MRSG Chapter 32

While You Qi was still speechless, Zhou Mu had already casually shifted the topic. “By the way, the animal picture on this question I got wrong is so weird. It asked which latitude and longitude this animal might live in… I’ve never seen it before! So strange—it looks kind of like—”

He thought for a moment. “Like a mythical creature from ancient legends, but a little different. Like this one—it really resembles some kind of monster. What kind of animal is this?”

Zhou Mu pointed at one of the questions, which came with a crude black-and-white image. The animal looked like a hairy pig, but there seemed to be another head near its backside. On closer inspection, it was actually a pouch on its stomach opening backward—with a baby peeking out. It looked a lot like a two-headed beast called Bing Feng, which Zhou Mu used to enjoy eating, though there were some differences.

Could it be a mixed-blood Bing Feng? Why would that show up on a human test? He’d seen and eaten all kinds of creatures before, and even he had never encountered this one.

Still, he didn’t mention the resemblance to Bing Feng—didn’t want to scare his friendly human classmates by sounding too knowledgeable about monsters.

“You mean it looks like a Bing Feng, right?” You Qi had once seen a real Bing Feng, but he couldn’t exactly tell Zhou Mu that. “It’s called a wombat. It lives in Australia. Australia is surrounded by sea on all sides, so for millions of years, the animals evolved independently. That’s why they look so unique—some even seem like ancient mythical beasts. Once you know it’s from Australia, the correct answer is obviously C.”

It was break time at the moment, and a nearby classmate who overheard chimed in: “Didn’t someone say the <Classic of Mountain and Sea> might be literal? Like, the places and creatures in it might actually correspond to real things. For example, Lu Shu—it’s a lot like an African animal. What was it called again…”

Both Zhou Mu and You Qi smiled calmly.

One said, “That’s unlikely,” and the other said, “Sounds a bit far-fetched.”

“Eh, just saying.” That student couldn’t even remember what animal Lu Shu resembled—he really just wanted an excuse to talk to the new kid.

Just then, the bell rang—the last class of the morning was about to start. Everyone went back to their seats.

The final class was English. The teacher was an energetic man in her fifties who strode into the room, calling out, “Good morning, class.”

The students all stood up and responded with a greeting—except Zhou Mu, who only opened his mouth slightly but didn’t make a sound.

You Qi was sitting right beside him and could tell he hadn’t spoken. He glanced over.

Zhou Mu winked at him with his right eye, signaling him not to say anything.

You Qi quickly turned back around.

“Sit down, please,” Teacher Wang said as she reached for a whiteboard marker—but couldn’t find one. “What’s going on, where’s the pen?”

The student on duty quickly went up to help. “Gone again? The whiteboard pens keep disappearing these days. One minute it’s here, the next minute it’s gone.”

“If you use it, put it back where it belongs. Otherwise, no one can find it when they need it,” Teacher Wang muttered, assuming someone had played with it and forgotten to return it.

But there really wasn’t a single marker on the podium.

Zhou Mu glanced around the classroom and spotted one markerin the corner, rolling slowly across the floor—without anyone touching it.

Huh?

Zhou Mu immediately understood—ha! This marker seemed to have developed a bit of spiritual awareness.

Objects that were used for a long time, or had some special fate, could sometimes gain sentience and become jing (spirits). There was even a saying: ‘Old things become spirits.’ This marker seemed like it had just started awakening—on the verge of becoming a spirit.

The process of a demon cultivating into a spirit was complex, and it could take a long time before it fully transformed. But for now, it could already move a little on its own.

“Teacher, the marker is over here,” You Qi also spotted it—or rather, the moment he heard the marker was missing, he’d already started scanning the room. He knew this particular marker had started moving on its own three days ago.

Sitting in the back row, You Qi stood up and picked up the pen. The moment it was grabbed, it stopped moving—it was still in the ‘afraid of humans’ phase.

Both Zhou Mu and You Qi stared at the pen, which had already become something beyond ordinary. When they looked up and met eyes, Zhou Mu smiled and said, “How did it end up over there?”

“Maybe it rolled over,” You Qi replied casually, handing the marker to the teacher.

“Thanks.” Teacher Wang accepted the pen, then remembered what the homeroom teacher had told her. She glanced around and easily spotted Zhou Mu, smiling as she said, “I heard we have a new student joining us.” Also, Zhou Mu wasn’t very good at English, so the homeroom teacher had asked her to pay special attention. She decided to start with a simple dialogue and praise the new student a little to boost his confidence.

Zhou Mu and Teacher Wang locked eyes.

Still smiling warmly, Teacher Wang said, “Hi.”

Zhou Mu: “…Bye!”

Teacher Wang: “……”

The whole class burst into laughter. Teacher Wang was momentarily speechless— she hadn’t even finished his sentence, and Zhou Mu had already hit her with a ‘bye.’ She couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Zhou Mu, right? Your homeroom teacher told me you were funny—you really are.”

Teacher Wang didn’t say much else and officially started the lesson.

Throughout the class, she paid a fair amount of attention to Zhou Mu, asking him a few more questions. She found that while his foundation was weak, his attitude toward learning was quite good—so she focused on encouragement.

When the class ended, it was time for lunch break.

You Qi had been instructed by the homeroom teacher to take care of Zhou Mu—bring him to the cafeteria, get his student ID photo taken, and handle other new student chores. But when he turned to look, Zhou Mu seemed a bit deflated. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Mu, who had always come first at everything since he was little, and whose ferocious beast nature made him naturally competitive, never expected to sit in a human class and not understand the material. That made him start to worry. “If I’m bad at English… will I get punished or something?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

In the demon clans, if your school sports competition results were poor, your classmates might even eat a little piece of you…

You Qi saw Zhou Mu slumped over the desk like a kitten, only his pitiful eyes visible, and said with a laugh, “At most, you’ll get scolded a bit. I’ll help you.”

