Chapter 13: Let Me See!
Inside the dormitory building, the light was slightly dim, and a faint scent of wood mixed with old books floated in the air.
The corridor was wide, with closed doors on both sides, and room numbers marked on the doorplates.
Lin Xuan looked down at the '108' marked on the key in his hand and followed the signs toward the left.
It was only then that the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, who had been holding its breath and not daring to speak, finally couldn't hold it in anymore, shouting and fussing as if its fur were standing on end.
"Lin Xuan, what were you doing just now?! That person is an Limit Douluo! Don't you know how sinister that thing inside you is?"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's spiritual body paced around anxiously atop the mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
"What if... what if he saw through it? You just sat there so nonchalantly? And you said all that nonsense!"
"Why are you shouting so loud?"
Lin Xuan looked speechless, "Calm down. I never do anything I'm not sure of, and I certainly don't look for trouble for no reason."
"Even if you're sure, it's not okay! An Limit Douluo is no small fry. What if he got unhappy and swatted you to death? Who would I cry to? My god-making plan has only just started!"
Lin Xuan didn't stop walking toward dormitory 108 as he explained.
"It is precisely because my Martial Soul is special—a genuine evil Martial Soul—that I needed to do what I did just now."
"Think about it, how sharp are an Limit Douluo's senses? If he really saw through my Malevolent Shrine Martial Soul, there would be no hiding from it. The more I try to conceal it, the more suspicious it becomes."
"I approached him proactively, interacting with a normal attitude and even saying things that seemed irrelevant but were actually reflections on life, all to leave a good first impression."
Lin Xuan paused and said,
"The image of a young Soul Master who might be a bit special, but has a good heart and even contemplates life."
"Once a first impression is formed, it's hard to change. In the future, even if the aura of the Malevolent Shrine accidentally leaks out or he notices it for some reason, the first thing he'll associate it with is the boy who sat beside him today talking about cherishing time, rather than an Evil Soul Master who needs to be eliminated immediately."
"Do you understand now?"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was stunned by the explanation.
"But... but how can you be sure he'd buy that? What if he only looks at the nature of the Martial Soul?"
"That's the other key point."
The corners of Lin Xuan's mouth curled slightly into a confident smile.
"What I'm betting on is not just my acting and rhetoric, but Mu En himself."
Mu En possesses a top-tier Martial Soul with pure light attributes like the Radiant Holy Dragon.
If his heart were not clear and bright, and if he lacked reverence and compassion for life, it would be absolutely impossible for him to cultivate to the rank ninety-nine Limit Douluo realm.
As for Shrek Academy's current rule regarding Evil Soul Masters—'better to kill by mistake than let them go, except for Shrek personnel'—that's a different matter.
One can only say that Mu En's intentions were good, but the people below him executed them poorly.
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was left speechless, but it immediately thought of another question and asked curiously,
"Hey, wait a minute! Lin Xuan, this is your first time entering Shrek Academy, right? How did you recognize that old man as Mu En? And why does it sound like you know him so well?"
Lin Xuan had already arrived at the door of dormitory 108.
Hearing this, his hand holding the key paused slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he answered with only two words.
"Secret."
With those words, he ignored the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's protests in his mind and inserted the key into the lock.
He gave it a gentle turn.
Click.
The lock opened.
He pushed the door; the heavy wooden door wasn't locked from the inside, and with a slight creak, it slowly opened inward.
The dormitory was small, only about ten square meters. Two beds took up most of the space, leaving only a desk and two tin wardrobes.
The spirit lamp on the ceiling illuminated the small dormitory brightly.
On the bed to the right, a figure was currently putting on clothes with their back to the door.
"Oho? So fair?"
Looking at the person's snow-white back, Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow.
The person with their back to the door was clearly startled by the sudden sound of the door opening and the words. Their body stiffened, and they hurriedly scrambled to finish dressing before getting off the bed and turning around.
Only then did Lin Xuan see his future roommate's full appearance, and his expression couldn't help but turn a bit strange.
He even subconsciously took half a step back and looked up to re-confirm the room number.
108, he hadn't gone to the wrong place; it was the boys' dormitory.
It really wasn't his fault for overthinking; the youth before him was... indeed a bit excessively "pretty."
A head of rare dark green long hair was simply tied into a ponytail hanging behind his head, the strands smooth and lustrous.
