章 47: Jealousy
"A hero saving the beauty, how wonderful!"
Li Mo Shang gazed at the interrupter, his eyebrows raising in surprise. Of all things, he didn't expect Su Zhen Zhen to be a student at Blue Rose University, nor be the one to barge in such an incident.
Senior Tie was quickly forgotten as the crowd gaped at Su Zhen Zhen, the male students infatuated with the tantalizing beautiful fruit releasing her bewitching fragrance without inhibition.
Wearing a red loose sweater with yellow sleeves, a Blue Rose University short skirt, and allowing her long hair to cascade down her back, Su Zhen Zhen's beauty projected a far more refined and elegant appearance compared to the auctioneer uniform Li Mo Shang had previously seen her in.
When surveying the crowd, Li Mo Shang could spot several male students being physically harassed or glared at by their female counterparts, their eyes suffused with an indeterminate primal desire. Turning around to see Su Yuan'er huddled against the cafeteria wall as she attempted to minimize her presence, Li Mo Shang gave a soft sigh before taking off his jacket.
Draping around her shoulders and covering her thin frame and her disheveled clothing, his sudden action made Su Yuan'er jerk her head, gazing at him in confusion.
"Say, if I were to agree, how much trouble will you give me?"
Softly whispering in her ear, Li Mo Shang finished buttoning the jacket. As Su Yuan'er's confusion abated to reveal a fierce joy, Li Mo Shang sighed once more before leaving towards the dormitories, gesturing for her to follow. As he was now without the thick, comfortable jacket, Li Mo Shang manipulated his <Cold Wind's Trace> to block the chilly wind, restricting the interference to the bare minimum, extending just beyond his shirt.
"Oh? Mr. Li, it's been a while since we last met, don't leave so soon!"
Before they could fully escape, Su Zhen Zhen's delicate voice resounded through the air, instantly capturing the crowd's undivided attention as they fixated onto Li Mo Shang and Su Yuan'er. Frowning in displeasure, Li Mo Shang pulled Su Yuan'er along as he swiftly strode away, completely ignoring Su Zhen Zhen. Behind, they could hear a light cry before a figure blocked their path.
"Ah, don't leave, don't leave!"
Gently fluttering her arms before Li Mo Shang and Su Yuan'er, Su Zhen Zhen rushed forward to block their path, lightly panting from the exertion. As she spotted Li Mo Shang's expression darkening even further, Su Zhen Zhen inwardly panicked as she displayed a beaming smile towards the two.
"Please don't hate Zhen Zhen, I was instructed to convey a message to you, Mr. Li! Appraiser Wu wishes to meet regarding our agreement a while ago, saying he wanted to clarify something…"
"Not interested. Goodbye."
Cutting Su Zhen Zhen mid speech, Li Mo Shang dragged Su Yuan'er as he bypassed Su Zhen Zhen, heading towards the dormitory complexes. Gaping in astonishment, Su Zhen Zhen stared at Li Mo Shang's receding figure with her eyes wide open. Hidden from the crowd's view, her gaze flitted onto Su Yuan'er's outline, a cold light blazing within her lucid orbs.
-
"…Sorry for troubling you."
Sitting on his bed back in the dormitory, Li Mo Shang received a sudden apology from Su Yuan'er. Not knowing how to reply towards such an unforeseen statement from her, he mildly grunted before motioning for her to sit on the nearby chair. Seeing her settle herself into the chair and release a forlorn and exhausted sigh, Li Mo Shang's eyes flickered, lightly pondering. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to ask.
"So, what happened at the cafeteria today?"
Su Yuan'er started, her gaze snapping towards Li Mo Shang. Fear, anger, and light turmoil danced within her eyes for a short while, as her grip on the armrests tightened on reflex. Li Mo Shang observed her as she breathed deeply, before finally relaxing in the chair, no longer appearing as harrowed.
"Tie Wu Zong and his lackeys bribed the cafeteria staff to pour gamma-hydroxybutyrate into the main entrees for dinner, to be distributed to all of the female students. I discovered it when someone…started to vomit from nausea all of a sudden. The taste matched what we learned in our chemistry lectures…slightly soapy with salt…"
Lightly glossing over the events, Su Yuan'er's voice trailed off as she attempted to describe the source of the commotion. At the mention of the incapacitating drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate, Li Mo Shang could not help but raise his eyebrows, a faint sense of alarm rising within his heart.
