.”
Fu Xing whipped his head around to stare at Margaret, uncertain if she was praising him or insulting him.
The room went still. It was an awkward silence.
“Er, um…” Fu Xing couldn’t stand the atmosphere, so he took the initiative to break the impasse. “So basically…what I need to do is: bring Isaac here to talk with Kyle and Muzter—though Isaac is very unwilling, find a way to reverse Momiji’s image of Shiroizumi as a chikan—though it’s challenging, help Ryner go out with my sister—though it might not succeed, help Yu Tai become closer with Zi Ye—though Zi Ye doesn’t seem to really care, have Hu Rong and Dan Juan make up—though Dan Juan clearly doesn’t want to. That’s it?”
The extremely blunt question made everyone’s expressions stiffen in an unsightly manner.
“Margaret, I believe you…” Ryner extended his second finger to gracefully shave off the corner of the table. “He truly does have a straightforward innocence that borders stupidity.”
“You’re about to dig out a hole through the juniper wood table, Ryner.”
Ryner shot Margaret a glare and indignantly retracted his hand back to cross his arms over his chest.
“So, have we reached an accord?” Margaret swept a charming look around the room. “No response counts as tacit agreement?”
Her reply was silence.
“Very good.” Margaret’s lips curled up to form a smile that was so sweet that it was fatal—a dream spirit’s smile. She patted Fu Xing’s shoulder and pushed him towards the others. “The rest is up to you~”
“I’ll try my best…”
“If there’s no result by tomorrow evening, I’ll immediately withdraw.” Kyle coldly reminded, “As for you, dream spirit, I’ll make you pay for the displeasure you’ve caused me this afternoon.”
Margaret shrugged, accustomed to following orders.
“So how should we help you, or help him?”
“The current situation is that there’s a minor issue with my charm spell. The basic structure has changed slightly, so it’s impossible to amend or strengthen the enchantment.”
Yu Tai snapped his fingers, materialising a pure black feather. He muttered an incantation to shoot the feather at Fu Xing. It passed through his body and then vanished.
Then, the exact runes that made up the charm spell surrounding Fu Xing appeared in the air. Yu Tai began to inspect the enchantment.
Fu Xing couldn’t help but think of how Zi Ye could directly see enchantments without an external force. The difference in ability was obvious with a single glance.
He possesses such powerful potential, yet is rejected by others out of fear….
“The base is too messed up. Fixing it would be extremely troublesome; recasting the spell would be less effort.”
“That won’t do, the charm spell has a three-day exclusion period after being removed, so it’s impossible to cast the same spell again.”
“Try adding another enchantment.” Shiroizumi commented, “Add another completely different spell on top.”
“I can’t do it. Similar enchantments from the same spellcaster will be cancelled out.”
“Then I can only use my fox spirit’s charm techniques then.” Shiroizumi contemplated what method to use. “But my charm technique is more influential on females. It needs a regulatory system, or else it might achieve a different effect.”
“What effect?”
“Everyone wanting to mate with you.” Shiroizumi chuckled, “Jealous?”
Fu Xing nodded. “So you’ve actually been using that kind of trick? That won’t do! Using a golden finger on top of a superb appearance is a bit despicable.”
“Hmph. I don’t need it.”
“Oh yeah, why don’t you just use that move on Momiji then?” You don’t need my help at all, right?
Shiroizumi frowned as though he had heard the most disastrously rotten idea. “Too below my moral standards.”
Fu Xing dropped his head in shame. It looked like Shiroizumi was not as terrible as he’d thought…
“Foreign visitors will arrive in two days. We need to find a way to gather as many people as possible. The Coscart and Teria families, as well as the mountain jingguai, should be able to help give quite a few votes.”
Kyle, Muzter, and Hu Rong nodded.
“Then let’s go with that for now.” Margaret tugged Fu Xing’s hand. “We can come back and discuss more later. I need to go find the twins and Emily.”
With this, they turned and raced out like a flurry of wind.
