MRSG Chapter 16

Happy Labour’s Day~

Yu Qi’s senior brothers all looked dumbfounded, as if they had never seen the world before. Their brains struggled to process the scene unfolding before them. These two… seemed kind of like… but that couldn’t be… right?

Even Teacher Cao was at a loss for words. He picked up the tiny piece of puff pastry delicately, as if afraid that applying too much force would crush it into nothing.

Fine. So much for the bond between mentor and student.

It was barely a mouthful. Teacher Cao took a bite, and the crisp pastry shattered into countless flakes between his teeth, producing a satisfying crunch. The layers of dough, baked to golden perfection, gave way to a soft and chewy interior, each stratum distinct.

The crispy yet delicate crust wrapped around bits of ham, and with each bite, the initial crunch of the pastry was quickly followed by the explosion of savory ham flavor—salty yet subtly sweet, the kind of taste where the sweetness and saltiness complemented rather than overpowered each other.

It was delicious!

Teacher Cao suddenly understood why You Qi hadn’t eaten Zhou Mu—what a waste it would be to devour someone with such amazing culinary skills!

That was exactly what he was thinking, but because he had glanced at You Qi one too many times, You Qi immediately sensed a threat and, in response, took his own plate and quickly devoured most of the puff pastry.

Teacher Cao: “…”

What a filial student. I’m touched.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

You Qi continued eating while the others could only stare and swallow their saliva.

For You Qi, this was a strange and unfamiliar experience—being stared at with envy.

And it felt… kind of good.

After leaving the lab, Zhou Mu brought up his plan to sign up for the university sports competition in hopes of winning prize money. He was so eager that he wanted to sign up for nearly every event and even asked if You Qi wanted to join too.

This was no ordinary college sports competition—there weren’t even tryouts. If you had the guts, you could just sign up. Since demons had long lifespans and plenty of territory, more participants just meant more rounds of competition.

But, as Yan Xingke had warned, the matches were brutal. Even regular students would have to think twice about whether they could handle it.

You Qi chuckled, “Are you really that short on money?”

“I want to earn my own living expenses,” Zhou Mu explained. He had no idea how long his standoff with his family would last.

“But don’t you get financial aid for being a minor demon?” You Qi recalled Zhou Mu frequently visiting Cui Jue’s office for that reason.

“Uh, well.” Zhou Mu suddenly hesitated. “I also spend a lot.”

That was true—Zhou Mu had a habit of emptying vending machines.

You Qi pondered for a moment before saying, “The combat event has a team division—five-person teams. It also offers the biggest cash prize. If you insist on participating, I’ll sign up with you for that event. But no more than that. It would be too exhausting and take up too much of your study time. If you need more money, just go hunt a few demons.”

Zhou Mu’s face lit up. You Qi was much more familiar with the hunting grounds around Hualing, so if he knew efficient hunting spots, that would save Zhou Mu a lot of effort. He immediately dropped the idea of signing up for multiple events.

“You’re the best,” Zhou Mu praised. “Now we just need three more people for our team.”

He started thinking out loud. “My senior Yan said I could ask him for help, so we can bring him. Then there’s senior Xu Tianyi—we can check with him. That leaves one more…”

Zhou Mu: “Just sign here, Guigui.”

You Qi: “You’re the last one.”

Guigui: “………………”

Holding the registration form in despair, Gui Youqi muttered, “Why me? I don’t want to join a fighting competition—I came here to study.”

The reason combat events had the biggest prizes was simple—they were the most brutal. He wasn’t blind to that fact. While he considered himself pretty tough, he had no interest in brawling with top fighters from other demon academies.

“Nonsense, I checked your grades—they’re terrible. You might as well enter and earn some extra credits,” Zhou Mu said while trying to persuade Gui Youqi to join their team.

You Qi added, “Stop dragging it out. It’s not like we’ll need you to fight.”

Gui Youqi thought to himself ‘Nonsense, you guys just want me to get injured so you can pick up a few tentacles to take back and eat. Your intentions are written all over your faces!’

Gui Youqi did the math in his head. If he joined, he might get injured later. But if he refused, he’d definitely get injured right now.

Weighing his options, Gui Youqi clenched his jaw and muttered, “Hmph, fine.”

“Great! We’ll carry you to victory.” Zhou Mu grinned. “By the way, Guigui, let me check how your last injury is healing. I’ve been so worried about you.” His tone was so kind it was almost fatherly.

Gui Youqi: “……”

Back in the ocean, he was a fearsome deep-sea predator, and even at school, he usually ruled the halls. But right now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to lash out, but with You Qi present, he didn’t dare. He awkwardly muttered, “No need. It’s… not fully healed yet.”

