Residence Of Monsters Volume 1 Chapter 3

After lunch, Feng Ping Lan waited for a while but Conglong never came back.

As Feng Ping Lan waited, Bai Li Rui gathered the courage to talk to the girl earlier. He said something to her, and the girl threw him a disgusted look before going off.

Bai Li Rui returned, shrugging his shoulders, "It seems that some people don't take to having child-bearing hips as a compliment."

Returning to their dorm, a delivery form was attached to the door. Feng Ping Lan tore it off and went to the warehouse to pick up his things.

The warehouse was a building two blocks away. It was noon, and the sun tilted from the west, so the warehouse which was situated in the east was shrouded by the shadows cast by other tall buildings.

Stepping into the warehouse, a shady feeling traveled up his body. It was a type of coldness that one felt after getting stared at by someone.

"Your things are on the first shelf," the manager in charge of the post pointed to the back, "Your luggage is especially big, and there are two of them, would you like a trolley?"

"Yeah, I need it! Thanks!"

The trolleys were at the innermost part of the warehouse. There was disarrayed junk in the s.p.a.cious area, with only two little windows at the sides. The only presence of light was the fluorescent lamp that scattered light on the aisle. The grey light shone dimly, the gloomy rays aimed at the various bits and bobs that gave off a worn feeling.

Feng Ping Lan pa.s.sed through the shelves, stepping further into the warehouse. As he walked, he couldn't help but feel as if there was someone watching him. There were a few times he could see a strange silhouette from the corner of his eye, and could also spot a row of schoolgirls lying on the shelves, their short skirts riding messily up their snow-white thighs.

Ah, those were succubi. He could recognize this.

This time he had learned his lesson, immediately ignoring and walking past them, humming a song to express his calm and unruffled demeanor.

Before long, he had found a trolley. He happily pushed the trolley out, a leg on the surface of the trolley, another on the ground to push it forth.

"Huhuhu, I'm born of the wind! Ride on! My horse of love! Let us gallop till dusk falls!” Feng Ping Lan sang a few strange lyrics as he slid forth.

The girls that sat on the shelves all bore a disgusted and helpless expression.

What kind of idiot…

Due to his accelerating speed, a small tornado built up in that airtight s.p.a.ce. When he turned the corner to see a figure standing in the middle of the pathway, Feng Ping Lan was shocked to discover that he couldn't stop his trolley.

"Careful! Please move aside!" He quickly shouted a warning, and he immediately regretted it as the figure turned around.

The figure's other side was a deep black, its outline unable to be seen, with just a pair of large eyes plastered over its face.

"You. Are. Talking. To. Me?" A moon-shaped cracked opened underneath the pair of eyes, revealing a set of uneven teeth and a thick glutinous tongue.

Feng Ping Lan wanted to turn around, but he would be unable to do so with the trolley's inertia and the cramped s.p.a.ce he was in. He was this close to cras.h.i.+ng into it, almost about to go mouth to mouth with that thing.

Oh no, he didn't think that his first kiss would be so… wet…

Suddenly, a rain of needles shot down into the black shadow, vanis.h.i.+ng as they entered its body.

"Ah—" Before he could even groan in pain, the black shadow had already disappeared.

As it vanished, Feng Ping Lan crashed into a shelf, causing an avalanche of dust and machinery parts.

"Aiyaya, talking to lower-level demons on your own accord is a really stupid thing to do," a laughter-filled voice sounded, "Didn't Conglong warn you?"

Feng Ping Lan turned his head to face a mischievous-looking blond standing with his arms crossed, his mouth closed over a white stick, staring at his sorry appearance mockingly.

"You're… Byriel!"

"h.e.l.lo." Byriel took out the stick from his mouth, and Feng Ping Lan realized that it was a banana-flavored lollipop.

"Um…"

"You forgot to take it away." Byriel licked the lollipop, "The flavor isn't bad, but it's a bit mild. By the way, I've also finished eating your bag of colorful chocolates."

"Why are you here? Here to save me?" Feng Ping Lan smiled foolishly, "Aiya, I'm like a damsel in distress today, always being saved by you knights. Hahaha."

Facing Feng Ping Lan's brainless words, Byriel did not get annoyed and smiled, "If it's me, how do you plan on thanking me?"

"Hm…" Feng Ping Lan thought for a bit, "I can give you a ma.s.sage." He didn't have any money or talents and the only thing he had been praised for was his ma.s.sage skills to help with the elderly's backs.

