Dragon Hermit

“What kind of s?” Xia Yan asked inquisitively.

Dong Quan, on the other hand, grimaced, and stated in a solemn tone, “We aren’t gay! I’m just accompanying Xia Yan to see the house!”

Even Xia Yan lost it when he heard this. [This girl is too bold. City folks are really so complicated!]

“What a pity! Right, Wenqing?” Zhang Shufen turned her head regretfully towards the other girl. Le Wenqing hadn’t spoken till now, and when she heard Zhang Shufen ask this, she nodded and said, “What a pity it is, indeed!”

[What a pity, my foot!] It was as if a crow had zipped over Xia Yan’s head and even cawed while doing so.

“You’re only allowed to use your room’s bathroom, not the other one; You’re not allowed to roam outside your room bare-chested, but if you have a V-cut six-pack figure, we don’t mind it; You must maintain cleanliness, your room must not stink with the odor of socks; You must wear earphones and lock the door when looking at AVs, and also not litter the floor with tissue papers; You’re not allowed to enter my and Wenqing’s room without our permission; You’re not allowed to have improper thoughts towards us, if you do, I’ll kick you out; You’re not allowed to…”

Zhang Shufen’s boldness was a notch higher than An Xiaoru, she listed seventeen clauses that prohibited him from doing things and used quite the spicy language. Dong Quan was fine, but Xia Yan blushed a few times after hearing them. He believed he was really too pure.

“That’s about it. I’ll add more if I remember them. Do you have any questions?” Zhang Shufen asked him after making sure she hadn’t overlooked anything.

“I do!” Xia Yan answered, “Are you not afraid that I might…”

“You might what?” Zhang Shufen snorted in disdain, “I practice martial arts. If you dare to reveal your bestial nature, I’ll kick the hell out of you!”

“I hold a black-belt in Taekwondo!” Le Wenqing also added.

“Eh… All right!” Xia Yan nudged his nose and followed up with another question, “I read on the university forum that the room I rented is haunted, is that true?”

“Of course not, it’s just a rumor!” Zhang Shufen showed no hesitation in denying it. She slapped the tea table suddenly and said in an impassioned tone, “As an honorable university student, how can you believe in such superstitious statements? If it were really haunted, would two girls like us dare to live here?”

“I was just asking. I never said I believed it!” Xia Yan chuckled and then said, “Shall we sign the contract then?”

“I like straightforward men like you!” Zhang Shufen gave him a thumbs-up, and then pointed towards the contract on the tea table, “Let’s sign then!”

Zhang Shufen was subletting the room, so she was the sublandlord. Xia Yan didn’t mind this because getting such a place for just seven hundred was already a huge windfall, and he also got to co-tenant with two pretty women. He was really looking forward to his future cohabitation days.

[A beautiful tale might unfold too,] Xia Yan thought.

After signing the contract, Zhang Shufen gave Xia Yan the key and extended her hand, “Welcome, new housemate!”

After shaking hands, Zhang Shufen proposed, “Let’s go out to have some barbecue and beer to celebrate your move-in. How about it?”

“Sure!” Le Wenqing’s words were as precious as gold.

“Let’s do it some other day!” Xia Yan stated.

He then saw Zhang Shufen and Le Wenqing glare at him, and even Dong Quan wore an expression that seemed to say, ‘Master, you are really something.’ He immediately came to a realization and sweated buckets. He added, “There’s military training tomorrow, so I’ll leave some things here first and treat you to barbecue some other time!”

“Yeah, now you’re talking. It’s a deal then!” Zhang Shufen stated.

“It’s a deal.”

Xia Yan and Dong Quan descended down the floors and brought the skeletons and tusk up. Zhang Shufen asked with curiosity, “What are these things? Musical instruments?”

“They aren’t musical instruments. Just some… art pieces that I bought!” Xia Yan answered.

“I like art a lot, you have to let me see them sometime!” Zhang Shufen replied.

“All right!” [You’ll probably decide to move houses after seeing them though,] thought Xia Yan.

