CH 4

The room shrunk inwards, returning to its usual size, and the red lines on the floor also vanished without a trace.

Kaido resentfully put away his blade, glaring at Feng Ping Lan angrily, “I’ve let you escape for today, but there’ll be many chances in the future.” He gave a twisted smile, casting his head to the side and leaving.

The students left the classroom one by one.

“Oh, has school ended? How quick hahaha!” Feng Ping Lan laughed as he asked Liu Yi Chen.

“There are three periods in the Shadow Academy, school ends at nine-thirty. The next class is spell-casting, in another classroom.” Liu Yi Chen said coldly with a dark look.

“Three periods?” Feng Ping Lan clapped his hands, “I’m a little hungry, are there any places to eat here?”

“No.”

“So we have to dilly-dally around in this place with you for three hours?” Conglong’s voice rose, incredibly hard-pressed to accept it, “My fish are going to give out gems in an hour. If I don’t go and pick them I’m afraid people are going to steal them!”

“The clothes I hung out in the morning haven’t been collected. The floor hasn’t been swept either.” Dongya was slightly distressed.

Morris tsked, seemingly wanting to leave as well.

Liu Yi Chen was silent for a second, clenching her teeth as if she was impatient about something, at last replying indifferently, “These are the Shadow Academy’s rules. The Summoners have to separate from their Contracts next, in different rooms.”

“We need to separate?!” This time it was Feng Ping Lan who objected, he had thought that he’d spend all his time with the demons in the Shadow Academy, “Why do they need to separate us?”

Liu Yi Chen frowned, her voice subconsciously rising louder, “These are the school rules. I didn’t set them, you are—”

“That’s right, Class Rep, where’s your Contract?” Feng Ping Lan suddenly changed the subject, asking curiously.

Liu Yi Chen froze, realizing that she had almost lost her temper. She breathed in twice, replying flatly, “He’s not here, he has other duties. Why are you asking me this?”

“I see.” Feng Ping Lan nodded, “Since Class Rep’s really amazing and knows a lot of stuff, your Contract’s probably really amazing as well, so I wanted to ask him to take care of my companions, hahaha!”

“You should worry more about yourself first!” Conglong snapped to rebuke.

“My Contract is quite amazing.” Liu Yi Chen laughed lightly with a hint of self-mocking in it. “You’ll meet him soon.” With that, she walked out of the classroom.

Feng Ping Lan turned his head to look at his own Contracts, “I’ll see you guys later, don’t miss me too much! You have to take care of yourself, okay? If you miss me—”

He took out an old wallet from his pocket, holding it out in front of the six demons. “You can hold this. It’s always been in my pocket with me all along, just like another part of my body, holding it is like holding on to my thigh—”

“Shut up! We don’t need to waste time on meaningless things, scram!”

“Oh.” Feng Ping Lan slung his bag, and as he was about to turn around, he paused for a second, “Then how about a group photo?”

His reply was the sound of Morris’s joints locking into a fist.

“I’m just joking hahaha! See you guys later!” Feng Ping Lan laughed running out of the room.

*

Su Li Wan followed Feng Ping Lan out.

“I didn’t think you were a Spec Ad student.” She sighed in praise, “You’re really modest about yourself.”

“It’s really nothing.” Feng Ping Lan smiled while scratching his head, “There’s really no difference if you’re at an all-time low or the number one best, the best thing to do is to be a good person, hahaha!” His carefree laugh sounded helpless and carried a bit of a bitter edge, just a hint that it couldn’t be detected by anyone.

“What’s the spell-casting class about?” Feng Ping Lan asked.

“Spells are the humans’ incantations, ones that don’t need to be cast with a demons’ power. The Summoner’s spell is one of them.”

“Why can’t demons come along with us?”

Su Li Wan looked at Feng Ping Lan, gazing weirdly at him, “Because our spells are used against demons.”

“I see.”

Su Li Wan was silent for a moment, then asking the doubt present in her heart.

“You’re really a Summoner, aren’t you? I’ve seen you around the school compound before, so I thought they were passed down to you, and that they didn’t acknowledge you.”

“Uh, they weren’t ‘summoned’ by me if that’s what you’re asking.” Feng Ping Lan forced out a laugh to carry over, “Although if I said I was a complete amateur and didn’t understand a thing, what would happen?”

“Nothing much. The Shadow Academy has a lot of people who came from Summoner families that have been influential for generations, but have powers that aren’t fully matured yet. There’re about half of the people here that are like that.”

“Oh oh! That’s great.” He was an expert in pretending on being familiar with stuff.

“But they know at least the martial arts and the basics of the spells. You can’t cast spells, and you don’t seem to have any experience in martial arts. This will make it very hard for you to survive… The Summoners’ circle is very cruel.”

“I see…”

Indeed, Kaido’s rough actions in class earlier hadn’t been stopped, and the others had looked on without helping. Nobody had wanted to cause trouble for themselves.

Feng Ping Lan looked at Su Li Wan, cracking a deep smile, “You’re really kind, explaining so much stuff to me! Good-looking with a good heart too! You’re basically a goddess!”

Su Li Wan lowered her head bashfully.

“I’m actually doing this for myself. My level is at one, and my magic abilities, knowledge and spell-casting are all below average; the only one I’m pretty good at is martial arts. I’m considered weak at this kind of level, so I need an ally.” She paused for a while, saying inaudibly, “And I’m quite interested in you too…”

“You’re too modest! It’s my honor to become your ally! Oh right, can I have your LINE? I’m going to go brag to Li Rui tomorrow! He’s gonna be so jealous! Hahaha!”