Byriel laughed out loud, and it was unknown whether it was due to interest or out of ridicule.

"I'm here to tidy them up, for myself."

Byriel put the candy back into his mouth, then reached a hand to the back of his waist, pulling out a long thorn out of his back. His hand flicked, and the thorn turned into a long whip full of golden needles. Flicking it again, the whip shot through the air, the golden needles shooting everywhere like fireworks.

The lower-level demons that hid in the darkness vanished into nothing as they were hit by the needles.

In that short period of time, all the lower-levels in the warehouse had all been destroyed.

Clap clap clap! Feng Ping Lan with clapped all his might, "That's so awesome! Just too cool!"

"The environment here is quite good, the level is lower than outside even though there’s still some small-fry." Byriel took out his candy, licking it lazily, "It's become even more magnificent after being cleaned up."

"Why would you want to clean it up? Is it because—" Was it because of him?

"Of course it's not because of you. Hehehe." Byriel read through Feng Ping Lan's exact thoughts, immediately denying his initial guess, "Because we're planning to disguise as students and hide in this school, so we'll have to prepare for it."

"You guys are going to be staying here?!" Feng Ping Lan was astonished, his tone revealing an incredibly obvious pleasant surprise.

It wasn't even his business, but after hearing this answer, he became strangely happy.

"Acting as students will give us a benefit, as humans have fewer suspicions towards minors. The behavior of humans of this age is pretty special; even though their minds have matured, they will have unstable and unpredictable actions. To put it simply, teenagers' weird behavior can be explained as a type of reasonable development, which will be able to protect us." Byriel smiled while lamenting, "Some humans' actions can be weirder than us, hehehe."

"I can understand your thinking." He didn't think that the chuunibyou sickness could help the demons out in this world. "But, if you guys want to act as students, your appearances might be a bit too eye-catching, your ages don't add up either. If you guys explain it as being left off a few grades, that may be a bit too far-fetched…"

"Simo's Confounding Chime and my Mirage Incense will cause the surrounding people to accept our existence, and spells to lower our ages will are simple. These two options will be able to lower our presence as demons. So…" Byriel gave a charming smile, "I hope you'll do us a favor, in return for me saving you from those lower-level demons earlier, alright?"

Byriel inspected Feng Ping Lan's reaction, thinking of the various ways and reasons to get him to agree.

He could entice him by offering him ways to make him more attractive to the opposite s.e.x or give him money to get Feng Ping Lan to agree. But he didn't want to do that because a human's greed was endless, and their wishes would grow faster than mold on the walls could.

He could threaten him by casting spells so that many lower-level demons would be able to find him that way. But by observing the situation earlier, it seemed that even without that trouble would find Feng Ping Lan anyway. In fear and helplessness, Feng Ping Lan would only be able to plead for help from them.

Byriel's lips curved into a light ridiculing smile.

Greed and fear were the major tools used to control humans' temptations—

"Okay, I can do that." Feng Ping Lan agreed without thinking.

Hearing Feng Ping Lan's straightforward answer, Byriel froze and stared at him for a moment, smiling once more, "You're really simple huh, hehehe." Simple and stupid. Immensely easy to control, immensely perfect.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"We rarely come to the human world, and we can't use the things we know of it as the humans change too quickly. Although we can use spells to wipe the memories of the people involved if we get into an accident, using them too much will catch the attention of other demons, so we need something to help us understand the human world so that our cover doesn't get blown.  Because you already know our ident.i.ties, getting you to help would save us  time from explaining once more."

"Just like that?" It sounded too simple, simple to the pointed that he was a bit embarra.s.sed to do it.

"Yes." Byriel turned his lollipop around, curving his lips, "You'll agree just like that?"

"Oh yes, haha."

Looking at Feng Ping Lan who was full of smiles, Byriel couldn't help feeling curious, "You're not worried about this being a bit disadvantageous to you, or that we would ask you to do things that would hurt others?"

"I spent a bit of time with Conglong, and although he's a bit headstrong and fierce, he's a good guy." Feng Ping Lan didn't think at all before replying something that had never been asked of him.

"A good guy?" Byriel was a bit disapproving of this answer, "So what? You didn't answer my question."

"Because you're Conglong's companion. If you can get his trust and become his companion, I think that you're also a good person." Feng Ping Lan paused, "Oh, and you saved me as well."

