Just some stuff i have i wrote. Its just short essays for school.

"But what? "The team leader reviewed the two essays. True enough, the contents of the two were indeed almost exactly the same, with only some differences in some of the rhetorical writing.
As for what the other teacher was referring to when he said "But… ", the leader also noticed.
The second place essay for the senior high school was not as good as that of the first place of the junior high school. The essay for the junior high school displayed a better style in writing, and succinct phrasing of words. 
The two essays were identical. There must be a problem here.
However, the essay from the senior high school was not better than that from the junior high school, why was this the case? 
Perhaps the two students did not write these essays, and instead plagiarized them from someone. The difference was that the quality of the essay of the junior high school student was better.
The leader removed his spectacles. "Find out immediately the identity of the students who wrote these two essays, and the schools that they are from, then ask their teachers to come. This type of matter has to be dealt with, we must clarify this!"
Teacher Lee, who was resting at home during the weekend, received a call from the school's management asking her to go to the provincial city. 
"Vice Principal, what is happening?" After Teacher Lee prepared the items that were requested by the Vice Principal, when she rushed to the provincial city, she discovered that the Vice Principal had also come.
"I heard from the management that Qiao Nan's essay had a clash of "garments" with someone else's essay. The high school had another essay that is almost identical. The similarity is as high as ninety percent. What do you think is the issue?" The Vice Principal was anxious and sweating profusely. If Qiao Nan had copied the work of others, the school's reputation would be adversely affected. "How is Qiao Nan as a student? Is there a problem with her essay?"
The Vice Principal knew that one of the five students who participated in the competition was jointly decided by the school's language team. And this student belonged to Teacher Lee's class.
Thus, the Vice Principal had every reason to suspect that Qiao Nan was that student.
Teacher Lee and Vice Principal arrived. The subject teacher and the leader of Qiao Zijin's school had also arrived.
Both parties knew the situation but as education professionals, they were civilized people - they greeted one another reluctantly before entering the office.
"Both sides' teachers are here. Take a look at these." The two essays were placed side by side on the table. Teacher Lee and Qiao Zijin's language teacher bowed their heads and reviewed them.
Upon the sight of the familiar essay, Qiao Zijin's language teacher said immediately, "Leader, this essay was indeed written by my student - Qiao Zijin."
"What, this essay belonged to Qiao Zijin?" Teacher Lee was surprised.
"Why, this teacher knows both the students?" The leader looked at Teacher Lee. "Oh yes, it seems that the two students who wrote the essays bear the same surname - Qiao?" 
"In response to the leader's question, Qiao Zijin was also from my school. She is the biological sister of my student, Qiao Nan. Both are born from the same parents."
"Biological sisters?" The leader was stunned. "Then did the younger sister copied her elder sister?"
However, the younger sister's essay was obviously better than that of the elder sister.
The leader read in detail, that younger sister's essay could also clinch the top place in the senior high school category.
It was placed second now because the elder sister's essay was not as good.
"Impossible," Teacher Lee said with certainty. "Qiao Nan would never copy Zijin's essay."
Qiao Zijin's teacher's expression changed. If the younger sister did not copy, then it meant that her student had copied her younger sister?
"Leader, I have proof that this essay is undoubtedly written by my student Qiao Zijin." As she said that, Qiao Zijin's teacher took out an essay book. "Leader, see, this was written by Qiao Zijin in the school half a month ago. At that time, I was impressed by the essay and recommended her to join the competition. Coincidentally, this essay was appropriate for the subject of the essay for this competition."
Qiao Zijin wrote this half a month ago, the school had the records. 
"Then, this teacher, what do you have to say?" He saw that Qiao Zijin's essay, that was written half a month ago, was indeed identical to that essay, just short of a few words and adjectives.
"Leader, to tell you the truth, I have not seen this essay from Qiao Nan before." 
Hearing Teacher Lee's remark, Qiao Zijin's teacher smiled complacently.
Seeing the expression of the teacher, Teacher Lee smiled. "However, I still believe in my student. "Leader, I have proof too. My proof are two test papers, one is our first semester's model exam paper, and the other is the mid-term exam paper administered half a month ago. Leader, you may take a look at the essays written by Qiao Nan before."
She dared to say that if these two essays were taken to participate in the competition, and were appropriate for the question, they would definitely also be winning essays.
The leader took a look at the two test papers. First, the words written on the paper were neat and tidy, and pleasing to the eyes. He also acknowledged the scores given to the essays, but when he read the contents, his eyes lit up. "This essay, it is well written."
After reading one essay, the Leader picked up and read the second one. "This one is also very good. Both essays' standards are not bad and similar to the one who clinched the prizes. All the three essays are rather good. Have you thought of submitting the drafts for this student?"
"Also, how old is this student?" It was not easy for a junior high school student to compose an essay of such a high standard. The student is a literacy talent.
"In response to your question, Leader, Qiao Nan is 15 years old. She is younger than her sister by two years, but studied early for a year." Teacher Lee introduced proudly.
"I see." The leader was again surprised regarding Qiao Nan's writing and also her young age. "Did you bring the essays written by Qiao Zijin in usual days?"
After reading Qiao Nan's essays, the leader did not conclude immediately.
"Yes, I did… " Qiao Zijin's teacher's expression turned awkward. An essay that could gain the liking of the leader was definitely not bad.
On the contrary, Qiao Zijin's teacher knew, although Qiao Zijin did not write many essays, the only piece that was brilliant would be the piece that was used to participate in this competition.
Initially, she thought Qiao Zijin was suddenly enlightened, and her words flowed smoothly with her feelings, to create this wonderful masterpiece. 
However, at this juncture, Qiao Zijin's teacher was in doubt.
"Let me take a look."
Qiao Zijin's teacher reluctantly passed to the Leader the two other essays written by Qiao Zijin.
The leader only glanced at it a couple of times before he passed Qiao Nan's two essays to Qiao Zijin's teacher. "You can take a look at these two pieces."
A student's essay, she might have improved or even progressed rapidly. However, it was impossible for certain situations to occur. 


Qiao Nan: Crap! I am your biological daughter, yet I am treated as if I was picked up from the streets. In fact, you treat me worse than that!

Mother Qiao: Qiao Nan, you are not as pretty or smart as your elder sister. You are not as blessed as her. You have no right to study, marry, or to have your happiness!

Qiao Nan: Why am I not allowed to study, marry, or to seek my happiness? I will find a man right now and marry him!

Qiao Nan is dumbstruck upon discovering that the man right beside her is a powerful figure in the quad—the person who has the most promising prospects to be the future Chief.

Qiao Nan stares at the well-built man in front of her. He has firm abs and cold, chilling eyes. She swallows the lump in her throat as she says her greetings, "Good Morning, Chief!"