Before Zhou Mu could respond, a passing student suddenly made a retching sound: “Ugh.”

Gui Youqi instantly erupted. A tentacle shot out, wrapping around the student as he roared, “What do you mean by that?! Are you mocking me?! Insulting me?! Lusting after me?!”

The student: “……??”

Wait, hold on—where did those last two accusations even come from?!

Gui Youqi let out a long howl and was about to punch him hard when the student hugged his head and shouted, “Senior Gui, I wasn’t mocking you! I’m Bo Yu!”

—“…On the Mountain of Nüzhen, no grass or trees grow. Gypsum water flows from it and merges into the Li River to the west. The river is abundant with Bo Fish, which resemble sturgeon but have only one eye and make a sound like ‘ou (gagging).’ Their appearance is said to herald great droughts across the land.”

Gui Youqi clenched his fists and glared at him fiercely for a long time before finally letting him go. “Get lost.”

Bo Yu: “Okay, urgh.”

%￥#@ This guy really deserves a beating. Is he afraid people won’t know he’s Bo Yu?!

Gui Youqi, still looking fierce, turned around, only to see Zhou Mu still gazing at him with concern. He immediately felt a chill down his spine, and his extended tentacle quickly retracted. “I have class. See you at the competition!!”

Zhou Mu then took the registration form to sign up. The always-busy student council officer, Xu Tianyi, was in charge.

He was part of this team himself. When Zhou Mu had first invited him, he thought, Why not? Easy win. So he casually agreed. But now, seeing the last name on the list—Gui Youqi—he couldn’t help but laugh.

The incident where Gui Youqi was chased off at the cafeteria while trying to catch seafood had long since become a well-known joke at Hualing.

“Is he joining as the team’s cook?” Xu Tianyi teased. “Junior, how did you convince Gui Youqi to join?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Zhou Mu replied with a grin. “I just ‘persuaded’ him.”

“…You Qi persuaded him,” he added.

Xu Tianyi: “……”

Alright, got it. So that’s what ‘persuade’ means. No wonder you’re a disciple of Luhai Sanren. Your Chinese is impeccable.

After entering the registration details, he said, “The school has opened certain areas for contestants to practice. If you plan to train, stay within the designated zones. And be careful—those demon clan members are quite devious.”

For example, those practicing sword flight would deliberately fly low just to provoke Senior Little Howl into chasing them around.

After signing up, Zhou Mu went about his classes as usual. No one ever saw him step foot in the practice zones.

Not surprising. Even though You Qi had never officially signed up, nobody doubted that he could win a four-against-one match and still take the championship. Under these circumstances, Zhou Mu would have been a fool to wander into those chaotic practice areas.

“Zhou Mu, no disciple from my school has ever placed in the sports competition. You’d better do well this time,” Luo Guanzhong lectured him.

One of the senior disciples chimed in, “Teacher, isn’t winning a championship guaranteed? As long as little junior doesn’t fall out with You Qi.”

Luo Guanzhong mused, “It’s only natural—separation leads to reunion, and reunion leads to separation…”

Zhou Mu: “……”

Ding. Hearing the sound, Zhou Mu glanced at his phone. “Oh, teacher, my package has arrived. Can I leave now?”

Luo Guanzhong waved his hand, dismissing him.

Zhou Mu ran to the security office to pick up his package. Just from the address, he already knew what it was—the custom-made suit he had ordered for You Qi from that old human tailor.

Back in his dorm, he opened the package and found a full suit inside, complete with a dress shirt and tie. There was also a bonus tie that the tailor (forced) included, made from leftover fabric from the suit. Additionally, there were some second-hand tools like measuring tapes and scissors.

Seeing this, Zhou Mu cursed the old man. “You only made one lousy tie out of the leftover fabric? You stingy geezer!”

Grumbling, he changed into a new shirt and held up the extra tie. Not bad—it matched the suit since he had picked the fabric himself. He decided to keep it. After all, You Qi wouldn’t need that many ties. Might as well take advantage of it himself.

As he was contemplating, You Qi pushed open the door.

He saw Zhou Mu wearing a well-fitted dress shirt, tying a tie.

The shirt was tucked in at the waist, emphasizing his lean, athletic frame. Although Zhou Mu usually lounged around lazily and barely liked to walk after eating, his posture was actually quite good—straight-backed with not an ounce of excess fat.

And then, You Qi noticed the tie in his hands…

Looking over at the larger-sized suit hanging up, which was obviously meant for him, he realized they were made from the same fabric.

“You’re back, You Qi. Try it on—your gift arrived.” Zhou Mu urged him, then caught him staring at the tie. “Oh, this? The old man threw it in as a freebie. You don’t mind if I keep it, right?”