"I see." Byriel nodded his head, "But, if I was really a good person, I would have warned you before you stepped into this warehouse, hehehe." Or just help him cast a spell to hide from the lower-level demons, not observe from the darkness until this moment to save him.

"That's also a possibility, but you didn't watch me suffer until the last moment, so you're still a good guy."

Byriel knitted his eyebrows, smiling thoughtfully.

This guy wasn't as stupid as he had thought, but he still wasn't guarded towards outsiders, he was still helpless.

…He still couldn't tell if he was just too smart, or completely stupid.

"Hey! Have you found the trolley yet?" The manager yelled from the front.

"Oh! I'm almost done!" Feng Ping Lan replied back, turning back to Byriel, "Then, see you later!" A foot on the cart, "You want me to bring you with me?"

"No need." Byriel smiled, turning to reveal two transparent wings on his back. The wings fluttered, calling upon a light golden mist, and when the mist had disappeared that tall figure had disappeared from within the warehouse.

The tallest building in the school compound. Central administrative platform.

A golden mist circled the floorboard, and when it disappeared, Byriel's figure materialized.

"You're late." Quetzal coldly said.

"I went to confirm a few things." Byriel twisted the sweet in his mouth, looking over the school compound. "The small-fry here are a lesser population than that of the ones outside, and there aren't any higher-level demons here. I also couldn't sense the subordinates sent from the royal clan."

"Because this area is under G.o.d's protection." Dongya looked at the white cross on the clock tower, "But clearing them up is only temporary. This area is becoming filthy, and at fast speeds."

Everyone looked at the trees, and under the buildings, where inhuman presences started to gather and stir.

"It's not only this school but also outside, the lower-level demons are starting to increase." Morris gritted his teeth and complained, "The third prince's 'Spying Eye' is on the streets, I've wanted to destroy that moldy green eye for ages!"

"Sounds pretty threatening, hehehe." Byriel laughed lightly.

Morris glared at Byriel.

"The succubi have also increased, and have probably started hiding in this school compound, although we don't know their exact location." Dongya continued, "If this continues, it will affect the humans' safety…"

"Who cares what happens to the humans!" Morris tched. "Remember that it was the humans that sealed us off for twelve years!"

"Aiyaya, the point isn't the humans, little kitty." Byriel helplessly shook his head. "If we let the lower-level demons do what they want, this will call upon the Demon Slayers. That will cause problems for us, understand that? Do you want some catnip to clear your mind?"

A burst of red raging flames rushed past, charging towards Byriel's position.

Byriel dodged it, the dark red flames striking the floor, leaving four black claw marks behind.

"Watch your tone…" Morris growled lowly, "Killing a lowly worm would be an easy feat for me."

"Oh? Really?" Byriel snapped his fingers, and a thousand golden needles appeared from thin air behind his back, ready to attack. "Do your best, I haven't seen such a joke for a long while now. Hehehe."

"Don't be like this, this isn't the time for internal fights—" Dongya tried to stop them, but the two of them with their weapons out did not listen.

Suddenly, blue lightning shot up from the floor, blocking in the center of Byriel and Morris. The great lightning forced the both of them to back away.

"Hindrances will die," Quetzal warned chillingly, then released the lightning.

Byriel shrugged his shoulders resentfully, going to the side.

"You can't order me around!"Morris glared at Quetzal. "You are not my master."

"I don't want a useless subordinate either." Quetzal looked at Morris coldly, speaking unfeelingly, "I'm not your master, so I can throw you away whenever I want if you are no use to me…"

"Um… Does the lower-level demons gathering have anything to do with us?" Simo asked concernedly.

"The house we were sealed in just so happens to be near the gateway between our worlds. There was a quake when our seal was broken, which caused the lines between both worlds to blur together, calling forth quite a lot of demons." Conglong touched his forehead lightly, a sky-blue totem appearing, flas.h.i.+ng unsteadily, "Furthermore, the bond between Prince Shuekan has diminished. If we don't strengthen it or find a new contractor…"

Then, they would end up worse off than those weak demons.

"I only accept one person as my master. Your choices have nothing to do with me, I won't interfere." Quetzal spoke apathetically. "No matter what the situation is, we have to pull the wool over their eyes, stay in this world. We'll spread out and act according to circ.u.mstances."

Indigo-purple eyes surveyed an area far away. Using senses that were above normal men's, he saw a familiar figure outside the male dormitories, using a weird way to move quickly under the sun.

