A thousand and one roses. That's what greeted Xiao Wu when she stepped into the room — not just in number, but in feeling.
Elegant glass vases cradled crimson blossoms in every corner, their vibrant petals fanning out like firelight. The air was thick with the scent of roses — not cloying but intoxicating — as if the very atmosphere had been steeped in passion. The fragrance curled softly around the room, lingering in folds of velvet curtains, in the quiet hush between heartbeats.
She blinked, the surreal beauty of it all pulling her back from a daze. Turning toward Qian Yu, her eyes sparkled with a mixture of surprise and quiet awe. Then, like a struck match, a flush bloomed across her cheeks.
Xiao Wu stepped forward, plucking a single rose from a nearby vase and lifting it to her nose. The petals brushed her skin like silk.
"This room… it's like something out of a dream," she said softly. "I think… I'm starting to fall for this place. Qian Yu-ge, can we come here often?"
Qian Yu chuckled, his voice low and warm. "If you like it, then we'll make it our place."
Without another word, he walked into the adjoining bedroom. Xiao Wu watched him go, then stuck out her tongue at his back with playful mischief. Still, she followed.
Inside, the bedroom took her breath away all over again.
There was only one bed — but calling it a bed felt like an understatement. It was massive, heart-shaped, and took up nearly half the room. From the ceiling, sheer pink drapes cascaded like mist, shrouding the bed in a veil of dreamlike allure.
Every inch of it was covered in red rose motifs — the duvet, the pillows, even the embroidered canopy above. It was all too suggestive, too vivid. The kind of aesthetic that made your heartbeat faster even when you didn't quite understand why.
Qian Yu stood silently, gazing at the center of the room.
Then, without warning, Xiao Wu threw her arms around him from behind.
His body tensed in surprise.
Turning gently, he found her cheeks burning and her face buried in his chest, as though she could hide from the world inside him.
"What's wrong, little fox?" he asked, his voice touched with amusement.
She didn't answer. Slowly, she raised her head, her eyes shy and luminous.
And then she closed them.
Understanding her silence, Qian Yu leaned down and kissed her.
Her body trembled ever so slightly at the contact, but she didn't pull away.
They stayed like that for a long time, lost in a kiss that said everything they were too young or too uncertain to put into words.
When at last they parted, Xiao Wu's face was radiant with bashfulness. She buried herself in his arms once more.
"Qian Yu-ge…" she whispered.
He smiled, brushing her hair back gently. "Alright. Time for sleep."
He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed, now dusted in soft rose petals like a spring snowfall.
She tensed slightly.
He kissed her forehead, tender as twilight.
"No need to be nervous," he murmured. "I'm really gentle, you know."
Xiao Wu nodded, her voice barely more than a hum.
"Mm-hmm."
Qian Yu joined her on the bed, his fingers brushing against hers as he kissed her once more — softly, slowly, like the closing of a music box.
Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy…
Dai Mubai lay in bed, eyes fluttering open to a dim ceiling he didn't recognize. The sterile scent of medicine clung to the air.
Three figures hovered nearby — Dean Flender, the burly Zhao Wuji, and a recently arrived teacher named Yu Xiaogang.
"You're awake!" Zhao Wuji nearly shouted, rushing to his side.
Dai Mubai blinked, disoriented.
"Dean… Teacher Zhao… Master Yu… What happened to me?"
Flender's expression darkened.
"Mubai, there's something we need to tell you. But you must brace yourself."
The young man nodded, tension creeping into his jaw.
Flender sighed heavily. "You lost a lot of blood. We were able to save your life… but we couldn't save everything."
Dai Mubai froze.
"Dean… what do you mean by that?"
Flender looked away. "You won't be able to… carry on your family line."
The words landed like a thunderclap.
In stunned silence, Dai Mubai glanced under the blankets — thick bandages wrapped around his thighs like a cruel joke.
Yu Xiaogang stepped forward, his voice calm but heavy.
"I know what you're feeling. I've been through it too. But you can't let this break you, Mubai. You're still alive. That matters."
"Who did this?" Zhao Wuji growled. "Tell me who it was. I'll carve them up myself!"
"We'll get revenge, Mubai. Just say the name," Yu Xiaogang added, quietly resolute.
Silence lingered like ash.
Then Dai Mubai's expression twisted into rage, his fingers digging into the bed.
"…It was Qian Yu."
"Qian Yu?" Flender repeated, puzzled.
But Yu Xiaogang had gone rigid, as if the name were a curse he'd long tried to forget.
"It's him… Why is it always him…" he muttered.
"You know this Qian Yu?" Flender turned to him.
Yu Xiaogang didn't respond right away. He was still shaken. He hadn't told anyone what Qian Yu had done to him — that humiliation was his alone.
He'd fled to Soto City hoping for a fresh start, free from the specter of the boy who haunted his past. But it seemed Qian Yu had followed him here, like some grim shadow intent on stealing his peace.
"I… I'm fine," he stammered — but the voice that came out was oddly high-pitched.
Flender blinked. "Your voice…?"
"Just a cold," Yu Xiaogang said quickly. Then, gathering himself:
"Qian Yu was a student of mine in Nuoding City. But don't underestimate him. His strength… It's monstrous. He's already at the level of a four-ring Spirit Ancestor, and fights like a Demon King."
"That explains how he defeated Mubai," Flender said grimly.
"And he has four ten-thousand-year spirit rings," Dai Mubai added with a trembling voice.
Flender and Zhao Wuji both gasped.
"That defies all logic," Flender said. "That shouldn't even be possible!"
Yu Xiaogang's voice was solemn. "For most people, it isn't. But Qian Yu… he's not most people. He's a monster."
"Well, monster or not," Zhao Wuji growled, fists clenched, "he hurt my student. That makes it my problem. Mubai — where is he?"
"…The Rose Hotel," Dai Mubai said through clenched teeth.
And so, the storm began to gather.
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