“The twins should be together with the jiaoren from your class. Convincing them shouldn’t be too hard. Leave Emily to me; she’s actually very softhearted. Just a bit of begging should be enough for her to agree…”
Fu Xing looked down at his hand in Margaret’s grasp. Her soft, snow-white palm was wrapped around his, and an old-fashioned copper bracelet embedded with gemstones hung from her slim wrist.
“Thank you, Margaret…” Fu Xing wasn’t sure if it was due to the effect of the dream spirit’s charm, but his face heated up from embarrassment.
“I can understand why Emerald likes you so much,” Margaret suddenly stated. “Being together with you is really relaxing.”
“Is it?” Fu Xing bashfully scratched his face. “It’s nothing really…”
“Special animate beings are usually very serious.”
Stuck between human and non-human, natural and supernatural, scientific and unscientific, special animate beings actually concealed a perplexed bewilderment that humans did not have regarding their place and personal situation. There were too many unknowns, too many anxieties, which facilitated a universal prejudice and self-isolation.
Fu Xing’s attitude was naturally not argumentative, innocent while also a bit clumsy and stupid. Perhaps it was this pureness that caused those who were used to mutual deception and fighting tit for tat to lower their guards…
During Fu Xing’s break from doing hard labour for Samukawa, he went back to his dorm. The moment he opened his door, he saw his living room area already full of people. People that were waiting for him to return.
“Fu Xing!” Upon seeing Fu Xing appear, Rocort immediately flew at him like a homing bullet, then hugged Fu Xing against his chest. “Where did you run off to? I really missed you! Want to eat cookies? Or do you want to go nap with me in the gardens?”
“I just had some business…” Fu Xing just barely broke free from Rocort’s hold. Before he could even catch his breath, a stack of notebooks immediately blocked his vision.
“A collation and summary of the main points for the next exams.” Dan Juan’s voice rang out from behind the books. “It should save you from the fate of retesting.”
“Main points?” Fu Xing took the stack of books and raised a brow. “Why are the main points thicker than the original textbooks?”
“I tried to re-explain everything using a language you could comprehend…” Dan Juan pushed his glasses. “Although it took a bit of time, there’s no need to particularly thank me.”
Fu Xing curiously flipped through the first notebook. It was covered in illustrations like a kindergarten english textbook. The images had a stupid and clumsy-looking little boy with knotted brows conversing with a glasses-wearing, well-mannered youth.
The words inside the large speech bubbles were like the speech of the older sisters in the YoYo children’s cable channel, gradually guiding the little boy into more profound theories. In the very last space, a lightbulb appeared above the little dumb boy’s head. In his enlightenment, he thanked the glasses-wearing youth.
It was very painfully easy to understand, though it made him feel an indescribable shame.
Fu Xing pointed at the drawing. “Is this boy with a bowl cut me?”
“His name is Little Xing. It isn’t meant to be an insinuation to you. It’s purely a coincidence.”
“Then what about the glasses-wearing person?”
“That’s Professor Dan Juan.”
“Aren’t you too direct?!” What do you mean by no insinuation?! “Who drew this?”
“A snow leopard spirit from 1-C named Ying Fan drew it. I gave him some spider damask in exchange.”
Spider damask was a silk fabric made from a spider’s secret silk. It was as transparent as crystal and could not be snapped easily, so it was quite a precious item.
“Thanks, Dan Juan…” Considering the price Dan Juan had to pay, Fu Xing only felt an uneasy sense of guilt.
It was all because of the charm spell. His friends had been duped by the enchantment.
I feel like a swindler…
“Fu Xing, how about I move here and live with you?” Taeharu hooked arms with Fu Xing and looked up to smile innocently at him and ask, “Is that ok?”
“That’s not possible…”
“Then come move in with me!” Rocort expectantly stared at Fu Xing. “I’m the only one in my dorm, it’s super boring.”
“Sorry, Rocort, but—”
“Stop making things difficult for Fu Xing.” Zhu Yue’s soft voice stopped the disputes as she dispelled the impasse for Fu Xing like the Virgin Mary. “He and Leon are doing fine together. Why should you beat the happy couple and break them up?”
