After Snow Yu’s long string of complaints, the three of them finally settled down.

After enduring the flames and searing iron, Snow Yu had caught Xia Mo’s blade barehanded. He’d stopped the sword itself, but not the magical flames coating it.

Both hands were hot and swollen, like boiled ham. A dull, tingling ache crawled through his fingertips as Snow Yu sighed at his burned skin.

He could still faintly smell something roasting.

“Urgh—my hands!”

“Don’t move, Master. I’m bandaging them!”

The three sat on the sofa. Xia Mo applied burn ointment to Snow Yu’s injuries, then carefully wrapped both hands in bandages. She handled the job with practiced ease.

In no time, Snow Yu’s hands were wrapped up like rice dumplings. Now, even slightly moving a finger caused him immense pain.

“Disciple, how could you just barge into someone else’s house and start hacking everything apart? Look around you!”

Snow Yu sighed reproachfully.

Xia Mo didn’t dare look around. The walls, furniture, and nearly everything else in the living room had been damaged by her sword.

The damage wasn’t too severe, but scorch marks covered everything.

“I… I was just worried about you, Master. You never told me you’d taken in a—no, wait. Master, how could you shelter such a dangerous demon?”

“That’s not the point!” Xia Mo shook her head and said righteously, “How could you shelter a demon? And a vampire, at that!”

As she spoke, Xia Mo pointed toward Tongxi, who was hiding behind Snow Yu.

Snow Yu was Tongxi’s only refuge. She clutched his clothes and trembled behind him whenever Xia Mo noticed her.

From time to time, one frightened eye peeked out. Tongxi watched Xia Mo warily, afraid she would be hunted down again.

“Uh… I saw her wandering outside all alone. She looked pitiful, so I…”

Snow Yu gave an awkward smile.

“So you took in this demon? That’s your reason for sheltering a demon? It’s too dangerous! What were you thinking, feeling sorry for a demon, Master?”

Xia Mo lectured him in an accusing tone.

“Demons are enemies who threaten humanity. If you indulge one now, she’ll bring disaster to everyone later!”

“Why don’t we just deal with her here and now?”

Whoosh!

The sword slid from its sheath once more. Xia Mo’s sharp gaze immediately locked onto Tongxi, making the little vampire recoil behind Snow Yu.

“Hey! Don’t! Xia Mo, listen to my excuse—uh, no, listen to my explanation! Tongxi promised me she wouldn’t hurt humans.”

Just as the sword was about to leave its sheath, Snow Yu grabbed the blade and stopped her.

“Heh-heh. Master, weren’t you the one who told me never to trust a demon’s word?”

Xia Mo complained unhappily.

Snow Yu understood what she meant. A demon’s promises truly weren’t easy to believe.

Back then, Xia Mo had been taken away by demons because she trusted their words too easily. She’d been deceived and captured as a result.

To put it simply, Xia Mo’s trust and acceptance of demons sat at negative one thousand percent.

“Yes, I did say that. But I believe her. Tongxi has kept her promise not to hurt humans. Even when I offered her my blood, she refused again and again.”

“What?! You offered her your blood, Master?”

Xia Mo tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

She couldn’t understand why her master would offer himself as food to a demon, even at the cost of injuring himself. She pressed the back of her hand against Snow Yu’s forehead.

“Master, did a demon kick your brains in on the battlefield? How could you say something like that?”

“Come on! I’m not sick, and my brains weren’t kicked in either! I’m telling the truth. What will it take for you to believe me?”

Snow Yu scratched his head in frustration, his face covered in speechless lines.

“Phew… fine.”

Xia Mo decided to stop trying to deal with the little Blood Clan girl.

After all, Snow Yu had once saved her life. He was also her master. Without him, she wouldn’t be who she was today.

If Snow Yu hadn’t abandoned his pursuit of the demons back then and chosen to save her instead, she might have died in the wilderness during that abduction.

Because of that choice, he’d missed his chance to destroy the demons. His superiors and comrades had even blamed him for it.

Still, Xia Mo had silently approved of her master’s decision.

She trusted his judgment, including this time.

“Fine. I’ll see just how trustworthy this demon you took in really is. If I find out she’s hurt a human, I’ll kill her without mercy. I won’t even ask for your permission!”

Xia Mo still refused to accept demons. She crossed her arms and turned her head away, clearly displeased by Tongxi’s presence.

“Heh-heh, she won’t. Tongxi would never hurt a human. And even if she did, she’d only hurt me.”

Snow Yu was referring to Tongxi feeding on his blood. He would bear the burden himself.