You Qi didn’t seem to care. In fact, seeing the matching outfits strangely lifted his mood. He grabbed his suit, glanced at Zhou Mu, then turned toward the bathroom.

“You can’t just change out here? So stingy,” Zhou Mu muttered.

He lowered his head, planning to send a complaint text to the old tailor, but his right ear twitched slightly just as he typed two characters.

What was that sound?

Zhou Mu grabbed the bed frame, gracefully flipped over, and landed silently by the window. His round, apricot-shaped eyes instantly turned sharp as a drawn blade.

Up in the sky, sword energy crisscrossed as two sword-flyers dueled fiercely.

Whether they got carried away or simply lost control, they had drifted beyond the designated training area.

With a loud clash, the force of their collision sent clouds scattering. One of them was knocked out of the sky, reverting to their true form mid-air—a massive, sky-darkening mist whale. A few who recognized it called out its name. It was a young mist whale, and it was plummeting toward the dormitories like a falling missile. Given its immense size and velocity, the impact would be disastrous.

At the same time, exclamations of “Holy shit!” rang through the dorm buildings. Clearly, everyone had noticed the danger. Living at Hualing meant facing all sorts of crises; they were all highly alert.

If that mist whale crashed, Building 5 would definitely need to be rebuilt.

…Damn, that thing’s huge.

Zhou Mu gripped the window frame tightly, but before he could move, he spotted a figure leaping off a nearby balcony. The figure flew straight toward the mist whale, showing no hesitation.And just before the massive beast could hit the ground—They punched it.

The massive body of the mist whale suddenly froze in midair!

All the students, whether crowding by the windows to watch or already having bolted from the building, let out a collective “Whoa—!” They saw it clearly—the one who struck was You Qi.

And unusually, You Qi was wearing a white dress shirt. The buttons weren’t fully fastened, and his tie was missing. His collar fluttered in the wind, brushing against the lower edge of his face mask

The mist whale, overwhelmed with pain, let out a mournful cry and retaliated by shooting multiple water-formed arrows.

Ordinary large whales can expel about 1,500 liters of air in a second, but a mist whale, under such agony, could condense and fire water arrows with terrifying force and speed. The velocity was so great that the intense vibrations created an explosive sound as they tore through the air!

But You Qi was a windborne beast—speed was never something he lost in.

He twisted his body to dodge, barely avoiding having his shirt torn, but his cheek and neck were left with fresh cuts.

The scent of blood only served to awaken the beast’s ferocity. You Qi’s expression turned cold, his dark eyes deepening further. The wind wrapped around the mist whale’s tail. He didn’t even draw his blade—he simply grabbed the massive creature and slammed it down with raw strength, smashing it into the ground!

Building 5 was spared, but the landscaping in front of it? Completely ruined. A deep crater had formed from the impact.

“Hwoo—” The mist whale let out a high-pitched, feeble, and broken cry.

You Qi was still in battle mode, his sharp presence making the surrounding students instinctively take two steps back.

The dormitory seemed intact, aside from the billowing dust clouds. You Qi leaped up, grabbed the windowsill of Room 1203, flipped himself up, and crouched at the window—face to face with Zhou Mu, who was standing inside.

Zhou Mu instinctively stepped back. He saw You Qi’s wind-tousled hair, his eyes still shining cold and sharp, and the blood streaks trailing down his cheek. Beneath his open collar, the bright red wounds mixed with dust, made even more striking against the crisp white shirt.

This wasn’t the first time Zhou Mu had seen You Qi fight. At the start of the school year, he had watched him kill a tiger-eagle right before his eyes—it had startled him then, too. Or perhaps, it reminded him of their first encounter when You Qi had been drawn to his scent, his predatory stance making Zhou Mu shrink back. Though he had recovered since then, anyone would understand—how could you not be afraid of a creature that wanted to eat you?

Now, seeing Zhou Mu retreat a step, You Qi’s lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t.

At that moment, Zhou Mu finally noticed something—You Qi’s shirt remained untouched, yet his skin bore fresh wounds. With his sharp vision, it was easy to piece together why You Qi’s evasive maneuvers earlier weren’t flawless. Without thinking, Zhou Mu reached out and brushed a bead of blood from You Qi’s cheek with his fingertips.

Then, he suddenly froze.

He realized that under his touch, You Qi had completely let down all defenses. His spiritual energy stopped flowing, his body stilled—just like an ordinary beast from the human realm. And with Zhou Mu’s current position, You Qi’s most vulnerable spot was right beneath his palm.

He couldn’t understand it. Why would anyone expose their vital point so openly when there was no threat present?

You Qi tilted his head slightly, pressing his face against Zhou Mu’s palm. In a low voice, he finally spoke: “…Don’t be afraid of me.”