Dragon Hermit

“Xia Yan, can you tell me who your friend really is?” After entering the grove, Hou Xiaotian questioned Xia Yan eagerly.

“Actually, I also don’t know who he is, but I’m aware that he possesses some extraordinary methods… Was the treatment he performed on Uncle Hou effective?”

“It was!” Hou Xiaotian replied emotionally.

“That’s good, then. Oh, yeah. Did your father get himself discharged?” Xia Yan asked.

“He did! But his cancer isn’t completely gone yet…” Hou Xiaotian answered.

“Hmm. He told me that he will come to perform another treatment within two days, and that will cure your father completely. You can just give the address to me,” Xia Yan stated.

“Okay!” Hou Xiaotian no longer had any doubts about it. Since one treatment session had killed half the cancer cells, another one would kill the rest. This proved that the enigmatic man had planned it in advance and that the report wasn’t mistaken.

“Xia Yan, I don’t know how to thank you and your friend…” Hou Xiaotian choked up with emotion as tears fell from his eyes.

“Let’s talk about it once Uncle Hou is completely cured. We’re classmates, so spare me all these formalities,” Xia Yan told Hou Xiaotian while patting his shoulders.

“Xia Yan, I…” Hou Xiaotian choked up with sobs as he couldn’t find words to respond with. However, he silently made a vow in his heart to repay Xia Yan and his friend. Gratitude had to be repaid in full, and even more.

“By the way, Xiaotian, you must keep this matter a secret, got it? Don’t tell anyone about it, no matter what!” Xia Yan emphasized this again.

“I definitely won’t tell anyone!” Hou Xiaotian answered.

“Xia Yan…” Hou Xiaotian spoke up but then paused.

“What is it?” Xia Yan asked.

“It’s nothing!” Hou Xiaotian shook his head. He was planning to ask whether this so-called friend was none other than Xia Yan himself, but it was quite clear that Xia Yan wasn’t willing to talk about it, so didn’t say it to him.

Qi Ziyu failed to appear in the military training the next day, but Xia Yan didn’t mind that. Girls had a few days in each month, where even the military training couldn’t force them to attend.

“Xia Yan, someone is targeting you!” Since the training hadn’t begun yet, a guy from room 402 took the chance to approach Xia Yan and said this surreptitiously.

“Who is it?” Xia Yan was a bit shocked about this. He pondered whether he had offended someone other than Xiao Yuan on the campus as Xiao Yuan wasn’t a guy who would dare to ignore the warning from Dong Quan.

“Zhou Yi.”

“The singer, Zhou Yi? Why would he target me?”

“Not that one, It’s Zhou Yi, the vice-president of the student association, a junior. He’s also the president of the Taekwondo Club and has participated in competitions.”

“Why would he target me when I haven’t provoked him?” Xia Yan asked in amazement.

“I heard a sophomore from the same town as mine say that Zhou Yi was pursuing An Xiaoru, but she never responded to his efforts. And now, An Xiaoru has actually formed a fellowship with you and your dorm room. You tell me, why wouldn’t he target you now?”

“Fudge! Does he want me to back down?”

“That’s right!” The scoundrel from room 403 patted Xia Yan’s shoulders and comforted him, “I heard someone is backing Zhou Yi. So, he hasn’t received any disciplinary action even though he has beat up people before. He just settled the matter with those who got beat up with medical compensation since he doesn’t lack money. Therefore, you must act with prudence!”

“Got it. Thanks for telling me about it!”

Although this had surprised him a bit, Xia Yan actually didn’t take this vice-president of the student association seriously.

[Taekwondo? I’m a freaking necromancer!]

[Our power levels aren’t even on the same spectrum, okay? Do you think I would need to pay special attention to an ant that’s targeting me? If it dares to climb on my leg, all I need is a finger to crush it to death.]

At noon, the trio from C402 went to Dining Hall B to have lunch. They had just taken a seat when Xiaoyu sent a message to Xia Yan, “Cousin, where are you having lunch?”

