Speak of the devil—Mu Yao had barely stood up when several swaying boys appeared before her. They were all staggering around, either drunk or putting on a thug’s swagger.

Yang Xu stood at the front. Mu Yao recognized him at once. There couldn’t possibly be anyone uglier than him in the entire academy. His face was so twisted, it looked as if someone had stepped on it. Letting him roam around at night was practically a health hazard for anyone with a weak heart.

“Yo, little girl. Long time no—Mu-Mu-Mu-Mu Yao?”

The moment Yang Xu saw Mu Yao, his words tangled together.

“What do you want?”

Mu Yao frowned and pulled Ji Mengqi behind her. Boys were supposed to protect girls, after all. If Ji Mengqi fell into Yang Xu and his men’s hands, she’d be finished.

“Whoa, hold on, ma’am. We don’t want anything. We’re just passing by…”

Xia Xi had repeatedly stressed that Mu Yao was her beloved darling, her precious treasure. Yang Xu didn’t have the guts to provoke him. To Yang Xu, violent Xia Xi was far more intimidating than the title of Elder Sister.

“So you’ve put down your butcher’s knife and found redemption?”

Mu Yao thought she’d misheard him. Since when did thugs casually abandon evil and embrace goodness? Nangong Ruihui wasn’t here, so Yang Xu had no reason to be wary of anything.

“Now, don’t put it like that. We met through a misunderstanding. It’s just water from the Dragon King’s temple flooding the Dragon King’s own shrine.”

“Who wants to share a Dragon King’s temple with you? If you’re not here to cause trouble, then leave.”

“We can leave, sure. But could you hand over the girl behind you? I’d like to discuss life and ideals with her. Maybe save a lost lamb or two~”

If Yang Xu was evil, then Xia Xi was evil among the evil. Whenever Yang Xu saw her, he ran as far away as possible. One kick from her high heels could leave him dead or crippled.

Of course, Mu Yao had no intention of listening to Yang Xu. Handing Ji Mengqi over to them would be no different from pushing her into a pit of fire. Absolutely not!

“What if I don’t hand her over?” Mu Yao asked with a smile.

“Then… then we’ll just leave. What else can we do?”

After turning his back, Yang Xu cursed Mu Yao a hundred times over. If she weren’t connected to Xia Xi, he would’ve dragged her into the woods and had his way with her too. What the hell was she so smug about?

Mu Yao didn’t trust Yang Xu’s character. Who knew whether he’d left some lackeys lying in wait nearby? It would be safer to escort Ji Mengqi back to the dorm.

“Ji Mengqi, which building is your dorm in? I’ll take you there.”

Ji Mengqi shook her head.

“You do have a dorm, right? Don’t be stubborn. You can’t stay here. Tell me quickly. I can still understand hand signs for numbers one through ten.”

Ji Mengqi shook her head again. Then she pointed at Mu Yao’s chest.

“You want to stay in my dorm?!” Mu Yao slapped a hand to her forehead and put on a hopeless expression. “You know I’m a boy, don’t you?”

At those words, Ji Mengqi froze. Then she sat back down on the stair.

Mu Yao was in a difficult position. There wasn’t an extra bed in his dorm. How could he possibly sleep with her? He wasn’t some lecherous pervert.

‘Wait! She can sleep with Zhou Yuan!’

Mu Yao was deeply impressed by his own brilliance.

“Let’s go.”

He thought Ji Mengqi would finally be satisfied, but she still refused to move. Instead, she shook her head again, rose onto her tiptoes, and spread her arms wide.

“Hey, hey! Don’t push your luck. We’re not even close. If you don’t leave, you can stay here and wait to be violated.”

Mu Yao wasn’t bluffing. Yang Xu and the others probably hadn’t gone far yet.

From beginning to end, Ji Mengqi hadn’t shown a single expression. Mu Yao found it incredibly difficult to guess what she was thinking.

When Ji Mengqi remained unmoved, Mu Yao wore an expression that said, ‘Fine, you win.’ He turned his back and crouched down.

