Chapter 187: What a Pity He's a Guy
By the time Furina brought Gu Qiuer to Canaan Academy, Huo Yuhao and his group were chatting leisurely in the rest area. They had just finished an intense sparring session, and traces of post-exercise flush still lingered on everyone's faces, with fine beads of sweat faintly visible at their temples.
The main reason for the sparring was that Ye Guyi and the others needed to represent Canaan Academy in the upcoming competition, so they naturally had to find sufficiently strong opponents to hone their practical combat skills.
The students within Canaan Academy were simply not on the same level as them. To make progress, they either had to go to the Spirit Arena and challenge opponents above their rank, or spar with the teachers and experts like Feng Chuixue and the other Protectors.
Excluding Ye Guyi, Huo Yuhao and his companions' soul power wasn't far off from that of Xiao Huohuo and the others, but in actual combat, they consistently came out on top. The primary reason was that Huo Yuhao's support and control abilities were simply far too strong—on a completely different level from ordinary support-type soul masters.
Secondly, Huo Yuhao could perform the Path of Gold—a martial soul fusion technique with Wang Dong that had a one hundred percent compatibility rate. Its power far exceeded everyone's imagination and was on an entirely different tier from any martial soul fusion technique they had ever witnessed before.
It was also during these days of sparring that Wang Dong and the others witnessed the true effect of Huo Yuhao's second soul skill, Imitation—it could imitate anything, even the color of soul rings.
The first time he demonstrated it, Huo Yuhao gave himself three red hundred-thousand-year soul rings, scaring everyone present out of their wits. Mainly because the aura was simply far too realistic—completely indistinguishable from the real thing.
Tang Ya still found it unbelievable recalling it now. She looked at Huo Yuhao, her eyes filled with amazement: "Yuhao, your soul skill is just too incredible! You can even imitate a hundred-thousand-year soul ring—that's way too strong!"
Huo Yuhao scratched his head and said modestly, "It's alright. It's probably mainly because my spiritual power is strong enough, plus my Spirit Eyes martial soul inherently has advantages in this area."
Bei Bei nodded affirmatively, his expression serious: "Indeed. Body martial souls truly surpass ordinary ones in certain aspects. Even Shrek Academy's research into body martial souls is not particularly deep."
He paused, then added: "If it were the rumored Body Sect, their understanding in this area would likely be greater."
Tang Ya immediately chimed in with a cheeky grin: "But I imagine even the Body Sect couldn't possibly be as wealthy as the Water God Church, right? With so many techniques and that many soul bones!"
Bei Bei smiled wryly upon hearing this: "That's true—it really might not compare. Speaking of which, Xiao Ya, you've truly become a complete Water God Church person now."
Tang Ya blinked, her tone full of pride: "Of course! Who told the Water God Church to give so much? My Tang Sect is now officially a subsidiary sect of the Water God Church—you could even say it's a department now!"
She stretched lazily and sighed, half-jokingly: "I'm finally not a commander without an army anymore. How nice."
Bei Bei watched her with eyes full of affection and said warmly, "Congratulations."
Tang Ya immediately leaned in, tugging at his sleeve, her voice carrying a hint of coy spoiled behavior: "Then you have to keep assisting me! I'm really not good at the management side of things."
Bei Bei nodded with a helpless smile, his voice gentle yet firm: "Yes, yes, no problem, Xiao Ya."
Wang Dong, watching the two of them being all lovey-dovey at the side, couldn't help but roll her eyes and cry out in a sour, teasing tone: "Hey, hey, hey! Can you not serve dog food right in front of me? If I'd known, I would have just gone with Xiao Huohuo and the others!"
Xiao Xiao stifled a giggle and deliberately teased him: "They went to class—what are you going for? You don't even know Canaan Academy's curriculum. What, planning to defect from Shrek and join Canaan Academy?"
She knew, of course, that Wang Dong would never actually do such a thing; it was just a joke.
Though she herself rather admired the atmosphere of Canaan Academy, truly transferring schools was impossible. Shrek was, after all, the number one academy on the continent. Her family had put so much thought into sending her there; she couldn't let down their expectations.
Wang Dong curled her lip and said irritably, "Tch, of course not! I just don't want to be fed dog food here. You want some?"
Xiao Xiao shook her head and said with complete seriousness, "Of course not. I just close my eyes and pretend I don't see anything. Just focus your attention elsewhere."
She silently added a line in her heart: Like brainstorming that novel of mine with you and Huo Yuhao as the main characters.
Wang Dong, naturally unaware of the little schemes in her mind, just snorted: "Fine, fine, you're amazing."
She sighed, a trace of regret in her voice: "Speaking of which, the holiday is almost over. What a pity. I originally wanted to take you guys to see my home, but we got so caught up having fun that we lost track of time. Now I realize we won't have enough time left."
Huo Yuhao consoled her gently: "It's fine. We can always go next time."
Before he even finished speaking, his gaze suddenly paused and settled on something in the distance.
"Huh? Sister Furina is here." Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes slightly. "There seems to be a golden-haired girl beside her... she looks a bit like Wang Dong."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao immediately perked up and asked curiously, "Really? She looks very similar?"
Huo Yuhao nodded, his tone resolute: "Of course it's true. Don't you trust my eyes?"