“Dining Hall B,” Xi Yan replied.

“Wait for us, we are on the way there too,” Xiaoyu replied back.

“Okay.”

The four girls from H504 arrived ten minutes later. The seven of them put two of the tables together and took seats there to dine and chat.

Zhao Qiang was doing all he could to court the average-faced girl, Wang Yi. Qin Jian, who always claimed he was a love rival to Zhao Qiang, did nothing to hinder this. It seemed like he was just messing around with Zhao Qiang before.

In fact, Wang Yi had a decent figure and appearance too. The reason she seemed so average was that she had three eight-pointer women beside her, so it was hard for her to catch the eyes of men. She had a petite figure, and if she were to stand before Zhao Qiang, who was 190 cm tall, they would become the perfect example of the phrase, ‘height gap couples are the cutest.’ Naturally, if Zhao Qiang’s face wasn’t acne-filled, he would have really fit the description of the word ‘cute.’

Xiaoyu, on the other hand, sat beside Xia Yan, and passed pieces of meat onto Xia Yan’s plate from time to time, and watched him eat them, feeling bliss from just that. Xia Yan actually felt embarrassed and kept stuffing his mouth with food since he didn’t dare to raise his head. Because if he were to do so, he would have to confront his two traitorous friends’ and the other girls’ sportive gazes.

Xia Yan was also keeping an eye on the reactions of the crowd around them. The girls of H504 were too attractive, so the boys’ gazes were filled with envy and jealousy and wished pretty hard to change places with Xia Yan.

“Isn’t that Xiao Yuan’s girlfriend, Zhang Xiaoyu? How come she’s sitting with another boy and even feeding him by placing food on his plate?” A boy sitting at a table a few meters away from Xia Yan saw this scene and asked his friends with raised brows.

“Xiao Yuan has been pursuing her, but she actually hasn’t agreed to become a couple with him. However, Xiao Yuan did say that he would definitely break her defenses in less than a month after the semester commences. So, it looks like he failed!” His friend answered.

“How dare he snatches my bro’s girl. We have to help Xiao Yuan get back his face. Or else, we won’t have any face left to show in public after it becomes known that a freshman snatched a girl from his senior!”

“Even if you say that…. What should we do?” His two friends hesitated for only a moment and then asked excitedly.

“We’ll just get straight to the point. It’s just a few freshmen, do we even need to cook up a scheme to teach them a lesson?” The boy stated disdainfully and got up from his seat. The other two also pushed their plates forward and stood up after him.

“Xia Yan, I’ll get a pop for you!” After passing another piece of meat to Xia Yan, Xiaoyu got up and told him this.

“Get two,” Anna added.

“Make it three,” An Xiaoru also chimed in.

“Actually, four,” Wang Yi smiled.

“Just get it yourselves!” Xiaoyu retorted.

“Xiaoyu, you cannot treat your friends like this after finding love!” An Xiaoru teased her.

“Yeah! Why are you buying it for Xia Yan, but not for us?!” Anna also joined the fun.

“You all…” Xiaoyu’s face blushed, and she stamped her foot in anger, “All right. I’ll get them, okay?”

“Allow me to do it!” After getting kicked by Qin Jian under the table, Zhao Qiang rushed to get up. Since he planned to pursue Wang Yi, he couldn’t miss this opportunity to buy drinks for a girl. Now was the time for him to show his excellence.

“Yeah. Xiaoyu, let Zhao Qiang get them, he’s loaded!” Qin Jian chuckled.

Girls obviously wouldn’t vie with the boys for this. If they didn’t give the boys a chance to show their excellence, they would be killing their own chances too. Therefore, Zhao Qiang went to buy pops jovially.

While everyone was poking fun at Wang Yi, three tall boys appeared before Xia Yan and Xiaoyu. One of them with a buzz cut and sturdy figure sat down in Zhao Qiang’s seat and looked at Xia Yan and Xiaoyu coldly. The other two stood behind him, and although they numbered only three, they looked imposing.