Curly Hair worked even harder in order to advance from his learning console to a game console. However, there were some things such as reading comprehension and writing essays that were really too difficult to learn.
Curly Hair wasn't even able to obtain a C each time and didn't know whether he was making any progress.
After yet another test, Curly hair had to defend himself when Fang Zhao checked his learning progress.
"I feel I have made great progress. Not far from a C- now."
Because of this sentence, Fang Zhao changed the grading system to score from 100 marks. On the next day's test, Curly Hair's reading comprehension received a grade of 21 marks.
He wasn't even able to meet the passing criteria of 50/100 marks.
The weather was fine. Nanfeng and Zuo Yu had been looking at a few houses for Fang Zhao and came over to report their findings. Upon entering the dormitory, Nanfeng saw Curly Hair crouching in the corner with his head drooped. There were clearly tear marks beneath his dog eyes.
"Why is our Little Curly Curls crying again?" Nanfeng was about to say "Did you receive a scolding again?" but caught sight of Fang Zhao from the corner of his eyes and changed his tune. "Feeling heaty again? Here, have some fruits."
Nanfeng then brought out a paper box filled with little fruits. He saw Fang Zhao looking over and explained hastily, "Got them from the fruit store outside of HuangArt. I asked already; dogs can also eat these fruits. They are rather cheap too. One box only cost 21 dollars."
Curly Hair cried even harder.
With that, Nanfeng could only have Zuo Yu bring Curly Hair out for a walk. If the dog wasn't in a mood, walking one round would make him feel better. If that wasn't enough, then two rounds was needed. As for everything else… what could he say as an assistant?
Whoever paid the wages was the boss!
Curly Hair didn't seem to be in better spirits after walking two rounds. However, the dejection of scoring 21 marks was quickly forgotten when he regained his self-confidence after taking a math test at night.
The learning console also had reference books compiled by various teachers of various continents. Unless the user loved doing questions, most students would simply have psychological scars from those reference books.
Curly Hair had similar sentiments, but his were slightly more complicated. Practice questions in the sciences were a piece of cake. He could do ten sets of science practice questions in the same time he took for a reading comprehension question. Even then, he might get the reading comprehension question wrong.
After Curly Hair finished the primary school curriculum, Fang Zhao looked through Curly Hair's grades. Curly Hair scored close to full marks on math and science. The only blip on his report card was a narrow pass on language, but overall, it was good enough for him to start the secondary school curriculum.
To celebrate graduating primary school and being one step closer to his own personal terminal, Curly Hair happily devoured five kilograms of dog food.
Secondary school curriculum was more complicated. Fang Zhao added some money to the account to purchase some of the online classes. After watching a few videos, Curly Hair chose the online classroom of a very popular teacher.
The microphone was also turned on.
Sometimes, students would have questions. Of course, there were also students unwilling to turn on their mics and would just type questions out in text.
This type of classroom mode was rather novel to Curly Hair. This was the first time in his dog life that he was acting as a human. He needed to be on his best behavior.
Curly Hair pretended that he was a secondary school student and started his journey of attending online classes.
However, this unique student still gave teachers some headaches.
For example, when a certain teacher that specialized in tackling test and examinations questions said, "Encountering a tough question is like a stumbling block in the middle of a road. How would you go about solving it?"
Curly Hair: "Eat it up!"
"Can this student please be more serious?"
As the other online students roared with laughter, the teacher took note of the online student ID [Little Curly Curls].
Afterwards, Curly Hair felt that the stuff this teacher taught was too simple so he went over to the next classroom and stumped the teacher with his questions.
He wasn't purposely causing trouble. Even though he asked seriously, the kind of questions he asked were either from unorthodox perspectives or were beyond the scope of the syllabus.
For students, those that could stump teachers by asking questions had a "cool" halo in the eyes of others. Some students also took note of [Little Curly Curls]. But, this bookworm seemed to not like accepting friend requests.
It wasn't that Curly Hair was unwilling to add friends. Rather, he remembered what Fang Zhao had said. 
"No adding friends before 'graduating from university' or scoring at least 85/100 for a language examination." Fang Zhao was worried Curly Hair would reveal his identity in a fit of carelessness.
The teacher of this classroom didn't know this. He had spent the past few days studying this student who had asked many crafty questions. Although there was a voice, the student couldn't be seen. The voice sounded young, and the questions were sometimes very naive.
Nonetheless…
There would surely be a vile and sinister face behind this innocence! A wide mouth and sharp teeth were just waiting to bite a huge chunk of his flesh!
Some people were just the best at pretending to be innocent!
"Don't think you can deceive me!"
A question solving genius? He didn't believe it!
How could there be so many geniuses in the world. If this were really a genius, he would have been snatched up long ago. Those at schools weren't stupid. Nowadays, every continent and district were competing for talents. There was no way such a talent would use a learning console's platform to attend classes.
Therefore, it definitely had to be a professional troll!
This sort of situation was commonplace. Currently, competition among online classes was intense. Mutual sabotage occurred frequently. He reckoned that surely this ID had been sent by someone from the same industry. He couldn't keep this fellow any longer!
Right now, what he needed was to think of a reason to kick this person out of the classroom.
After another round of questions left him stumped, the teacher sent a private message to Curly Hair. The main idea was this: You are already very impressive. I have nothing more to teach you. I can recommend you a teacher, for example XXX[link]. Since you have only attended half of the scheduled classes, I will refund you the remaining half.
Don't bring me down. If you want to harm others, then go ahead, the teacher thought to himself.
Curly Hair was also surprised when he saw the message.
"This teacher is really great! Introducing a new teacher and even giving a refund! Woooo!"
The refunded money could be used to buy dog food!!
Curly Hair felt that this transaction was rather worthwhile and agreed to leave the original classroom. He even sent a red packet to that teacher as thanks when he left the classroom. It was mentioned in literature that one must respect their teachers.
That teacher was thinking of agreeing to a full refund if the other party didn't agree. He could only count himself unfortunate this time. He never imagined that the other party would really agree. When he glanced at the classroom's online enrollees, he no longer saw [Little Curly Curls].
There was even a virtual red packet attached to the private message that wrote, "Thank you teacher! You are a really good person!"
The teacher: "???"
Is there poison in this red packet?
Curly Hair didn't know what the former teacher was imagining. After exiting the classroom, Curly Hair clicked on the link the previous teacher had recommended and entered another online classroom.
The new classroom mainly targeted the upper secondary students. There were many people in this online classroom, and more than half had been attracted by the teacher's background and experience at a university that had many essays and lots of lecture videos. A large portion of the introductory web page displayed various awards and honors the teacher had received. These online classes were just a part-time job for him.
Parents were very satisfied with the awards and honors of this teacher, but students were different. They felt that listening to this teacher's lessons was very tiring. Every lesson touched on complex knowledge that left them blank ank unable to keep up, especially when the teacher threw out complicated and rare jargon that wasn't in their secondary school textbooks. Every concept and formula required a lot of time to absorb. There were also many questions that combined the covered material. The students simply couldn't keep up when the teacher spoke too quickly.
However, for Curly Hair, such content was easy to receive. Thus, after adapting for two days, Curly Hair once again started to hunger for more knowledge and had a debate with the teacher over his question response that was marked wrong.
After that, on his third day at this new class, Curly Hair was kicked.
The teacher had forcibly kicked him out of the classroom and left a message. "I will return the money. Leave."
Curly Hair left rather happily.
"You are a really great teacher for teaching without accepting payment!"
Fang Zhao said, "… The newly released 'New Reading Compilation' has good short essays. Go take a look at the first ten."
As before, Curly Hair still couldn't distinguish certain words and sentences. He was also unable to perceive some words with derogatory connotation. However, speech was fine for him. Outside, Curly Hair could listen to someone's tone, mood and body language to determine whether the other party had any malicious intent. However, Curly Hair was still particularly sluggish when facing written words.
While Curly Hair drooped his head and analyzed the short essays, Fang Zhao received a call from Mo Lang.
"The dissertation committee list has already been finalized. The time slot to to defend your thesis will also be set in the next few days. According to the sequence of submitted applications, you will be the first. Prepare early."
There was still time before the dissertation. However, Fang Zhao would the first postgraduate from the advanced studies course to defend his dissertation. Furthermore, there could also be pressure from various other sources, so Mo Lang was worried whether Fang Zhao would be nervous. It was easy to make mistakes during the dissertation defense if one was nervous. Thus, he had informed Fang Zhao beforehand so that Fang Zhao would be able to mentally prepare himself.
Fang Zhao wasn't nervous. The dissertation touched upon his thesis that was completely written by himself. Points that needed to be taken note of had already been discussed with Mo Lang already. Fang Zhao was sufficiently prepared.
Mo Lang then analyzed the dissertation committee chairperson and the members of the committee before hanging up.
Fang Zhao brought up his virtual calendar and checked his schedule. Nanfeng would indicate if there were any new work related matters or things to take notice of. However, there was a period coming up without any events. Many people knew that Fang Zhao would be defending his dissertation. They wouldn't seek him out if it wasn't anything important. Other small matters could be handled by Nanfeng on his own.
Fang Zhao marked out a row of dates on the calendar. This would probably be the period where he would defend his dissertation.
While he was doing so, he received another call notification.
Fang Zhao picked up the call and had yet to speak when the other party shouted, "Hello, Fang Zhao! It's me, Samoyed!"
Fang Zhao: "…."
What sort of stimulation had this Zaro child received recently?


"Every time background music plays in my head, I feel like there is nothing to be afraid of." —Fang Zhao
Toward the end of the apocalyptic period, Fang Zhao lost his life. However, instead of dying, he found himself 500 years later in the body of a young and aspiring composer who shared the same name. Having received a second chance at life, Fang Zhao sets out to achieve the previous owner's dreams.
Armed with the experience of living through an apocalyptic age and his profession as a composer before that period, Fang Zhao uses his talent, wits, and knowledge to make his mark in the entertainment industry of the future.

Author's Note: Wishing that all readers of this work will be able to enjoy a relationship like this. Hope you'll have the time of your lives, and live with affection. Wishing you all to be eternally happy, blissful, a life filled with pleasure, and to good health.

