First floor, west room.
Ye Chen was soaking in the bathtub, hoping to wash away his bad luck.
Today had been nothing short of humiliating. He'd actually been played by a damn yellow dog in front of a crowd. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it felt.
Knock knock—
A knock came from the door. Halfway through his bath, Ye Chen didn't bother getting out. "Come in," he called out casually. After all, only a few people from the Spirit Hall lived in this villa, and the only girl around was his future wife—no need to be overly cautious.
Creak—
The door opened. Someone stepped inside, but oddly enough, said nothing.
"Who is it? Can't this wait till tomorrow?"
"Ye Chen? Where are you? I'm from Tianshui Academy."
Tianshui? Ye Chen's heart sank. Wasn't Tianshui Academy an all-girls school? This wasn't good.
He quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist before stepping out of the bathroom.
In the living room, a girl with straight-cut bangs sat awkwardly on the sofa. She wore a strapless mini dress and had a delicate, pretty face. The moment she saw Ye Chen shirtless, her cheeks flushed red.
"Would you like some tea? I can make you a cup."
Even though he wasn't sure why she was here, Ye Chen figured he'd at least be polite. He brushed past the sofa and headed toward the marble table in the corner to brew tea.
"N-no, that's okay! I just came to say something real quick."
Flustered, the girl rushed over to stop him, but in her haste, she accidentally knocked over the glass teapot. It shattered into pieces on the floor.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
She looked genuinely apologetic and immediately crouched down to clean up the broken pieces, her movements clumsy but endearing.
Just then, a petite figure appeared at the doorway.
Before Ye Chen could say anything, another girl approached the villa from outside. Upon seeing the girl at the door, she frowned. "Junior sister? What are you doing here?" Without waiting for a reply, she walked in.
"Shhh!"
The petite girl quickly moved aside, raising a finger to her lips. She whispered, "Senior sister got here before me… and she's with Ye Chen right now…"
But that wasn't the end of it. A few moments later, three more girls showed up at the villa's entrance.
The petite girl and the blue-robed one instinctively stopped them from making any noise. Then, like a group of conspirators, they all huddled together by the door, silently observing the scene inside.
"You really don't need to clean up everything. Just clear the obvious stuff. We're not staying long at the Royal Academy anyway," Ye Chen said, glancing at the mess.
"It's fine. I don't mind," the girl replied with a shake of her head.
But midway through her sentence, she caught sight of the group standing at the door and froze. "Senior sisters? Junior sisters? Why are you all here?"
The five blue-robed girls awkwardly looked away, pretending to inspect the surroundings.
"We were just passing by… and thought we'd come check on the soul power of the exchange team. Oh right, what are you doing here?" one of them asked, clearly trying to change the subject.
Caught off guard, the girl with the bangs blushed again. She hadn't expected an audience and was mortified. "I… I accidentally broke Ye Chen's teapot. So I stayed to help clean up…"
She held up a bag filled with glass shards as proof.
The girls all blinked, clearly surprised. Then, slowly, the realization dawned on them—and they remembered all the wrong conclusions they'd jumped to just moments ago. Their cheeks turned red in unison.
"We'll help too!" one of them said, quickly breaking the tension.
The rest eagerly followed suit, stepping into the room and kneeling down to help clean up the mess on the floor.
Outside, after making a round of the courtyard, Xu Ning prepared to return to his room.
But just as he stepped into the villa's main hall, a wave of cheerful voices drifted from the west room.
"Hey! Still awake?" Ye Chen called out when he noticed him.
"S-sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt!"
Xu Ning spun on his heels and dashed back to his room, muttering under his breath, "Damn… our captain is a legend. No way—I have to ask him for tips on picking up girls tomorrow!"
---
Under the night sky outside the courtyard, another group was hurrying toward the villa. Leading them was Dugu Yan, followed closely by a team from Shrek Academy, who had rushed here after receiving the news.
Pointing to the building ahead, Dugu Yan smiled. "That's where Ye Chen is staying. I'll take you to him."
"Thank you."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded calmly, but her eyes couldn't hide the trace of anticipation.
Beside her, Ning Rongrong was practically trembling with excitement. Zhu Zhuqing let out a quiet sigh.
When Ye Chen was captured, Ning Rongrong had immediately gone home to ask for help. But in the face of the Spirit Hall's dominance, even the powerful Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had to tread carefully.
Her father had simply said, "We'll wait for the right time."
Rongrong had cried endlessly after returning to Shrek, helpless and heartbroken. Thankfully, just days ago, they had finally received news about Ye Chen.
Now, holding Zhu Zhuqing's hand tightly, Rongrong burst through the villa doors and rushed straight to the west room.
She flung the door open—
And froze.
Zhu Zhuqing stood stunned in place. Moments later, Flender arrived behind them, only to gape at the sight before him.
He blinked, utterly speechless, then muttered, "This kid… living the dream, huh?"
---