It was Feng Ping Lan. After putting all his things into the dorm, he was now using the cart to run around the courtyard. His clothes were already wet with sweat, shouting a weird catchphrase, a huge smile on his face.

As he turned a corner, he planned to elegantly drift through it, but the old cart crashed into the recycling area, and Feng Ping Lan who stood on the cart's floorboard fell into one of the bins.

Bai Li Rui hurriedly ran towards to inspect, "Are you alright!"

Feng Ping Lan climbed out of the bin, dusting the shreds of paper of him, "Luckily it was the paper bin, if it was the rubbish from the kitchens I'd be in trouble hahaha!"

"Those are my clothes you’re wearing…"

A few supervisors came by to scold the two of them. Feng Ping Lan smiled foolishly while apologizing.

He looked stupid, but incredibly happy.

Quetzal looked coldly at Feng Ping Lan.

Why was it this kind of guy to release the seal…

Remembering what had happened this morning at the residence, the back of his cold hand seemed to emanate a kind of warmth.

Icy eyes flashed with indignant anger. As if trying to wave away the memory, his hand gripped the blade by his waist.

His eyes met that snow-white cross.

Supreme G.o.d…

Is this your idea of a joke?

The next day. Freshmen's orientation.

Relying on the dorm's favorable location, Feng Ping Lan and Bai Li Rui arrived at the school building incredibly early. Bai Li Rui's purpose of coming early was to observe his female cla.s.smates, and Feng Ping Lan simply had too much energy, and after putting down his things he left the cla.s.sroom and strolled around the school to get used to his environment.

Zephaniah Academy, its full name Zephaniah International Academy, was a unique private high school with a complete education system. From elementary, primary, middle school, until high school, all were included. Other than normal subjects in high school, there were also subjects designed for occupations, so its student population was enormous.

Other than normal students, Zephaniah Academy also accepted foreign students who made up a third of the student population. There were students of different countries that could be observed, which was one of the school's unique characteristics.

The school had limited places and had a quota of people attending, but the school's popularity and reputation attracted a lot of students to sign up. To fit in the student population, the school compound was very wide. The distance between the school buildings was long, and the s.p.a.ces between them were filled up with trees which caused it to be refres.h.i.+ng.

But, among the trees were shadows hidden deeply, and there was always a weird silhouette moving in them.

Feng Ping Lan ignored the weird shadows, going through a pa.s.sage and a large building. While pa.s.sing through the enclosure of the school compound, a familiar silhouette caught his attention.

Black hair, a tall and large bronze-skinned body stood a meter away from the walls, staring at something on top of it, unmoving.

It was Morris.

What was he doing? Fighting against other demons?

Feng Ping Lan stood at his place not daring to move, looking left and right and realizing that there was a brick by the wall; he bent and picked up the brick, waving it in the air the nodding in satisfaction.

I choose you!

Turning his head back, as he made the decisions to rush over to help, Feng Ping Lan suddenly realized that Morris had raised a hand upwards towards the top of the wall, but the next second his face expressed an obvious dejected and disappointed look and pulled his hand back, shoulders helplessly drooping.

Why? What happened?

"Hi, good morning. Hehehe…" The familiar teasing laughter sounded.

Turning, he saw Byriel smiling at him. The Byriel today looked much younger than yesterday, more like a high school student, but there was a something demonic in his eyes that a high school student shouldn't have. Also, the uniform he wore looked luxurious and didn't look like something a normal student would wear. But the most eye-catching thing about him wasn't his appearance nor his clothes, but the number of lunchboxes in his hands.

"Good morning!" Feng Ping Lan looked at the meals in Byriel's hands, and couldn't help sighing, "Is that your breakfast? Looks sumptuous!"

"Someone gave it to me." Byriel explained, "I saw that everyone had these in their hands so I simply asked a girl, but I didn't think a whole group of them would give them to me. Sometimes humans are really generous. Hehehe." And then, his gaze moved to Feng Ping Lan's brick. "Is that your breakfast? It looks hard."

"No, this is because…"  Feng Ping Lan looked toward the walls, but Morris had disappeared.

"Too bad that there's nothing I want to eat in here." Byriel sighed lightly. "Even though it is goodwill, they are no use to me. But on you…" He closed his eyes, nearing Feng Ping Lan's neck, lightly smelling and said lowly, "There's a pretty fragrant scent."

