04 February 2023
"Where is he?"
Luxia was a bit surprised to see Sizhu's face turn serious.
"Eh? He's here. In the chancellor's office at the academy."
Upon hearing that, Sizhu immediately stood up, about to go there right away.
But his movement stopped when Luxia's hand gently held his wrist.
"Wait, Sizhu. Why do you want to meet the chancellor so urgently?"
"He knows me. That means he knew my master."
"That's exactly why I came here, Sizhu."
Sizhu turned around.
"Do you also know my master?"
Luxia softly shook her head. "First, come here and sit beside me."
Obediently, Sizhu returned to sit next to her.
"Sizhu, are you aware of the reason why you're here?"
Sizhu shook his head. Nothing came to mind. He himself was confused, why he had come to this place called Qincheng.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"It's because you carry the answer I'm searching for, Sizhu."
"An answer?" Sizhu tilted his head slightly.
Luxia closed her eyes and spoke, "You're wrapped in so many mysteries. The immense mana that surged from you. The faction of heretical organization that tried to trap you in the forbidden forest. And the fact that you grew up there alone with only your master already raises many questions.
"Who are you, Sizhu?"
She opened her eyes and looked at Sizhu seriously.
The one being questioned only looked confused, hearing so many questions about himself.
"I'm... Sizhu?" Sizhu answered, uncertainly. He had never asked himself that question.
What exactly does this woman mean?
"Ara~ of course you're Sizhu." She touched his nose lightly with her fingertip. "Maybe you'll discover who you truly are after meeting your master's friend. If you wish to meet the chancellor, Sizhu, you'll have to win that tournament."
Luxia stood up from the edge of the bed. As she walked toward the door, she said:
"Your sweat has a unique scent. See you tonight, Sizhu. Save your strength for the tournament later."
She turned back to wave her hand with a mysterious smile and closed eyes. Then she left Sizhu's room.
"My sweat has a unique scent? Does that mean I smell bad?"
***
At night, the constellation of stars could be seen clearly over the Qincheng valley.
"This place feels familiar."
Sizhu walked around the school courtyard.
The place known as Qincheng Magic Academy and the headquarters of the China Hunter Agency was vast—almost like a city above the clouds.
Imagine a great mountain with steep slopes forming a high valley on both its western and eastern sides. Below both cliff walls ran a flowing river.
Not wide, but long, stretching from the river's source all the way to the small town at the mountain's foot.
Sizhu stood in front of the dormitory courtyard. A few people in black-and-white robes passed by, pretending to smile politely.
"The Zhan Dou tournament starts tonight. I wonder how many people will make it through the preliminaries."
"Yeah, the last ten who manage to hold out will get a free recommendation into our academy. Back then, besides needing magical talent and a hefty fee, we had to fight hard through the academy entrance exams. Otherwise, we'd have ended up in the Hunter Academy instead of the magic academy."
Hearing those who passed by, Sizhu started to understand what his master had meant by sending him here.
Maybe master sent me here to study magic. He said he had a friend who would help me. But I can't meet him without joining the tournament.
While looking around, Sizhu kept walking, searching for the place he'd long been seeking.
There were ten terraced levels on both sides of the valley, with many buildings that looked ancient on the outside yet futuristic inside.
On the third to fifth levels of the right valley were student dormitories (female dormitories were on the opposite side, separated by the small river and a low curved-roof wall as a boundary), with curved jade-green roofs and sturdy white stone walls built to withstand the cold at an altitude of a kilometer above sea level. The structures' frames were made of dark brown wood, often carved with lion or dragon motifs. Red pillars and corridors with white stone floors.
Outside the dormitories lay open courtyards, where medium-sized bonsai trees were planted in rectangular plots near every red pillar.
The roofed corridors, painted the same colors, surrounded rectangular courtyards with yin-yang symbols in the center—usually used as sparring grounds for academy students.
Sizhu walked from the roofed corridor that encircled the dormitory courtyard.
So many people here. Most of them are about my age.
From the roofed corridor to the stairs leading to the next terrace.
There, he found a spacious area. Surrounded by walls with low curved red roofs and golden pointed tips.
He entered the gate, walking the white stone stairs to the next terrace. There lay the dormitories where senior students lived. The previous level housed guests and junior students who had newly entered this year.
The uniforms worn by seniors different from those Sizhu had just seen. Junior students wore white robes with green collars and matching pants. On their right chest was a symbol of three horizontal stripes. Some had broken lines on some of the stripes, others did not.
The seniors wore white robes with dark blue collars and matching inner garments. They, too, bore the three stripes on the right chest.
Sizhu walked around boldly, without shyness or hesitation. In fact, Sizhu seemed to walk without showing respect to those senior students.
