Volume One: Awakening of the Dragon Soul Chapter 44: The Sewer!

“Shiyan?!” Mo Xing exclaimed in surprise.

“And you are…?” Li Xiangcao turned to look as well.

“Never mind who I am,” Shiyan said, pulling her twin pistols from her storage bracelet, “but you’d better not lay a finger on him!”

“Is that so?” Li Xiangcao stood up, releasing her sword from her own bracelet.

“Shiyan, don’t be impulsive, this is all a misunderstanding!” Mo Xing hurried to explain. At that moment, he felt like a scandalous celebrity caught cheating.

“Mo Xing, don’t trust her!” Shiyan insisted. “She may not be a good person!”

“Don’t slander me without cause,” Li Xiangcao retorted, her brow furrowing.

“Ladies, please, calm down! Let’s keep the peace!” Mo Xing thought to himself, bewildered by how the situation had suddenly turned into palace intrigue.

He had no time to intervene before Li Xiangcao dashed away.

“Double Burst!”

Shiyan fired two blue-and-white missiles, but Li Xiangcao swung her blade, unleashing a “Spiral Tempest” to evade the attack.

Shiyan’s brow relaxed ever so slightly as she broke into a run, leaving afterimages in her wake. In the blink of an eye, she was suddenly right in front of Li Xiangcao.

“Dominion!”

Li Xiangcao tried to unleash her inner power to repel Shiyan, but Shiyan spun gracefully, teleporting behind Li Xiangcao and firing two energy blasts that sent her reeling.

“Whirling Strike!”

Li Xiangcao slashed backward, but Shiyan vanished from behind her once more.

“Shadow Step.”

Shiyan reappeared before Li Xiangcao, her body trailing afterimages.

She gathered her strength and aimed a kick at Li Xiangcao, but just as she was about to strike, a figure darted in. She stopped herself instantly, her foot hovering only ten centimeters away, sand rising from the ground and dust swirling in the air.

“Enough! All of you, stop!” Mo Xing shouted, his face flushed with anger.

“Mo… Mo Xing.” Shiyan bit her lip, her brow deeply furrowed.

“Idol…” Li Xiangcao was stunned to see Mo Xing standing in front of her.

“You… you’re both my friends. I don’t want to see you fighting over me,” Mo Xing yelled. “I hate this! So please, stop!”

The three of them fell into a brief silence. Time seemed to stand still as anger, jealousy, and other emotions were worn away by the river of time, leaving only a strange, indescribable feeling—perhaps tolerance, perhaps humility, or perhaps… love.

“I… I was wrong,” Shiyan said, lowering her head, a hint of guilt in her voice as she put her weapons back into her bracelet.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Li Xiangcao released her grip on her sword and returned it to her bracelet, turning away to look into the distance.

“I acted rashly. Forgive me,” Shiyan took a deep breath.

“I was at fault as well. I shouldn’t have been so rude,” Li Xiangcao murmured, fidgeting with her fingers.

Seeing the two of them yield, even if only slightly, Mo Xing’s tense expression finally eased.

“I need to explain what happened,” Mo Xing said after a moment. “Li Xiangcao is just a fan of mine. She got some bad news at lunch and was in a bad mood. I was worried and followed her here. I found her crying and tried to comfort her.”

“It’s all my fault… When my idol came to comfort me, I couldn’t think straight. I just wanted to get closer, to be near him. I crossed a line…” Li Xiangcao’s voice grew softer and softer, barely more than a whisper.

“I see…” Shiyan paused. Even though Li Xiangcao’s voice was quiet, she could still hear her.

“In short, it was all a misunderstanding.”

Mo Xing let out a long breath, still shocked that a fan would try to “cross the line” and kiss him.

He didn’t consider himself a paragon of virtue, but he did have principles. That was supposed to be his first kiss, after all, and shouldn’t your first kiss be reserved for someone you truly love?

Not that Li Xiangcao was a bad person—she had her merits, and her looks were quite refined. But to be honest, he only saw her as a friend; there were no deeper feelings.

When she was about to kiss him, his mind was a tangle of emotions. If he pushed her away, would he leave her with another scar? She’d already lost her brother, and being rejected by her idol might have been too much. If he accepted the kiss, he’d be tacitly agreeing to a relationship he wasn’t sure about, which would be irresponsible.

Either way, it would be awkward to see her again!

But Shiyan’s sudden appearance sent the situation spinning in a new direction. Even after explaining everything, Mo Xing still found himself in a rather awkward position.

“All right, I understand,” Shiyan nodded. “If there’s nothing else, let’s all go back for lunch.”

“Yeah, I’ll head back to the dorm—” Mo Xing hesitated, “You two should go as well.”

He’d wanted to say he hoped the two of them could get along from now on, but the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he changed to something else.

“Thank you for your understanding. I’m sorry for troubling you, Idol. I’ll be more mindful of my actions from now on, and be a rational fan.” Li Xiangcao stammered, realizing how inappropriate she’d just been.