Such immobilizing and depressant drugs could only be imported from the Western nations, and distribution was strictly monitored by the government. Bribing the staff to distribute the substance into dinner, was this Tie Wu Zong courting death? And the university's security didn't even show up?
Mulling over his thoughts for a moment, Li Mo Shang's attention suddenly snapped back towards Su Yuan'er's description of the substance's taste. Observing her carefully, even infusing his vision with spiritual qi, Li Mo Shang indeed detected her heartrate to be slightly erratic and uneven, and her eyes revealed an odd sluggishness, indicating that the drug had begun to take effect.
Stepping forward and supporting her swaying body, Li Mo Shang warped the nearby worldly qi utilizing his spiritual core, before infusing a thin, small strand of qi into her body. Circling around the chair, he lightly massaged her shoulders as he circulated the worldly qi within her blood vessels, slowly detoxifying her bloodstream. After a few minutes, the drug's remnant effects had been cleared away, and Su Yuan'er mind was now free from her previous haze.
"Ah! Th-th-this, wha-!?"
Feeling two sources of heat massaging her shoulders, her mind received a sudden shock, and she abruptly leaped out of the chair. Without daring to look at Li Mo Shang, she dashed out of the room and slammed the door shut. Li Mo Shang stared at her leaving like a terrified rabbit, before looking down at his hands.
With the smallest cognitive prompt, the recollection of her smooth body surfaced, her soft and delicate skin burned in his memory. As an unknown, slightly satiated sensation welled within Li Mo Shang, he immersed himself in the odd emotion before shaking his head, eradicating the sensation.
With a light sigh, he resumed his sitting posture on the bed to ponder on his next attempt of refining his skeleton, when he suddenly paused, his brows creasing deeply.
He had forgotten to ask for the jacket.
-
Early the next morning, Li Mo Shang opened the door while yawning lightly, only to be greeted by a fidgeting Su Yuan'er holding a neatly folded Blue Rose University jacket. Staring at his slightly messy and half-dressed figure, she couldn't help but deeply blush, stuttering as she attempted to gain his attention.
"Br-Brother Li, your jacket! Sorry I didn't g-get to return it l…yesterday."
Clearing his mind, Li Mo Shang finally woke from his stupor as he silently accepted the jacket from Su Yuan'er, mumbling under his breath as he headed towards the bathroom. As he passed by, he didn't forget to lightly pat her shoulder, causing her body to abnormally stiffen in surprise. When he finally emerged, having taken a long shower to fully sober his mind, he found Su Yuan'er still standing at his door in a daze.
"Hello, Mrs. Su? Do you need some more sleep, zoning out in a place like this?"
Allowing his indifferent expression to crack and reveal an amused smile, Li Mo Shang tapped her head with his index finger, causing her to release a startled cry before glaring at him. His previously sour mood abated as he watched her scamper off towards the commons, heading towards his room to get properly dressed.
Last night, he had attempted to refine another set of bones in his arm, slowly infusing spiritual qi into the radius and ulna of both arms via the process described in the <Heretic Manual>. Unfortunately, the spiritual qi could only expel the impurities within, unable to form the inscriptions similar to the ones on his humerus.
Puzzled, Li Mo Shang could only make a conjecture that the inscriptions could only form infrequently, and that he couldn't rush the tempering process. While the inscriptions for storing spiritual qi were not present, the bones were indeed lighter than before, representing that refinement was complete.
As they ate breakfast, everyone could notice Su Yuan'er abnormal behavior, for she would send furtive looks towards Li Mo Shang over her bowl of rice. While Wang Xing and Lin Shi Meng paid no regard or interest in interrogating her, Li Zhen Yue seemed unable to restrain herself, as she consistently questioned both Li Mo Shang and Su Yuan'er when she wasn't eating.
Both had a taciturn and unconveyed agreement as they downright ignored her, much to her chagrin.