With that, he raised his long elegant fingers to touch Feng Ping Lan's throat, sliding down, grabbing his collar and breathed in deeply.

"B-Byriel? It tickles…. Hahahaha!" The blond hair brushed against his nose and throat, and Feng Ping Lan wanted to bend down and laugh, but Byriel came in closer, not letting him move.

"Oh, I know what it is now." Byriel smiled, fingers letting go of his collar, moving down to his pants.

Feng Ping Lan hurriedly tried to stop him, "You can't go there—"

Long fingers went to the side of his leg, and the next moment there was an extra box in his hands.

"I've found it. Hehehe." Byriel brought the box to his face, curiously scrutinizing, "What's this?"

"Stuffed gummies that I bought the day before." Because he was short of money, he could only take the food he had as breakfast.

"I want this." Byriel announced, then handing the boxes of breakfast to Feng Ping Lan, "I'll give this to you."

"Really? Thanks!" This was great! He could now eat a few meals, "But I can't finish them by myself." He didn't know for how long they would last, he hoped it wouldn't be too soon.

"Whatever, I'll leave it to you to take care of it, hehehe," Byriel answered, not even looking at the lunchboxes, tearing apart his package and happily putting the candy in his mouth.

"Ah, it's time for morning self-study lessons." Looking at Byriel who was eating his gummies, "Are you… going to cla.s.s?"

"Of course, and it's with you."

"Is everything okay? Are all your student files okay? Will it arouse anyone's suspicions?"

"Don't worry don't worry. There are also a lot of foreign students here, we won't be eye-catching to others." Byriel said this while eating his sweets, eating the entire packet in just a few moments, "If it isn't a high-level demon, the spell won't break."

When the both of them reached the cla.s.sroom, the teacher hadn't arrived yet, but the cla.s.sroom was already full. When they stepped in, it was as if every female stopped in their tracks, looking at Byriel.

Byriel returned the looks, smiling brilliantly. The sound of people sucking in their breaths came through as if everyone was smoking at that exact same moment.

Feng Ping Lan looked around, realizing that Conglong and Simo were sitting close to him and Bai Li Rui. The three of them were talking, Conglong revealing a disgusted expression and Simo wearing a perplexed look, seemingly bewildered.

"Has anyone told you that you look like a poppy?" Bai Li Rui turned around, hands beneath his chin, his voice lowered and looking adoringly at Simo.

Simo lowered her head, fringe covering her face, incredibly embarra.s.sed.

"No," Conglong replied firmly. "Why is your voice so weird, has your throat become inflamed?"

Bai Li Rui glared at Conglong, "I'm not asking you.”

"…No…" Simo replied with a tiny voice.

"See!" Conglong grunted moodily, "Why would anyone want to answer this sort of question?"

Bai Li Rui turned his head and continued to look at Simo, speaking with a low voice once again, "Because when I look at you, my heart will beat faster, much more excited than normal. As if I'm dreaming, a beautiful dream—" He paused and added, "Dreams that have to do with marriage and the night after marriage."

Simo's head couldn't be any lower.

Conglong frowned, skeptical, "Really?" Then he reached out a hand to feel Bai Li Rui's chest, staying there for a while, "Your heart's beating normally. Why're you lying?"

Bai Li Rui slapped Conglong's hand away, saying seriously, "Don't touch me! Only females can touch or use my body!" He noticed that Feng Ping Lan had returned to his seat, attention going elsewhere. "Where did you go? By the way, who's this?"

"I'm Byriel. Your words are pretty interesting, I can sense your want to breed with the female gender, even though your skills are incredibly clumsy, hehehe."

"He's Conglong and Simo's relative." Feng Ping Lan added.

Bai Li Rui glanced coldly at Byriel, "This family seems to be experts in annoying people, I see that it's genetic." He turned towards Simo, perking up a warm smile, "It doesn't include you of course."

"Uh… mm…" Simo lowered her head, quietly responding, then lifting her head slightly to look at Feng Ping Lan from the small crack of her fringe and nodding quickly as a greeting, lowering her head once again.

Simo's introverted shrinking made Feng Ping Lan feel a bit astonished. It looked like not every demon was like Byriel, who was so… intensive.

"The others aren't coming here?" Feng Ping Lan asked Conglong curiously.

"Dongya insists on staying at home to sort things out, and before things are sorted out he won't leave. Morris should be investigating at other areas, so he should arrive late. As for Quetzal, he's always been doing things alone by himself, and no one knows where he goes."

