Residence Of Monsters Volume 1 Chapter 5

Author: Lan Qi Zuo Ren (藍旗左衽).
Translated by: Yujuan

Morris grabbed Feng Ping Lan's ankle, racing across the night. He avoided the roads where there were many people, choosing the dark forest slopes, going down the mountain at flying speeds.

Feng Ping Lan's body laid over Morris' back. He looked down, seeing the sky at his feet, the city’s suburban lights causing the stars to disseminate in the gathering indigo darkness. Looking up, the mountain that was darker than the night sky stood above, the forest up the slope and the lights of the residences much more dazzling than the vast plethora of stars.

Following the fast speeds and the gra.s.s-scented cool air brushing against the skin, it was a type of unexplainable happiness.

"Wow! So awesome! So high! So cooling!" Feng Ping Lan couldn't help but praise, "Do you usually move around like this? Is this magic? Does every demon know how to do this?"

Morris ignored Feng Ping Lan's words, immediately putting the clamorous noise to the back of his mind.

"If you can jump this high…" Feng Ping Lan contemplated for a moment, "Peeping should be easy for you. Hahaha!"

Morris frowned, using all his might to ignore his mindless words, but he silently accelerated.

"Who knew that by flipping over the usual scenery, the feeling you have can be quite different." Feng Ping Lan looked at the nightscape ruefully, "I didn't know that the world could look so beautiful from between another's legs. Hahahahaha!"

"Shut up!" Morris couldn't stand it anymore, warning, "If you make any more noises, I'll let go right now and let you run your own course!"

"Oh okay, I understand." Feng Ping Lan agreed to closing his mouth, but opened it again after not even five seconds had gone past, "Sorry, um, can you flip me over?" In this position, he felt as if his blood was rushing to his head.

Morris humphed coldly, "You have no right to make any requests."

"Oh, alright." Feng Ping Lan didn't really care, "But, can you not jump so high?"

Morris smiled chillingly, "Scared?"

"I'm afraid that if you jump too high, the amplitude may be too big when we descend. My nose might hit your firm and st.u.r.dy b.u.t.tocks— wah!" Before he could finish, Feng Ping Lan felt himself being tossed up, revolving around in the air, and when he sat up he was already upright normally on Morris' back.

"Thanks!"

Morris cursed lowly, feeling incredibly vexed about his compromise.

"That's right, I saw you at school yesterday." Feng Ping Lan continued to speak, "What were you doing around the walls?"

Morris quaked slightly. "None of your business!"

"Oh." Feng Ping Lan didn't ask anymore, quietly sitting on Morris' back, both hands on his shoulders, chin rested languidly on the back of his hand entirely relaxed, as if he was sitting on a train observing the scenery and feeling the night breeze.

This made Morris incredibly displeased.

No one had ever treated him like this before. Even if it was his injured companions on the battlefield, no one had dared to easily and contentedly lean on him like this. Everyone had stiffened their bodies while waiting to be sent to the medics as if being relaxed in his presence was asking for disaster.

Feng Ping Lan's hair p.r.i.c.ked his neck, the hands on his shoulders spreading warmth, the sound of his heartbeat coming from his back.

No one had been this close to him before.

This made him feel like he wasn't being respected or feared, made him feel loathe and resentment. He had caused crowds of demons in the royal capital to run away in fear, had caused the enemies to back away as 'Dark Flame Morris', but this mere human did not seem to understand terror and revere at the sight of him?

Presumptuous! If it wasn't because of Dongya, if it wasn't because this weakling had released the seal and they owed him, he would use the methods of training new soldiers that usually scarred them physically and mentally on him, teach him the manners that he ought to have!

"Um, can you keep on staying in mid-air?" A question full of curiosity came from Morris' back, "Soaring like birds in the sky, can you do that?"

"I can only jump, I cannot fly," Morris answered coldly.

"Oh, alright." Feng Ping Lan's tone had a bit of disappointment in it, "This isn't too bad as well."

"If you're not satisfied I can let you fall right now!"

"Aiya, I'm just asking, don't be so stirred up. If this was a pa.s.senger rating I would give you ten points, don't worry." With that, he patted Morris' shoulder comfortingly.

"You lowly thing, you have no right—"

"Ah, your flesh is really hard, do you work out?" Feng Ping Lan pinched Morris' shoulder, "Carrying me on such a long journey, aren’t your arms aching?"

"I'm not weak as you are! Also, keep your filthy hand off— ah!" A soothing yet slightly painful feeling transferred over, and Morris couldn't help making a low sound.

"It's very comfortable, right? Hehe."

Morris exploded with anger, grabbing Feng Ping Lan and throwing him like a javelin forwards.

Feng Ping Lan flew forwards a few seconds then started to fall downwards, about to drop to the ground. But a few meters before that happened, a dark st.u.r.dy figure came from the side, taking hold of the falling body, legs treading the ground and flying once more into the air.

Morris held Feng Ping Lan's waist with one hand, looking down at the person in his hands with a haughty cold look.

He expected to see a frightened and panic-stricken look, pale-faced and shivering, sweating rivulets. He had even expected him to wet his pants in shock, so he lifted him with one hand so he wouldn't get dirty.