Su Li Wan smiled.

In the Shadow Academy where its realistic ideology was over-emphasized and her own Contract would not even acknowledge her, only the naive and broad-minded Feng Ping Lan would care to notice her.

She did not say this out loud, only following the person humming a weird tune by his side, silently proceeding to the next class.

*

The spell-casting class was conducted in a lecture hall, and the teacher was a middle-aged woman with a rounded figure and an amiable attitude.

“I think I’ve seen her before in the teacher’s lounge.” Feng Ping Lan spoke to Su Li Wan quietly. “Do you recognize her?”

“She’s our home economics teacher, we’ll have her class the day after.”

“Are all the teachers Summoners?”

“Not just Summoners, but demons too. As for each teacher’s identity, I’m not clear on that.”

“That’s so cool! Then I guess that the head of academic affairs must be a demon, the position of his hair changes every day!”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s because of it…”

*

As the students were attending the class, the demons left behind in the usual classroom waited silently.

Nobody arrived, and the doors were locked shut with a firm barrier on it.

Most of the demons seemed to have gotten used to this kind of free time, minding their own business in the corners of the classroom, waiting idly for the time to pass.

It was possibly because the most Contracts experienced spending a long time sealed off, so to them, an hour didn’t count as anything.

In comparison to the demons’ indifference, Dongya, Conglong and Morris were very obviously incredibly fretful.

Dongya stood by the window gazing at the weather. In the air above the wards of the Shadow Academy, there was a faint purple of demonic energy.

“The humans’ astronomical expert said that it would rain today, I’m worried that the laundry will get soaked wet..”

“Just wash them one more time if it gets soaked!” Morris looked at his watch, wringing his hands to mutter, “Some other things will not be brought back if missed…”

Damn it, the program he wanted to watch was going to be aired soon!

“That’s right! Just like my stolen fish gems.” Conglong gritted his teeth.

Simo’s expression was a bit harried, as if she was a bit troubled about something.

Quetzal stood in a corner, almost assimilating into the shadows, his face in deep contemplation. He looked relaxed, but there was not a single hole in his defenses, able to defend and attack at any time.

Byriel leaned by the window, observing all the demons in the classroom.

Most of the demons had been dyed with the human world scent, looking like they’d lived in the human world for a very long time. They probably didn’t need to worry about any of the Royal Clan’s soldiers sneaking into the crowds. Looks like they could be at ease for a while.

“Your companions are quite interesting!” A childish voice sounded behind him.

Byriel turned, to see Ivan standing by his side, his head tilting and looking innocently at him.

“Yes. But, that is not my companion.” Byriel used his chin to indicate Morris, “That black-haired one, the one that looks especially stupid, is my toy. Hehehe…”

“You guys sure are special.” Ivan tilted his head to look at Byriel, “You don’t feel weak, so why are you contracted with that kind of human? Is he an inheritor?”

Byriel smiled faintly, not answering Ivan, then throwing out a question instead, “You’re quite special too. I really thought you and that human were actually twin brothers.”

“I was summoned by the ancestor in twenty-first era of the Mihelich family, and Igor’s as for the moment!” Ivan smiled.

“Why do you want to transform to have features just like him?”

“About that…” Ivan’s eyes circulated like water ripples, “It was on one hand to disguise as a human to move around in the human world easily, and on another hand because it was interesting.”

He said with a brilliant smile, “When I was passed on to Igor, his family’s awkward faces when they saw my new appearance was really funny! They can’t look at me properly even now! Humans are really complicated creatures!”

Byriel heard this, smiling lightly, “Your personality’s pretty vile. Hehe…”

“You’re no better.” Ivan sighed helplessly, like a child feeling injustice and continuing, “But Igor’s just too uninteresting. He’s always indifferent and calm, not even reacting when I disturb him. He’s just no fun.”

“Oh really?” Byriel said carelessly. He wasn’t interested in other people. “How long since you’ve been summoned?”

“If you count using the humans’ time, it’s probably been about three-hundred years or so. When I left the underworld, it was when King Chi Long had just ascended the throne.”

That was indeed quite long ago.

Chi Long was the king of the underworld about two generations back, something that had passed about a thousand years ago.

“Don’t you feel like going back to the underworld?”

“Why would I want to go back?” Ivan asked instead.

Byriel shrugged his shoulders, brushing it off and changing the subject.

“I realized that the numbers of demons and students in the class are not even. There are eighteen students, and only fifteen demons in the class.”

“Not every Summoner can handle us.” Ivan said, pleased, “A few demons need two or more Summoners to be dominated; some Contracts are working as staff in this school. Some, have pretty special circumstances…” He drew it out, deliberately keeping him in suspense.

Byriel did not ask for more, because he knew that if he asked, Ivan would feel the joy of having him anticipate.

Because he would too.

So, in order to achieve the answer, he would need to let him speak on his own accord.

Seeing that Byriel was not saying anything, Ivan was silent for a moment and couldn’t help but open his mouth himself, “You know Zong Yu right, that fatso.”

“Mm.” Byriel replied non-committedly.

“They say that he’s a descendant of one of the noble families specializing in witchcraft of a lost ancient country, and their specialized spells and secret techniques can alter demons.”

“Oh, is it?”

