47 Jealousy (1/2)
”A hero saving the beauty, how wonderful!”
Li Mo Shang gazed at the interrupter, his eyebrows raising in surprise. Of all things, he didn't expect Su Zhen Zhen to be a student at Blue Rose University, nor be the one to barge in such an incident.
Senior Tie was quickly forgotten as the crowd gaped at Su Zhen Zhen, the male students infatuated with the tantalizing beautiful fruit releasing her bewitching fragrance without inhibition.
Wearing a red loose sweater with yellow sleeves, a Blue Rose University short skirt, and allowing her long hair to cascade down her back, Su Zhen Zhen's beauty projected a far more refined and elegant appearance compared to the auctioneer uniform Li Mo Shang had previously seen her in.
When surveying the crowd, Li Mo Shang could spot several male students being physically harassed or glared at by their female counterparts, their eyes suffused with an indeterminate primal desire. Turning around to see Su Yuan'er huddled against the cafeteria wall as she attempted to minimize her presence, Li Mo Shang gave a soft sigh before taking off his jacket.
Draping around her shoulders and covering her thin frame and her disheveled clothing, his sudden action made Su Yuan'er jerk her head, gazing at him in confusion.
”Say, if I were to agree, how much trouble will you give me?”
Softly whispering in her ear, Li Mo Shang finished buttoning the jacket. As Su Yuan'er's confusion abated to reveal a fierce joy, Li Mo Shang sighed once more before leaving towards the dormitories, gesturing for her to follow. As he was now without the thick, comfortable jacket, Li Mo Shang manipulated his <Cold Wind's Trace> to block the chilly wind, restricting the interference to the bare minimum, extending just beyond his shirt.
”Oh? Mr. Li, it's been a while since we last met, don't leave so soon!”
Before they could fully escape, Su Zhen Zhen's delicate voice resounded through the air, instantly capturing the crowd's undivided attention as they fixated onto Li Mo Shang and Su Yuan'er. Frowning in displeasure, Li Mo Shang pulled Su Yuan'er along as he swiftly strode away, completely ignoring Su Zhen Zhen. Behind, they could hear a light cry before a figure blocked their path.
”Ah, don't leave, don't leave!”
Gently fluttering her arms before Li Mo Shang and Su Yuan'er, Su Zhen Zhen rushed forward to block their path, lightly panting from the exertion. As she spotted Li Mo Shang's expression darkening even further, Su Zhen Zhen inwardly panicked as she displayed a beaming smile towards the two.
”Please don't hate Zhen Zhen, I was instructed to convey a message to you, Mr. Li! Appraiser Wu wishes to meet regarding our agreement a while ago, saying he wanted to clarify something…”
”Not interested. Goodbye.”
Cutting Su Zhen Zhen mid speech, Li Mo Shang dragged Su Yuan'er as he bypassed Su Zhen Zhen, heading towards the dormitory complexes. Gaping in astonishment, Su Zhen Zhen stared at Li Mo Shang's receding figure with her eyes wide open. Hidden from the crowd's view, her gaze flitted onto Su Yuan'er's outline, a cold light blazing within her lucid orbs.
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”…Sorry for troubling you.”
Sitting on his bed back in the dormitory, Li Mo Shang received a sudden apology from Su Yuan'er. Not knowing how to reply towards such an unforeseen statement from her, he mildly grunted before motioning for her to sit on the nearby chair. Seeing her settle herself into the chair and release a forlorn and exhausted sigh, Li Mo Shang's eyes flickered, lightly pondering. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to ask.
”So, what happened at the cafeteria today?”
Su Yuan'er started, her gaze snapping towards Li Mo Shang. Fear, anger, and light turmoil danced within her eyes for a short while, as her grip on the armrests tightened on reflex. Li Mo Shang observed her as she breathed deeply, before finally relaxing in the chair, no longer appearing as harrowed.
”Tie Wu Zong and his lackeys bribed the cafeteria staff to pour gamma-hydroxybutyrate into the main entrees for dinner, to be distributed to all of the female students. I discovered it when someone…started to vomit from nausea all of a sudden. The taste matched what we learned in our chemistry lectures…slightly soapy with salt…”
Lightly glossing over the events, Su Yuan'er's voice trailed off as she attempted to describe the source of the commotion. At the mention of the incapacitating drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate, Li Mo Shang could not help but raise his eyebrows, a faint sense of alarm rising within his heart.
Such immobilizing and depressant drugs could only be imported from the Western nations, and distribution was strictly monitored by the government. Bribing the staff to distribute the substance into dinner, was this Tie Wu Zong courting death? And the university's security didn't even show up?
Mulling over his thoughts for a moment, Li Mo Shang's attention suddenly snapped back towards Su Yuan'er's description of the substance's taste. Observing her carefully, even infusing his vision with spiritual qi, Li Mo Shang indeed detected her heartrate to be slightly erratic and uneven, and her eyes revealed an odd sluggishness, indicating that the drug had begun to take effect.
Stepping forward and supporting her swaying body, Li Mo Shang warped the nearby worldly qi utilizing his spiritual core, before infusing a thin, small strand of qi into her body. Circling around the chair, he lightly massaged her shoulders as he circulated the worldly qi within her blood vessels, slowly detoxifying her bloodstream. After a few minutes, the drug's remnant effects had been cleared away, and Su Yuan'er mind was now free from her previous haze.
”Ah! Th-th-this, wha-!?”
Feeling two sources of heat massaging her shoulders, her mind received a sudden shock, and she abruptly leaped out of the chair. Without daring to look at Li Mo Shang, she dashed out of the room and slammed the door shut. Li Mo Shang stared at her leaving like a terrified rabbit, before looking down at his hands.
With the smallest cognitive prompt, the recollection of her smooth body surfaced, her soft and delicate skin burned in his memory. As an unknown, slightly satiated sensation welled within Li Mo Shang, he immersed himself in the odd emotion before shaking his head, eradicating the sensation.
With a light sigh, he resumed his sitting posture on the bed to ponder on his next attempt of refining his skeleton, when he suddenly paused, his brows creasing deeply.
He had forgotten to ask for the jacket.
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