NASAY CH 8

It wasn’t that Huo Xingzhou really wanted to see what was inside. It was just that Luo Xing could be so annoying— the more he tried to hide something, the more Huo Xingzhou wanted to mess with him.

“Don’t peek at my stuff,” Luo Xing said.

“What, you’ve got some priceless Heshibi jade^[1] in there? If I peek, are you really going to pull a sword on me and cause a bloodbath?”

Huo Xingzhou teased him, deliberately reaching out to scare him. Seeing Luo Xing flinch back slightly, he casually rested his wrist on the bed and fiddled with the corner of the blanket.

What a goofy troublemaker.

“You couldn’t beg me to look at it. Keep it to yourself,”

Huo Xingzhou took two steps back, chuckling. “Just make sure it doesn’t pop out and burn my eyes.”

Luo Xing covered the little box with a layer of blanket, glanced at him, and then, feeling uneasy, added a pillow on top of it for good measure.

Huo Xingzhou turned around, drank some water at the table, and then climbed into bed.

Luo Xing took the supplies he got from the dorm supervisor and placed them in a basin one by one. Grabbing his change of clothes, he headed to the bathroom.

Some of his clothes and books were still at the No 4 High School.

Hu Jiawen had mentioned that this weekend was a long break—no classes on Saturday or Sunday—so it was the perfect time for him to go back and retrieve them.

Their three-person dorm was quite different from the standard eight-person dorms. The conditions were much better. Luo Xing, who wasn’t used to bathing with others, found it very convenient.

After showering, he washed his clothes, and then, remembering what Feng Jia said, he carefully checked the bathroom for any unclean spots, spending nearly forty minutes cleaning before coming out.

Feng Jia had already finished his game and was in bed. Casually, he called out to Luo Xing.

“Hey, Luo Xing, can you help me get some water? My slippers are wet, and if I wear them, I’ll have to wipe my feet again.”

Luo Xing, who was about to get into bed, nodded without complaint and brought the cup over from the table.

Feng Jia took a sip and quickly said, “Thanks… Ah, crap! I’m dead! Where did that guy come from? He killed me before I even saw him! Huo Xingzhou, you’re our last hope now. Carry on my legacy!”

Luo Xing glanced at the screen. It was one of those popular games.

Feng Jia adjusted the perspective to Huo Xingzhou’s character and saw another player standing in front of him.

“Hey, do you play? Next time, we can invite Li Lefan and do a four-player squad!”

Luo Xing shook his head. His hearing wasn’t good enough to pick up such subtle sounds, so he couldn’t play.

“What’s the point of not playing games? Just studying all the time? Are you trying to compete for first place with our class monitor? Watch out, or Huo Xingzhou will crush you!”

Feng Jia said in disbelief, handing the cup back to Luo Xing.

“Thanks, man.”

“You’re welcome.”

Luo Xing replied calmly, placing the cup back on the table. He didn’t feel regret or any particular emotion about it.

For the past seventeen years of his life, all he had ever known was studying. Beyond that, he didn’t know what else to do. Studying was the only thing that made him feel alive.

But why would competing with Ye Qiaoqiao for first place lead Huo Xingzhou to… threaten him?

Luo Xing looked up at the bed by the window.

Huo Xingzhou’s fingers moved, a crisp gunshot rang out, followed by several consecutive shots. Feng Jia jumped off his bunk.

“Damn, that recoil control is insane!”

His sudden movement made Huo Xingzhou’s bed shake, causing his hand to twitch slightly.

“Hey! Stop shaking the bed and just talk normally.”

Luo Xing glanced at him, noticing Huo Xingzhou’s furrowed brows quickly relaxing again. His high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and the sharp lines of his jawline hadn’t changed.
He was still as handsome as he had been ten years ago.

Out of the corner of his eye, Huo Xingzhou noticed Luo Xing zoning out. He didn’t have time to look at him until he finished taking down all the characters in the game. The victory message flashed on the screen: “Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner.” Only then did he raise his head and glance at the opposite bed.

Luo Xing was climbing the ladder, holding both sides with his hands. His slender white legs rested on the railings. His small ankles were smooth and fair, and a bit of his lower back peeked out from under his clothes. His waist was soft, with neither fat nor muscle.

Upon closer inspection, there were two shallow dimples on his lower back.

Hmm… If someone held him from behind, their hands would fit perfectly on those dimples.

“Why didn’t you turn off the lights after taking a shower?”