“I’m not clear on the specifics, but I heard that they can remove a demon’s subconscious and thought, turning them into absolute weapons.” Ivan wrinkled his nose, “That fatso Zong Yu is a human, but there’s a faint demonic presence on him that makes me very uncomfortable. Who knows what kind of Contract he has.”

“Amazing. The royal clansmen can’t even make their subordinates listen to their every command, but the humans have done it, hehehe…”

Ivan froze, not expecting Byriel to give this kind of reply, but immediately plastered an approving expression on his face, “Yeah, if you think about it carefully, the Royal Clan doesn’t amount to much either.”

“Are we going to sit around here like this in the future as well?”

“Yup, so relax and rest for a bit!” Ivan said cheerfully.

Byriel stared at Ivan, curling into a deeply-dimpled smile.

That smile unsettled Ivan, “What?”

“You and I are the same kind of people.” Byriel drawled, “We take pleasure in toying with people, taking others’ misfortune as a comedy, smiling as we lie, smiling as we cause chaos.”

Ivan smile turned rigid, “So?”

“You’ve been keeping tabs on the time for a while now.” Byriel gaze swept towards the clock hung on the wall opposite them, and it was about 30 seconds before class ended, “Something’s about to happen, right?”

Ivan laughed, as if he was listening to a particularly funny joke, “You must be thinking too much, this is the Shadow Academy you know!”

“So, anything could happen, is that correct?”

The moment the clock’s hand struck twelve, a whistle rang throughout the entire hallway.

At the same time, the entire classroom was enlarged into the space used for practice session earlier, the walls placed between the classrooms vanishing to let the entire floor become a vast open area.

Byriel felt like a hard shell covering his body had been removed.

At the same time, Ivan, who constantly wore an innocent smile on his face, suddenly broke out two steel knives and thrust at Byriel.

Byriel flung out his arm effortlessly, the long whip flying out from his hand to block Ivan’s attack.

He realized, that not only Ivan, the entire floor had become a giant arena, the demons with weapons against each other as they entered the fray.

“The Shadow Academy doesn’t want us to get too bored, so they release the seal for ninety seconds, no rules, free-fighting, winners can accumulate points.” Ivan spoke as he smiled, both hands flinging to turn the two knives into four, “The bloodthirst for battle is a demon’s instinct! Come play with me!”

“Only one minute and a half…” Byriel shook his head, the whip flicking to shoot countless poisonous out.

With both attacks from the whip and needles, Ivan instantaneously put away his knives, grabbing a passing demon to block in front of him.

“Ah!” The demon stabbed full of poisonous needles cried out in pain.

“You are truly vile, hehe.”

“I underestimated you earlier, but it’s my turn now!” Ivan threw the knives into the air, the four blades once again breaking up into eight, at the same time shooting towards Byriel.

Byriel flicked his whip again, easily beating them away. The blades shot randomly everywhere, piercing quite a lot of innocent bystanders.

“Ah!”

“Aiyo!”

Before even three seconds had passed, all the demons had backed away from Byriel and Ivan’s battle so that they wouldn’t be mistakenly dragged into it.

Simo, Conglong and Dongya were also picked out by the other demons, but the three of them couldn’t grasp the situation and so did not dare attack, not putting all their power into them if they did attack at all, mainly defending themselves.

Morris was quite enjoying it, punching his challengers away with one fist, then rushing towards Zhong Xian to brutally beat him up.

If that guy Feng Ping Lan saw this sight, he would probably clap and cheer, might even go into shock with so much excitement—

Aiya, he was sorta missing that stupid face now.

Quetzal emitted a serious killing intent that said ‘Stranger Do Not Come Near’, that century-old icy face having an incredibly terrifying efficacy. He stood in a corner, coldly looking at the war zone, his expression indifferent from start to end.

But there were still some insensitive idiots that approached him. A few demons saw that Quetzal was alone, rushing towards him.

“Scram.” Quetzal warned.

“Well, aren’t you being quite arrogant for a newcomer!”

Countless sharp and penetrating blades thrust themselves at Quetzal.

Quetzal did not duck, his expression not changing either.

In the next moment, the lights on the ceiling flashed with an electric current, and like a summertime afternoon’s thunderstorm, lightning struck the ground and quaking the entire space they were in.

The ones that had been hit by the lightning did not even have the time to cry out, collapsing onto the floor, their bodies twitching painfully.

The demons in the area stopped their battles, looking at Quetzal.

“You all have been away from the battlefield for far too long.” Quetzal said lowly in a cold voice, as if he was in violent fury, but also regretful, “No matter how fierce kept dogs are, they will never compare with a wild wolf…”

The whistle sounded out once more.

That faint feeling of being enveloped in fetters appeared again.

“Time’s up.” Ivan put his stuff away, looking at Quetzal, “Your companion’s quite amazing.”

“Yup, his temper’s quite horrendous, I suspect that he actually has menstruation cycles, hehe.” Byriel collected his whip, smiling, “Want to play tomorrow as well?”

“No way.” Ivan said snappily, rolling his eyes, “You’re not good to provoke as well. I’m not that stupid.”

“Oh, what a shame. We are birds of a feather after all, hehehe…”

*

The last period was martial arts, conducted on the rooftops. The space on the rooftops had been enlarged and distorted, about three times larger than its original size.

Not long after Feng Ping Lan and Su Li Wan arrived at the rooftops, the demons reached as well in succession.

“Hi hi! I’m over here!” Feng Ping Lan waved hard, letting out a weird cry, “What did you guys do earlier? Was it fun? Could it be a matchmaking session? Then I’m guessing that Conglong was the most unpopular one.”

