Chapter 27: Dormitory Safe Zone

Xiaoqi stood beside him, silent, her head tilted slightly as she looked up at the gray, misty sky.

People came and went at the cafeteria entrance, and everyone who passed by instinctively skirted a half-circle around them, as if they had bumped into an invisible wall.

“Cousin, where are you headed after this?” Jiang Xiaoyu asked, turning his head.

Xiaoqi didn’t answer immediately. She walked down the steps and sat on a stone bench by the roadside. Jiang Xiaoyu followed and sat down beside her, facing the teaching building, which was nothing more than a blurry smear in the gray fog.

Xiaoqi looked at him, her brows twitching. After a moment of thought, she spoke: “Brother, two options. First, come with me to the Geometry Squad to cultivate. Second, stay in the cafeteria’s safe zone.”

Jiang Xiaoyu understood immediately. The class duel in the afternoon and the grade-wide challenges in the evening meant Zhao Dayong’s incident was far from over; the Sports Squad was definitely keeping score. When Xiaoqi was around, they wouldn’t dare move, but if she wasn’t—that was another story.

He leaned closer to Xiaoqi and lowered his voice: “Your brother chooses neither.”

Xiaoqi turned to look at him.

“I’m going back to 1314, to that room on the right, to learn summoning from Dongfang.”

Xiaoqi’s brows locked together.

“She is extremely dangerous.” These four words were spoken in a low whisper, carrying a wariness he had never heard from her before. “I will go with you.”

Jiang Xiaoyu patted her shoulder. When his hand landed, her shoulder stiffened for a moment before slowly relaxing.

“This morning, I thought I’d had a bizarre dream, but during the Foreign Language class, Teacher Zhao Lu led me through mental summoning, and I realized it wasn’t a dream. I have to get to the bottom of this.”

Xiaoqi stared at him steadily for a long while. She didn’t ask any more questions, just gave a quiet nod and stood up.

“I’ll see you to the stairs.”

Jiang Xiaoyu smiled: “Alright.”

The two turned off the small path behind the cafeteria and onto the main road. The roadside was lined with black, nameless trees; their trunks twisted and turned, their branches reaching toward the sky like fingers. The post-rain mist rolled through the crowns of the trees, blurring the buildings in the distance.

They hadn’t walked far when two students approached from the opposite direction—one tall, one short—wearing smiles on their faces. As soon as they saw Jiang Xiaoyu and Xiaoqi, they exchanged a look and hurried over.

“Yo, isn’t this Jiang Xiaoyu? I’m from Class Three. Our classroom isn’t far from your Class Seven; why not come by and sit for a bit this afternoon?”

Jiang Xiaoyu was about to offer some polite excuse, but the shorter one chimed in: “Yeah, yeah… let’s be friends.”

He felt a bit puzzled—he was a transfer student on his first day; why was he suddenly so popular? But he didn’t dwell on it, waving a hand in refusal: “Thanks for the kind thought, but I really am busy this afternoon. Next time, for sure next time.”

The two said “Sure, sure,” but as they turned, they cast a cold, mocking glance at Jiang Xiaoyu.

Xiaoqi didn’t speak, but her gaze grew colder than before.

She knew they must be from the Sports Squad. She had killed Zhao Dayong, so they wouldn’t dare move against her, but Jiang Xiaoyu was a different matter.

Xiaoqi sneered inwardly: I hope you find this interesting.

When they reached the bottom of Building 13, a massive creature was leaning against the desk dozing off. It carried a machete as tall as itself, stained with patches of blood.

Jiang Xiaoyu walked over and politely called out: “Sir, sorry to trouble you, could you open the door? I need to head back to my dorm.”

The snoring cut off instantly.

The dorm manager opened his eyes and recognized Jiang Xiaoyu and Xiaoqi. In the next second, he sprang up as if struck by lightning. His back straightened, his hands gripped the massive machete, and he stood as stiffly as a sentry.

He gulped: “Welcome!”

“No need to be so formal, sir; we met last night.”

The dorm manager’s expression grew unnatural. He lowered his head, his fingers rubbing incessantly against the hilt of his blade, his lips moving several times as if he had something to say but kept swallowing it back.

Xiaoqi spoke: “Brother, pay the fee.”

“How much?”

The dorm manager coughed, his voice tight: “Young Master Jiang, Sister Xiaoqi, the daytime dorm fee is a rule set by the school, not me intentionally making things difficult. Whatever amount I quote in a moment, if it displeases you, please don’t take your anger out on me.”

Jiang Xiaoyu nodded: “Like I said, sir, it’s a school rule. I wouldn’t dream of blaming you.”

The dorm manager smiled awkwardly, his eyes darting toward Xiaoqi.

Xiaoqi remained expressionless and gave a curt “Mhm.”

The dorm manager took a deep breath, as if making a major decision, and spat out three words with extreme speed: “Ten thousand coins.”

With that, he hopped back two steps, holding his machete horizontally in a defensive stance.

Jiang Xiaoyu froze for a second, then shrieked: “Ten thousand?!”

The sound echoed through the lobby several times.

At the Matchmaker’s store, he had bought sludge essence, fluorescent powder, ghost acid spray, illusion-repelling incense, binding bandages, noise bells, transfer talismans, and reinforced gloves—a whole pile of items that only totaled twelve thousand. Ten thousand just to enter the dorm?

Xiaoqi’s brows furrowed as well. She had heard that dorm safe zones were expensive, but she hadn’t realized they were this exorbitant.

Jiang Xiaoyu gritted his teeth: “I need to get to the bottom of this. Money spent can be earned back.” He turned to Xiaoqi: “Cousin, go and cultivate.”

Xiaoqi didn’t move.

Jiang Xiaoyu smiled: “Go ahead, I’ll be fine.”

“Only after the fee is paid does the safe zone truly activate.”

A warmth spread through Jiang Xiaoyu’s chest, and he nodded with a smile.

After the card was swiped, the dorm manager let out a long sigh of relief, hurriedly unhooked a black iron key from his waist, and ran to unlock the gate to the stairwell.

“After you, Young Master Jiang! Your dorm safe zone is now active. From now until tomorrow morning, without your permission, anyone who attacks you will be punished.”