It was summer. Cicadas were singing and the sun was shining through the window onto Xie Meng's face. He could not help but raise his hand to block the sun, and the back of his shirt completely soaked.

Swaying, the bus halted at the bus stop. Following the crowd, Xie Meng squeezed his way down the bus. He frowned and wiped the sweat off his face, and made his way to the school gate in the scorching sun.

On the first day of school at W High, a festive red banner was hung across the school gate. On it was an old-fashioned message, "Today I'm Proud of W High, Tomorrow W High will be Proud of Me!" As a school that was not considered to be top-tiered, the quality of W High's teaching staff was not to be very diverse. As such, the enrolment numbers of new students were poor. There were only six classes in total for the first years, and each class had about forty students. Even on the first day of school, the campus did not seem very lively.

As there were only six classes, they were not divided in any specific manner. Xie Meng found his name and student number under Class Three's roster. When he entered the classroom, he found that many people were already there.

W High did not have an affiliated middle school. Most of the students here had either done badly in the high school entrance examinations or had poor grades in middle school. There were even a few girls with light makeup on, and they were looking curiously at Xie Meng.

No air-conditioning was available in the classroom. Sweat was dripping down Xie Meng's face, and his shirt was sticking to his body. His fair neck looked radiant in the light.

The whispers from the back row grew louder. As Xie Meng wiped his sweat, he took a seat. With his newly cut fringe, his eyes looked black and bright.

"Hey, Classmate." A petite girl came up to him. "What's your name?"

Xie Meng looked up, again wiping his sweat.

"I'm Wu Xiaomei." The girl stuck her hand out, tilting her head adorably. "How about you?"

Xie Meng hesitated for a moment. He wiped his sweaty hand on his pants, then shook Wu Xiaomei's hand. "Xie Meng."

"I graduated from Q Middle School." She pointed at the group of people at the back row. "They're from L Middle School, and only Mimi is from the same school as me." The girl referred to as Mimi was a little shy, from her seat, she smiled at the two of them.

Xie Meng was silent for a while before he slowly said, "I'm from S Middle School."

"S Middle School?" Wu Xiaomei was surprised. "That's the best middle school in the province. I remember that it has an affiliated high school. Isn't that also the top school in the province?"

Xie Meng gave an imprecise acknowledgment. Wu Xiaomei studied him and was about to continue asking, but had to give up with the successive arrival of more new students.

"Would you like to sit with us?" Wu Xiaomei invited warmly. "The teacher isn't here yet."

As soon as she finished speaking, a fat man looking like the Maitreya Buddha walked in. With a booming voice, he laughed, "Who said I wasn't here yet? Quick, go take your seats."

Wu Xiaomei pouted a little and returned to her seat reluctantly. Although there were still a few students absent, Maitreya could not wait any longer and started giving them their seating arrangement.

"Oh, a little handsome boy." Maitreya called out. "You'll sit in the middle. What's your name?"

"Xie Meng." He brought his bag over.

Maitreya glanced at him. "I remember you. Your score was very high, you only needed a couple more points for direct enrolment in S High."

Xie Meng shook his head, "I didn't do my best."

Maitreya patted his shoulder, "A person sometimes accidentally misses a step in life. Continue working hard, don't be discouraged."

Xie Meng nodded and said earnestly, "Thank you, Teacher."

Maitreya was buoyant, repeating "no need to thank me", he directed the rest of the students to their seats.

"Wu Xiaomei!" Maitreya was so loud that he gave people a shock. "Don't always think of sitting next to a handsome boy! No puppy love allowed!"

Wu Xiaomei replied impatiently, "Who's thinking of puppy love! Can't I have some eye candy?"

The rest of the students burst out laughing. Everyone was well-intentioned, and no one jeered. Xie Meng smiled as well. Wu Xiaomei blushed as she looked at him, playfully sticking her tongue out.

Xie Meng followed a few other boys to collect his school books and uniform. The books were very very heavy, and a few trips had to be made to collect them all. On his nth trip, Xie Meng came back to find a few boys blocking the doorway.

Maitreya seemed to be scolding someone, but his tone was not strict, "Be a better student! You're late for the first day of school!"

Then, he added, "You dyed your hair? Get rid of it by tomorrow!"

Xie Meng squeezed his way between two boys in the back row with an "excuse me", and the boy standing in front turned to look at him.

"I was born with this hair colour." The boy turned his head back very quickly. Tugging at his fringe, he spoke lazily, "Teacher, if I dye it black, that'll be actual dyeing."

Brought to agner, Maitreya rolled up the class list and smack the boy's head with it, "Acting like a rascal, in what way do you look like a student?!"

Even after getting hit, the boy was not angry. With a rakish smile, he spoke to the person next to him then looked for a place to sit. When Xie Meng was going to make another trip for the books, he stood up as well.

"I'm Ji Qinyang." The boy placed his hand on the corner of the table and introduced himself casually. He tilted his head to look at Xie Meng. With a smile on his face, he was very good looking.

"… Xie Meng." He paused before he said his name. Ji Qinyang nodded, mumbling to himself, he repeated Xie Meng's name.

Without thinking about it, Xie Meng looked up at him, and the other person smiled at him.

Someone came from behind and placed his hand on Ji Qinyang's shoulder. He seemed to be very popular, and soon became one with the rest of the boys in the class. Xie Meng followed behind them, as they walked through the corridor, the wind blew in through the windows, and the blue curtains fluttered. Xie Meng stopped, he turned his head and shut his eyes, enjoying the cool summer breeze upon his face.

Military training began the next day. The schedule that was originally spread across three days was all compressed within a day. Lining up in formation, marching, standing at rest, within half a day, many students could not handle it.

Taking off his cap, Xie Meng went to wash his face, his fringe sticking to his forehead due to his sweat. Splashing his face with a couple of handfuls of water, as he was fanning his collar, he suddenly heard a loud whistle coming from the field.

The instructor happened to be playing basketball with several boys, and Ji Qinyang was one of them.

The boy was tall, and when he jumped up, his dark brown hair seemed to glow under the sun. Skilfully, he dribbled the ball past his opponent, and with a yell he shot the ball into the net.

Xie Meng looked at that bright smile, and silently replaced the cap back on his head.

Only when the lunch break ended were Ji Qinyang and his group of friends willing to come back. They were sweaty, looking as though they were steaming with heat. Just as Xie Meng was bending over to refill the water dispenser, he turned around to see Ji Qinyang behind him.

"Let me help you." With a smile, the boy rolled up his sleeves. The sweat on his face had dripped to his neck. Just standing next to him, Xie Meng could feel the heat exuding off him.

They worked together and replaced the bulky bottle for the water dispenser. Xie Meng thanked him, then walked off alone with the empty bottle. When he returned, he saw Ji Qinyang talking to the boy next to him.

"You seem to know Xie Meng quite well?" The boy asked without any malice.

Ji Qinyang did not reply, shaking his head as he drank his water.

"People from S Middle School are very impressive. Not many people in the entire class would dare to take the initiative to talk to him."

Ji Qiyang smiled with a cock of his eyebrow, "What an exaggeration."

The boy punched him lightly, "He's good at studies, and proud."

"So what." Ji Qinyang spoke indifferently. "He's now in the same school as us."

Xie Meng leaned against the door, only entering the classroom when they finished their conversation. When he walked past Ji Qinyang, he was sprawled across his table, and no one knew if he was asleep or not.

Most of the girls were already awake. Wu Xiaomei crept over to Xie Meng and poked him on his shoulder. Putting her hands around her mouth, she spoke mysteriously, "This Ji Qinyang is very famous in our school."

Xie Meng was a little curious, and just like her, he replied in a low voice. "He's from your school?"

Wu Xiaomei nodded. Under the boy's gaze, her face reddened a little. Mustering up her courage, she started gossiping, "He only focuses on certain subjects, and he had won prizes with his chinese essays before. He can play many instruments… I heard that after school, he would go to that kind of places to play, but I don't know if it's true or not…"

"That kind of places?" Xie Meng could not help repeating. "What kind of places?"

Wu Xiaomei looked a little evasive, she hesitated. "It's not any place good…"

Xie Meng blinked.

Wu Xiaomei hurriedly continued, "I've also only heard it from others. It may not be true."

"Oh."

Wu Xiaomei might have felt that she spoke a little too much, she gave an embarrassed dry laugh. The two of them spoke a little more, only separating when the instructor came in.