“Although you must be mentally defective to come up with this hypothesis, I cannot accept your inference. For what reason do you say that I’m the one with the worst popularity!”

“Because Conglong has a bad grandma vibe to him.” Feng Ping looked at his other Contracts, “The most popular with girls is probably Byriel, and then the most popular with guys, is probably—”

Simo lowered her head in embarrassment.

“Morris!” Feng Ping Lan declared.

Simo and Morris jolted heavily at the same time, the former’s expression a little dismayed.

Morris frowned, “What the heck are you talking about!”

“Because Morris gives off a feel of a good man, hahahaha!”

In martial arts class, students were separated into groups according to their type of weapons, dispersed into various areas of the compound to practice. There was more than one teacher training them, but the main conductor of the class was Yerde.

“Soldi’rs, eke followeth the path of craftiness. ” Yerde stood on the platform, pushing his glasses up, “Thus, the battles nam’d as competition, art actually battle of wits. Ev’ryone needeth to beest familiar with weapons, to doth something at which hour least did expect, attacketh at which hour those gents art unprepared…”

“What are we going to do later?” Feng Ping Lan asked Su Li Wan in a lowered voice.

“We separate into groups to practice. Every Summoner has a weapon they specialize in. Spells and magic can also be added to weapons to strengthen them.”

“Has anyone used guns before?”

“There are, but only a few. It’s hard to obtain bullets, and the composition of a gun is complex, so it’s pretty hard to use spells and magic on them.”

“Do we really need to use weapons?”

“Yes, these are the rules.”

“Alright, then I’ll go borrow a sword from Quetzal.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, a demon’s weapon has demonic power in them. This class is purely practicing weapons only, and you can’t use spells and anything belonging to a demon.”

“Alright.” Feng Ping Lan opened up his bag, taking out a blade for art designing, an extremely small ballpoint pen, and a Chinese dictionary. “The only things I can use as a weapon are these, haha.”

Su Li Wan frowned in distress, “That’s a bit dangerous…”

At this moment a whistle rang out, and students moved to different areas. Su Li Wan, after looking at Feng Ping Lan’s guilt-ridden expression of helplessness, walked towards her own corner to practice.

Not long after, only Feng Ping Lan and his six demons were left standing before the platform.

Yerde realized that Feng Ping Lan was not moving, and walked over.

“Why doth thee not advance f’rward? Wh’re is thy weapon?”

Feng Ping Lan raised the art blade, ballpoint pen and Chinese dictionary in his hands.

Yerde knitted his eyebrows, “What a novel creation f’r a weapon, this is a first yond I myself has’t chanc’d upon. ”

“Uh…” Feng Ping Lan waved the blade, “This is extremely incisive, forsooth cuttable.”

Raising the ballpoint pen, “This is v’ry sharp, f’r jabbing is too. ”

“You don’t need to mimic the way he speaks…” Conglong reminded him in a low voice.

“The class needeth to beest did conduct solemnly, not to beest did treat frivolously. ” Yerde’s eyebrows furrowed, pointing at the dictionary, “What is the purpose of this?”

“Knowledge is power.” Feng Ping Lan raised the dictionary, “Words are the connectors of speech. Jade silk can be transformed into arms through the power of language.”

Yerde nodded his head, “Your w’rds art v’ry chariest, howev’r, t is not applicable towards Summon’rs. If ‘t be true thou art still weaponless, thee can chooseth to beest did introduce to sw’rds. Cometh. ”

Yerde lead Feng Ping Lan to the Western sword’s practice corner.

He called into the corner, “Xiao Liu.”

The class representative Liu Yi Chen stopped her practice to turn around. When she saw Yerde she frowned for a while, before she put down the silvery-white Western sword in her hands to come over.

“What is it?”

“Incorrect.” Yerde extended a finger to waggle left and right, “Your words needeth beest moo refin’d. In a pleasant countenance, thy sense of propriety wilt beest graceful and respectful, just like thy mother.”

Liu Yi Chen lowered her head, responding sulkily with a sound. “Mm…”

“Xiao Liu?”

Liu Yi Chen breathed in deeply, replying as if she was reading from a script, “Your words, I will bear in mind.”

Yerde nodded, “This person hast just been did introduce, thou art to guide him to practice. ”

“I understand.” Liu Yi Chen replied obediently.

After Yerde left, Liu Yi Chen proceeded to keep a long face, looking particularly reluctant, “We’ll go to the armory warehouse to find a practice sword.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Contracts stay here.” Liu Yi Chen warned.

“Don’t worry, we’re not as close-knit as you think. We won’t follow him to every place he goes.” Byriel smiled.

Liu Yi Chen cast Byriel a sideways glance, then turning her head to walk away.

Feng Ping Lan walked behind Liu Yi Chen, passing through the rooftops.

As they passed through, the other students were using their weapons with amazing expertise, displaying exquisite martial arts. There were a myriad of martial arts, coming from various different cultures, and other than standard weapons, there were also unique weapons that had never been seen before. Some were even objects that weren’t originally meant to be weapons.

Igor used a bow and arrows, Zong Yu used a short hook, and Su Li Wan used a long and fine red string. The red string in her hands was like a life-like snake, speedily binding, breaking up, forming a web, then into a mesh, and into a large rope, during a small time interval, it opened and closed into a complicated flower-rope.

As they passed through the Eastern sword side, he saw Kaido standing all by himself in a corner, fluently dallying with his saber.