But what he got was the usual foolish smile on that stupid face, and also a bit of excitement in there too.

"Did you get shocked silly?" This was bad, had he damaged this guy's brain to the point of no return?

"That was so fascinating!" Feng Ping Lan said in high spirits, "Can we go again?"

"This isn't a game!" Morris rebuked loudly, "You're not scared? You didn't think that I wasn't going to pull you up and let you fall to your death?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that."

Morris was astonished, "Why?"

Feng Ping Lan thought for a bit, "No real reason, just an instinct. Hahaha."

"Idiot…" Morris roared. He thought that he was even more so of an idiot to take Feng Ping Lan seriously.

"Hehehe."

Even though he felt revulsions towards Feng Ping Lan to no end, there was an unfamiliar feeling that couldn't be explained, rising up within him.

d.a.m.n it! What sentimentality! He hated this aspect of himself!

Throughout the rest of the journey, Feng Ping Lan wouldn't stop talking noisily, but Morris did not answer at all. Rather than ignoring Feng Ping Lan, it was more like he was getting angry at himself.

Not long after, they left the mountainous area, the dark figure jumping across the tall buildings.

There were not many people out at night and the shops had already closed, but the lights of the administrator's office were still on.

Morris took advantage of the fact that there was no one on the streets at the moment, looking carefully at corners of the old-clothes collection box and the lamp-post, descending.

As soon as they reached the ground, the hand on Feng Ping Lan's waist released and pulled away. Feng Ping Lan suddenly became unstable, staggering and then forcefully righting himself.

"Thank you." He turned back to express his thanks, but Morris was already gone.

His bicycle was still at the residence, so he'd thank him tomorrow when he went to get it.

Feng Ping Lan moved his stiff muscles, walking back to the dorms.

It was already deep into the night, but the administrator still wore his sungla.s.ses, a hand supporting his head and gazing out without an expression, not letting anyone see his line of sight.

Feng Ping Lan stared at the administrator for a moment. The uncle continued with his position, not making a move.

YES! A chance!

Feng Ping Lan walked gingerly, and just as he was about to cross the entrance, a low voice coldly came from his back.

"I'm not blind. Not asleep either. Even more so not dead."

"Uh!"

Feng Ping Lan jolted heavily, turning his head to see that the administrator had turned his way, smiling yet not smiling.

"The curfew has pa.s.sed." The man pointed at the notice on the window ledge. "Your nightlife is really enriching, huh."

"Aiya, it isn't like that." Feng Ping Lan laughed dryly in embarra.s.sment, "Um, can you let me go just this once? Please, I'll be more attentive next time." With that, he put his palms together, begging sincerely.

The administrator stared at Feng Ping Lan, then sighed irritably and waved impatiently at Feng Ping Lan to leave.

"Thank you!" Feng Ping Lan thanked him gratefully, "I'm really grateful! I'll bring some offerings next time to thank you!"

"Save it." The administrator answered unhurriedly. "Doesn't matter if I don't count this time anyway."

"How can you say that, it's like you think I'm already fated to get kicked out of the dorm."

The administrator laughed lightly, he didn't say any more. Feng Ping Lan hurried pa.s.sed the gates, sneakily crossing the courtyard into the male dorms.

"Where did you go?" When he came back to the room, Bai Li Rui who was sitting behind the desk turned his head to ask, "A dormitory committee member came earlier to look for you. Thrice."

"I just went to the city center to walk around, and I didn't take note of the time so I came back late." Feng Ping Lan avoided the question casually, "The seniors noticed that I was missing?"

"No. I said that you were showering."

"Uh, wouldn't they think that I was showering for too long? They believed you?"

"I said that you like to explore your own body when you shower." Bai Li Rui spoke without even lifting his head, "Because of a change in environment you became much more excited than usual."

"Oh, I see." It sounded a bit weird. "Then what did the seniors say?"

"They said to be careful. What did you do?" Bai Li Rui cast his eyes upon Feng Ping Lan, "Not even two days have pa.s.sed since you came here and you've pa.s.sed the curfew and even offended the seniors. You're certainly daring."

"It's just a misunderstanding." Feng Ping Lan smiled, changing the subject, "That's right, was the night tour fun? Were there any progression or gains you had?"

"None, because an a.s.shole stole away all my charm. A girl gave me a business card in pity, saying that her brother owned a therapist clinic." Bai Li Rui humphed unhappily, "I'm not mentally sick."

"Oh, that's a shame."

"Doesn't matter, at least I know how I might fail now, I'm another step further towards success."

Looking at the unyielding and unthwarted Bai Li Rui, Feng Ping Lan couldn't help but admire him. His gaze moved to his desk, and realized that Bai Li Rui was using a napkin to carefully wipe an object the size of his palm, "What's that shiny thing there? A prize?"

"It's a collapsible mirror that I found in the sickbay." Bai Li Rui displayed the round mirror, the gold sides of the mirror embedded with multi-colored gems. It looked expensive, "I'm planning to pretend that it's an artifact that my grandmother left behind and gift it to a girl that's willing to take to the next level with me."

"It doesn't look bad— eh?" Feng Ping Lan stared at that round mirror, and in an instant, it seemed like he had seen fine intertwined golden-purple rays of light overflow out of the mirror. Just as he was about to carefully verify it, the rays had already disappeared.