Fu Xing was a bit speechless. Why does that description sound so weird…
“If you want, you can also be together with Brad, isn’t that right?” Zhu Yue beamed brightly at Brad, who struggled to smile back. “That’s my second CP. I cannot accept any others.”
“Zhu Yue, what are you saying…”
Bang! The loud thud of a heavy object slamming into the juniper wood table came from the bed area next door.
Fu Xing stuck his head out and caught Leon walking out from the room, then heavily slamming the door shut.
“What is that guy unhappy about?”
“What a bad temper. Did he get hemorrhoids from eating too much meat?”
“Tsk tsk.”
After they each voiced their opinion, they quickly refocused on Fu Xing.
This feeling made Fu Xing very uncomfortable.
Everyone was treating him so well, treating him with so much concern. It made him feel a guilt that was almost suffocating.
This is so terrible, He Fu Xing…Is this how you treat your friends?
Fu Xing shot onto his feet.
“Er, sorry, I suddenly remembered that Samukawa needs me for something, so I’ll be leaving first! You guys take your time chatting!” Fu Xing smiled foolishly as he retreated out of the room and miserably fled the scene.
As soon as the door shut, the cheerful talk and intimacy immediately ceased.
“So now what?” Brad spoke up first. “Someone saw Fu Xing walk out from the southern campus’s reception hall this afternoon.”
Zhu Yue somewhat hesitantly added, “He disappeared with Margaret in the instruction building for a while this afternoon…”
“That damn obscene dream spirit, what does she want to do with Fu Xing!”
“It seems like Fu Xing was the one that went looking for her…”
Momiji intentionally played down her tone as she commented, “He has traces of a fox spirit’s charm technique on him.” A very, very thin trace that was practically undetectable. However, she recognised that aura. “Shiroizumi cast it for him.”
The room fell into silence once more. A silence that was so dead, it was like no one was present.
“…Does Fu Xing dislike us now?” Taeharu worriedly asked.
“Probably not…” Zhu Yue answered with a forced smile.
“If he really doesn’t want to interact with us,” Brad wore a detached expression as he declared in an indifferent, rational tone. “Then we don’t have the right to stop him either.”
Once Fu Xing escaped from the room that made him feel remorseful and anxious, he quickly ran to the warehouse. Despite being completely exhausted, he wanted to do something to distract himself and ignore that loathsome feeling of guilt.
“Where’s Zi Ye?”
“Don’t know. After I materialised three black-winged bunnies to distract him, he left.” Samukawa’s hair was a mess, cutting a sorry, tired figure.
What exactly did Zi Ye do to Samukawa…
“Do you need help with anything?”
Samukawa checked this watch. “There’s still half an hour until work starts. Why are you so hardworking today?”
“I don’t have anything to do anyways…”
Samukawa noticed Fu Xing’s low spirits, but did not ask any further. Showing concern about others was not his forte. Besides, sometimes turning a blind eye and staying quiet was a better method of care than excessively providing consolation or giving favour.
“The fire fairy is done with the medal. Go help me retrieve it back.”
“Go where?”
“Marseilles, France. I’ve already applied for you to go out on business. You can find someone to accompany you.” As Samukawa spoke, he observed Fu Xing’s reaction.
“Marseilles? Wasn’t it just attacked by White Triangle?”
Samukara arched a brow. “How do you know that?” That news should have been sealed off.
“Er, I accidentally heard Shiran and the others talking about it, so I know a bit…” Fu Xing indirectly answered.
He was worried Samukawa would inquire further, but the other did not seem to care much.
“Since you already know, then that makes it easier for me to explain. It’s precisely because it was just attacked that Marseilles’ coastal region is now classified as a red warning zone. White Triangle has reportedly deployed significantly more people there. Fortunately, France is the place where fire fairies gather, so they can still barely maintain a fixed boundary of safety.”
“Are fire fairies…very powerful?”
