"It's the Medicining and Artificing students. Their usual courses are rather dull, so they ended up moving more quickly into the valleys."
Lecturer Mu Qing stood by the window with a faint smile.
Her appearance was quite plain, but like all black-robed lecturers at the academy, she carried an air of unyielding detachment. As she spoke, a breeze fluttered through her robe, making her seem like a black rose growing at the edge of a cliff.
"Alright, all the boys leave the room now. You'll have plenty of time to look around once you're in your own rooms."
Once Lin Xi and the other boys exited the room, she glanced at the tallest girl among the five from the Warfare Department—Hua Jiyue. "You seem to have the most straightforward temperament. This room is yours. You shouldn't have any complaints, right?"
Hua Jiyue shrugged indifferently.
"Here's the key." Mu Qing pulled out a clinking iron ring from her sleeve, hung with several bronze keys. Each one was a narrow, three-inch-long bronze plate, carved with a unique design. The one for Hua Jiyue was etched with an owl. The others had markings of a hawk, vines, a lark, and thorns.
"To be fair, you can now return to your rooms, or come with me to check out the boys' rooms."
"Well, why not? Let's go take a look!"
...
After pulling another bronze ring along the corridor, a bridge-like bronze ladder unfolded, connecting to a corner of the third floor.
All the rooms on the third floor were unlocked. Mu Qing casually pushed one open, and the new students, who had been lingering outside earlier, rushed in eagerly.
These rooms were also at the cliff's edge, with nearly identical views out their windows, but the interiors were completely different. The floors, walls, and even the beds were all made from solid greenish stone.
Most of these stones were carved with intersecting patterns. Only the mattress and bedding were made from thick, tanned beast hides, appearing relatively soft.
"You charged in first—so impatient. But everyone will get their own room, so there's no need to rush. This one's yours now."
Qiu Lu's excited expression froze on his face. He had indeed barged in first, and because of the scrambling, this room was messier than the others.
"The real significance of each room isn't the room itself, but who walks out of it."
Mu Qing handed him the owl-marked key and said calmly, "This room, for example, once housed a High General and two provincial governors."
Boom!
An uproar spread through the students.
Qiu Lu's eyes lit up. "Maybe another High General will walk out from here!"
"Idiot," someone muttered under their breath.
"Who said that? Say it to my face!" Qiu Lu turned red with anger but couldn't find the culprit.
"Alright, everyone take a key and find your own room. Each door is marked with a matching emblem."
"Lecturer Mu, what do we do next?" someone asked.
"If you didn't learn to stash food on the way here and you're hungry now, you can explore the New Student Hall—there's a room with some food. Otherwise, just stay in your rooms. I'll take you to class tomorrow. But remember the first rule of Qingluan Academy," Mu Qing said peacefully. "If you break it, I'll deduct one credit for the first offense."
"That rule's kind of weird. Why is that?" a Golden Spoon youth muttered with a curl of his lip.
"You can ask Lecturer Situ tomorrow during your lesson. His answer will be far more memorable than mine. Girls, you may leave… and from now on, anyone who enters another student's room will have one credit deducted." Mu Qing smoothed her hair and smiled slightly, ushering everyone out except for Qiu Lu. Then she took the five Warfare Department girls and turned to leave.
Lin Xi looked at the key in his hand and started searching for his room. His key was marked with a black banner, like a rolling storm cloud. But when he looked up, he noticed Li Kaiyun's face was pale and his legs were trembling.
"What's wrong?" Lin Xi asked curiously.
Li Kaiyun clutched his chest as if deeply frightened, and whispered, "Did you notice? Lecturer Mu made no sound at all when she walked—like her feet didn't touch the ground..."
Lin Xi blinked and looked again. The tall, thin Mu Qing was walking on the suspended bronze stairway. Her black robe was so wide it covered her feet, and there truly was no sound from her footsteps.
He frowned and turned to Li Kaiyun, sensing there was more to it.
Li Kaiyun finally caught his breath, though still pale. "There's something terrifying under her robe… I saw something like a snake's head poke out."
Lin Xi was startled. "A snake's head?"
"Yes. At least this big, and I swear it was alive—it pulled back instantly." Li Kaiyun made a fist to show the size.
Suddenly, Li Kaiyun went silent, and his face turned even paler.
Because right then, Mu Qing, halfway up the bronze stairway, turned her head and glanced at them—and seemed to smile ominously.
Creak.
After escorting the five girls to the fifth floor, she pushed open a wall and walked inside, disappearing somewhere within the maze-like hall.
"Lin Xi… you think she heard us? Aren't you scared?" Li Kaiyun asked, noticing Lin Xi didn't seem frightened at all.
Lin Xi smiled and patted his shoulder. "What's there to be afraid of? She's our lecturer and the guardian of the New Student Hall. The more terrifying she is, the safer we are."
Li Kaiyun paused. "That… actually makes sense. So should we explore this place a bit?"
Lin Xi shook his head without hesitation. "There'll be plenty of time later. Who knows what tomorrow's first class will bring?"
"Entered the Heaven Selection, but only a second-grade talent… Professor Qin, you insisted on him joining the Warfare Department, and he actually did. I wonder if that's fortunate or unfortunate for him..."
Behind the rotating wall, Mu Qing stood still, her black robe swaying slightly, ears twitching, muttering to herself.
...
Unaware that the black-robed lecturer behind the wall was contemplating his future, Lin Xi began searching for his room with the key in hand.
Along the third-floor corridor, he saw others opening their doors, so he didn't bother checking each pattern closely.
At last, he reached the second-to-last door and found a black flag, like one whipped by fierce wind, carved onto it.
Just then, a tall, thin youth carrying a longsword and bow walked toward him.
There had originally been four "Frontier Folk" who carried weapons during enrollment, but only one had managed to enter Qingluan Academy with his blade. So Lin Xi remembered him easily—his name was Tang Ke.
"Tang Ke, you're living next door?"
Lin Xi curiously looked at the door beside his, marked with a heavy suit of armor.
Tang Ke was briefly stunned. Frontier Folk, Golden Spoons, and Country Bumps usually didn't mix well, so he hadn't expected Lin Xi—a Heaven-Selected—would speak to him. "Yes." After glancing at the door, he nodded a little nervously.
Lin Xi smiled. "Tang Ke, can we chat? Now, or after you put your stuff down."
Tang Ke stiffened again. He lowered his gaze and saw his dust-covered, worn-out shoes. "Chat… with me? Why?"
"Why?" Lin Xi paused, then chuckled softly. "Because I admire you."
His smile was warm, his tone relaxed. But Tang Ke tensed up completely. "I… I'm not into that."
"That?" Lin Xi blinked. "What do you mean?"
Tang Ke's face flushed with embarrassment. "You know… that Dragon-Yang kind of thing. Playing with butts. I don't like that stuff."
Lin Xi was stunned—completely frozen. Then he burst into laughter, bending over.
When he finally stood upright, he looked seriously at Tang Ke, pointing at his longsword and bow. "I said I admire you because you carried those here even when it was clearly too much. I just wanted to hear about the border army. I'm not into that either."
Tang Ke's dark face flushed bright red. Lin Xi rubbed his aching stomach and turned serious again. "I'm from Lulin Town. Uncle Liu, who drove the cart bringing me here, is an old border soldier. He never told me anything, but everyone speaks of the border army like it's a nightmare. Even my one casual remark triggered that thought in you… So what is the border army really like?"
Tang Ke took a deep breath. Though Lin Xi's expression was earnest, he still instinctively gripped his sword hilt. "The border army… is not a place for humans."