It was probably a refraction of the mirror…

"That's right, which room does that friend of yours stay in? I didn't see him anywhere when I came back."

"Which one?"

"The one with blond hair, that By-something or other."

"Did Byriel also partic.i.p.ate?" Feng Ping Lan was astonished.

No wonder Byriel wasn't at the residence earlier, it was because he had gone to take part in the dormitory activities.

But, why didn't he come to find him? A tiny bit of disappointment surfaced in his heart.

"Then who do you think it was that took away all the girls' attention?" Bai Li Rui rolled his eyes, "Does the other one, Conglong, live in the dormitories too? I couldn't find his room either, I thought they would be staying together."

"They don't stay in the dormitories. Then did Conglong and Simo go too?"

"Those two didn't come." Bai Li Rui was perplexed, "If they don't live in the dormitories, then why come to the newcomers' celebration activities? On the first day we arrived, wasn't Conglong also here in the dorms?"

"Uh, I-I don't know. Maybe they lived in the dorms for a while, then refused to live here anymore because they weren't used to it? Hahaha…" Feng Ping Lan laughed forcefully for a bit, then used showering as a reason to leave the room, grabbing his towel and toiletries in pa.s.sing before going out.

Leaving the bathroom after showering, he coincidentally met up with the dormitory head who was on night patrol.

Feng Ping Lan had his towel wrapped around his neck, looking awkwardly at the dormitory head and waving his hand to greet, "Senior, good evening."

The dormitory head looked at Feng Ping Lan, his gaze sweeping over his wet hair and the dirty clothes in his hands, then looking at his watch. He then raised his head and revealed an astonished yet disgusted and also a bit fl.u.s.tered expression.

"Senior is really hardworking, it's so late but you're not asleep yet. People must be really appreciative of you." Feng Ping Lan spoke flatteringly, "Does senior also want to shower too? Showering before sleeping makes you feel euphoric and loosened up, you know?"

"Who says I want to shower!" The dormitory head refuted agitatedly, "I'm not like you! You pervert!" With that, he left the scene and a baffled Feng Ping Lan furiously.

The next day, freshmen's orientation day number two.

Feng Ping Lan didn't sleep very well, because when he slept it was as if there were various noisy whisperings in the darkness. He thought that rather than the sound frequencies of a human's, it was more like an animal's calls, disjointedly disturbing his sleep.

The next morning, Feng Ping Lan yawned and sat up. The upper bunk opposite had the stirrings of a huge shadow.

Feng Ping Lan subconsciously turned his head, suddenly realizing that there was an extra addition to Bai Li Rui's bed, a mountain made up of girls. The seductive bodies that the succubi had transformed themselves into plastered themselves one after another into a pile, its height reaching the ceiling. Bai Li Rui was buried underneath, his figure completely hidden away. The succubi piled up above Bai Li Rui's body moved up and down as he breathed.

"My G.o.d!" Feng Ping Lan couldn't help but cry out.

"Didn't I tell you to ignore them? You're an idiot that can't learn." A haughty and mocking voice came from the lower bunk position.

Feng Ping Lan supported himself on the bed's railings to bend down, and he saw Conglong sitting at his place playing with his laptop, with his facebook aquarium game opened. "Conglong? When did you get here?"

"Ten minutes earlier." Conglong clicked the mouse a few times, the laptop sounding a tinkling music, "After eating, your fish can give out gems. What can you do?"

"I can excrete organic fertilizer… that's not the point, why are you here so early?" he thought that he would be just like yesterday and go to the cla.s.sroom straight away.

"Because I'm bored." Conglong clicked the mouse repeatedly, causing a series of sweet-sounding music to be let out, "…And then the surroundings of the school compound had a few changes so I came to survey, and since I had time and it was conveniently on the way, I came to look around… it was just conveniently on the way."

"Oh, okay." Feng Ping Lan grabbed his head, looking at the tall mountain of bodies on Bai Li Rui's bed, asking in a low voice, "Um, about Li Rui, what should we do about it?"

"Just how much does he thirst for the opposite gender?" Conglong got up and looked at Bai Li Rui's bed, clicking his tongue in wonder, "Looks like a shawarma1."

"I don't think there's such a licentious shawarma!" Feng Ping Lan glanced at Bai Li Rui's bed again. He had been speaking to Conglong for a while now, but Bai Li Rui hadn't shown any signs of moving yet, "Think of something, are you sure it's going to be okay if we just leave it be?"

Conglong walked towards the window and pulled open the curtains, the dazzling sun rays shooting in. The various women piled up on Bai Li Rui's body turned into pieces of shadows like ebbing waves in an instant, lurking back into the dark corners of the room.

"The succubi fear the light, so there should be no problem when the sun comes in."

"How did it increase this much? Are the other rooms also like this?"

"Although the average number has increased, the way this guy can attract these many succubi is his own problem." Conglong looked out the window, towards the school compound a bit strenuously, trying to find a clue, "Not just the succubi, the demons in the entire school compound is increasing fast, almost as if there's something that's luring them here. The situation's turning quite bad, but with our condition, it's pretty hard for us to find an answer to it, and we can't move around too much…"

"You wanted to warn me, so you deliberately came to the dorm?"