“Mm.” Shiyan replied simply, then turned and walked away.

Mo Xing had nothing more to add and followed after her.

He didn’t know if Shiyan cared about him, but two things were certain: Li Xiangcao liked him, and he liked Shiyan. It was exactly as Senior Cai Hong had said—a love triangle, and truly a headache! Women’s hearts were mysterious indeed; who knew if they’d really forgiven each other…

He could only hope they truly reconciled…

On the way down the mountain, the three were silent, each lost in thought. At the fork in the road, Mo Xing waved goodbye to them and headed toward the Rain Dormitory.

Along the way, Mo Xing worried—Would they argue on the way back to the girls’ dorm? Would they start fighting again? Would there be another conflict…?

He clutched his head with both hands and yelled internally, “Ah! Why do I have so many problems?!”

Girls were really impossible to understand!

Two days later.

It was Friday afternoon.

After all the public classes ended, Mo Xing submitted his “Course Selection Form” along with the others. For theory, he chose Professor Long Lian, and for practical training, he stuck with Professor Tianqi. After all, they were his first teachers, and he was more familiar with them. He’d attended other teachers’ classes as well, and they were good, but he still preferred those he knew.

There was something interesting about the past two days. On Thursday morning, after theory class, Professor Long Lian had everyone stay behind and handed out a stack of forms—the “Course Selection Forms”—from his backpack.

At first, no one knew what was going on, but they soon realized that this was the only class where the forms were distributed. If new students missed that class, they had to apply for the form at the administrative office.

In other words, it was an indirect way of taking attendance.

Those who didn’t get the forms were considered to have skipped class and were penalized with a credit deduction when they went to the office. If they didn’t go, they couldn’t select courses at all.

Those students really had it rough!

“Well, never mind all that. There’s more important business tonight.” Mo Xing stretched to relieve his soreness; earlier that morning, Zhang Zhihao had assigned him to “strength and balance training.” He’d expected weightlifting or something similar, but it turned out to be water-carrying! One bucket in each hand, running without spilling a drop—if any water was lost, he’d have to start the whole process over.

It sounded tough, and it really was!

He finally managed to finish after three runs. Zhang Zhihao nodded and said, “Not bad, but you were five minutes over the time limit! Go again!” Hearing that, Mo Xing nearly collapsed, but forced himself to run another lap. Panting, he reached the finish. Zhang Zhihao handed him a breakfast as a “reward,” though he’d finished within the time limit, he’d still spilled a few milliliters, so he’d have to do an extra session the next morning.

He gloomily ate his breakfast, waved goodbye to Zhang Zhihao, and dragged his exhausted body to theory class.

“Mo Xing! Mo Xing!”

Hearing someone call his name, Mo Xing snapped back to reality to see Captain Huo and several members of the campus security team standing in front of him.

“Captain Huo, you’re here.” Mo Xing scratched his head, only then realizing he was at the campus gate.

“Sorry, sorry, kept you waiting. I was lost in thought,” Captain Huo laughed, pointing to Mo Xing’s suit. “Looks good on you.”

“Thank you. So what’s the plan, Captain?” Mo Xing asked. He was now wearing a business suit—the one Zhang Zhihao had brought him at Captain Huo’s request for their anti-bandit operation.

“Put on your sunglasses and come with me to the sewers,” Captain Huo grinned.

“The sewers? What kind of mission is this?” Mo Xing was baffled. “Are you sure I’m here to catch bandits, not fix the drains?”

“You’ll know soon enough,” Captain Huo replied.

A short while later.

At an abandoned flight training ground.

Captain Huo and several colleagues pried open a sewer cover, while others helped Mo Xing with his final disguise and gear.

“If I stay down there too long, will I suffocate? Or get drowned?” Mo Xing pinned a distinctive mouse-shaped badge to his chest. According to the soldiers, it was a special pass for the sewers.

“Don’t worry. There’s plenty of ventilation, and most of the water’s dried up. You’ll be safe as long as you watch out for those people,” Captain Huo assured him, then pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over.

“Cigarettes? Sir, I’m underage!” Mo Xing waved his hand, refusing. Oddly enough, cigarette packs here looked just like those in his previous world, except for a few unreadable letters.

“Haha, you’re a funny one,” Captain Huo chuckled. “These aren’t ordinary cigarettes. Every one of them has a tracker inside.”

“A tracker? Really?” Mo Xing was amazed—so this world had things like that too.

“Exactly. And it’s getting late.” Captain Huo checked his watch, then slipped the cigarette pack into Mo Xing’s pocket.

“Ready for action!” Captain Huo ordered.

“Yes, sir!” the soldiers responded.

Mo Xing nodded as well. With help from the security team, he climbed down the sewer ladder.

Peering into the pitch-black space below, Mo Xing took a deep breath.

Sewers—here I come!

——————————Author’s Note—————————

Recently, I’ve had a lot of assignments, so the updates may slow down, but don’t worry, I have a backlog of drafts √ If things really get too busy, I’ll take a short break, and I hope you all understand~