The afternoon was a repeat of the morning. However, the boys now had an additional activity, crawling forward. Twenty over boys were divided into two groups, and a few instructors set up the rope nets across the grounds. After a few practices, they were going to be timed, and the slowest group had to do a round of frog jumps around the field.

Xie Meng was the leader of the first group, and Ji Qinyang was the leader of the second one. The instructor suggested for them to decide the order with an arm-wrestling match, whoever who lost would crawl first.

Xie Meng pushed up his sleeves. Despite being in the sun for so long, his skin was still very fair. However, it did not look delicate, the lines of his arms had a youthful gracefulness to them. Ji Qinyang was already seated at the table, raising his arm with a smile on his face.

The both of them clasped their hands together. Ji Qinyang's body temperature was a little higher, his palm was dry and warm. Xie Meng was lost in his thoughts, by the time he regained his wits, his hand had already been forced halfway down.

Enthusiastic cheers erupted around them.

Ji Qinyang was very strong, having gained the advantage, he tried forcing Xie Meng's wrist down, but it was not as easy as he thought it would be.

The back of Xie Meng's hand always maintained a safe distance from the table. He did not tremble, and his hand remained steady. Ji Qinyang raised his brow, with steady amusement, he looked at the person across him, and realised that Xie Meng was frowning at him.

Their eyes met, then Xie Meng suddenly relaxed. In the eyes of others, it looked like Ji Qinyang had successfully forced Xie Meng's hand down, but only Ji Qinyang knew that it was the other person who had decided to put his own hand down.

Ji Qinyang did not express any special joy or displeasure after winning. He smiled cheerfully and patted Xie Meng's shoulder. "Thanks bro."

Xie Meng replied politely, "You're welcome."

In this moment, they probably would not have thought that in the years to come, arm-wrestling would become the best way for them to resolve their differences. Winning or losing did not matter, as most of the time, winning was not dependent on strength, just like how Xie Meng purposely lost to Ji Qinyang today.

Because, in their lives, winning or losing was not the only thing that was important anymore.

That day, the collective timing of Ji Qinyang's group was two seconds slower than Xie Meng's group. With cheeky grins, the youths did their frog jumps around the field. The rays of the setting sun shone across the red running tracks, and the shadows crept along slowly. Due to the long distance, Ji Qinyang's face was blurry, but Xie Meng knew that he was definitely still smiling.

There was no reason for it, that was just how he thought it would be.

After the military training, their studies became more intense. The interactions between Xie Meng and Ji Qinyang were like raindrops falling into a lake, after a few ripples, they faded to nothing. Other than being in the same classroom, listening to the same teachers, completing the same homework, and being classmates, they did not have any other things in common.

In the eyes of the teachers, Xie Meng was a model gifted student. He was calm and restrained, and even a little boring. He was not talkative, and the only person close to him was a boy called Zhang Ganggang, and the only reason for that was because their desks were next to each other.

At the beginning, Zhang Ganggang was a little intimidated by Xie Meng. Thinking that the other had graduated from S Middle School, his results were great, and he looked very aloof, he would definitely look down on him. However, after interacting with him, he realised that that was not the case at all.

Xie Meng was very gentle.

Although it was a little sissy to use gentle to describe a boy, but Zhang Ganggang felt that no one was more suitable than Xie Meng to be described as gentle.

Just like a pretty hard candy, so pretty that people were reluctant to eat it. Finally, after putting it in their mouth, they would feel that it was sweet, and then after biting into it, they would discover that even the heart of the candy was soft inside.

… Zhang Ganggang felt that his description was a little mushy, but that was truly how he felt.

Of course, Xie Meng did not know that his desk mate had described him like that. He was working on his algebraic homework, and once he was done, he placed it on Zhang Ganggang's desk.

"I've calculated the problems already, take a look yourself." Xie Meng was very patient. He had been deskmates with Zhang Ganggang for nearly two months, and nearly everyday he would have to do the mathematics class exercises and homework twice, not including the revision after each quiz.

Zhang Ganggang joyfully took the exercise book. Following Xie Meng's calculations, he calculated them himself one more time, then erased Xie Meng's work when he was done.

While erasing, Zhang Ganggang exclaimed, "The midterms are coming."

Xie Meng was fairly indifferent. "Yes."

"What am I going to do with maths?" Zhang Ganggang moaned. "Even you won't be able to save me…"

"…" Xie Meng wanted to tell him that he had no intentions of saving him anyway.

"But it doesn't matter." Zhang Ganggang suddenly cheered up. Xie Meng could almost see his HP level recovering. "As long as Ji Qinyang is around, Maitreya won't look for me. Not only is Brother Yang has high HP, he can also taunt very well!"

Xie Meng's pen came to a stop. "Ji Qinyang?"

"Brother Yang had once got a score of 1 for Mathematics in middle school, and the only reason why he got that mark was because his name was written very properly on the exam paper and his handwriting was very neat."

"… He handed in a blank paper?"

Zhang Ganggang shook his head, "No, he wrote a lot, why else would the teacher think that his handwriting was neat?"

"…" Xie Meng was incredulous. "He wrote so much, but they were all wrong?"

Zhang Ganggang looked as though he completely understood. "Yes, that's right. He just didn't know how to do it."

… This was too unbelievable. Xie Meng thought as he twirled his pen. He turned around to look at the back row. Ji Qinyang was writing something with his head buried, sweeping his gaze across the rostrum, their eyes met. Ji Qinyang was slightly taken aback, before smiling at him.

Xie Meng looked at him, then looked away after awhile.

Nasib tidak pernah baik pada Ji Ning. Terburuk oleh penyakit dan lemah seumur hidupnya di Bumi, Ning tahu sejak awal bahwa dia akan mati saat remaja. Apa yang tidak dia ketahui adalah bahwa memang ada kehidupan setelah kematian, dan bahwa alam semesta adalah tempat yang jauh lebih besar daripada yang dia pikirkan. Perputaran nasib yang beruntung (salah satu dari sedikit dalam kehidupan Ning) berarti bahwa Ning terlahir kembali ke dunia Dewa dan monster, Ki Refiners dan Fiendgods yang kuat, sebuah dunia tempat Dinasti berlangsung selama jutaan tahun. Dunia yang lebih besar ... namun juga lebih kecil ... daripada yang bisa dia bayangkan. Dia akan memiliki kesempatan untuk bergabung dengan mereka, dan dalam kehidupan ini, Ning bersumpah pada dirinya sendiri, dia tidak akan pernah membiarkan dirinya menjadi lemah lagi! Era ia dilahirkan adalah era yang sunyi sepi, tapi Ning akan menjadikannya era.

Chapter 3. Essay competition (1)

"We are going to be have a essay competition in our school next week."

When Shiki sensei announced that, the students started murmuring among themselves.

"I haven't wrote a essay for years."

"I wonder if there would be some sort of prize."

"I hope it isn't mandatory to enter. I really suck at essays."

"Can't we have a video game competition or something?"

As the students were murmuring, Shiki sensei sighed and said.

"Listen to the whole announcement, first. The contest will be mandatory for all and there would be one winner for every class and the winner for every class will compete against each other for the prize money."

"I wonder how much is the prize money?"

"It's going to be a hassle if you want to win."

"Yeah, the winner would be probably from a literature club or a book club."

"Do those kind of clubs even exist?"

"Silent!!"

With Shiki sensei shout, the students again fell into a silence. Shiki sensei again sighed heavily and said.

"I am not finished yet. The competition will be held on Friday next week and there would be no classes that day. So, you could leave after submitting your essay."

With that the students all burst into excitement. They were all troubled by the pressure of exams and hearing that, they can leave early flushed them with excitement. 

There were many students who were already making plans like going to karaoke or a movie. The essay competition had given them a opportunity to relax for a bit.

As Ren was watching the class filled with excitement, Kei tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Ren what do you think about that?"

"About what?"

"Of course, the essay competition. Do you also want to finish early and hang out like them?"

Kei said as he pointed towards the group of kids happily making plans. 

"I don't know. What about you?"

"I will probably write it till the end."

"Huh, you aren't the type to write till the end. Instead of writing, you will probably read a light novel or something."

Ren said as he stared at Kei confusingly. He knew that Kei wasn't the type to take things seriously. The only things he take seriously are light novels, mangas and anime.

"Well, I thought I will give writing a chance."

"You. Writing?"