"Because you are an idiot who will reveal something and become a hindrance to us." Conglong humphed in disdain, "As I expected you—"

"Thanks!" Feng Ping Lan kneeled by the bed, bending to put both of his hands on Conglong's head, rubbing his head indulgently, "This is the second time already. Conglong really is a considerate good guy."

"Stop it! You idiot!"

"Ah! Don't pull! It'll fall off! Aiyo—"

"What are you doing! Stupid!"

Being woken by the noise, Bai Li Rui sat up to see Feng Ping Lan's greater half suspended by the side of the double-decker bed. If both of Conglong's hands weren't supporting him, he would fall to the ground.

Bai Li Rui rubbed his eyes, "Seeing this sight in the early morning really makes my spirits dampened and also wakes me up, I had such a great dream too…"

Feng Ping Lan exerted some strength to crawl back onto the bed, looking at Bai Li Rui on the opposite bed to inspect, "How do you feel right now? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

"Why are you asking that? What did you guys do to me while I was sleeping?" Bai Li Rui asked suspiciously while getting off the bed.

"He looks really well, really energetic." Conglong glanced at Bai Li Rui sourly, "Energetic in all sorts of ways."

Bai Li Rui grabbed his uniform to block in front of himself, "What, you jealous?"

"Jealous? No." Conglong knitted his eyebrows, "I just think that you're pitiful." He then looked at Feng Ping Lan, "I'm going down first, see you later." Finished with his words, he exited the room elegantly.

"That guy is really annoying." Bai Li Rui muttered angrily, turning to make clear to Feng Ping Lan, "Don't let him in next time."

"Oh, I'll try my best, haha…" He didn't even know how Conglong had come in.

After making themselves presentable, they grabbed their bags and hurriedly went downstairs. Conglong was in the dining hall, drinking his fresh milk while waiting irritably.

"Too slow."

"Who asked you to wait?" Bai Li Rui was unhappy, using Conglong's tone to reprimand lightly, "Gogogo, hurry up and go. I don't want to be dyed in a milk's stink."

"It doesn't stink! It's fragrant and tasty! You have an impotent sense of smell!" Conglong finished drinking his last mouthful of milk, simply flinging the bottle right into the recycle bin in the corner.

"You're the one with an impotent—"

"Simo's at the girl dormitories, she'll join us in a minute."

Hearing this, Bai Li Rui immediately changed his tone, answering respectfully, "We're truly sorry we made you wait so long, I'll take note of it next time. Let's go."

Conglong stared at Bai Li Rui in astonishment for a moment, turning his head to whisper in Feng Ping Lan's ear, "Looks like the succubi caused him greater damage than I initially thought, his mind seems to be a bit muddled now."

"He's just being purely lecherous."

Stepping out of the dormitories, Feng Ping Lan froze. He instantly understood what Conglong had meant by the 'situation turning bad'.

Countless weirdly figured species congested the area. There were some floating in the air; there were some on the trees and the buildings; there were some botched methods of transforming into twisted human figures, mixed in with the humans.

"What… happened here?"

"This is nothing," Conglong said in a quiet voice, at the same time pointing upwards. "That's the larger problem…"

A huge black vortex-structured cloud suspended above the dormitory area in a mix of deep purple and dark brown colors, as if the sky had suffered a bruise.

"Uh!" Feng Ping Lan widened his eyes. "Isn't this a bit ridiculous?!"

"What is it?" Bai Li Rui became concerned.

"No-nothing."

Leaving the boys' dormitory not much distance away, the three of them met up with Simo who was waiting outside the girls' dormitory.

Conglong gave Simo a look, asking about the condition at the girls' dormitory without batting an eyelid. Simo shook her head dejectedly, revealing that the situation there wasn't very optimistic either.

"The concentration of the lower-level demons are too high, that it's disturbed the regular magnetic field in this area." Taking advantage of Bai Li Rui's attention on Simo, Conglong explained to Feng Ping Lan, "The species that are unable to a.s.similate into this world are gathering magnanimously, and just like when your body is suddenly invaded by large amounts of poison, this world is rejecting it."

"Is it because the seal broke in that residence?" Feng Ping Lan asked uneasily.

"I don't know…" Conglong gasped heavily, coughing a few times before stopping, "Without a contractor of this world, but with physical bodies, we're in an unfavorable position where we'll get affected too…"

Feng Ping Lan wanted to ask some more, but looking at Conglong's worsening complexion, looking like even breathing was hard, he couldn't bear to ask further.

Coming to the school compound, the lower-levels' density had decreased a little, but compared to the days before this the sum had increased a huge amount. Conglong's complexion returned a bit of its vitality, but it didn't seem well enough.

In the cla.s.sroom, a few people were resting weakly on their desks. Tons of students were feeling lazy as they reached the school, unable to raise their strength for some reason.

But some people weren't affected at all, their expressions composed. For example, a delicate and cute girl that looked like a doll minded her own business with a sharp-edged flat comb, combing her already neatly smoothened hair repeatedly.

There was a gloomy chubster with a pair of red phoenix eyes2, staring at Feng Ping Lan and the others with an eerie look once he stepped into the room.