“Fire fairies are skilled in industrial arts. During the Industrial Revolution, the French fire fairies used innovative skills to combine enchantments with technology and invented a one-sided ward. No spell or machine can detect its existence.”
“So amazing! That should be spread around!”
“Fire fairies are very selfish. Moreover, the more these types of things spread, the more likely it can be broken through.”
“That’s true too.”
“But it’s a red warning zone after all, so going alone is too dangerous. That’s why I asked for an extra application for someone to travel with you. Who do you want to go with?”
Fu Xing contemplated this. “I guess Leon…” There were many misunderstandings between them, and he had been wanting to find a chance to have a proper talk with Leon.
However, he had not yet asked where Leon had been the night Shalom’s Star had been stolen…
Samukawa’s expression changed subtly, though it was so quick that it was impossible to detect.
“Ahem, you can find him if you want.” Samukawa handed the two travel talismans to Fu Xing.
“Thank you…”
“If you’re looking for Leon, he’s in the swordsmanship practice room in the second building.”
“How do you know?”
Samukawa furrowed his brows and immediately replied calmly, “I just happened to spot him while passing by.”
“Oh, I see.” Fu Xing did not think about it any further. He gripped the two talismans and said, “I’ll come back as quickly as possible.”
“No rush…” Samukawa thoughtfully muttered, “Take your time. The two of you can have a good long chat on the way…”
The swordsmanship practice room was made from fortified, snow-white walls. A black figure flew through the empty room like a gust of wind racing through the night, weaving between seven wooden training familiars as their blades interlocked.
When the black figure sensed the unexpected visitor, he spun to face the source of the footsteps. Upon seeing who had arrived, the black figure’s movements instantly came to a sharp halt, narrowly escaping a swing at his back from the axe-wielding familiar. But the next moment, he leapt up in a flash and the long sword in his hand immediately sliced off the familiar’s leg, stopping its attack.
The black figure stood still to grasp the proper timing. The moment when multiple blades lunged towards him, he swung his double-edged sword in a circle. The talismans in front of the remaining six familiars disintegrated, and the puppets all collapsed on the ground.
Leon silently kept a frosty gaze on Fu Xing as the latter stepped into the practice room.
“Um, Samukawa wants me to go outside campus to run an errand for him…to retrieve something from a fire fairy in Marseilles. That place is very dangerous and has been classified as a red-warning zone, but because the fire fairy is there, it doesn’t seem quite as dangerous, because the fire fairy…”
Fu Xing kept his head lowered as he quietly mumbled on, unsure of what he was saying. He just knew that he suddenly did not have the courage to face his friend.
“Say the main point.” Leon coldly stated, “Please raise your head and look at the person you are speaking to.”
Fu Xing paused for a second, then looked up at the other person with an uncertain and timid expression. “Can you come with me, Leon?”
Leon’s lips were pursed into a straight line, his expression extremely severe. His face seemed wooden, disapproving.
But if Fu Xing had been just a bit closer, he would have heard the sound of a racing heartbeat underneath the black clothing.
“Can you bring me to the library, Leon-gēge?”
In his memories, Lia, his beloved Lia with her long black hair, always showed this kind of expression whenever she begged him to bring her outside.
Damn it.
I should still be angry at Fu Xing, but now…
It’s hard to resist.
When Fu Xing saw Leon’s silence, he helplessly sighed. “If you’re busy, you don’t need to force yourself…”
“When are we heading out?”
“Huh?”
Leon glared at Fu Xing. “If you don’t wish for me to travel together with you, you don’t need to force yourself.”
“Oh, oh! Of course not! We can head out anytime!” Fu Xing was overjoyed at the turn of events, and he beamed in delight. “Thank you, Leon! I’m really, super grateful! Thank you!”
Leon snorted and appeared to impatiently gather his belongings.
However, the slight upwards tilt of his lips betrayed him.
~Taffy Translations~ 
AHHHHHH! Leon is so cuteee!! qwq
Thank you for the chapter ! ! </3
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