At that moment, a boy sitting in the front row turned around and raised his eyebrows at Zhou Mu: “Hey, new guy, have you never studied English before?”

Zhou Mu replied honestly, “Nope. How did you know?”

He answered seriously—he really had never taken English. The other guy had just been exaggerating, and didn’t expect Zhou Mu to admit it so plainly.

Even You Qi thought it was kind of absurd. What kind of student excels at math and Chinese but has never studied English? That wasn’t just favoring some subjects—it was like he gave up on one from the start.

But the other boy didn’t know all that, and he hadn’t seen Zhou Mu’s test paper either. He just chuckled and said, “I’m Xu Tianyi. I grew up overseas until I was seven. If you want to improve, you can ask me for help.”

Zhou Mu said bluntly, “The teacher told me to ask You Qi. His grades are better than yours.”

“…” Xu Tianyi’s mouth twitched. He said, a bit unwillingly, “But my spoken English is better than his!”

The surrounding students burst into laughter. “C’mon Old Xu, show us a few lines!”

“Don’t hype it up!” Xu Tianyi was a sucker for good looks, and he figured Zhou Mu probably transferred in from some remote area, where the schools were under-resourced and lacked proper English teachers. Since Zhou Mu had just admitted he’d never studied English, it made him feel a little sympathy.

“Zhou Mu, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates once said: ‘Adversity is man’s highest institution of higher learning.’” He did show off a bit of his spoken English—it was indeed fluent. Seeing Zhou Mu’s confused expression, he explained, “It means: in hardship, people grow the most. If you find English hard, that’s even more reason to work hard—you’ll definitely benefit in the end.”

Zhou Mu responded only after hearing the Chinese meaning: “Oh, you mean ‘Οιαντιξο?τητε? ε?ναι ουψηλ?τερο? θεσμ?? αν?τερη? μ?θηση? του ανθρ?που’(Adversity is man’s highest institution of higher learning.)? I just didn’t realize you were quoting it in English.”

Xu Tianyi: “…?”

Not just Xu Tianyi—everyone was stunned. What the heck language was that? It didn’t sound fake—and he spoke it so fluently.

“Wh-what language is that?”

Zhou Mu answered naturally, “Greek. That was the original quote from Socrates.”

Xu Tianyi & the rest: “Holy sht!!*”

Wait a minute—so the whole misunderstanding was… he didn’t study English not because he was from some remote mountain town, but because he was learning other languages?

“Damn, that’s impressive,” Xu Tianyi finally snapped out of it. He hadn’t expected to try showing off in front of the handsome new classmate, only to be one-upped. He sighed, “Even though I didn’t understand a word, you said it so smoothly. You must’ve lived in Greece, huh?”

Zhou Mu thought back to his teacher—a mystical black turtle who’d lived for thousands of years and loved traveling. “Nah, I had a teacher who studied in both ancient Greece and Babylon. He just happened to teach us, too.”

Everyone: “……HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Okay, that was too funny.

Even You Qi couldn’t help laughing. He figured Zhou Mu probably used to live in Europe, where English wasn’t a big focus, but his family must’ve really emphasized cultural studies and math. That would explain Zhou Mu’s performance. But man, this guy sure liked cracking jokes.

“Come on, I’ll take you to lunch.” You Qi waved him over. Zhou Mu immediately dropped the small talk with the others and eagerly asked, “Where? Where is it?”

He practically wished to cling to You Qi.

You Qi, a good bit taller, reached out and picked him up from behind and shifted him to his right side. “Just follow me.”

They’d chatted with Xu Tianyi for a while after class, so by the time they headed downstairs, the hallway was pretty empty. When they got to the second-floor corridor, Zhou Mu suddenly stopped in his tracks. He’d spotted two students tucked away in the corner of an empty classroom, holding each other, kissing each other’s cheeks and ears.

You Qi followed his gaze. “You coming?”

Zhou Mu was just casually watching, but then a teacher happened to walk by from the other end. The two students nearly got caught and hurriedly split up like scared quails, almost tripping over themselves.

Zhou Mu asked curiously, “Why are they hiding?”

You Qi dragged him down the stairs and replied lazily, “Because the school doesn’t allow dating.”

“Doesn’t allow… dating?” Zhou Mu caught up in a few steps, puzzled, trying to interpret the word literally.

There was no such concept as ‘early dating’ in the demon world.

You Qi nodded.

He figured Zhou Mu must think this school was super strict—managing even stuff like that.

Zhou Mu was thoughtful. So, he liked to chew on his food—nibble and gnaw—did that mean he couldn’t eat in school anymore? Or at least had to be careful not to get misunderstood by a teacher?

He zoned out for a second and almost bumped into You Qi, who had to reach out and grab him again.

You Qi asked casually, “What are you thinking about?”

Zhou Mu looked up, eyes pure and innocent. “I was thinking—if I do get into an early relationship, I’d better not get caught. Luckily, I run faster than they do. Do you run fast?”

They were already standing pretty close, and Zhou Mu was now speaking seriously and intensely, his round eyes misty with moisture, each lash long and distinct—flashing slightly in a way that stirred the imagination. It almost felt like he was hinting at something.

“….” You Qi met Zhou Mu’s gaze and, for a moment, felt strangely self-conscious. He was speechless for a few seconds before finally replying, “…I guess I’m decent.”