A pair of Eastern-European twins with two identical faces kept on murmuring to each other secretly. Although they didn't look blatantly, their gazes would occasionally sweep through Feng Ping Lan throughout their conversation.

"Why do I feel like there's always someone looking at us?" Although Bai Li Rui was tired, he could still feel the others' gazes.

"Is there?"

"I know." Bai Li Rui curled his lips proudly, "There's definitely someone with a crush on me."

"There's a higher possibility of someone wanting to a.s.sa.s.sinate you."3 Conglong undermined him bluntly.

Not long after the bell for the self-study session had pa.s.sed, the homeroom teacher entered the cla.s.sroom.

Yin Su Shuang who had originally looked incredibly frail coughed even greater than before. He muttered indistinct grumblings while coughing. Drinking a large mouthful of the concentrated medicinal drink of herbs, he whispered under his breath, "…in the end, they're a bunch of trouble-making people…"

Feng Ping Lan thought that Yin Su Shuang seemed to have glanced at him while whispering that.

Had he seen wrongly?

He looked at the seat at the back, Byriel's seat.

Right until the bell for the first period had rung, Byriel hadn't appeared.

Yin Su Shuang stood in front of the teacher's desk, giving out information sheets and forms moodily, giving out directions impatiently.

"Hand it out faster, when you get the forms don't write yet, wait for me to tell you so before you write! Don't be a smart aleck, before I finish speaking don't ask me any questions."

Feng Ping Lan who was sitting beside the window supported his head on his hand, gazing boredly outside the window. The cla.s.sroom was on the fourth floor, from where he could see the black clouds gathering above the dormitory. It looked increasingly condensed.

How did it become like this? Although it hadn't affected anyone seriously yet…

He turned to look at Conglong who was propping up his head yawning. Simo's condition wasn't any better than him.

Who knew what kind of state the others were in. Who knew what he could do to help them.

He suddenly realized, although he had already met the demons for a few days now, he still knew very little about them. He just knew that they had been sealed into that house, and to hide from their enemies they were going to blend into human society with hidden ident.i.ties.

But their original forms, who their enemies were, their plight, he didn't know a single thing.

He suddenly remembered something Dongya had asked him on the day after he had broken the seal.

"When you came into this house, did you see anybody else?"

There was another demon that was missing. That demon who had gone missing seemed to be someone who was incredibly important to them.

Had they found them yet? Mm, probably not.

If they found them, what would happen to those demons?

Would they stay behind, or would they leave…

In an instant, a chilling uneasiness, like black ink dripped unexpectedly onto the back on his neck, sliding down his spine and slashed a shudder out of him, at last falling into the bottom of his heart, dyeing it a pitch-black.

That was a type of feeling made him feel sorrowful, full of despair. He wasn't a stranger to this type of feeling.

Feng Ping Lan went rigid a second, then made an effort to push that unhappy feeling away from his heart. He then turned his gaze back outside the window.

In the distance, a golden mist flew from the skies like a kite.

Feng Ping Lan rubbed his eyes, chasing the direction of the light. He saw the light fog pierce through the school area, heading towards the dormitory.

That was the light that Byriel had.

"You need to fill in every single blank s.p.a.ce. Go and call your family about the ones you don't know about, before the next period—"

"Teacher!" Feng Ping Lan suddenly raised his hand, cutting off Yin Su Shuang's words.

Yin Su Shuang glared resentfully at Feng Ping Lan, "I said before, don't ask me any questions before I finish speaking."

"My, my stomach hurts! It super hurts!" Feng Ping Lan held his stomach with both hands, bending his waist and letting out a painful groan, "Uhhhhhohhhhh! It's just like when Princess Iron Fan swallowed Sun Wukong, there's a troop of yellow monkeys throwing a party in my stomach! Uohhhh!"4

"What are you doing…" Bai Li Rui questioned him quietly.

"Cla.s.s has only started for three minutes, why didn't you go before cla.s.s?" Yin Su Shuang reprimanded impatiently, "If you can't even control your sphincter, what else can you control?"

"I-I can't! Teacher! I want to vomit! Both the upper and lower mouths are going to throw up, uwah! G.o.d! I'm almost in labor!" Feng Ping Lan screeched, "Ah I can feel the head coming out! Teacher, I beg you, I don't want to dirty the cla.s.sroom!"

A disturbance began within the other students, and there were some that even moved the tables away from him, afraid to get caught up in it.

"Shut up! Silence!" Yin Su Shuang glared at Feng Ping Lan with a disgusted expression, "Go and come back quickly!"

"Thank you, teacher!" Gaining permission, Feng Ping Lan exited the cla.s.sroom swiftly.

He rushed down the staircase, chasing the tail of that light fog, sprinting all the way before he finally reached the boys' dormitory. The light fog had flown above the boys' dormitory and had not moved since.

Feng Ping Lan entered the dormitory and used the lift to get to the highest level, climbing up a small staircase to reach the rooftops.

The dormitory rooftops was a laundry area. Various clothing were clipped onto the clothesline, with a medium-sized flag billowing to the wind's current.

Feng Ping Lan stood there looking around for a moment, not seeing a sign of Byriel's figure. Just as he was about to leave, his peripheral vision was able to capture a golden silhouette on the platform at the edge of the building.