Kaido’s movements were nimble and flowing, and although he was just playing with it, he looked like he was engaging in a dance, in a very natural and flowing style.

Feng Ping Lan couldn’t help but halt his footsteps.

Kaido saw Feng Ping Lan. The moment the two of them locked eyes onto one another, he made a movement that looked like he was thrusting his sword at Feng Ping Lan.

Feng Ping Lan was very accommodating, revealing an expression that looked like he had been struck, his body quaking backward. He then clutched his stomach with a pained look, his palms shaking as they raised, as if he was containing his hatred as he died.

Kaido frowned, glaring angrily at Feng Ping Lan, mouthing word by word with his lips, “You. Will. Die…”

Feng Ping Lan also opened his mouth, replying soundlessly, “You. Are. So. Cool. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha—”

“What are you doing?” Liu Yi Chen’s chilly question sounded out.

“Oh oh! Nothing!” Feng Ping Lan hurriedly straightened his body.

The two of them went down, passing the connecting bridge of the school building to the multimedia building.

“Yerde-lǎoshī called you Xiao Liu just now, what’s your relationship with him?” Feng Ping Lan smiled, “Could he be your lover? Just like the ones in Japanese dramas!”

Liu Yi Chen denied it coldly, “He’s my Contract.”

“Your Contract is a teacher? How mighty, Class Rep, who knew you were actually such a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”

Liu Yi Chen frowned, her tone carrying a bit of helplessness, “I’m just a replacement, I have no restrictive effect on him.”

“Is that so, I thought even if the Contract did not acknowledge the Summoner, the master-servant position wouldn’t change.”

“Yerde is managed by two Summoners, the other one is my uncle. I’m just replacing my mother’s position.” Liu Yi Chen said softly, her tone filled with deep reluctance and rejection.

“I see, so you originally did not want to become a Summoner?”

“Absolutely not!” Liu Yi Chen answered without thinking.

“Is that so…” Feng Ping Lan nodded his head, “Due to another’s expectations, you’re doing something you absolutely do not want. Must be exhausting for you.”

But, to not have any expectations put on you at all, to not receive any attention nor acknowledgment no matter what you did, was also quite exhausting.

“What do you understand?” Liu Yi Chen lowered her head and quickened her footsteps, muttering rapidly at her lips at the same time, “Forget Summoners forget Contracts the thing I can’t stand the most is that rotten speech that keeps on raping my ears I’ve wanted so long to rip that tongue that can only spout nonsense of his out and stuff it into his anus…”

“Class Rep, what are you talking about?”

Liu Yi Chen immediately fell silent.

The rest of the way there was followed by silence until they arrived at their destination.

“We’re here.” She pulled the door to the armory warehouse open, picking out a Western sword from within, handing it to Feng Ping Lan, “Let’s go.”

On the way back, she did not say anything either.

When they came back to the rooftops, the instructor showed Feng Ping Lan the basics of the Western sword, then left him to Liu Yi Chen for her to guide him through practice.

Liu Yi Chen’s face was as stiff as a plank, reciting the mnemonic chant for using the sword, sparring with Feng Ping Lan.

Because he was a newbie, Feng Ping Lan’s technique was incredibly clumsy. There were times that he got better at it, but was still interrupted by Liu Yi Chen, saying that it did was not in accordance to the sword-play, or that his way of grasping it was wrong.

“Do you really practice the sword?” Byriel suddenly cut in.

Liu Yi Chen halted, glaring at Byriel, “Contracts are forbidden to interrupt the practice session.”

Byriel turned a deaf ear on her.

“Looks like you haven’t mastered your weapon yet. It feels like you’re just imitating someone’s technique.” He smiled lightly, “Who are you dealing with?”

Liu Yi Chen heard this, her body stiffening. Then her expression hardened, “None of your business!” She turned to say coldly to Feng Ping Lan, “You’ll practice by yourself now.”

With that, she went to spar with another student by the side.

Feng Ping Lan had no choice, so he could only duel with the air. Dongya and Conglong gave some tips in the process, but they had no effect whatsoever.

Quetzal stood by the side, looking on silently at Feng Ping Lan’s each and every move, not saying anything.

*

The bell rang, and Shadow Academy’s classes ended.

Feng Ping Lan ran over to ask Yerde a few questions before leaving.

“Do I really have to use a sword?”

“Not very much. Any weapon wouldst beest suitable, thee just needeth to recall to bringeth those folk ‘long to this class to practice it. ”

“As long as I can turn it into a weapon, anything is fine?”

“Inde’d t is, but guns and heat’d weapons art not did advise. ” Yerde paused for a while, “Dictionaries too, unless thee bundle a brick with ‘t. ”

“Okay.”

The Summoners and demons crossed the mirror, returning to the real world.

Feng Ping Lan led his bicycle out, with Conglong, Dongya and Simo to accompany him.

Quetzal had disappeared once he had left the Shadow Academy’s wards. Byriel and Morris had left using their own way of transportation.

“A bunch of stuff happened today, huh.”

Feng Ping Lan raised his head to look up at the sky. Due to the light pollution of the city, the horizon was only dotted by a few stars, twinkling a dim and dismal light.

“Hey! Don’t glance around! You almost crushed my foot!”

“Conglong, don’t be so harsh.” Dongya urged gently.

“Then what if he stepped on an animal’s poop, then stepped on the floor of the entrance hall?” Conglong shot back.