His skin was the kind of fair that suggested a lack of sunlight, even more delicate than many girls'.
His facial features were incredibly exquisite; his eyebrows were soft, and the bridge of his nose was elegant. At first glance, almost anyone would think he was a girl.
"Ah, you... you must be my new roommate?"
The youth seemed to have composed himself. A smile appeared on his face, and his voice was clear—it was indeed a male voice.
"Hello, I'm Dugu Qing. Please look after me in the future."
Lin Xuan's expression remained somewhat subtle as he sized Dugu Qing up, his tone hesitant.
"Are you... sure you didn't go to the wrong dormitory? This is 108, the boys' dormitory."
Dugu Qing had clearly encountered this kind of doubt before. He blinked, then hurriedly waved his hands to explain.
"I'm in the right place! I'm in the right place! I really am a boy! Guaranteed!"
"I don't believe you."
Lin Xuan shook his head and closed the door behind him.
"Unless you let me see."
"See... see what?!"
Dugu Qing suddenly hugged his arms tight and took half a step back, his eyes filled with vigilance and disbelief.
"Haha, just a joke, don't mind me."
Lin Xuan finally couldn't help laughing. He stepped forward and extended his hand toward Dugu Qing.
"Hello, I'm Lin Xuan. Gender male, interest female."
Dugu Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to shake Lin Xuan's hand.
Afterward, Lin Xuan took out bedding and other daily necessities from his spirit tool and began to make his bed, speaking casually without looking back.
"Your name is Dugu Qing, right? The Dugu surname, plus that dark green hair... if I'm not mistaken, you should be a descendant of the Poison Douluo Dugu Bo from ten thousand years ago?"
Dugu Qing, who was taking a few pieces of clothing out of the wardrobe, suddenly stiffened. The expression on his face instantly became tense and unnatural.
"Uh... yes, Student Lin Xuan, you are very knowledgeable..."
"Ha, don't be nervous."
Lin Xuan waved his hand casually, "I don't have any particular opinion on what Dugu Bo did. Besides, ten thousand years have passed. Even if he really did something wrong, it has nothing to do with me."
"Do you really think so?" Dugu Qing's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly followed up.
He had almost never heard such words from someone outside his family since he was a child.
When outsiders mentioned the 'Dugu' surname, the first thing they thought of was a poison capable of slaughtering a city, followed by staying as far away as possible.
"Of course."
Lin Xuan tucked in the last corner of the quilt and then leaned back, lying comfortably on the made bed. The fatigue accumulated from several days in the Star Dou Great Forest seemed to ease at this moment.
He rested his hands behind his head, looking at the white ceiling of the dormitory.
"A person's origin and family history might explain some things, but they are by no means enough to define the person themselves. These are just labels; they don't prove anything."
"Just like most products, they look mouth-watering on the packaging, but in reality? If they even have a ten percent similarity, the merchant is being honest."
Hearing these words, Dugu Qing's heart instantly warmed.
Due to Dugu Bo's city-slaughtering incident ten thousand years ago, although the Dugu family had continued their lineage through their unique poisonous Martial Soul, their reputation in the Soul Master World and among ordinary people had always been poor, facing invisible exclusion and wariness everywhere.
Combined with the hidden danger of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul's powerful toxicity rebounding on the Soul Master themselves, the descendants of the Dugu family not only had to endure strange looks from the outside world but were also often victims of their own power. The family had never flourished, living a rather difficult and lonely existence.
Just like the serpent Martial Soul they inherited, they were accustomed to hiding in the shadows.
At this moment, hearing his newly met roommate say these things so nonchalantly, the shock in Dugu Qing's heart was beyond words.
"Tha... thank you, Student Lin Xuan."
"What's there to thank?"
Lin Xuan smiled and sat up. "By the way, which class are you in? I'm in Freshman Class Nine."
"I'm in class nine too!" Dugu Qing's eyes lit up, and his tone became much lighter. "It seems we're not just roommates, but also classmates."
"What a coincidence." Lin Xuan also laughed. "We can go to class together in the future."
The atmosphere between the two clearly became warmer.
Dugu Qing also relaxed a lot, and while organizing the small amount of luggage he had brought, he took the initiative to chat about some light topics.
Lin Xuan listened with interest, occasionally interjecting a few words.
The sun slanted westward, the temperature was pleasant, and just like a very ordinary afternoon in a college dormitory on Blue Star, everything was peaceful.