Byriel laid on the ground. His golden hair was even more dazzling with the cemented wall as the background.

Feng Ping Lan stepped forward lightly, nearing himself slowly.

Byriel had his eyes closed, arms crossed in front of his chest, looking like he was already asleep.

The incredibly charismatic features that had a bit of a bad boy atmosphere to it had an extra haggard feeling that he hadn't had yesterday.

It looked like he had been affected as well.

But, why had he intentionally come to the place where the black clouds had gathered? Wouldn't it be more comfortable to get further away from this place…

Feng Ping Lan's gaze moved downwards, to where Byriel had his arms crossed.

Byriel's fingers were much slimmer and longer than an average person’s, the joints apparent, looking more like an insect's.

But he thought that it looked good, that it kind of had a unique kind of beauty to it.

The pale hands followed his breathing, subtly moving up and down. Feng Ping Lan subconsciously reached out a hand to get a feel of those long fingers.

But just as he touched them, his hand was instead gripped by those refined long fingers.

The dark brown eyes had opened without him knowing, and Byriel was looking at him with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"It's cla.s.s time right now."

"You're skipping cla.s.s too." Feng Ping Lan said with self-confidence, "And I also reported to the teacher, so I'm going out with permission." He said this while gazing at Byriel's hands, lightly turning them around to face him.

Byriel's fingers had a lot of strength. He could feel the bones' hardness and power, but the flesh covering them was really flexible and the skin was also glossy and sleek that he couldn't feel the veins, almost like warm moistened jade flesh.

"I'm not a normal student, so I don't need to follow the rules here." Byriel drew his hands back, standing up, "Are you that curious about demons? I'm not an item put on display you know, hehehe…"

"This is better than a displayed item. You can't touch a displayed item." Feng Ping Lan said seriously, "You look really uncomfortable, do you want to rest at the sickbay? Conglong said that this place had some changes or something, so—"

"I'm hungry." Byriel interrupted Feng Ping Lan's long-winded words, "Do you have anything I can eat?"

"There is, there definitely is." Feng Ping Lan turned around enthusiastically, "Wait a minute." And then he hurriedly ran down the stairs.

Before long, the sound of frenzied footsteps came from the staircase to find Feng Ping Lan with a paper bag stuffed full, running up to Byriel.

"This meat floss bread is really delicious!" Feng Ping Lan took out a piece of bread from the paper bag, taking it out before Byriel as if presenting a gem, "And this seafood-flavored instant noodle! Even though there isn't any actual seafood in it, but the soup is as salty as the ocean, it really fits with the noodles."

"I don't want any of this."

"Huh? You can't eat both of them?"

"It's not that I can't, I just don't like it. I hate salty things." Byriel said leisurely.

"Humph, I'm not done yet!" He knew it. Luckily he hadn't forgotten that every demon had a willful sense of taste, that all of them were picky fellows.

Feng Ping Lan put a hand into the paper bag and searched for a while, "The scrumptious imagawayaki5! Although it's already cold it's still delicious! The b.u.t.ter and red bean paste flavors are the best!"

"I only eat sugary things." Byriel smiled lightly, firing shots at Feng Ping Lan once again, "Sugar cubes, granulated sugar, brown sugar, sweets. Things that are mainly sugar."

"Is that so…" Feng Ping Lan's shoulders drooped, but quickly regained his vitality. "Then wait for me, I'll go to the store for a while!"

Byriel looked at Feng Ping Lan for a while, then laughed lightly, "No need." He took the bag in Feng Ping Lan's hands, taking out an imagawayaki and eating a mouthful, "…It pa.s.ses barely."

"It's tasty isn't it!"

"It's far from tasty, hehehe." Although he said this, Byriel took another mouthful, "Take this back." He then returned the bag to Feng Ping Lan.

"Oh, alright."

Looking at Feng Ping Lan taking the bag and folding it, Byriel smiled and asked indifferently, "You keep on following us around, don't you feel fed up?"

"Nope, I think it's very interesting!" Feng Ping Lan didn't hear his insults, sitting to the side of Byriel.

"So, that's why you specifically ran to the residence last night to notify us?" Byriel asked again, "Because you think that it's interesting?"

Was because he wanted to watch a good show, so he approached them? Looking at them like an endangered species, nearing them because he thought that they were interesting?

A feeling of loathing sprung up unbidden.

"Oh, it's not that." Feng Ping Lan waved his hand, denying, "Yesterday's incident made me tense to death. It wasn't interesting at all, okay?"

"Why were you tense, it was none of your business."

"Maybe, but I'd still be worried…"

"Why?"

"Ah?" Feng Ping Lan tilted his head to the side, "Do you need a reason to be worried about someone?"

"Would you be worried about every single person around you?"

"I guess not…"

Hehe. He understood now. "So…" Byriel crossed his arms, "Approaching us, pleasing us, what's your motive?"

"Ah?" Feng Ping Lan froze for a moment, "Saying it like this, I guess it's also…" He had never thought of this sort of question before.

Why did he keep on approaching Byriel and the others? Why did he want to help so much? Why would he care about them? Why would he mind?

What was his reason, what was his motive, he hadn't thought of it before.