Dongya immediately became stern, “Ping Lan, you should watch your step.”

“Oh okay.” Feng Ping Lan turned his head, “I think that the Shadow Academy’s really fun. I didn’t know there was another side to the school. I never thought I would meet something like this.”

“This is also my first time seeing a training center for Summoner apprentices, it feels like a whole new world being opened to me.” Dongya went along with him.

“That’s right, Dongya, I haven’t decided on what kind of weapon to bring to the next martial arts class.”

“Is that so.” Dongya took out a small notebook, scribbling something on it, “I’m actually planning to go to the marketplace tomorrow, let’s go have a look at it on the way too.”

“The marketplace? That place probably only sells kitchen knives!”

“Don’t look down upon the marketplace, human.” Conglong warned gravely, “You humans can even treat fruits with a customized murder weapon. I’ve experienced it before this.”

“That was just a blender, and it needs electricity too! What, do you want me to search for an outlet before every battle?”

“Then what about a clothes iron? I saw a wireless iron for traveling purposes, you can use it straight away after charging it up.” Dongya suggested.

“That kind can only straighten my opponent’s clothes, and they’ll finish me off in a cooler way too!”

“You should probably just use a sword.”

“Oh, but that’s not cool at all. Everyone’s weapons are all really cool and have personalities, I want to choose a weapon that conveys by best traits and style!” Feng Ping Lan said naively.

“Your best trait is your stupidity! If you want to make your enemies go mad, the best way is probably to become their friend!” Conglong snapped impatiently.

“Aiyo, Xiao Cong-Cong, your mouth is so bad.” Feng Ping Lan poked Conglong’s cheek. “I treat you so nicely too!”

Conglong slapped Feng Ping Lan’s hand away harshly, flicking his finger.

The water pipe by the road let out a rocking sound, shooting out a disjointed column of water that was thinner than a finger.

Conglong glared angrily at his hand, letting out a dissatisfied cry. He was going to summon a column of water that was at least as big as an arm, splashing it directly on Feng Ping Lan’s head…

With his powers restricted by the bangle, he could only call upon a weak and powerless stream.

“Is Conglong thirsty?” Feng Ping Lan put out his bottle in front of him, “You’ll get a stomach ache if you drink unfiltered water. Here, I still have a bit of green tea left.”

“You idiot!” Conglong roared, “If you still have time to leisurely act stupid, you might as well think of something to increase your level! We’re all being dragged down by you. We’ve become lesser than those third-rate trash now! If the Third Prince’s people come attacking at us at this very moment, all of us can only wait to be annihilated!”

“Don’t be like this, Conglong, the situation isn’t as bad as you think.” Dongya placated, “This is the Summoners’ territory, so even if the Third Prince comes here himself, the Summoners at the Shadow Academy will deal with it.”

Conglong widened his eyes.

“Have we lowered ourselves to the point of relying on the Summoners’ protection, struggling on whilst at death’s door?” Conglong clenched his teeth, humiliated, “We are Prince Shuekan’s sword and shield, not the Summoners’ trained dogs!”

“This is only temporary.” Dongya comforted him gently, “Just a makeshift plan…”

Conglong couldn’t speak for a while, at last bellowing lowly, turning his head, summoning a thin water dragon, stepping on the dragon’s back to return on his own.

After Conglong’s figure vanished, all that was left behind in the scene was an incredibly awkward silence.

“…Aiya.” Feng Ping Lan forced out a laugh, “Um, I seem to have caused trouble for everyone without realizing it, I’m really sorry…”

Simo shook her head, “Not Ping Lan’s fault…”

“Don’t think too much about it.” Dongya patted Feng Ping Lan’s shoulder, “Conglong’s a bit impulsive, and just too many things happened today and he couldn’t accept it all at once, so his reaction was a little too intense.”

“Mmmm, there were quite a lot of unexpected occurrences today.” Feng Ping Lan nodded, then was silent for a moment. He looked at Dongya a bit uncertainly, speaking again, “Is it really alright?”

Dongya returned a soothing smile, “It’s already really late. Go on and ride your bicycle, we’ll see each other soon.”

“Oh, okay.” Feng Ping Lan straddled over the bicycle.

Dongya muttered an incantation. A gust of wind blew on Feng Ping Lan’s back, helping him lessen the weight of his journey.

Simo also unfolded her wings, flying across the sky.

As the two of them left, Dongya was left behind. He rolled up his sleeves, his left hand tracing his arm.

The marks of the hidden spell appeared on it. The diverse blue-green markings curled around the entire forearm, a little golden circle as thin as a strand of hair circling around the wrist.

As the snow-white finger touched the wrist, the golden line flashed with a faint light.

Conglong did not understand. This was worn for the Summoners to see, to let the Summoners be at ease. It did not mean that they were capitulating to them, nor were they forgetting their purpose…

The finger traveled by the golden line, and as he exerted a bit of power, the golden circle shone brighter and started tightening at the same time. Dongya felt like he was being strapped fiercely by the golden line.

Although he wore restricting fetters, would this fetter have an absolute constraining effectiveness—

Dongya put all his demonic power to full use, pouring all of it into the bangle.

In an instant, the golden line on his wrist burst with countless electric currents, traveling up his entire arm and letting out a string of firecracker-like sounds.

The electric currents left a huge purple-reddish netlike eroding scar, the entire arm looking like it’d been iron steel that had been scorched, the deep cauterized wound bleeding fresh blood and seeping through his clothes.