"Is that so…" Knowing that Quetzal wouldn't appear, Feng Ping Lan felt a bit disappointed.

But, Quetzal didn't seem very suited to be a student. To have that awe-inspiring, valiant and beautiful creature act as a student would cause too much grievance to him. Looking at another perspective, letting him continue in his current form would be better.

The door at the front of the cla.s.sroom opened, and a tall and thin delicate figure stepped unhurriedly in, slowly walking towards the teacher's desk.

It was a man in his thirties, holding a huge thermos and donning a pair of gla.s.ses. Although he was refined and had regular features, his face was excessively pale and his skinny body looked as if a strong gust of wind would snap him across the waist, causing him to give off a sickly and gloomy vibe.

Eyes that were abstruse like a human skull roved through the cla.s.sroom from the first row, sweeping left to right. When the came to Feng Ping Lan and the others at the furthermost corner, it stopped, both of the pitch-black eyes as if s.h.i.+ning an astonished light.

"…Are you sure it's alright?" Feng Ping Lan quietly asked Byriel next to him.

"Of course there's no problem. Hehe." Byriel replied languidly, not nervous at all.

Thin colorless lips opened, sighing lightly, saying with a deep voice, "I thought that there'd be lesser people in the cla.s.s. I don't like to handle unnecessary things…" He then opened his thermos, pouring some into his cup and drank a mouthful.

A strong nose-piercing smell of herbs and medicine came through, causing the students to cover up their noses.

The homeroom teacher didn't say anything about the three of them, treating them as if they were normal students.

"See." Byriel smiled, pleased with himself.

The sickly man, after finis.h.i.+ng his cup of medicine poured himself another. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Yin Su Shuang1, I teach PE and History."

"PE?"

"He might die on the sports field."

"More like teaching life lessons, does this school have cla.s.ses for attending funerals?"

The students' laughter sounded from below. Yin Su Shuang turned his gaze towards the student that had spoken out, using a deeply serene look to glance at him, and in just a few minutes the noise disappeared and the cla.s.s had completely gone quiet.

"So that we can peacefully a.s.sociate with each other later on, I'll say this clearly." Yin Su Shuang said in a pleasant voice, "I hate three things, and one of them is children, for example you all."

"We're not children." A student interrupted, unable to accept his words.

"The second kind is children who think that they are grown up, for example you here."

"…"

"The third kind… cough cough." Yin Su Shuang coughed twice, "Any person or thing that increases my workload. I don't want to become a teacher at all, but due to certain reasons and a certain b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I need to be here. Although it's like this, I am trusted with this job so I will finish my responsibilities, including acting like I care about the physical and mental developments of you guys."

"Are all human teachers like this?" Conglong asked quietly, "Why is it different from the information that I read before?"

"Uh, Teacher Yin must be slightly special…"

"Anyways, don't get into trouble, cooperate with each other, and let the next three years be easier to get through. That's all." With those words, he coughed repet.i.tively and finally impatiently drank a big cup of medicinal herbs before he went back to breathing normally.

Even though the starting introductions were really shocking, the rest of their interactions proceeded normally. Following the sequence forms were distributed to fill in their personal details, getting the timetable and workbooks, choosing the cla.s.s cadre.

The freshman orientation finished in the short half a day.

After school, Feng Ping Lan left with Conglong and the others. Bai Li Rui went to inspect the clubs, so he didn't join in.

"Are you guys going home now? Feng Ping Lan was reminded of how Byriel had vanished in the warehouse using a spell and was excited to see it again.

"I want to sit that transport that looks like a train," Conglong said first, "The last time we came here, the trains were still operated using steam."

"Are you talking about the subway? The subway station is a bit far away, and it's not going to where you guys live."

"Then I'll sit on the one that runs on the roads, the one that's big and long." Conglong said expectantly, "I saw in the books that it had two stories of sitting areas. Is it available here?"

"There are only ones with singular decks here. Also, I'm not very clear on its route, I'll have to look into it."

"The what about the kind with two wheels? The two-wheeled ones that look like praying mantises."

"I'm not of age yet, so I won't be able to drive a motorcycle!"

Conglong frowned, extremely dissatisfied, "You're really useless…"

"I'm really sorry about that!"

"You're still as interested in human transport as ever, even though physiologically speaking you're unable to stand it. Hehehe."