Because he wanted to do it. He liked these six people. No, not people, demons.

From that morning three days ago, even the night before when the six demons were still statues, his heart had been in awe, and he had been attracted. There wasn't any clear reason, he had just been purely, intuitively, been attracted, and wanted to get closer to them, get much closer and intimate with them…

"Say it, what do you want?" Byriel urged.

Feng Ping Lan frowned and contemplated deeply on this complex question, and suddenly his lightbulb shone.

"I know." He revealed a happy grin, "I want to become friends with you guys!"

Byriel stared blankly at him and broke into laughter.

"You're really a fool, hehe…"

He didn't think it was such an absurd reason.

Strictly speaking, they were just colleagues, not friends. It was just because of mutual interests and same objectives that they had teamed up.

But this guy wanted to become friends with them?

Just too laughable.

Byriel sneered, but just as he was about to speak, his lungs started to ache violently, and he started coughing heavily, gasping as if he was drowning.

"A-are you alright?" Feng Ping Lan became panicky, "I-I'll help you call the school doctor—"

Byriel pulled down Feng Ping Lan, restricting his movement.

"Human doctors are no use to us…" Byriel said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, at the same time trying to breathe properly.

Feng Ping Lan looked at Byriel, muttering lowly, "Conglong said that the concentration of lower-level demons was too high and that it's disturbed the regular magnetic field of this area. And then he said, you guys who have physical bodies, but have no contractors, will end up getting affected too."

"So?"

"…Are you guys weaker than the lower-level demons?" Feng Ping Lan stupidly asked.

Even though his chest was aching to the point of intolerance, Byriel couldn't help but burst out, "Don't look down on us!" Finished saying this, there was another series of coughing.

"Easy, easy." Feng Ping Lan reached out a hand to pat Byriel's back, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"There is." Byriel glared at Feng Ping Lan weakly, "Please shut your mouth."

He continued breathing in for a while, then Byriel spoke.

"Our levels are way higher than lower-level demons, which is why we can exist with physical bodies in this world." Byriel started off stressing this point, then continued to explain, "The world is just like an enormous organism, and demons are an unnatural existence to it. The demons do not belong to this world, yet they can survive with physical bodies just like any other natural species; this causes the world to form a sort of rejection and remove the species that shouldn't exist, just like when your body rejects anything foreign to you."

Byriel panted slightly, breathing in for a moment, and then continued talking.

"The demons that stay in the human world are like birds plunging into water, or fish out of water. Although we won't die immediately, the environment of foreign land will keep on cutting down our life force." Byriel laughed bitterly, "Additionally, the wounds caused by our sealing hasn't healed yet, and the change of the magnetic field due to the lower-levels gathering have also added to our damage."

"Then what can you do?"

"Find our master. Only those of the royal clan can freely go in and out, and adapt to different environments. If we find him, strengthen our connection with him, we can transform into part-human and become a state that can let us a.s.similate into this world." Byriel forced a smile, "But he's currently missing."

"I see." No wonder the demons cared so much about that prince's whereabouts…

If they couldn't find their prince, it would move then a step closer towards death…

What would happen after they found him then…

This question started ringing softly in his heart. But he ignored it.

"Do you have any other ways?"

"Of course there is."  The corner of Byriel's lips hooked up into a banterous smile, "But I don't want to tell you. Hehehe…"

"You're really evil, leaving me hanging like that!"

Byriel laughed lightly, but the laughter became rigid for a moment as if he had sensed something. He spoke softly, "You should go now."

"Ah?" This was too sudden.

"I want to rest by myself." Byriel lay back into his original position, closing his eyes, making it clear that he didn't want to continue the conversation.

Feng Ping Lan looked at his watch. He had already left the cla.s.sroom for twenty-eight minutes, and it was time for him to go.

"Take care!" Feng Ping Lan waved goodbye to Byriel, leaving the rooftop.

The moment the exit by the ladder shut close, Byriel immediately stood up and leaped off the platform.

He breathed in deeply, cursing lowly. A fog enveloped him, and when it went away what stood in his place was a weakly thin and undersized withered old man.

Byriel coughed heavily a few times, his forehead beaded with sweat. He had used up a lot of strength using a high-level curse and at the same time putting up a protective screen to hide traces of his spell. His body quaked slightly, unable to stabilize itself.

His vision spotted a something brown-colored on the platform. It was the paper bag containing the imagawayaki.

Byriel knitted his eyebrows, laughing coldly in self-mocking. "He's really a meddlesome guy."

He took up the paper bag, putting an imagawayaki into his mouth and casually swallowing. The texture of viscous filling made him frown.

"Tastes horrible…" Even so, his unwell state of his body had alleviated somewhat. "Meddlesome guy…"

Swallowing the last two imagawayaki down his stomach, he wiped his mouth and gazed upwards towards the sky.

It'd arrived.

A thick piece of cloud floated over. Under the shadows, there was an enormous muddy green eyeball.

The eyeball stared at the vortex-like fog above the dormitory, looking very troubled, then rolled in all directions before spotting the Byriel who stood on the platform.

In the next second, it plunged down like a falling fruit, halting just two meters away from the male dormitories.

The eyeball covered in arteries and veins stared at Byriel's wizened form.