For the sake of protecting an innocent girl from being defiled, he’d just have to put up with this.

After waiting for quite a while, Ji Mengqi still didn’t climb onto his back. Mu Yao began to lose patience. If she kept refusing his help, he was really going to leave.

He turned around, but Ji Mengqi was nowhere to be seen.

When he looked back again, she had already run up to him. Her chin rested against his shoulder, as though she’d decided to cling to him.

“…Believe it or not, I’ll do this and that to you!” Mu Yao said with a “fierce” expression.

Ji Mengqi wasn’t afraid of him. She didn’t even move. She trusted Mu Yao completely.

Mu Yao didn’t know what to say. Did she trust him, or did she think he was incapable of anything? Somehow, he felt like she was looking down on him.

…

“Hey, stop squirming!”

Mu Yao carried Ji Mengqi in his arms. She happily swung her lower legs back and forth, her little feet bobbing up and down.

A long-lost smile appeared on her face. She looked much prettier when she smiled than when she wore that icy expression. Mu Yao had previously wondered whether the muscles in her face were frozen stiff.

“Zhou Yuan, open the door!” Mu Yao called when he finally made it to the dorm entrance.

“Coming, coming! Next up, please welcome Contestant Number One—”

Zhou Yuan’s voice came from inside.

“…”

“…”

“Where did you pick her up?”

“Near the sports field…”

Mu Yao had no idea how to explain. Even if he told Zhou Yuan what had happened, she probably wouldn’t believe him.

As expected, Zhou Yuan blocked the doorway.

“Who’s this? Why are you carrying her like that? Did you have your way with her already?”

“Don’t make things up. Let me in first.”

Mu Yao’s arms were aching from carrying her. With Ji Mengqi’s “brilliant mind,” he didn’t dare let go. The moment he released her, she’d crash straight to the floor.

Zhou Yuan let Mu Yao inside. There were too many people outside, and it would look bad if they saw this. They’d inevitably start asking questions.

After Mu Yao explained the whole story, Zhou Yuan remained skeptical. She only barely believed him because Mu Yao truly had never interacted with a girl like Ji Mengqi before.

“She doesn’t look very bright…”

Zhou Yuan circled the bed and examined Ji Mengqi, who was lying on Mu Yao’s mattress. In the end, she reached that conclusion.

“Don’t say that about her. She’s just a little slow to react. She has no trouble communicating.”

Judging people by appearance was wrong. Mu Yao didn’t want anyone speaking badly of Ji Mengqi. He’d defend Zhou Yuan just as fiercely if someone said something bad about her.

“Hmph. Of course she has no trouble communicating. She has an evil scheme! She pretended to be helpless and cute just to trick Elder Sister into giving her a princess carry. Such a crime deserves death!”

Zhou Yuan deliberately exaggerated the situation beyond all reason.

“That can’t be right. She seems unable to speak.”

“Unable to speak? That trick only works on a naive sweetheart like you. Move aside. I’ll teach her a lesson.”

Zhou Yuan pushed Mu Yao aside and sat down beside the bed. Without a second thought, she pinched Ji Mengqi’s arm hard.

Ji Mengqi looked extremely pained. Her mouth fell open, but not a sound came out.

“You’ve gone too far! Why are you bullying her?”

Mu Yao tried to help Ji Mengqi, but Zhou Yuan glared him back into place. Her eyes seemed to say, ‘Don’t you trust me?’

Seeing that this method didn’t work, Zhou Yuan began removing Ji Mengqi’s clothes instead. She wanted to see how long Ji Mengqi could keep pretending.

Mu Yao hurriedly grabbed a nearby book and covered his face. If he looked, it would definitely be unsuitable for children.

He couldn’t look, but he could imagine. At that moment, Mu Yao’s mind had already constructed a scene of Granny Rong torturing Ziwei.

What would Zhou Yuan do if she couldn’t expose Ji Mengqi’s act?