"Yeah, it's seems fun. I thought I will take something seriously for once."

"You wanted to take something seriously and you choosed writing."

"Yeah."

Ren didn't knew what to think of it. Kei was taking interest in writing suddenly. He was confused by this but he didn't try to ask him the reason behind this. Ren knew that everyone has their own secrets.

"You are acting weirdly these days."

When Ren heard Kei's words, he was somewhat startled. The last thing he want was anyone finding about his identity.

"....You think so?"

Kei nodded his head at Ren's words and said.

"Yeah, you have been slightly weird these days. It's like you got somewhat mature suddenly."

"Maybe, it's just your imagination."

Kei shook his head at Ren's words and said.

"No, it isn't my imagination. You are suddenly taking interest in books. Previously, you only read some light novels but now, I see you reading those literature books everytime. You even had a smiling expression reading those."

"I have just taken a sudden interest in books."

"I think it's more than just a sudden interest. Are you thinking of going to a literary college or something."

"Literary college?"

Hearing the word literary college, Ren suddenly thought of the time when he used to study in the literary college.

It was also the time when his first book was released. He had suddenly gotten famous in the campus and everyone had started recognising him.

Professors had started giving him attention and they always looked at him with smiles. He had also gotten popular among the girls.

His popularity was so high that the campus queen had confessed to him and they had started dating. Of course, the relationship between them didn't last long and they broke up after a year but it was a time of his life that Ren can't forget.

It was the start of his fame and his destruction. How could he forget about that.

"Ren, Ren, are you even listening to me?"

"Ha, sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Ren quickly broke out of his stupor when he heard Kei's voice.

"Do you want to visit the bookstore later? I wanted to buy a book on essays."

"Ah, sure, I wanted to buy some books too."

Ren answered with a smile on his face. He don't know why but he was now looking forward to the essay competition.

* * *

In the staff room of teachers, Shiki sensei sighed as he soon as he sat down in his seat.

"Are you worried about something? Shiki sensei."

Shiki sensei turned his head towards the voice and noticed that the one who asked the question was Hinata sensei who was a chemistry teacher.

"It's nothing. I am just worried about that kids nowadays are more interested in video games than books."

"Hahaha, Isn't that obvious. Teenagers nowadays are more interested in games and movies than books."

Hinata sensei said with a laugh. She was a young female teacher who was still in her 20s. So, she could better understand the students mentality.

"Is it about the essay competition?"

Another teacher asked and Shiki sensei just nodded at that.

"Times are really degrading. When I announced in my class that there will be a essay competition, all the students were just happy about the fact that there would be no classes. No one seems to care about the competition."

This time it was Sato sensei who spoke. He was the oldest teacher in the school and was nearing his 50s. 

"It was the same in my class."

"Me too. They really don't care about the essay competition."

"They are just happy that they will be able to leave school early."

Hearing the conversation several teachers shared their grievances and sighed. They were upset that students were more interested in leaving school early than the essay competition.

"Nakai sensei must be feeling bad."

Hinata sensei said as she looked at Nakai sensei who was silently reading a book in the corner.

Hearing her words, all the teachers looked at Nakai sensei but he didn't say anything and just continued to read his book.

For him reading a book was more interesting than a conversation.

"Yeah, Nakai sensei, you even pushed for the essay competition. Aren't you feeling bad that students aren't interested in it?"

A teacher asked him but Nakai sensei still didn't answered. He was still focusing on his book.

All the teachers just sighed seeing his behaviour. They all know that Nakai sensei wasn't the talkative type.

He was the literature teacher and it's been five years since he had started teaching in this school and his behaviour and attitude hadn't changed at all.

Although his attitude had pissed some of the teachers but they do not do anything as he teaches well and do his work diligently. It was just that he was more interested in reading books.

After sometime, Nakai sensei finally put down his book and smiled while looking out of the window.

"I wish there can be someone who can surprise me in this competition."

He muttered under his breath and continued to smile while looking outside the window.

Fame, wealth, prestige, genius, destruction, despair, loss and failure.

Those are the eight words which describes Ren's life completely.

He was hailed as a genius but his arrogance led him to despair. From a genius, he became a failure.

He was just struggling with his life when fate gave him a second chance.

Now, what will he do after he found himself waking up in another world.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Children are often asked this question when they are young. The teachers would make them write essays on their future jobs or ideal career. The adults are always worried about their children. Some children don't even have a choice. Their path is pretty much decided from the moment they are born.
The eleven years olds are lined up on the stage. Some are confused. Some are trying their best not to cry under the pressure. Some have a big smile on their face. Some are anxious. Of course, some can't care less.
One by one, the students get up and give a speech on the stage.
"I want to be a doctor because..."
"I want to be a soldier because..."
"I want to be a businessman because..."
Most answers are tailored by their parents. Each time a student finishes his speech on what he/she wanted to become after he/she grew up, there is a burst of claps from the audience consisting of enthusiastic parents and teachers.
"I am Nakashima Natsumi." The girl looks at the crowd with cold indifference. She is dressed in a plain black shirt, a black skirt, and black shoes. "I want to become a lawyer because I like making money."
The audience can't understand how to react at first. They have never heard such an honest reason. Among all the righteous reasons that they have heard, this one surely gets the top score for honesty.
"That's my daughter." Nakashima Wataru perceives the reaction of the audience in a different way. He stands up and points at her. "My eldest daughter is the smartest one."
"Thank you." The girl, unperturbed by her father's action or the audience's reaction, gives them a respectful bow and walks away from the stage.
After the lawyer girl is gone, a bright girl comes forward on the stage. Dressed in a pink dress, a tiara, and pink shoes with printed stars, she has sparkling eyes and an angel-like smile. The audience is charmed by her demeanour.
"My name is Nakashima Sayuri." She pauses and looks at her father who gives her encouraging nod. She speaks shyly, "When I grow up, I want to be a fashion designer because I like pretty clothes. I will open my chains of stores in the country. I will give a 25% discount to anyone who buys fishes from my father's store in the future. My father's store is the best store in the market. Please visit my father's store."
"That's my youngest daughter!!!" Nakashima Wataru looks proud of his youngest daughter for being able to speak out her dream. "In the future, she will start her own fashion brand."
The audience claps. Little Lily shows a toothy smile before she bows and steps off the stage. She gets full marks for an opportunist. The headmaster clears his throat. There are two more left.
The third girl looks at the audience with disinterest. She is wearing a school uniform. The audience is silently waiting. Nakashima Wataru smiles at his second daughter kindly. He doesn't have much expectation from her.
She picks her nose and wipes it on her shirt. The teachers and the parents except for Nakashima Wataru and a few other students wrinkle their nose in disgust.
"My name is Nakashima Wakana." She scratches her nose again and glances at her father once. "You have met my elder sister, Nakashima Natsumi. She's 10 minutes older than I am. You also met my younger sister, Nakashima Sayuri."
It is a small village. There is only one elementary school in the area. The audience already knows about the Nakashima triplets who are the daughters of the fisherman, Nakashima Wataru.
The Nakashima sisters don't look identical. Each one has a different personality. The youngest is cheerful and cunning. The eldest is icy cold and smart. The middle one is a question mark.
"I thought a lot, but I don't understand why I must choose something now. I am only 11. My father says that it is alright not to know what I want to be in this stage of my life. I should concentrate on becoming a good child and eat healthily to become strong physically. Thank you for listening."
She bows to the people watching her and leaves, not waiting for the light claps that follow her departure from the stage.
"There's always an odd one." The headmaster sighs. "Give her a full mark for courage."
The last boy walks to the stage with a calm expression. He is also wearing a uniform. He looks at the crowd with a steady gaze. Anyone can tell that he doesn't belong to this village.
"Minami Sei." His voice is clear, demanding the attention of the audience. "I will become a police officer because I hate the sight of blood."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Nakashima Wakana turns her head and looks at the boy who is quite opposite of her. He is looking at the crowd with a steely gaze. Though he looks fearless, his small pale fists are trembling.
She blinks her eyes and stared at him. He gives a deep bow to the astonished audience. He walks in her direction. The young boy doesn't even see her or his classmates. He sits in the corner.
The transfer student is cold and aloof. He rarely talks to the other students. In the classroom of students that belong to the small families of the village, the boy certainly stands out like the moon among the stars. Naturally, the moon is isolated by the stars.
The girl without ambition usually doesn't care about much in the world. But the boy's answer has caught her attention. She sits beside him. He ignores her existence. She moves closer. He shifts away. She suddenly holds his hand.
He glares at her. "What are you doing?"
"I want to know why you hate the sight of blood."
She closes her eyes to see something that she should have never seen.