Byriel knelt, respectfully opening his mouth, "To think that I would meet Ci Mu-dàrén6 here."

The giant eyeball stared at him as if examining as if taking a precaution to something.

"I am but a lowly demon without even a name, and after living an ign.o.ble existence for many years I could barely form the state I am in today." Byriel said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, feigning helplessness while glancing up towards the vortex, "That is a Summoner's masterpiece."

The mention of a Summoner raised Ci Mu's interest, a curious light appearing in that muddy and dark eye.

"I heard that he was sent by the a.s.sociation. He seems to plan on gathering all the lower-levels and eliminate them all in one go." Byriel continued on, "It has ineffably disturbed our lives, how undue of him."

The creepily abstruse eye rolled about rapidly as if it was investigating to find clues within its surroundings.

"You will not find him, dàrén. The Summoners sent by the a.s.sociation are not your normal third-rate person, outsiders will not be able to see through their ident.i.ty…" Byriel hooked up a smile, "But I know who it is, he has disguised himself as a student here."

Ci Mu's pupil instantaneously shrunk, transforming just like a sharp needle to stare at Byriel, its gaze full of doubt, menace, mistrust and killing intent.

"Do not doubt me, dàrén. I am just lower-level demon living an ign.o.ble existence, I just have little information on me." Byriel respectfully fell back a few steps, bowing in reply, "I have lived here for many years, having obtained a few connections in this environment. Last night I felt a little fluctuation of a spell being cast, so I secretly came by to hide away here to observe, just like a scoundrel. I saw him commanding his contracted demon to cast a spell by a lucky coincidence, which is how I found out his actual ident.i.ty…"

Ci Mu's pupil became a bit larger, gaze warming a bit. It seemed to have believed Byriel's words.

It was incredibly startled. To be able to catch a Summoner of the a.s.sociation was an exceptionally huge achievement. It had served the Third Prince for more than a hundred years now, but it was still a lieutenant, not getting the chance to climb up the ranks.

But, it did not want to battle against a Summoner, nor did it want to battle against a Summoner's contracted demon.

"I can tell you who the Summoner is." Byriel continued to talk, giving out an alluring proposition, "I can even draw the contracted demon away, and bring the Summoner before you."

Ci Mu's eye surfaced a concentrated disapproval, and deep contempt.

"I am acquainted with his contracted demon, I know his weakness. I am happy to serve dàrén; if you hand this job over to me, this will be advantageous and cause no harm to dàrén. Even if I fail, it will not cause any damage to you." Byriel paused for a moment, putting out a condition, "But after the work is done, I hope dàrén will help me with a small favor."

Ci Mu glared at Byriel in disdain, waiting for him to speak.

"I want to borrow something from daren — the Crystal of Insight in your eye."

The moment those words were spoken, the muddy-green sticky skin of the eyeball shot out black-red veins, curling over Byriel's throat, wringing hard.

The Crystal of Insight was a crystal inside Ci Mu's body that recorded everything Ci Mu had seen before. Not only could it see through anything innate below the outward appearance, it could also see everything that had happened before in a building clearly. But, to use the Crystal of Insight meant they needed to take it out. After taking it out, Ci Mu itself would not be able to see the recordings on it and it wouldn't even know what it was recording. It was the only one that could control this function.

The Crystal of Insight was just like Ci Mu's heart, extremely precious and extremely fragile; every time it was taken out it would need a considerably large amount of strength, and only its master had the right to request this of it.

And this impotent and lowly demon had the gall to open his mouth?!

Byriel grabbed ahold of that vein that was constantly tightening, halting it from snapping off his throat.

"The Summoner is our common enemy, daren!" Byriel shouted strenuously, "This is a good time for an accomplishment; if you kill me who knows how long will it take to get this kind of opportunity again?"

The veins continued twisting for a while, then, it stopped contracting. Before long, it flung Byriel onto the floor and went back into the original body.

The eyeball flashed for a while, and an image appeared just like a projector of an ordinary room, then it moved to one of the walls and closed up on the calendar on the wall. Finally, it locked on to somewhere on the calendar, where it showed the date three days later. The scene flashed and an image of an old abandoned hospital appeared.

Byriel sat on the floor, supporting his neck and coughing hard for a while, and then hooking up the corner of his lips.

"Happy collaboration. Dà. rén…”

Shawarma is a Levantine meat preparation, where lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, veal, or mixed meats are placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. Red phoenix eyes (丹凤眼) – eyes whose outer corners incline upwards. Crush (暗恋) and a.s.sa.s.sinate (暗杀) have the same starting character 暗. Princess Iron Fan (铁扇公主) and Sun Wukong (孙悟空) are both characters of the story Journey To The West (西游记). Princess Iron Fan refuses to lend him her fan, so Sun Wukong flies into her mouth and gives her a beating from inside her stomach. Sun Wukong is the Monkey King, which is why Feng Ping Lan says that there are monkeys in his stomach. A sweet snack made of batter cooked in the shape of a car, stuffed with azuki bean paste or other fillings. –Dàrén (大人) is a suffix used for an official or a person in authority. Also, Ci Mu means ‘Spying Eye’ which is the one Morris mentioned in Chapter 3.