They all looked toward Mo Yidong, each subtly signaling to one another,
“If Xia Yu gets you kidnapped, just blink once.”
Mo Yidong stood calmly in place, neither refuting nor reacting.
He turned and took a few steps to get a meal card, recharged it, then returned to Xia Yu’s side.
“So you’re Xia Yu.”
The Red-haired Boy’s first inquiry upon arriving at the school was to find out who was the strongest fighter here.
He had heard from classmates that the top brawler in school had a very distinctive look—a boy with a short braid tied at the back of his ponytail.
Xia Yu glanced up and caught the Red-haired Boy’s proud gaze, his own face unable to hide the contempt beneath the surface.
He hadn’t expected the strongest person in this school to be a lean, small-statured kid.
If that was the case, the school’s overall strength must be pretty weak.
“My name’s Mo Yaofei, from Class 3, Grade 2.”
Mo Yaofei wasn’t the top student academically, but he intended to use his strength and fists to claim the top spot in school.
In every school he had attended, the previous School Bully had always been easily taken down by him.
Sizing up Xia Yu’s identity and physique, Mo Yaofei felt like he was just bullying someone smaller.
He thought to himself, whatever, forget it…
Mo Yaofei approached Xia Yu with a smug smile.
“I’ll buy you a meal if you hand over the School Bully position to me.”
That way, you won’t get beaten up as much, we keep the peace, and settle this easily.
“School Bully?”
Xia Yu blinked.
“What position is that?”
Not knowing what the other was bragging about, Xia Yu didn’t want trouble, especially not in such a public place.
Just Xia Yu standing in the cafeteria was enough to make many people uneasy, worried he might cause more problems.
That’s why he rarely came to the cafeteria, usually letting his good brothers bring food back.
“If you want it, take it. Anyway, it’s a title they gave.”
Hearing this, things got simpler.
Mo Yaofei puffed out his chest and, in front of his lackeys, proposed a condition for Xia Yu to prove his surrender.
“Then can you kneel down in front of everyone right now?”
Xia Yu raised an eyebrow; the leisurely expression on his face faded.
The surrounding noise dulled in his ears as he looked up seriously at Mo Yaofei’s still proud expression.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the crowd, he really wanted to punch that arrogant smile right off his face.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
“Do you believe I can make your knees hurt so badly it looks like you’re kneeling for me?”
“Ha ha ha ha…”
A few simple words broke the negotiation.
Xia Yu looked coldly at Mo Yaofei’s overly confident smile.
What a bunch of lunatics….
Xia Yu took Mo Yidong and circled around the group, leaving the spot directly.
“Your dad really gave you a great name.”
“Oh? How so?”
“Mo Yaofei… in some dialects, if you say it directly, it sounds like ‘Mo yao fei,’ which means ‘don’t bark,’ like telling a dog not to bark. Pretty funny, isn’t it?”
No sooner had Xia Yu spoken than a translucent white flash flickered beside him, deftly dodging a flying spoon.
This move instantly drew more onlookers, and someone in the crowd shouted,
“Hurry and tell a teacher! Someone’s about to start a fight!”
The situation temporarily settled.
“Thanks, ‘Don’t Bark’ classmate.”
Nobody knew when the spoon in Mo Yaofei’s hand had suddenly flown over to Xia Yu’s hand.
Xia Yu even waved the spoon without looking back as he walked away.
Watching the two leave, Mo Yaofei’s deep red eyes flared with anger, bloodshot and clenched fists trembling.
It was like a spoiled rich kid’s life—no one had ever talked to him like that, or made a nickname out of his own name.
“This name’s got some meaning after all.”
Mo Yidong followed closely beside Xia Yu, watching as the other casually tossed the steel spoon onto a table, unable to figure out how exactly it happened.
“Mo Yaofei is from the Dragon Clan, Fire Element. Thick-skinned, tough to hurt, and very strong. It’d be pretty hard to make his knees hurt.”
“I was just saying it casually. And now you’ve gone and spilled your brother’s background to me so openly, is that really okay?”
As a Yaoyi, the last thing he wanted was to expose what he was inside.
Unless the person was your most trusted confidant who could keep your secret, no one else would ever reveal such things.
Mo Yidong didn’t know why he casually blurted out Mo Yaofei’s details—it just slipped out.
“Well, you just told me a pretty good joke.”
Mu Yiqiu saw the two finally walking over and waved to them, then headed to the lunch lady while Mo Yidong was first to hand over his meal card.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting. This meal’s on me, I’ll pay with my card.”
Just as he was about to say to swipe three meals, Xia Yu quickly blocked the card reader, pulled out his own meal card, and tapped it three times.
“I dirtied your clothes, so this is my way of apologizing. I should treat you.”
Mu Yiqiu saw the two of them pushing the offer back and forth like old friends who hadn’t met for years, politely refusing.
“When did you two get so close?”
No matter who paid, Mu Yiqiu always enjoyed freeloading.
Bringing one person was already a bonus!
“Close? We’re not close. I just ran into his brother on the way and chatted for a bit.”
Xia Yu said this as he noticed Mo Yidong staring at his plate, quietly instructing the lunch lady,
“Just give me some cool, mild food. I don’t want anything too hot.”
“Are you a cat or something?”
“No, I just don’t like hot food.”
Mo Yidong especially disliked food that had been left sitting and clumped together for a long time.
Xia Yu looked at the cold dishes on Mo Yidong’s plate and drifted into a brief memory—someone in the past had said the same thing.
“You live with your brother, right?”
The three of them casually picked a table.
Mo Yidong ate with a refined manner, chewing each bite about ten times before swallowing, then slowly answered:
“Yes.”
Xia Yu finished his lunch in a few bites, picked up his tray, and made no effort to stay longer.
“You two eat. I’m going back to sleep.”
A tired look hung on Xia Yu’s face, the dark circles under his eyes clearly showing how much he wanted to rest.
He left them behind and walked away alone.
After Xia Yu left, Mo Yidong continued:
“But I want to rent a place outside to live by myself.”
The school didn’t have dormitories.
Though Mo Yidong’s parents rarely came home due to work, he wasn’t used to living with family.
“I know a place a broker recommended. It’s pretty good. I’ll mark the map for you later.”
After school, Mo Yidong followed the route Mu Yiqiu had drawn toward the broker’s location, staring down a long, dark alley.
Passing through it was the shortest way to the destination.
However…
Mo Yidong frowned slightly.
The air was thick with the stench of rotting garbage, mixed with a sharp metallic scent—like a place where numerous violent acts had taken place, indescribable in words.
To save time, Mo Yidong still went inside.
Sure enough, a few dark figures emerged from spots along the alley where people could easily hide.
One boy, wearing another school’s uniform and holding a dagger, approached Mo Yidong with a sinister smile:
“Yo, never seen you before. New here, huh?”
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