Huo Xingzhou tossed his phone to the foot of the bed, tugged at the blanket, and lay down casually. He turned his head slightly to glance at the bed across from him.

“In this dorm, we don’t allow bad habits like staying up late to study. Got it?”

Luo Xing had his back turned and didn’t hear him.

Without getting a response, Huo Xingzhou frowned. Just then, Feng Jia got up to go to the bathroom and couldn’t help laughing.

“Hahaha, bad habits? Huo Xingzhou, you’ve finally met your match. Good job, Luo Xing! Just ignore him.”

Feng Jia’s voice was loud enough for Luo Xing to hear this time. He turned his head, stealing a quick glance at Huo Xingzhou. Did he… miss what he said again?
Afraid of missing it twice, he stared at Huo Xingzhou’s lips closely as they moved:

“Fine, ignore me. Not like I care.”

Luo Xing pressed his lips together, saying nothing about his hearing problem. He didn’t want anyone to notice his flaw or give him strange looks.

Feng Jia kept talking on his way to the bathroom, “Studying isn’t allowed, but I fully support staying up all night to play games. Then you and I can team up and vote against Huo Xingzhou two-to-one!”

Luo Xing glanced at Huo Xingzhou, then lowered his head and softly replied, “N-no, it’s okay… I can’t play.”

Huo Xingzhou stayed silent, eyes closed, not sure if he was asleep. Feng Jia had already gone into the bathroom.

There was a brief silence.

Luo Xing slipped under his blanket, secretly observing Huo Xingzhou from behind the dove tree branch decoration.

They were roommates now!

He could secretly watch him like this in the future. Suddenly, he felt the branch was placed in just the perfect spot.

After staying up for an entire day and night and running around to the hospital to visit the principal, Luo Xing was exhausted. He fell asleep within seconds of lying down.

When Feng Jia came out, he saw Luo Xing already fast asleep. He was stunned and whispered to Huo Xingzhou, “Wow, that instant-sleep skill is insane!”

Huo Xingzhou lifted his eyes, looking at Luo Xing’s face partially hidden behind the dove tree branches. His sleep looked deep and peaceful, with an endearing innocence. Huo Xingzhou chuckled, “What, want me to wake him up to chat with you for five more minutes?”

Feng Jia panicked.

“No way! I can’t even talk to top students for five minutes!”
He added, “How about you and I chat for five minutes instead?”

Huo Xingzhou turned over.

“No thanks, I can’t talk to noobs for five minutes either.”

When Luo Xing woke up in the morning and tried to lift his blanket, he froze. His left hand was completely numb. The slightest movement sent sharp, stabbing pain through it.

The dove tree branch near his bed meant he couldn’t draw the curtain fully, and a bit of light shone through.

He extended his hand from under the blanket to take a closer look—his fingers were red and swollen, almost losing the gaps between them. It looked like a failed attempt at making braised pig’s trotters.

“……”

Luo Xing stared blankly for a few seconds. It must’ve been from catching that ball Huo Xingzhou threw at him yesterday.

So useless. He couldn’t even catch a ball properly.

He got out of bed quietly and, without turning on the light, groped his way to the bathroom. He ran cool water over his hand to ease the swelling. Once it felt a little better, he started washing up.

After changing clothes, he stepped out of the bathroom. Huo Xingzhou and Feng Jia were still asleep. Luo Xing tiptoed to tidy up his bed and locked his little box in the cabinet.

Despite Luo Xing’s light movements, the sound of the lock still woke Huo Xingzhou. He opened his eyes and muttered,

“Wait for me to…”

Click.

The door closed before he could finish. Huo Xingzhou stared at the door, dumbfounded.

Could he be ignored any harder?

The morning air at Second High School was fresh, filled with the faint fragrance of gardenias and the scent of freshly trimmed grass from the groundskeepers working nearby.

Luo Xing sat at the edge of the track, gazing at the clock tower. The hands slowly ticked forward. Twenty minutes left until six o’clock.

He checked his phone and saw an unread message from the studio: they’d settle his pay within the week and asked if he was willing to take on another translation project.

After a moment’s thought, Luo Xing replied that he’d take it.

The studio quickly sent over another document. This one was much larger than last time, along with a contract.

The studio explained: this time, it was a Chinese-to-French translation, and the author had agreed to credit him at the bottom of the publication.