After moving over the things, Xia Yan locked the door and bid the two girls farewell. He and Dong Quan then left the neighborhood, and since Sihe University’s southern gate was only a five-minute walk from here, he told Dong Quan there was no need to drop him back.

“Master Xia. Call me if you need anything. I’m at your beck and call!” Dong Quan stated earnestly before leaving.

“All right!” Xia Yan said, “I have troubled you today!”

“Not at all!” Dong Quan drove out with all smiles. Although he had labored for two hours tonight, he felt it was worth it, since he was able to get closer to Master Xia. He expected his uncle to praise him after he went back to report.

It was 10 PM at the night now, and the business of the snack stores outside the southern gate was still booming. Xia Yan got some meat skewers and packed them in a disposable container, then returned back to the dorm. He woke up Qin Jian and Zhao Qiang, after which the three of them snacked on the skewers.

“Hou Xiaotian isn’t back yet?” Xia Yan asked.

“He just came back a moment ago to take a bath, then changed clothes and left again. His father’s operation is two days later,” Zhao Qiang answered.

“Let’s go visit him at that time,” Qin Jian stated.

“Mhm,” Xia Yan nodded.

After finishing the barbecue clean and chatting about the pretty women they had discovered during the military training, and when the time neared 12 AM, the trio decided to sleep.

And right now, in H504 of the girls’ dormitory, a fierce discussion was taking place.

“Xiaoyu, you have been in heat ever since you returned tonight. Did some handsome guy confess to you or what? Spill the beans now!” An Xiaoru had one of her legs arched up and leaning on the wall, so the scene under her nightwear was clearly visible. It really portrayed a very graceless image.

“How could that happen…” Xiaoyu said shyly.

“Is that Xiao Yuan still pursuing you? I don’t feel like he’s a good guy, don’t you get cheated by him, okay!” Anna had applied a face mask and was playing games on her smartphone. The phone’s weak illumination made her face look like a ghost’s.

“Anna, could you not lie down like that? We can’t see your face this way! We are still on tenterhooks after the possession incident that happened a few days ago, and now you’ve donned on this ghost-like appearance to scare us!” An Xiaoru chided her.

“Sister Anna. Don’t mention Xiao Yuan. He’s just scum!” Xiaoyu felt angry when she recalled what had happened in the evening, her cheeks puffing up like a goldfish.

“What did he do to warrant you calling him scum now? Why don’t you tell us?” An Xiaoru became excited.

“He wanted to bring me and you all for a karaoke session with some Chief Dong…” Xiaoyu narrated the event indignantly, and that gave rise to a series of curses immediately.

“He really wasn’t a good guy!”

“Scum!”

“Pervert!”

“I’ll bust that bastard’s balls the next time I see him!” An Xiaoru shouted.

“And then, what happened next?”

The average-faced girl asked with concern.

“And then…” Xiaoyu’s face lit up with glee after that.

“Oioi, don’t lose yourself in the bliss now. Say it quickly, did a hero come to save you or what?” An Xiaoru cried out.

“Mhm!” Xiaoyu nodded shyly.

“Really?” The three girls questioned in sync and stood up altogether. Anna urged her to speak, “Tell us quickly; then, we will finally have something to gossip about!”

“This is what happened…” Xiaoyu narrated the events that had happened after Xia Yan had made his heroic appearance. From her mouth, Xia Yan had become the perfect dreamboat.

“Xiaoyu, you aren’t making all this up, right? Was it really so melodramatic?” Anna called this timely appearance of Xia Yan into question. Of course, she was just doing it to tease Xiaoyu into revealing more information they could gossip about.

“There was no melodrama at all!” Xiaoyu stated resentfully.

“He made Xiao Yuan cry?” An Xiaoru asked.

“Yes. Xiao Yuan even begged him to let go of his hand,” Xiaoyu answered.

“This man is strong!” An Xiaoru commented.

“And when Xiao Yuan tried to incite Sir Quan into handling him, he got beat up instead?” Anna asked.

“Yes. That Sir Quan was very respectful towards him and even told him that he had brought the things he wanted,” Xiaoyu answered.

“This man is also influential!” Anna commented too.