As the bearer of the Spirit Eyes martial soul, even without using any soul skills, his vision far surpassed that of an ordinary person. When fishing, he could see straight through the water to the schools of fish below; naturally, he could also effortlessly make out the approaching figures in the distance.
Xiao Xiao acknowledged this and also craned her neck to peer in that direction.
Wang Dong, however, instantly became alert. She stood up and looked toward that direction with a serious expression.
Sure enough, Furina was walking toward them with a golden-haired young girl. And that girl...
Wang Dong's pupils contracted slightly.
The girl's brows, eyes, face shape, the contours of her features—they were almost identical to her own. If she herself also had long hair, then apart from the color of their hair and eyes, the two would look as if they had been cast from the very same mold.
The moment she saw that figure appear, an inexplicable unease surged in Wang Dong's heart, along with a sense of crisis she couldn't quite put into words.
Furina approached, waved at the group, and said in a light, breezy tone: "Hey, everyone's here! Let me introduce a new friend."
She stepped aside to reveal the golden-haired girl behind her and introduced: "This is Gu Qiuer. Her father is a friend of mine and has entrusted me to look after her for a while."
Gu Qiuer stepped forward and nodded slightly to the group. Her movements carried a certain innate elegance, yet also faintly betrayed an unfamiliar, unpracticed awkwardness, as though she had only just recently learned human etiquette.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Gu Qiuer." She spoke each word deliberately, her tone earnest yet carrying a hint of innocent bewilderment. "It's very nice to meet you all. You people... uh, how does that phrase go again? Please take care of me? Right, please take care of me."
Mid-sentence, she clearly realized she had almost said the wrong thing and corrected herself in time.
Xiao Xiao couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "Wow! She really is so beautiful! And she really does look just like a female version of Wang Dong! If the color of her hair and eyes were a bit more similar, they'd practically be twin sisters!"
She turned her head to Wang Dong and asked curiously, "Wang Dong, do you have some distant long-lost sister or something?"
Wang Dong shook her head repeatedly, but her gaze never once left Gu Qiuer. She sized up this young girl who so closely resembled herself, her brow furrowing slightly.
"How could that be possible? I have no idea." There was a hint of confusion in her voice. "I don't know her either. But... seeing her, I really do feel some inexplicable sense of familiarity."
She couldn't quite put the feeling into words—as if this person should, by all rights, have some sort of connection with her.
Gu Qiuer was also sizing up Wang Dong.
Her gaze was completely unreserved and fell directly upon Wang Dong, sweeping from head to toe, then back from toe to head.
Finally, she tilted her head slightly and spoke, a touch of regret in her tone: "So you're the person Sister Furina mentioned who looks a lot like me? You do resemble me a bit, and you're quite good-looking too. You also have a nice fragrance about you..."
She paused, and her tone suddenly turned regretful: "What a pity you're a guy."
Wang Dong: "..."
What do you mean, 'what a pity you're a guy?!'
Xiao Xiao couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing at the side. Bei Bei and Tang Ya were also suppressing laughter, their shoulders trembling slightly. Huo Yuhao merely coughed lightly and averted his gaze, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.
Wang Dong drew a deep breath and struggled to maintain a calm expression, but the corner of her mouth still twitched involuntarily.
She secretly clenched her fists, ranting furiously in her heart: A guy? A GUY?! Damn it! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you!?
On the surface, however, she simply forced out a stiff smile and said, enunciating each word through gritted teeth: "Well. What. A. Pity. That. Is."
Gu Qiuer blinked, seemingly completely oblivious to having said anything remotely offensive, and instead earnestly comforted: "It's fine, as long as you're good-looking. There's nothing wrong with being a guy either."
Wang Dong: "..."
Enough. That's really enough.
Watching this scene, the corner of Furina's lips curved upward slightly, a trace of mischievous amusement flickering in her eyes.
How interesting.
The first meeting between these two was even more entertaining than she had anticipated.
"Alright, alright," she stepped in timely to smooth things over. "Qiu'er just arrived and isn't yet very skilled at dealing with strangers. Everyone, please be patient with her."
She looked at Gu Qiuer and said gently, "Qiu'er, this is Wang Dong. You two can spend more time together in the future. Who knows, you might discover something unexpected."
Gu Qiuer nodded, her gaze settling on Wang Dong once more, her eyes carrying curiosity and some indescribable, indefinable emotion.
"Alright." She agreed readily, then added, "Wang Dong, please take care of me from now on! Even though you're a guy, I think we should be able to become friends!"
The corner of Wang Dong's mouth twitched. In the end, she sighed and nodded helplessly.
"...Fine. Please take care of me too."
What else could she say? She couldn't exactly reveal her true identity right here on the spot, could she?
Beside them, Xiao Xiao was struggling mightily to hold in her laughter and whispered into Huo Yuhao's ear: "These two are really too amusing..."
Huo Yuhao nodded slightly. His gaze shifted back and forth between Wang Dong and Gu Qiuer, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He couldn't shake the feeling that between these two, there existed a connection—something indescribable and unclear.
As if... they were originally one and the same.
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Thanks for reading the chapter!
I started a new translation and I would be very happy if you decided to check out my new translation for a rather rare fandom. It's a fic based on Honkai: Star Rail.
Honkai Star Rail: Herta's Assistant Wants to Blow Up Nous
https://www.webnovel.com/book/36823191000494605