Luo Xing was thrilled. He turned up the volume on his phone, repeatedly listening to the voice message to make sure he hadn’t misheard. He quickly typed back to confirm:
“Sister Yan Ran, are you saying this is for Huo Yansheng? The author of Wind in the Blood?”

Yan Ran: “Yes, it’s him—your idol. No need to confirm a hundred times. If you get the chance, I’ll introduce you two. Oh, and after you read through the contract, print it, sign it, and send it back.”

Luo Xing quickly accepted both documents and asked for the submission deadlines. When he looked up again, the bell rang—it was six o’clock. He watched the files finish uploading, tucked his phone away, and headed toward the cafeteria.

The coursework at No. 2 High School was much heavier than at No. 4 High School. Morning self-study began at 6:40 a.m., and after the lunch break, there was a small session for classwork and exercises. Afternoon and evening self-study periods were filled with practice questions and mock tests.

Although the teacher’s self-prepared test questions were only charged at the end of the semester, some analogy questions required purchasing additional materials. Even though those questions weren’t very helpful to him, he instinctively didn’t want to be seen as different from others.

“Your blood is dirty. If I don’t educate you properly, one day you’ll turn into a monster just like him!”

He didn’t want to be treated like a monster.

He wanted to be like everyone else. So, he worked hard to do everything perfectly, without making any mistakes, never bothering anyone. He just didn’t know how long it would take to save enough money. Luo Xing pressed his hand to his ear and exhaled quietly.

At 6:40, Huo Xingzhou lazily walked to the back door of the classroom. The initially noisy room suddenly fell silent, more effective than if the class teacher had arrived.

The students in Class 9 were mischievous, but most of them were afraid of Huo Xingzhou, and few dared to act up in front of him.

Luo Xing had never been curious about gossip, especially since these little quarrels didn’t sound very clear to him. He continued doing his worksheet without paying attention.

Huo Xingzhou stood at the back door and saw everyone turning to look at him—except for one person who was quietly working on his assignments, his pen never pausing.
He wasn’t particularly fond of being surrounded by screaming or staring people everywhere he went; it was annoying. But being ignored for the first time? That stung a little.

Ungrateful brat.

“Hey, kid.” Huo Xingzhou walked over and childishly knocked on the desk, successfully catching Luo Xing’s attention. “What are you writing?”

Luo Xing lifted his hand, making room by moving his assignment toward Huo Xingzhou. “Physics exercises.”

“Oh.”

Luo Xing suddenly recalled what Teacher Cheng had said. After a brief pause, he added, “Have you finished this section?”

Huo Xingzhou chuckled. “Nope, I never do homework.”

Luo Xing bit his lip and glanced at him. Just as he was about to say something, Huo Xingzhou pulled out a workbook, flipping from back to front with a loud rustle, stirring up a breeze.
Not a single word was written in it—not even his name. It was spotless.

“Why don’t you like studying?” Luo Xing thought for a moment and tried to phrase it more tactfully. “Don’t you have a university you want to get into?”

“Not at all,”

Huo Xingzhou replied nonchalantly. Then, he suddenly stopped, rested his head on one hand, and looked at him. “What about you? Why do you like studying so much? Do you want to go to Tsinghua? Peking University?”

Luo Xing shook his head. He didn’t really know. Studying had become second nature to him—a habit engraved into his very bones.

Since he was a child, his mother forbade him from doing anything other than studying. His childhood had no toys, no friends—just endless amounts of challenging study materials.

As he grew up, he no longer needed toys or friends. Instead, studying became the only thing that allowed him to find a sliver of freedom and light in the dark, confined rooms he was trapped in.

He especially loved the book “Wind in the Blood” by Huo Yansheng. It felt like he truly had wind in his blood—wandering endlessly, never finding a place to return.

“Wait as long as you want,”

Huo Xingzhou said, realizing he really couldn’t chat for five minutes with a studious kid.

“Mm.”

Luo Xing nodded and pulled his worksheet back. As he raised his hand, Huo Xingzhou suddenly frowned and pressed the paper down.

“What happened to your hand?”

Luo Xing couldn’t pull it back. “What’s wrong?”

Huo Xingzhou frowned. “What happened to your hand?”

---

Author’s Note:
Huo the Fool has discovered he accidentally hurt his wife. Time to kneel and repent.

“Wind in the Blood” is inspired by My Own Swordsman. Zhu Wushuang once said, “Some people have wind in their blood, destined to wander for a lifetime.”