It's not easy being a detective when one can see ghosts. 

Due to bad performance, Nakashima Wakana is sent to the cold palace to receive her career's death sentence. 

When she thought that her dead career couldn't be more dead, she meets her first love, Minami Sei. 

Love at the workplace? Nakashima Wakana has enough problems for sure.

Things take a turn when she becomes the next chosen target of a demon. She's forced to use her abilities. W

When she thinks that it's over for her, she finds out that she's chosen to become a part of the supernatural investigation agency? 

Who is this person that is always saving her?

Is he a ghost or her personal guardian angel? 

Should she throw salts in his eyes or kiss his beautiful lips? 

Maybe she will do both. 

Join Wakana's supernatural adventures and her journey to love. 

___ 

Warning: NSFW/GORE/VIOLENCE/SMUT 

___ 

Instagram: Koch_Norah 

Twitter: Norah_Koch9 

Discord tag: Norah_Koch#0829 

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/mEVYDn 

Buy me a coffee ~ Ko-fi.com/norah_koch 

___ 

Other stories: 

Her Wicked CEO: How To Seduce A Hikikomori Wife? 

Hunting for a Husband in a Vampire Apocalypse 

His Devious Harbinger: How To Tame A Wicked God? 

The Love That Remains 

His Mischievous Time-Traveler: How to capture a celebrity husband? 

Bad x Bad: My Dear Hana 

Perverted Mage 

When A Ghoul Falls In Love 

Miss Chicken & Her Mister

The Villainous Emperor is My Pet

The unpleasant encounter went by in the blink of an eye. The poet’s gathering started becoming lively again with the presence of meat and wine. Pei Zi Yun ate a sizable portion himself. After he had eaten his fill, he started to get to know the students around him. There were ten of them and they were all scholars. 

The student who had welcomed them at the entrance came from an average family background. However, because his studies were good he was accepted into the school. The teacher praised him often and allowed him to be in charge of events like these. 

And the student who scolded the Daoist was called Zhu Hao. He had been known to be very rigid and inflexible, but was a good student. He was sometimes misunderstood and thus, disliked because he was tactless.

Tang Zhen, too, was among them as they drank wine and recited poems to each other, all having a good time. 

Just as everyone was making merry, someone sighed loudly. They turned in the direction and noticed that it was Zhang Jie Yun who sighed. 

Everyone present were surprised. Zhu Hao stepped forward and asked, "Brother Zhang, why did you sigh as if you were upset?”

Pei Zi Yun raised his head to look at Zhang Yu Jia and saw him frowning, looking unhappy, "Aiya, since the examination have ended, the results are just two days away. Although I think I performed alright, everyone who took the examinations are talented in their own ways, and I am worried that I made some mistakes and failed to reach Elementary Scholar in this examination. That is why I am feeling very vexed and stressed. Even the wine seem tasteless to me.”

His words seemed genuine and everyone could relate to this feeling. In that moment, many people felt how he was feeling as well, "Brother Zhang, these words went into my heart, tasting the wine now, it tastes bland to me as well.” said Pei Zi Yun.

“Yes, I have been edgy, unable to write any essays and cannot concentrate on any book.”

Pei Zi Yun coughed. Although he too, was confident in his abilities, he was still worried. As long as the results were not out, he could be sure that he had made it. This examination would determine his future and thus these two days, he had been unfocused and could not write any essays.

These words spoken by Zhang Jie Yun reflected the sentiments of everyone around. All the students around had good literary skills and were all confident. However, human nature meant that as long as something is uncertain, worry is inevitable.

Everyone around sighed and despaired.

Noticing that the crowd had started to despair and started sighing, Zhang Jie Yu realized he should not have said those words. He then raised his glass and stood up in front of everyone and told them, "It’s all my fault, I should not have said those words and killed the atmosphere. I will punish myself by drinking three glasses, please forgive me.”

He then proceeded to finish his first glass. Just as he was about to drink his second, the organizer of the event raised his hands and held on to Zhang Jie Yu’s second glass, "Brother Zhang, you spoilt my mood. How can we let you off so easily? At the very least for every glass you drink, you have to recite a poem. That could make things better. What do you guys think?”

All the students around began to shout in agreement, "That’s right, that’s right!”

Zhang Jie Yu looked to be in some difficulty and said, "Brother Yang, I am a very adventurous person. I can only compose good poems when inspired by beautiful scenery. Now that we are cooped here, I cannot.”

“If I am to drink and recite poems, let us take a stroll out of here and explore. Outside of the city sits Silver Dragon Temple, and the scenery there is beautiful. What’s more, the vegetarian banquet provided there is fantastic.”

“When we get there, not only me, but everyone would be so inspired they can compose good poems. Why not hurry go there?”

“It will be waste to go there when it gets dark.”

Silver Dragon Temple was known for their good scenery and vegetarian banquet, so everyone around agreed. Someone stood up and said, "Although we have agreed to go and take a stroll. The poems can wait. Brother Zhang needs to drink his punishment first before we take a stroll.”

“That’s right, he should drink first!”

Hearing this, Yang Fan did not interrupt anymore. 

Pei Zi Yun heard that they were going out to explore and recalled a memory he had. He realized that this temple had a very familiar name as if he could vaguely recall hearing it somewhere before. The temple outside the city was the same temple that Ye Su'er came and asked for a blessed amulet for him! 

From the county to the city would take about a day by horse cart. Ye Su'er kept the amulet to redeem a blessing and travelled by herself all the way from the county. And with the presence of bandits around, she felt that it was really unsafe…

As for this blessing, he was determined to get it. A normal person would pay a hundred and fifty coins to buy some incense, instead he paid one tael of silver. 

(TL: For the Daoist man’s meal)

The entire group of them were full from their meals and content from the wine and thus began to make their way to the temple. There were more than ten of them leaving the city. Since most of them reeked of alcohol and were students, they caused some nuisance to the people who saw them. But knowing that the results would soon be out, they understood.

On the way there, the tree and flowers were all around with some of these flowers blooming. Several bees were buzzing in the vicinity and there would occasionally be some butterflies joining the fray.

A short distance after leaving the city was the temple.

The sky started to get dark as they began to walk towards the temple. Silver Dragon Temple was in the middle of a forest. Several shrubs were growing along the walls of the temples. As they got nearer, the temple took a dignified appearance with the words, "Silver Dragon Temple” written on the entrance. 

Zhu Hao smiled and said, "I have long heard that Silver Dragon Temple was in the middle of a forest, where the discipline among the monks is very rigorous and they live very pure lives. Today I finally get to see it.”

Once they had reached, a red glass was placed on the door and the walls were yellow in colour. Upon entering, a huge hall greeted them. The hall was majestic and full of splendour. Two statues stood before them and in front of these statues was a donation box. A monk with several scars on his head was at the side, hands together and was chanting scriptures. 

Several oxcarts pulled up abruptly in front of the temple. A few young ladies stepped out and entered the temple. Pei Zi Yun looked at them and observed that they had shapely bodies and were graceful in their movements. They were very pretty as well. Seeing the students in front of them, they giggled. 

Although it is said that luck is dispersed in the open, isn’t this too much of a coincidence? 
Pei Zi Yun thought to himself. He then looked at Zhang Yu Jia before taking some silver and putting it inside the donation box. The monk suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing silver, he rejoiced openly. He placed his hands inside and felt two pieces of silver and was overjoyed, "Looks like we have some special guests.”

A novice monk then came to guide them around. This novice monk looked strange and everyone laughed when they saw his appearance. 

The novice monk brought them into the viewing gallery of the temple and told them about the different halls and different Buddha’s they were made in honour of. He showed them each and everyone one, not missing anything out. Pei Zi Yun then needed to use the toilet and asked the novice monk for directions, "Head towards the back, and make a right.”

Pei Zi Yun thanked the novice monk and headed towards the toilet. When inside, there were a few cubicles. He picked one and squatted. Just then, three monks entered.

Before long, he heard them speaking. This was the monk with a loud voice but trying to keep his volume down. Pei Zi Yun only heard, "Pretty women...smell good...fantastic.”

They were all in the cubicles next to each other but had to whisper. Pei Zi Yun felt something was amiss.