People’s moods always dampened whenever a stranger barged into their fun mealtime with friends. The girls raised their brows, revealing displeasure on their faces. As for Xiaoyu, her expression changed significantly when she saw this person as she had seen him with Xiao Yuan before.

Xia Yan laid down the chopsticks and welcomed the gaze of this person. [He’s here with bad intentions. Is this guy that whatever vice-president, Zhou Yi? How come he’s here to pick a fight so soon? Also, wasn’t he pursuing An Xiaoru? Why is he staring at Xiaoyu now?]

“Zhang Xiaoyu. You are Xiao Yuan’s girlfriend, so isn’t it inappropriate for you to act so intimately with another boy?” To Xia Yan’s surprise, the boy targeted Xiaoyu with his nasty words, and they weren’t pleasant to anyone’s ears.

Xiaoyu glanced at Xia Yan subconsciously as she was afraid Xia Yan would misunderstand things. Then, she refuted that statement with a flushed face, “Liu Mo, stop spouting nonsense. Xiao Yuan isn’t my boyfriend!”

“You’re two-timing, so you don’t dare to admit it now, huh?” Liu Mo sneered.

“Who are you to have a say in what Xiaoyu does? Xiaoyu and Xiao Yuan had nothing going on between them, so who she’s intimate with is none of your business!” An Xiaoru was the first to lose her calm. She slammed the table so hard that almost all the people in the hall looked over their direction.

“I’m Xiao Yuan’s bro, so his business is my business!” Liu Mo leaned back on the chair with swag and sneered, “My bro’s girlfriend has cucked him, so I do have a say in it!”

“Fu•k!” Anna also lost her calm now. She grabbed the plate before her and threw it at him. Liu Mo dodged it swiftly, but the food had still ended up staining his white shirt.

“Cucked, your foot! Didn’t we already tell you that nothing was going on between Xiaoyu and Xiao Yuan? Stop saying bullshit, you stupid fu•king di•k-su•king c•nt!” Anna spewed out all kinds of vulgar words like a Gatling gun. Both Xia Yan and Qin Jian were dumbstruck after hearing them. On the other hand, girls’ normal expressions suggested that they were long accustomed to this.

“You…” Liu Mo got up suddenly. He felt distressed about the brand-new shirt that had got ruined, so he glared at Anna.

“What are you looking at? You wanna hit me, huh?” Anna didn’t shirk back and got up as well.

“… A real man doesn’t hit women!” Liu Mo endured after looking at the surroundings. If he really hit a pretty woman like Anna, who was among the ranks of campus queens, her pursuers would definitely teach him a good lesson.

“If you aren’t gonna fight, scram from here! I’ve lost all my appetite after looking at you, and as for you…” Anna pointed at the two boys behind him, “Don’t believe you are hot stuff just because you have your arms crossed. With your ugly faces, you’re no better than lackeys. If we were to place you in a TV drama, you would be just extras who don’t even appear in the credits! Extras, got it?”

“Hahahaha!” The other students in the hall began laughing out loud. That’s how students were, they would laugh if they felt like it, they had no restraint at all.

“Queen Anna, you cursed ‘em pretty good!” A man yelled loudly.

“Well said, Sister Anna!”

“Thank you for the praises!” Anna fiddled with her hair charmingly and spoke to Liu Mo disdainfully, “If you try to strong-arm a lady, you’ll pay the price for it!”

Liu Mo’s face flushed up, but he really didn’t dare to do anything to Anna. In the end, he decided to shift his anger to Xia Yan and said after slamming the table forcefully, “Kid, how dare you snatch my bro’s girl?”

Xia Yan had raised his plate before Liu Mo had slammed the table, or else the food would have spilled and he would have had nothing to eat.

“Does Xiao Yuan know that you are acting like this here?” Xia Yan asked softly as he got up from the seat and raised his head to look at Liu Mo.