“…Looks like it’s going to be pretty hard to move around for the next two or three days.”

Dongya sighed lightly as he looked at his wounded arm, and although the words he spoke sounded distressed, the gentle features of his face lifted into a reassuring smile.

The Shadow Academy’s Summoners…

Were nothing much.

*

When Feng Ping Lan returned to their residence, he realized that lights in Quetzal’s room were still on. When he entered the house, he rushed up the staircase to the third floor without even thinking.

Knocking on Quetzal’s twice to probe out, nobody replied, so he reached out a hand to twist the knob, opening the door slowly.

The door was lit, but it was empty.

Feng Ping Lan sighed in disappointment.

His gaze swept across the room. The house was still absolutely vacuum, with only a simple desk and chair, closet, and a bed set in the center.

The thin bedsheets were disarrayed, showing that it had been slept in before.

Feng Ping Lan stared at the bed for a minute, eyes rolling around.

Just a moment… should be okay…

He approached the bed with a smile that harbored malicious intentions, breathing in deeply, standing upright, collecting his smile, his expression becoming stately as if he was about to pay worship to a religious site. Then, he gathered both his legs to bend, as if he was going to jump long-distance and leaped, his entire body flipping over onto the snow-white bed.

“Quetzal’s bed Quetzal’s bed I’m on Quetzal’s bed hahahahaha!” Feng Ping Lan rolled from side to side in excitement.

He wondered what position Quetzal usually took when he slept.

On the side? He inclined his body, turning to the side.

Or was it lying straight? He once again rolled to the front.

Or was it lying over his stomach? His body turned over to face downwards, his entire face buried in the pillow.

Mm, no way. These positions were too plain. Quetzal was so amazing, his sleeping position definitely exceeded a normal person’s, unconventional…

What kind of position was cool and powerful, something a normal person wouldn’t be able to do?

The head buried in the pillow suddenly thought of an image, after thinking for a moment.

The resting upper body turned backward, both legs stretching upwards in the air to opposite sides, forming a bold and unconstrained V-shape.

Look at his split!

Suddenly, a coldly severe face appeared between his legs that were spread out into a V-shape.

“Ah! Quetzal!” Feng Ping Lan waved at the Quetzal between his legs. “So you were at home!”

Quetzal looked at Feng Ping Lan chillingly, not saying a word.

He wanted to reprove, he wanted to question, but he knew that once he opened his mouth, it would give him answers that would make him more infuriated and perplexed.

So he decided to remain silent at last, gazing coldly at him.

Feng Ping Lan realized that Quetzal’s hair was wet, “Were you showering earlier?”

Quetzal did not answer.

Feng Ping Lan closed his legs slowly, his gaze moving towards Quetzal’s clothes, then moving downwards to his lower body.

That gaze full of anticipation that was roving around, made Quetzal feel a bout of anger.

“What are you looking at?”

“Sometimes I only wear my upper garment after showering to walk around my room, so I was wondering if you did that too, hehehe!”

Quetzal did not have any sort of reaction, just looking apathetically at Feng Ping Lan.

Feng Ping Lan sat up, hesitating for a moment. His head stretched towards Quetzal’s position, breathing in deeply before lifting the corners of his mouth into a weirdly satisfied smile.

“Dongya bought four types of body wash and shampoo.” Feng Ping Lan laughed twice, “The wash that you use is the same as mine! We have the same smell! Like a dog that marks its territory, except it uses its urine. If we were dogs, it would be as if we peed on each other’s bodies, hahahahaha—”

Quetzal couldn’t stand those braindead words anymore, finally breaking his silence, “Why did you come here?”

Feng Ping Lan’s laughter stopped.

“Mm, I just wanted to have a chat with you since we’ve made a contract with each other, and we’re also living under the same roof, so I wanted to…”

“No need.”

“Don’t reject it so quickly, if you’re not used to talking maybe we can start by looking at each other’s eyes.” Feng Ping Lan stepped forward, widening his eyes and staring at Quetzal’s.

Quetzal glared coldly at Feng Ping Lan, a dense killing intent and threatening aura seeping out from his gaze.

It was time for a lesson to be taught to this rude guy…

If this was on the battlefield, this kind of expression would be enough for his enemies to make a strategic retreat.

But it was ineffective on Feng Ping Lan. Feng Ping Lan kept on staring at him, the crystal clear black eyes not even blinking as they stared, and he could see his own shadow in the reflection of his orbs.

Quetzal realized in astonishment, his own expression would not cause dread and fear in the other’s eyes as he had expected.

Had he grown weaker?

Or was it because the Feng Ping Lan standing before him was the reason?

“The color of your eyes are beautiful, like baby crystals, but they look better than even the most expensive ones.” Feng Ping Lan laughed foolishly.

Quetzal frowned.

Too stupid… No matter whether it was Feng Ping Lan, or him who had danced to his tune. He had actually treated this child seriously.

Quetzal raised his hand to give a wave, and the shadows on the floor rose up, about to envelop him.

“Wait! Don’t go yet!”

Feng Ping Lan recognized the spell Quetzal normally used to leave, spreading out his arms on instinct to leap at him like a footballer.

Quetzal hadn’t expected Feng Ping Lan to suddenly jump at him, abruptly becoming unstable, stepping backward into empty space to stumble back and fall onto the bed.

And the Feng Ping Lan who had used all his might into rush forward couldn’t stop, following him into collapsing onto the bed.

“Aiyo!”