He wandered through the corridors of the senior dorms, continuing until he reached the tall building at the highest terrace.
Some people glanced curiously at Sizhu, some sneered, while others paid him no mind.
"Who is he? Some lost kid?"
"How dare he walk past us without bowing?"
"Just leave him be. Judging by the patient's clothes he's wearing, maybe he's seriously ill."
Sizhu barely paid attention to the whispers around him. He kept walking, observing everything.
Unlike the lower dorms, the senior dormitory buildings were larger and longer.
There were many rectangular courtyards with octagonal circles in the center, engraved with yin-yang symbols.
Many ginkgo trees with light green leaves and small pink blossoms were planted near the corners of the fields.
Traditional Chinese carvings adorned the upper parts of every building wall, as well as the bright red pillars.
Sizhu noticed some places had bells at their dormitory gates.
Earlier, before entering the senior dormitory area, he saw a large golden bell hanging above the semicircular gate.
On the bell were three horizontal lines, the same symbol worn on every senior's chest.
The first line was broken, the second and third were solid.
Now Sizhu stepped into the gate with that bell. Only he crossed a curved bridge to the left side.
And there, he found many women.
As soon as he entered, Sizhu was met with cold glares from those women. Some giggled at his boldness, while others frowned and moved to block his way further into the women's dormitory.
"You!"
Sizhu turned to see the woman who had grabbed his shoulder from behind.
A short-haired brunette glared at him, her brows furrowed.
"Didn't you see this is the women's dormitory?"
Sizhu looked around at the surrounding girls who were staring at him.
"Women's dormitory?" Sizhu asked back, genuinely confused why men's and women's dormitories had to be separated.
Sizhu's clueless, literally innocent face made some of those watching feel pity. In their minds, maybe he was mentally disturbed or had suffered a severe accident, judging by the patient's clothes he wear.
Although they were a bit puzzled themselves—since when did a patient stay at the magic academy? Why not in a hospital?
This made them speculate even more about Sizhu.
"Men aren't allowed here. Hurry back before the supervising teacher finds you. Or whoever you are, you'll be made to drown."
"Drown?"
As Sizhu was trying to process her words, a little girl appeared, shouting his name and running to hug his leg.
"Sizhu brothel!"
The girl's voice made Sizhu instantly know who she was. It was Yaoyao, wearing the same junior robe but without the chest stripes.
The little girl ran toward Sizhu and hugged his leg.
"Hey! That's rude, Yaoyao! Come back here!"
A girl about two palms taller than Yaoyao ran up to them. She tried to pull Yaoyao off Sizhu.
"It's rude to hug a stranger, especially a man you don't even know, Yaoyao!"
"Eh, but that's brothel Sizhu! Yaoyao knows Sizhu brothel! Brothel Sizhu is Yaoyao and brothel Qing's hero!"
The cute little girl, with black hair twintail and bright red pupils, tilted her head up and looked at Sizhu's tall figure.
She was stunned, frozen, enchanted, petrified at the sight of Sizhu's face.
So handsome…
Her hands stopped pulling at Yaoyao, who was wriggling to hug Sizhu again. But then Yaoyao fell silent, seeing her older sister she just meet frozen as if she'd seen the most magical being on earth.
Sizhu himself felt slightly uncomfortable being stared at like that by the cute girl in front of him. And not only her—even the other girls standing around hadn't moved from where they stood, as if wanting to see how this scene would end.
Until someone—a mature woman—arrived at the scene.
"You all, it's night already and the Zhan Dou tournament is about to start. Quickly, go to your designated posts!"
"Oh no, the Supervisor is here! Quick, get out of here!"
"I wanted to keep staring at that handsome guy a bit longer."
"Run! Run!"
Like a swarm of ants scattered by a sweeping hand, the crowd of girls quickly dispersed, leaving behind everything.
"You. Why is there a boy who dares enter my dormitory?"
The sharp gaze of the supervisor made Sizhu gulp. The mature woman lifted her robed arm, ready to do something to Sizhu.
"Um…"
"H-he got lost, Teacher Xuangyao. He just wanted to see this little girl. They're victims from a remote village brought here for further treatment."
The girl with twintail hurriedly explained, fearing that Teacher Xuangyao might misunderstand and unleash her signature technique that could drown anyone!
The strict teacher with an intimidating aura glanced sharply at Yaoyao and Sizhu. Then she intensely stared at the girl with twintails.
"I see. Get him out of here. If he dares come back, be prepared."
"Ha–hao!"
The girl with twintails immediately pulled Yaoyao and Sizhu out of the girls' dormitory.
"Let's hurry out and go watch the tournament preparations, haha."
Nervously and fearfully, she dragged Sizhu and Yaoyao, who wore confused expressions.
***