"Don't be pesky!" Conglong mumbled unhappily, "That's right, how did you go up the mountain before this?"

"By riding a bicycle." Feng Ping Lan pointed at the bicycle shed behind the school dormitories, "That one, that pink one at the outermost side."

Conglong's eyes lit up. "I want to ride that one!"

"You can ride a bicycle?”

"Why do I need to ride a bicycle? Exerting strength is the driver's job."

"Driver?" Feng Ping Lan grabbed his head, "I've never driven anyone around before…" He walked into the bicycle shed, leading his bicycle out.

Conglong immediately crouched beside the bicycle, observing its body curiously.

"How does this work? Operate it for me."

"It's pretty simple, you just have to sit on it and step on the pedals and it'll move." Feng Ping Lan straddled over the vehicle, riding it over a distance, "Do you want to try?"

"You guys take your time to play with it, I'm going back first. I hope the next time we meet, all four limbs of yours are still belonging to their original places, hehehe."

Feng Ping Lan was just about to turn to say goodbye to Byriel, but when he had turned his head he could only see a light golden mist and Byriel had already vanished.

"Simo, do you want to try?"

Simo shook her head embarra.s.sedly, "I'll… Just observe…"

"Stop wasting time, hurry up and pedal! Drive me back!"

"Oh alright, wait a second." Feng Ping Lan stabled the bicycle, waiting for Conglong to sit at the back.

"The seat is really hard, it's not comfortable at all!" Conglong complained, "Where should I grab on to?"

"Put your hands on me." Feng Ping Lan turned to reply, smiling foolishly, "Don't hug me too tightly, I'll become embarra.s.sed."

"Who'll want to— Argh!"

The vehicle suddenly moved forwards, and Conglong became unstable, his head cras.h.i.+ng into Feng Ping Lan's back.

"What are you doing!"

"Let's go! Hahahahahaha!" Feng Ping Lan happily pedaled, riding out of the school compound towards the mountain in the southeast.

Conglong didn't hug on to Feng Ping Lan, but both of his hands seized his s.h.i.+rt. Conglong wasn't very used to it at first, silently sitting at the back rigidly, but before long he adapted to the bicycle's speeds and returned to his original bossy manner. He clutched the hem of Feng Ping Lan's s.h.i.+rt as if he was holding on to a horse's reins, pulling on the collar to give out his orders.

"It's too hot, go under the shade of the trees!" His left hand pulled the left side of the s.h.i.+rt.

"Yes yes yes." Feng Ping Lan quickly went to the left.

"Go slower, I want to see what that store is selling." Both of his hands pulled back, leading him along through the collar, and Feng Ping Lan neck was pulled back as well.

"Yes yes yes."

"It's so hot, increase the speed."

"Okay!"

Although the person at the back kept on giving him orders, Feng Ping Lan did not feel an ounce of annoyance at all, following Conglong's commands as he happily pa.s.sed through the streets.

Throughout the whole journey, Simo's orange messenger bird demon followed by the side.

"…Be careful, you've pa.s.sed the limit… Careful…" The bird gave out a tactful warning.

"What's it talking about?" Feng Ping Lan curiously turned his head.

"Don't listen to it, go faster!"

"No problem! There just happens to be a slope right in front! It'll be really stimulating if we speed down it!" Feng Ping Lan replied excitedly.

"What?" Conglong stared blankly at him, and before he could open his mouth to give out a warning, the bicycle had already rushed down the slope, flying down at breaking speeds.

"Hahahahaha! It's so cooling! It's cooling it's cooling! Really feels good!" Feng Ping Lan welcomed the wind with pleasure, "Isn't it great? It feels like we're flying in the sky!"

The person behind him did not answer.

"Conglong?"

"Stop the bicycle…" A m.u.f.fled voice quietly pa.s.sed on from the back.

"What did you say?"

"Stop— Cough! Arghagh…"

"Why does your voice sound so weird?" He felt a deeply unsettling feeling…

"I-I'm, o-kay. Blurghhgurg—!"

A warm liquid rained down from the back, and Feng Ping Lan felt his head get wet. He immediately understood what had happened, and gave out a miserable screech.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Even though physiologically speaking you're unable to stand it… He finally understood Byriel's words before he had left them.

Conglong loved human transportation, but—

It was incredibly easy for him to get carsick.

TL Notes

The teacher’s name is 殷肅霜, yīn sù shuāng.