He then heard another voice. This time it was of a monk who did not speak in hushed tones, "Fellow brother, a few days ago I met a girl who was absolutely stunning. She was sixteen or seventeen at most and had already blossomed. Based on the way she was dressed she did not look rich. Before I could get a better look, she asked for an amulet of blessing and hurriedly left.”

“She left after asking for an amulet? Fellow younger brother, next time when you see a girl asking for an amulet you should ask her to stay the night to prove her sincerity. And then….” The monk stopped speaking and laughed. 

Pei Zi Yun heard this and his heart sank. There was a serious problem with this temple. He then stood up to get a better look and saw the three monks. He got a good look at only one of them. He was taller than a normal person by an entire head. His face was tanned and had a protruding forehead and nose. Pei Zi Yun was afraid.

When he stood up to get a better look, the monk had a feeling someone was watching him and turned back. Pei Zi Yun immediately ducked back down, and was thinking, "This monk is the same as those bandits, they know martial arts.”

The poor are well versed in literature and the rich are proficient with martial arts. Any type of fighting technique cannot be learnt without meat and wine to grow. Shaolin martial arts placed a concession on meat for a reason. By the looks of this temple, they were not poor. 

Hearing them leave the toilet, he left in a hurry as well. A breeze came into the temple, carrying light raindrops with it. Pei Zi Yun let out an uncontrollable sneeze as he thought. Silver Dragon Temple is so suspicious, and yet nobody knows about its secret. It’s unbelievable. 

And Zhang Jie Yu still suggested coming here. He is a disciple of Holy Jail Sect. Although I do not know much about this sect, I do know that the are known for their dark arts. Most of them only gained entry into the sect by connections, "Flowers and games” is just a nice way of saying it when actually it is a ploy to rape. The three steps of Converging Lunar technique. When the insiders of the sect often have concubines. No small number of women have been defiled by them.

In the previous life, but ten years later, an entire search was conducted but there was no news about Silver Dragon Temple. Or could this be a scandal that was hidden well?

Pei Zi Yun walked out into the corridors to look for the rest of the scholars. He moved quietly and before long, he heard people. He realized that the rest of the students were in the next hall. He then relaxed and prepared to leave. 

Tang Zhen saw Pei Zi Yun and laughed, "You have been gone for so long, they have started preparing the vegetarian banquet. It has been rumoured that this vegetarian banquet tastes so good, it almost tastes like meat.”

Pei Zi Yun laughed coldly and thought, That’s because meat has been added to it! This is all just a ploy.

He was about to say something further when he noticed Zhang Jie Yu praising a particular painting. Zhu Hao laughed and said, "let me take a look!”

At this, he reached out to touch it. Unaware of what he touched, there was a rumbling sound and the painting moved away to reveal a huge gaping hole. The hole led to a basement. 

Just in that moment, a few monks appeared, completely naked and were hugging a few women. These women looked very familiar. Were they not the same women that bumped into them a few moment's ago. Most of them already had their outer clothes removed. 

As the scene unfolded before him, Pei Zi yun was shocked and wanted to make his escape. The monk who was at the donation and holding the banquet, walked over. The second he saw what was happening he turned pale and ran inside, shutting the door.

“We’ve been discovered!” several big sized monks from the hole came out and saw about ten scholars outside, and caught them.

“Not good, we’ve fallen to the hands of evil people” Tang Zheng was shocked.

More sound could be heard and ten more monks came from the dug-out. One of the monks let out a devilish laughter, "I was just wondering why everything became quiet. Looks like the scholars have came in.”

“You could’ve eaten the vegetarian banquet. Now you can eat murder banquet.”

Pei Zi Yun looked at the monk and put his hands into his clothing, and felt his dagger. It was just that without any Dao Arts and without his sword, he was reconsidering his actions. Seeing ten monks all with weapons and more monks coming from the basement, his heart was filled with fear.

This is bad, at this point, there is no escape.

He then saw the dark skinned monk command, "Tie these scholars up.”



Earth Immortals are cultivated from a blessed land,
Heaven Immortals move to and fro from the divine mountains.
I have a stalk of plum blossom, and I shall maraud the Will of the Heavens with it!

I couldn't exactly remember a thing since that day… the day I woke up from a coma. The doctors, and my "relatives" told me that I've been out for exactly two months, that I had an accident; tumbled down a flight of stairs and was rushed to the hospital right away only to wake up two months later. I recovered quickly after that… I couldn't remember my name, I didn't know any of the people who were there by my bedside… I felt like this girl. Wasn't me.

    "My name is Beau Aria Lestrade. I'm a student at the elitist boarding school, St. Angeline's School for the Gifted as well as a dancer and pupil of Hildegard Setre, a former prima ballerina who currently works as a choreographer and ballet teacher at the Bisset Opera. All my life, I've been known as one of the best, most talented and one of the youngest ballerinas in Victoris. They call me a perfect dancer, for my precision, grace, elegance, hard work and dedication to the art of ballet…"

    "Is that really who I am?" I wonder to myself as I added that last bit to my essay. Everyday, everytime I wake up. It's as if this universe is mocking me, trying to tell me that something is just… wrong. Okay, enough of that. After doing my usual morning routine; get up, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, grab my stuff, almost forget about bringing my essays and homework before contemplating about life and mentally preparing myself for school… Yeah this is the life. A very hectic one at that.
As soon as I stepped on campus, I was bombarded by a bunch of students who spoke all at once. 
    "What happened??" a boy asked. 
    "So glad you're back." said another in the crowd. 
    "Hey? You okay?" 
    "I heard you were pushed! Is it true?"
    "There were some rumors about… never mind."
I wanted to know what that last person wanted to say so I asked, "Rumors about what?" the girl who said it was shorter than I am, she was blonde, had brown eyes and a cute little button nose and wore braces. She backed away sheepishly as I approached her. "It's nothing!" She says.
I frowned; the girl flinched as she took a step back. The other students were closing in on her, also expectant on an answer like I am. I didn't want to pressure her or anything so I told them all to back off. 
"It's just that…" she spoke in a soft voice, moving closer to me. "Someone's been spreading rumors about you…"
She was clearly hesitant, afraid of what I might say, I stayed silent to let her finish. 
    "They said it was a suicide attempt."
I didn't say anything, everyone else however had mixed reactions about this. Some were shocked, others concerned and worried, others denied it, saying that I'd never do such a thing while a few would question me if I did. I didn't know what to answer, I don't know this girl, Beau they kept calling me. So how would I know?
 There were low murmurs all around me. A teacher must have noticed the commotion and walked up to us; a small group of students all huddled up around me and that blonde girl, asking numerous questions which I purposely left unanswered. That blonde on the other hand was practically shaking in her knees, uncomfortable with all the attention she drew.
"What's going on here?" The teacher asked. 
Immediately, the other students answered and told him of the rumor. He looked shocked and moved closer to me, looking me in the eye as he questioned, "Is this true?"
I'm not sure what to say… I figured that the best thing to say was probably, "No." I said. "Rumors are just that, rumors."
     The teacher just shrugged it off and had us all head back to our dorms. Fortunately, I didn't have to bear any more of that. Large crowds make me feel sick, I hate it so much. I inserted the key and step right in to my dorm room. 
As one of the school's top students, I had a couple perks; one of them is having a room all to myself unlike everyone else who had to share with a roommate or two. I don't know though, I'd like to have a roommate, I wouldn't be lonely and actually have someone to talk to… but then again, peace, quiet and solitude is great too, right?
The room wasn't that large. It was neat and tidy, just how I like it. No clutter around here unlike back at the house; I could barely walk around without stepping on another one of Poppy and Daisy's toys. That one time I stepped on a lego gave me a clear message: don't ever have kids, it's not worth the trouble!
    I ran my hand through my thick, shoulder-length pastel pink hair. 
I recall back at the hospital the moment I woke up, the hair was the first thing I noticed. It caught me by surprise. Didn't like it at first, but a couple weeks passed and I got used to it and even started liking it… just like everything else. I was living the life of this girl--Beau Lestrade. How and why is it that I feel this way? I don't understand, but I will find out later… as soon as graduation is over, it'll be a lot easier without the workload of school projects, exams and assignments. I'll find out what's going on. 
From inside my room I could hear the school bell ring. It marks the beginning of another day in school aka Hell.

People queued to exit the football field, and because of that Rayven and I got separated and left me alone walking with strangers. I let the people before me to go out first since I was not in a hurry to flee the area.