Of course, Xia Mo’s threat had plenty of holes in it. With her current strength, she couldn’t kill this little vampire.

She didn’t even possess the most basic weapon made of pure silver.

So completely destroying Tongxi was impossible.

Xia Mo was only showing her rejection of demons. After all, she had once been abducted by them and suffered greatly in their hands.

While Xia Mo turned away in displeasure, Snow Yu paid her no further attention. He turned toward Tongxi and placed his injured hand on her head.

“It’s all right, Tongxi. Big Sister Xia Mo won’t hurt you.”

He stroked her silvery-white hair.

Then Tongxi grasped Snow Yu’s hand with both of hers.

Her small, delicate hands gently lowered his injured hand and held it in front of her. She also took his other injured hand.

Just as she had after feeding earlier, Tongxi used healing magic to treat Snow Yu’s injuries.

Under the glow of her healing spell, Snow Yu felt as if every cell in his hands were being soothed. The tingling ache gradually faded.

“Ahh, that feels good. Thanks, Tongxi.”

“By the way, Disciple, why did you come looking for me?”

Xia Mo seemed unwilling to look at the thing she hated, so she didn’t turn around. She simply answered from where she sat.

“Wasn’t Master planning to enter the academy and study magic?”

“The academy’s freshman enrollment is coming soon. I heard it starts the morning after tomorrow, so you’d better get ready!”

“Get ready?”

Snow Yu remembered visiting Huangfeng Academy many years ago.

Back then, applicants only needed to pass tests for their chosen profession.

He had chosen the knight path. There had been only a few physical tests and an examination of basic knight knowledge.

The whole process had been simple. There was barely anything to prepare.

“Yes. Because on the day after tomorrow, Master will have to fight me.”

“Fight you? What do you mean?”

Snow Yu looked at her in confusion.

“It’s like this. The academy now requires all new students to undergo four trials before admission. They must challenge teachers from each profession. Afterward, the academy selects students according to their results.”

Xia Mo continued with a helpless expression.

“I was chosen as one of the teachers conducting this year’s trials. So…”

“So I’ll be fighting you? I can’t wait!”

Snow Yu was filled with anticipation.

It had already been more than a year since he and Xia Mo had last sparred. Back when they were still master and disciple, Snow Yu had won without question.

Now, after another year, he could finally fight his disciple again. He wanted to know whether Xia Mo had continued practicing her swordsmanship while he was away at war.

He also wanted to see how much her strength had improved.

Though Snow Yu was excited, the situation still seemed troublesome. He had to challenge four teachers instead of taking a few simple tests like before.

“Huh? Since when did getting into this academy become so unnecessarily complicated?”

Snow Yu complained, sounding bored.

“Actually, the ‘trials’ were introduced last year. I heard they worked much better than the old entrance exams. They show the academy’s ‘strength’ more directly.”

“Besides challenging you, do you know what the other teachers specialize in?”

As the saying went, knowing yourself and your enemy meant victory in every battle.

Snow Yu had been on the battlefield, and he was Xia Mo’s master. Naturally, he understood that principle.

Since Xia Mo was now an academy teacher, she might know something useful. That would make dealing with the other trial teachers easier.

“Well… I only became a teacher there during the first half of this year. I don’t really know who conducted the trials last time.”

“The academy only told me to conduct the trials for the students applying this year.”

Xia Mo shook her head.

Then she suddenly remembered something and added, “Master, there’s one more person I should tell you about. His name is Mo Feng. He’s a teacher there too, just like me.”

“Heh. What are the odds? If I really run into that guy…”

Snow Yu curled his lip and clicked his tongue.

※※※

That night, the house had limited space. Tongxi also refused to leave Snow Yu’s side, so Snow Yu gave up the bed and slept on a blanket on the floor.

“Tongxi, you cling to me everywhere I go. Could you let go for just a moment?”

Snow Yu helplessly looked at the little girl wrapped up in his blanket as he prepared for bed.

Tongxi followed him everywhere—even to the bathroom.

Could she really be planning to stick to him while sleeping, too?

At the thought, Snow Yu rolled his eyes at her.

“Tongxi, can’t you sleep in that bed over there?”

Tongxi was sitting astride Snow Yu’s thighs. A tiny head poked out from beneath the blanket.

The two little bat wings on her head trembled slightly. Her eyes glittered with pleading light.

She shook her head hard, refusing to part from Snow Yu.

“Don’t tell me you want to sleep with me?”

This time, Tongxi nodded.

“No way! You can’t! You’re a girl, and I’m a man. There’s a difference between men and women. We can’t sleep together!”