'Embarrassing... so embarrassing...'
Caelus felt the veins on his forehead throbbing.
He took a deep breath and said in a voice devoid of emotion:
"Let go."
"I won't. Boss, if you don't save me, I won't let go. I'll just grow onto your leg."
Zhou Sichen started acting like a rogue, hugging even tighter.
Caelus closed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on.
He opened his eyes again, his tone filled with helplessness:
"...Fine, tell me, how much do you want to borrow?"
Hearing this, Zhou Sichen's wailing stopped abruptly.
He looked up, his face instantly turning from sorrow to joy, and he chuckled foolishly.
The speed of his face-changing was unparalleled.
He carefully leaned into Caelus's ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Boss... could you... lend me ten thousand gold coins first?"
'Ten thousand...'
The corner of Caelus's eye twitched again.
He knew that in the betting pool Zhou Sichen had opened, the odds for betting on Huo Yuhao to win were ten to one.
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao had each bet a thousand, so he needed to pay out exactly twenty thousand gold coins.
'This guy...'
Caelus glanced at Zhou Sichen's fawning smile and thought to himself.
'It seems he's borrowed from everyone he could, even draining his childhood friend Cao Jinxuan. He's only come to me because he's still ten thousand short.'
"Take it."
Caelus didn't bother wasting words with him; he pulled a golden Martial Soul card directly from his storage spirit tool and tossed it to him irritably.
"Let's get this straight first: nine out, thirteen back. Even brothers should keep clear accounts."
"Hehe, thanks, Boss! Boss, you're like a second parent to me."
Zhou Sichen took the Martial Soul card as if it were a precious treasure. He didn't feel the slightest bit of resentment toward the usurious "nine out, thirteen back" terms; instead, he felt it was only natural.
No joke, that was ten thousand gold coins.
In the entire new student class one—no, the entire Outer Court—there were very few who could produce that much cash without blinking an eye.
Dai Huabin might be able to as well, but he wasn't close with Dai Huabin, and given Dai Huabin's arrogant nature, there was no way he would lend him money.
As for asking his family?
If he dared tell his family that he had lost a bet he started at the academy and was now drowning in debt, his father would chase him all the way from Shrek City back to Heaven Dou City. Getting his butt spanked until it bled would be the least of his worries.
So, this money from Caelus was a lifesaver for him. Never mind "nine out, thirteen back"—he would have accepted "eight out, fifteen back."
"Don't worry, Boss. As soon as my family sends my living expenses for next quarter, I'll pay you back immediately."
Zhou Sichen patted his chest in assurance and then scrambled up from Caelus's leg, fearing he might change his mind.
Just then, a fiery red figure appeared without warning at the door of the new student class one classroom.
It was a tall, beautiful young woman with a temperament as scorching as a raging fire.
She wore the red uniform exclusive to Inner Court students. The tight-fitting style perfectly outlined her incredibly curvaceous figure. Her long, fiery red hair cascaded loosely behind her, making her look like a walking ball of fire.
Her appearance instantly made the temperature in the classroom seem to rise by several degrees.
Everyone's eyes were drawn to her.
"It's... it's a senior from the Inner Court."
"So... so beautiful."
"I know her! She's Senior Ma Xiaotao, one of the two great active volcanoes of the Inner Court. Her Martial Soul is the Evil Fire Phoenix."
A chorus of uncontrollable gasps and whispers broke out in the classroom.
To these Outer Court freshmen, Inner Court Disciples were legendary beings.
And Ma Xiaotao was an even more legendary figure.
However, this legendary figure's face was now filled with undisguised anxiety and anticipation.
Her gaze, like a pair of radars, quickly scanned the classroom before locking onto the silver-haired boy with heterochromatic eyes by the window.
Found him. Caelus.
Ma Xiaotao felt a surge of joy and could no longer contain herself.
She strode forward on her long legs, her high-heeled boots making crisp clicking sounds as she walked straight toward Caelus.
Caelus noticed her too.
Watching Ma Xiaotao, with her powerful aura and the waves of heat radiating from her, walking straight toward him, he understood.
'Ma Xiaotao? It seems she's found out about my Second Martial Soul.'
Although he and Ma Xiaotao had been on a mission together before, their relationship wasn't close enough for her to come looking for him in his classroom.
He couldn't think of any other reason besides the Ultimate Ice.
While Caelus was speculating to himself, Ma Xiaotao had already reached him.
Then, under Caelus's bewildered gaze and the dumbfounded stares of the entire class, Ma Xiaotao reached out her jade-white right hand and grabbed Caelus's wrist.
"...!"
A wave of heat, accompanied by a soft and delicate sensation, transmitted from his wrist.
"I need to talk to you. Come with me."
Ma Xiaotao's tone was forceful, very much in line with her personality.
She didn't give Caelus any chance to react; grabbing his hand, she turned and headed out of the classroom.
Caelus was yanked right out of his seat and dragged away.
This scene plunged the entire classroom into a deathly silence.
Everyone was stunned.
What had they just seen?
Their gentle and polite class monitor was actually... forcibly dragged away by a stunningly beautiful Inner Court senior with a smoking-hot figure?!
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Dozens of students in the class, including Zhou Sichen and Cao Jinxuan, all held the same posture and expression—mouths agape, eyes wide, their faces full of daze and disbelief.
Until Ma Xiaotao's fiery red figure and Caelus's back completely disappeared from the classroom doorway.
"Boom—!"
The silence was instantly shattered.
It was as if a depth charge had been dropped into the classroom, and it instantly exploded into a frenzy.
"I... I didn't see that wrong, did I? Just now... what happened?"
"That senior... she... she held the monitor's hand?!"
"It was more than just holding hands; it was practically a kidnapping!"
"What's their relationship? Could it be... could it be that the monitor and that Inner Court senior..."
All sorts of speculations and gossip sprouted like mushrooms after rain.
Everyone was flushed with excitement, as if they had discovered some earth-shattering secret.
Ye Guyi also recovered from her shock. She naturally knew Ma Xiaotao as well; she had been present during the last mission.
She turned her head in confusion to look at Gu Yuena behind her and couldn't help but ask:
"Gu Yue, isn't that Senior Xiaotao? Why is she looking for Caelus? She looks so anxious."
Gu Yuena's gaze was still fixed on the now-empty classroom doorway.
Her beautiful purple eyes narrowed slightly, and deep within them flashed a coldness she hadn't even noticed herself.
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