Pulling out my phone to kill some time, I tapped on my social media apps and browsed them. While scrolling up my newsfeed, I noticed that the two girls remained in the bleacher area. They were both wearing the L.O.M.S. uniform – white blouse and knee-length blue skirt.

They were trying to lower down their voice while gossiping on something. Unfortunately for them, I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation. It started about boys they have a crush on La Orden Academy. Then it escalated to their fellow schoolmate who skipped a few days of classes until their teacher went to the parents to check on the status of the student.

To the teacher's surprise, the parents were also on disarray. They just received a text from their daughter telling them that she wanted to move out of their house and go to the big city. The parents were not convinced with the text since it was out of their daughter's character to do it. They were planning to file a missing person report to the police station soon.

Moved by my curiosity, since we also had a similar case of "missing" student, I walked over to them. Noticing that a strange person came over at them, they halted their conversation and looked differently at me.

"Hi! I can't help but overhear your conversation. But if I heard it right, you have a missing schoolmate, is that right?"

The two of them looked at each other, and the one with ponytail raised her brow at me.

"Yeah, what is it your concern?" she asked irritably.

"Umm..." I stammered since I was also caught off guard by her question. So I lied to her. "...o-oh I'm part of the La Orden Academy's school newspaper. I just want to check if your schoolmate's disappearance has any link with our missing student also."

The two of them looked again at each other. While my hands began to sweat, I wasn't sure if I pulled a convincing act to them.

Then the girl beside the pony-tailed girl opened her mouth.

"Her name is Jane Manobo. She's a junior in our senior high school department, and she stopped going to school last week. But some people think she moved out of her parents' house, though if you're going to talk to her parents, they will tell you otherwise. Personally, I do believe her parents. I sometimes saw her at school, but she seems not the type who will run from their house."

"What made you say so?"

"Jane was your typical shy and nerdy girl. She's also part of their honor class based on what I heard. So yeah, if we're going to use her parents' word, it's out of her character to do it all of sudden."

Looking not convince on her reasoning, I looked at her friend expectantly just to check if she would want to add anything. But she suddenly grabbed her friend's arm and stood from her seat.

"C'mon, we gotta go now. Sorry, it's not our place to divulge further information about her. If you want to know more, I guess you should go and talk to her parents." Both of them fled from me, leaving me alone with my thoughts seeking for more information.

Pouting at myself, I exited also the area and tried to call and text Rayven. But he was not answering my calls or my text. I supposed I have to walk alone again. But since I will be sinking myself with a couple of essays I have to submit tomorrow, I thought I should drop by at the convenience store to buy some chips.

Exiting the school grounds, I went to the bus station where I found a lone high school boy standing and reading a book under the waiting shed. His face was being covered by the thick book he was reading, but from my distance, I could say he was a tall kid.

I stood meters away from him while we both wait for the arrival of the next bus. It was an awkward minute of waiting until the bus arrived before us.

The guy beside me closed his book and to my surprise, it was a familiar figure, to be exact it was Dylan Sytanco. He also looked over my direction and a look of recognition passed over by his face. He tucked the thick book back to his bag and rudely ignored me and went ahead inside the bus.

I scowled at him then went inside as well. The seats were already taken, so both Dylan and I were left standing at the isle. The driver pushed the button before him, and the door closed mechanically.

Dylan resumed reading his thick book. I don't think it was an academic book since it was not familiar with me. Since he will pretend that he didn't know me, I will just follow him and pulled out my phone from my pocket.

I leisurely played a game on my phone while killing some time inside the bus. A small TV box was installed above the driver's area where a variety show was being shown. Some of the passengers were hooked at the show. Some were laughing while the others were sleeping.

The bus halted its movement, making a stop for the next bus station. Unfortunately, I didn't control my momentum when the bus stopped its movement and lost my footing. And to my surprise, someone grabbed my shoulders to support me while I steady myself.

After composing myself, I looked over behind me and found the arms were connected to Dylan. He just looked straight face at me devoid of any emotions. He quickly pulled out his hands from me and resumed reading his book.

"T-Thank you!" I muttered.

I saw his eyes moved towards me and just tsked at me. I was about to open my mouth in protest or more likely to tell him that I'm retracting my thank you when the bus stopped again, and fortunately for him, it was my stop.

I got off the bus and walked straight at the path ahead of me. I could already see the rows of food stalls along the street where people started to flock them. I was walking at a slow pace when I noticed that someone was walking behind me. I turned my head and found the familiar book covering the face of Dylan.

Is he following me?

I hastened my steps and turned to another corner, but Dylan was tailing behind me also. My heart started to beat faster due to my nervousness. But I have to face him. So I stopped my tracks and faced him. He almost bumped at me, but at the last minute, he halted his steps and put down the book he was reading.

"Are you following me?" I said accusingly.

"For your information, this has been the same direction I've been taking for the past sixteen years going to my home." I could hear from the tone of his voice that he was clearly annoyed at me.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I just shook my head to him and continued my steps again. I could already see from this distance the convenience store. I quickened my steps and arrived in front of the store.

And to my irritation, Dylan was still behind me.

"You know what, Dylan? I think you're really following me."

Dylan just scoffed at me and returned again the book he was reading back in his bag. "For the second time, I am not following you, Yuno."

"Then why are you also at this store. There are many stores around the area. Don't tell me your favorite snack happens to be available in this store only?"

From my corner, a woman behind the counter saw our commotion in front of her store. She pulled open the door and looking at us.

"What seems to be the problem, dear?" The woman who was wearing a blue apron on top of her clothes asked us. Looking at her face, I thought I saw those eyes before which were weird since I'd never met her before.

"Ma'am, this guy has been –"I didn't finish my sentence since Dylan intruded my talk.

"Mom, this crazy girl thought I was tailing her."

Mom? Did I just hear him calling the woman in apron his mother?

*****

After some clarification with his mother, I found myself sitting while I propped up my elbows at the table. I'd already picked the chips I would be eating tonight from the rows of shelves inside the store.

Dylan was behind the counter, tapping on something on the monitor while her mother went upstairs to their residential house. 

I stood up and went awkwardly to the counter. I looked at Dylan and gave him a forced smile.

"Again, I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding."

He just simply nodded at me and resumed tapping on the monitor.

"So yeah, see you tomorrow. I have to finish the homework essays." Then I turned my back to him. Then I muttered in a low voice. "And think about the missing students of this town."

"Excuse me?" Dylan asked.

I was startled since I thought I whispered those last few words to myself only.

"No, it's n-nothing! Don't mind me! Hehehe."

"No. I clearly heard you that there are missing students in this town. I thought Raymond was the only case?" He stopped tapping and focused his attention on me.

"It's just a hunch. But I heard something similar story from the memorial school. But I don't see any links between the academy's missing student and theirs."

"Is the student from the other school a junior also?"

Recalling the story of the two girls earlier, they'd mentioned that Jane Manobo is a junior in the senior high department. Then, I nodded at him.

"Interesting," he muttered.

"So I assume that Raymond is also the same year with us?"

This time, he nodded at me.

Just like what he said, this missing students' story is getting interesting. There was a pattern. Both of them were in junior year. But I had to dig more to uncover if there was really a connection between the two. I was deep in my thoughts when Dylan interrupted.

"Would you mind, if you share with me also the story of the missing student from the other school?"

"What made you interested?"

"Raymond used to be my best friend back in elementary. But we no longer talk to each other."

This made me sit back at the table again and recalled the story of Jane Manobo to him.

Meet Yuno and Rayven, newly stepbrother and sister in a small and isolated town of La Orden. 

Yuno is the new girl in town. She is finding ways to get used to the conservative ways of La Orden compare to the big city where she came from. But when she meet a new found friend and mysteriously disappears at the night of the dance, she needs to find her while continuously surviving the everyday life of a high school student.

Rayven needs to adjust to the life of having a new sister in his house after his dad remarried. So long as Yuno will stay out of his way, they will probably get along just fine while keeping his big secret to her and to his family. But a group of guys keep on pestering him to join their mysterious gang, then a girl in school mysteriously disappeared.

Join the adventures of Yuno and Rayven as they unravel love, identity, and secrets of their town in this series.

Author's Notes:

Let me know your thoughts about the novel by writing a review or through comment section. 

About the cover photo, I just found it on the net while searching for ideal cover. I'm giving the full credit to the owner of the image. 

I hope you will support this novel! :)

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