Walking towards the general lecture hall with Li Zhen Yue, Li Mo Shang couldn't help but sink into his thoughts. He had indeed agreed to Su Yuan'er request as a nominal societal partner, which indicated their interaction would indeed change compared to before.
However, he didn't know whether his decision back then was truly rational; after pondering on the matter for a while, he realized that he didn't give much thought to her agreement before rashly giving consent. Perhaps he was influenced by Wan Tianhui's shamelessness and potential actions that her offer was the most suitable escape route. Li Mo Shang just didn't know whether he had actually escaped the trap or had dug himself into a bigger one.
Facing the door leading to the lecture hall appropriated to his class, Li Mo Shang suddenly tensed, a bad premonition warning him to proceed no further. Seeing his abnormal reaction and that he had yet to open the door after gripping the handle for so long, Li Zhen Yue directed an inquisitive glance before shrugging and opening the door.
"Mr. Li, so you were in this class as well!"
Watching the 'catastrophe' rush towards him similar to a puppy begging for a treat, Li Mo Shang dodged behind Li Zhen Yue, forcing her to receive Su Zhen Zhen's overbearing hug. Striding into the lecture hall with his customary stone-cold expression, Li Mo Shang noticed that Wan Xue had returned to her previous position as their professor.
And that everyone was staring at him, or rather, the beauty pouting in his direction.
As he sat in his usual seat in the lecture hall, Li Mo Shang found himself the target of Li Zhen Yue's questioning stare from the right, and a source of misery to his left. Unhurriedly sending her a message explaining how he too was unsure why Su Zhen Zhen was so attached towards him, Li Mo Shang gradually staved off one beautiful monster during the lecture.
Only, the second could not be exorcised no matter his attempts to ignore.
"Hey, Mr. Li, how is my getup today? Isn't the blend of white and gold nice?"
"Mr. Li, Mr. Li, when will you respond to Appraiser Wu's requests? He's going crazy from your silence, and Boss wants an answer!"
…
"Mr. Li, do you have free time this afternoon? Let's go to that famous clothing store, Requiem!"
…
With consistent whispers streamlining towards Li Mo Shang's left ear, annoyance gradually accumulated within him until he distorted the nearby worldly qi to block Su Zhen Zhen's voice from entering his awareness. His expression considerably darker, Li Mo Shang bored holes in his notebook as he took notes, refusing to raise his head and visually pay attention for even a single moment.
If he dared to, he would receive another face-smattering of soliloquy from the beauty on his left. As she proceeded on her lecture on the founding of Nan Qing and the flaws and compounding mistakes of the first emperor, Wan Xue sneaked glances at Li Mo Shang's position as she maintained her external appearance of a cold professor.
As she continued to silently observe Li Mo Shang, she noticed his darkened expression, Li Zhen Yue's gloating countenance, and Su Zhen Zhen's increasingly physical attempts of obtaining his attention, Wan Xue unconsciously permitted a knowing expression to grace her face.
Towards Li Mo Shang, she could faintly sense an increasingly cold aura emanating from his reserved figure which caused apprehension to well within her heart. However, she couldn't do anything about that Su Zhen Zhen girl, her identity was a tad bit extraordinary within the university.
As for Su Zhen Zhen, she couldn't help but unconsciously engender a seed of sourness, much to her confusion. Taking advantage of an excuse of a water break, she calmed herself before biding a hidden gloating expression. Attempting to seize that iron-hearted Young Master Li's attention in such a method, hmph!
Making use of the break 'gifted' by Wan Xue, Li Mo Shang manipulated his terminal to send a question to Su Yuan'er, asking whether she wanted to go shopping anywhere. He had no idea when such a thought emerged, but he would settle for anything that would drive Su Zhen Zhen away.
Unfortunately, when the morning lecture finally ended, Li Mo Shang stood only to be blocked by Su Zhen Zhen. No longer displaying such an infatuated smile on her face, she leaned forward to quietly speak, an unnatural expression on her bewitching countenance.
"Does Mr. Li…know my little sister?"
Surprised, Li Mo Shang gazed into her lucid orbs, and could spot a myriad of emotions within. Admiration, interest, cunning, and…jealousy.
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