“He called you his cousin?” The average-faced girl also questioned.

“Yes. to dupe Xiao Yuan,” Xiaoyu ended up blushing again.

“This man is quite intelligent!” The average-faced girl also commented.

“Of course!” Xiaoyu affirmed proudly as if Xia Yan was really her cousin.

“Right! What’s his name?” An Xiaoru asked.

“He’s called Xia Yan, a freshman from the History Department!” Xiaoyu answered.

“Xia Yan. I feel like I have heard this name somewhere?” An Xiaoru asked doubtfully.

“It’s all good since we know his name. Let’s go look for him tomorrow!” Anna stated with a clap.

“What for?” Xiaoyu asked.

“To treat him for lunch. I also wish to get acquainted with such an outstanding boy!” Anna licked her lips seductively, just like a cat in heat.

“Anna, he’s Xiaoyu’s man. You must not snatch him from her!” An Xiaoru warned her.

“But what if Xiaoyu doesn’t want him?” Anna questioned.

“When did I say… Ugh, I’m ignoring you all from now on!” Xiaoyu realized she had slipped up, so she buried her face on top of the cold comforter shyly.

“We might as well form a fellowship with his dorm, what do you think?” An Xiaoru proposed.

“Let’s decide after visiting tomorrow. We are the dorm with the top beauties in Sihe University, so we can’t just form a fellowship with a boys’ dorm nonchalantly!” Anna stated like a tsundere.

“That makes sense!” The girls also approved of her suggestion.

“This is a good chance to infiltrate the ranks of the freshmen and look for the expert!” Anna shouted, pumping her fist upwards.

“Sister Anna, if that expert is Xiaoyu’s man, so you must not aim for him too!” Xiaoyu stated.

“Xiaoyu, you’ve changed!” Anna leaped down and climbed on top of Xiaoyu. Peals of laughter that could make men fantasize endlessly echoed from H504 after that.

At midnight, Xia Yan got down from his bed and took out his backpack from within the cabinet. He retrieved a cloth bag from inside and opened it. There were five ebony beads inside this bag. He brought them out and arranged them on his desk before retrieving his carving knife.

These ebony beads weren’t made from the modern African mahogany but rather genuine, thousand-year-old Ceylon ebony. However, they weren’t priced that high. Xia Yan had got them from his master. Although his master didn’t have much money, he had a massive collection of exotic things. If he were to sell them, he would become a millionaire in a few minutes.

Xia Yan pondered for a moment under the illumination of the table lamp and then began carving the ebony beads. His movements were swift and resulted in wood shavings dropping down incessantly. Thirty minutes later, a black human skull appeared in his hands. He fine-tuned carving a bit and nodded satisfactorily. He then carved the second bead, followed by the third, fourth, and fifth.

He finished carving five quail-egg sized ebony skulls by the time it was 3 AM in the morning. Xia Yan took out the skull pendant he wore on him and placed the six skulls side by side under the light, which made them appear very eerie and mysterious.

“Let’s make a Virus Horcrux first then,” Xia Yan wore the pendant on his neck again. He then placed four of the ebony skulls back into the backpack, leaving only one on the table, and began chanting an undead magic spell in a low voice.

This spell was very long and caused beads of sweat to appear on Xia Yan’s forehead during the process. Five minutes later, his entire body was drenched in sweat.

He then stopped chanting and touched the crown of the skull with his forefinger, declaring in a low voice, “Horcrux of Pestilence!”

A blue flame entered the skull through his fingertip and traveled back and forth inside the skull, leaving behind a series of straight and curved lines. Soon after, a small magic circle formed inside the skull.

A blue light flashed all of a sudden, and the sockets of the skull lit up with two blue wisps, disappearing after a few seconds. Xia Yan collapsed onto the table as he felt extremely fatigued, just like a man rescued from drowning underwater.

Although he had created five Horcruxes, just finishing one Virus Horcrux had tired him out, this was his limit as a novice mage.

After resting for a moment, Xia Yan got up and strung the Virus Horcrux along with the pendant he was wearing and revealed a satisfied smile.