Feng Ping Lan propped himself up, feeling something unexpectedly hard, and a little warm under the palm of his hand. He glanced down to have a look, suddenly realizing that both his hands were pressing on Quetzal’s chest.

His entire body was also pressing down on Quetzal’s body.

“Aiya!” Feng Ping Lan subconsciously screeched like a girl who had met a pervert, although he was the one with the pervert’s role.

Quetzal grabbed Feng Ping Lan’s collar, getting ready to hurl him at the wall.

“Wait, wait a minute.” Feng Ping Lan frantically grasped at Quetzal’s arm, like a sloth. “Just a minute!”

Quetzal frowned, then, slowly released his grip.

Feng Ping Lan carefully let go of Quetzal’s hand, then sat up.

Quetzal glared at Feng Ping Lan, looking at him as he got off the bed obediently to stand next to the desk, like a well-behaved child. He sat up, both hands crossed, waiting impatiently for Feng Ping Lan to say something.

“Mm, um, a lot of stuff happened today! Who knew the school had a side to it that we didn’t know about before, it’s really new in all sorts of ways, and just like how Rodin said it, it’s not that beauty is lacking to our eye but our eyes which fail to perceive her—”

“Get to the point.”

“I want to start with a poetic— alright, alright.” Realizing that the shadows on the ground were beginning to move around, Feng Ping Lan hurriedly stopped his nonsense.

“Is it alright to attend Shadow Academy? Especially that bangle that restricts you…” Feng PIng Lan’s gaze moved towards Quetzal’s wrist, “Will it cause trouble for you?”

“Yes.” Quetzal replied concisely and unwaveringly.

Feng Ping Lan paused for a moment, nodding his head.

“Mmmmmm, indeed. You have to suddenly listen to the humans, even getting your freedom restricted by them, it is quite troubling, hahaha…”

Quetzal looked at Feng Ping Lan, stating coldly, “Did you come here to manifest your own importance?”

“Of course not!” Feng Ping Lan denied hurriedly, lifting up a self-deprecating smile, “I wouldn’t ever think of myself as important! Hahahahaha!”

This, he had always known.

Before making the contracts, long before even breaking the seal, he had always known how dispensable his existence was.

Feng Ping Lan laughed a few times, suddenly speaking, adding a few more words.

“Then what about me?” Feng Ping Lan laughed foolishly as he asked, “Have I also caused trouble to you?”

“Yes.” The reply was as decisive an affirmation as before.

“Aiyo, you could at least be a little bit more courteous, how can someone be so direct!” Feng Ping Lan smiled while grumbling, taking a few steps towards the door.

Quetzal knitted his eyebrows, but remained collected.

He seemed to have seen, in those clear black eyes that were constantly laughing foolishly, a flash of desolation in that very instant.

He suspected that he had seen wrongly.

How could this happy-go-lucky fool, be desolate and hurt?

“Oh, that’s right, thanks for lending me that sword today, or else I’d definitely be chopped up by Kaido, hahaha!” Feng Ping Lan said this as he turned to walk towards the door, “But, if I got cut up, I could actually let you have dinner! You haven’t eaten ever since the last time, aren’t you hungry?”

“No need.” Quetzal said indifferently.

The amount of blood and times Feathered Serpents needed to drink wasn’t much, and after the contract had been made he was now sheltered in this world, so the rate that he needed to feed was even lower.

“Is that so…” Feng Ping Lan nodded his head, his gaze on the floor, “Mm, then I won’t disturb you anymore! Goodnight! See you tomorrow!”

With those words said, the door opened. He waved at Quetzal speedily. Shifted his body out of the room. Closed the door.

The instant Feng Ping Lan turned around, Quetzal could once again see the desolation in Feng Ping Lan’s eyes.

He was slightly astonished at that, but immediately cast that thought away.

So what?

He did not care about Feng Ping Lan’s thoughts and state of mind. The contract was just so that the entire plan could be carried out successfully. It was absolutely meaningless towards him.

Feng Ping Lan was a troublesome human that he had to stand for the plan to be carried out successfully, and he was absolutely meaningless towards him.

His finger flicked, and the room was enveloped in darkness.

Quetzal lay on the bed, closing his eyes.

He had expected to slumber lightly in relaxation, but a perplexing feeling secretly hovered in his heart.

He opened his eyes, gazing at the white ceiling.

…Something was not right…

After contemplating about it for a while, he realized that the position of his pillow was a little askew. Due to Feng Ping Lan’s messing around, the pillow had left the position that where he normally slept in.

Reaching out a hand to pull the pillow behind his head, he fixed it back to its original position.

…Something was not right…

After contemplating about it for a while, he realized that the position of his lapel was a little askew. Due to Feng Ping Lan’s messing around, the neckband and buttons had been pulled open to curl loosely around his neck and had left the position that it normally was.

He reached out a hand to button his shirt, once again closing his eyes.

…Something was not right…

Too quiet.

Before going to sleep Feng Ping Lan would always go to Conglong to chat with him, or rest in his room while singing a song, only shutting up until the moment his eyes shut.

That guy was always adept at making up his own lyrics, but he was quite silent tonight.

Black eyes filled with desolation entered his mind.

He frowned, sneering for a moment.

It was just one insignificant human…

Quetzal ignored that peculiar unhappy feeling, closing his eyes to enter a slumber.

He did not realize, that his own emotions had gotten a little askew. Due to Feng Ping Lan’s messing around, his state of mind had left its normal position.

Thrown into chaos.