A Chilling Welcome and an Unexpected Encounter

Among the most inexplicable phenomena within the school, the temperature inside the administrative building would undoubtedly rank high.

Logically, the high-ranking officials distributed throughout the eastern district, including Principal Dugu Sheng himself, cultivated internal energy primarily of the Yang-dominant lineage. Their presence should radiate a scorching heat, or at the very least, a gentle warmth.

Yet, the administrative building seemed perpetually shrouded in an eerie, bone-chilling cold. Even in the dog days of summer, with the sun blazing like a fiery orb, stepping into its corridors would inevitably bring forth gusts of frigid wind. This chill was enough to raise goosebumps all over one’s body.

At this very moment, I traversed the corridor leading to the principal’s office. A pervasive gloom enveloped the space, and a biting cold assailed me.

Only at the distant ends of the corridor did a faint white light filter through the windowpanes. Yet, it failed to pierce the overwhelming gloom, merely clinging to those small, isolated corners.

Still, despite the pervasive chill, I remained utterly unaffected. The icy cold was utterly unremarkable, especially when compared to the profound yin and extreme cold internal energy Master had infused into me previously.

As such, without sensing that eerie chill, the solemn atmosphere that typically enveloped the administrative building seemed to dissipate for me. I even found myself occasionally amused.

Just moments ago, when I left Linghu Ruoxu without a word, glimpsing his crestfallen expression from a distance had been truly comical.

I couldn’t help but wonder what face this usually gentle and refined Young Master Linghu would make if he ever learned the truth: that his first courageous attempt to woo a girl had inadvertently targeted his own Fourth Brother.

Carrying this somewhat lighthearted mood, I pressed on towards my destination with a rather optimistic stride.

****

The principal’s office at Tianwu University resided in the deepest recesses of the fifth, and uppermost, floor of the administrative building. This placement seemed to be a widespread tradition among schools.

The principal’s office was invariably situated at the highest point of a building, a location aptly described by the idiom: ‘the higher one stands, the colder it gets.’

To most Tianwu University students, the principal’s office was virtually synonymous with a perpetually closed, authoritative department. This wasn’t solely due to students rarely venturing into such a somber and imposing place.

More significantly, the principal’s secretary’s office acted as a formidable barrier, positioned directly before the principal’s own chambers.

In stark contrast to the principal’s office, the secretary’s door typically remained open during business hours. While this facilitated easy access for visitors, a more crucial reason lay in its strategic advantage.

This arrangement allowed the principal’s secretary to scrutinize all of the principal’s prospective visitors beforehand. The vast majority of these individuals would ultimately be turned away, never even granted an audience with the principal.

This mechanism, admittedly, reeked somewhat of bureaucracy. However, the principal’s arrangement was born of sheer necessity. Tianwu University, being a martial arts institution, boasted students who each possessed a certain degree of skill and a strong ‘jianghu’ spirit.

The campus was never short of valiant heroes eager to petition the principal. Their grievances ranged from a cafeteria worker shorting them half an ounce of rice to allegations of inappropriate conduct and unspoken rules involving professors from various departments and sects.

If every single one of them were granted an audience, the principal’s office door would likely buckle under the sheer pressure. The principal himself would probably spend his entire day doing nothing but fielding complaints, a task that would surely exhaust him to death!

Thus, it was imperative for the principal’s secretary to act as a first line of defense. They would persuade those who could be reasoned with to leave and skillfully deflect others. From the standpoint of safeguarding the principal’s fundamental human rights and administrative authority, this system was entirely justifiable.

****

“Student, are you here to see the principal? Come, please register here first!” Just as anticipated, a sweet female voice drifted from the principal’s secretary’s office, halting my hurried passage past her doorway.

Her words seemed imbued with an exceptionally profound internal energy, capable of captivating the spirit. Listeners would find themselves involuntarily turning and complying with her every instruction.

Her voice was moreover exquisitely soft and charming, utterly captivating. It was enough to disarm all the ‘heroic figures’ who came seeking trouble, causing them to halt their steps obediently and enter the principal’s secretary’s office, its door perpetually open.

If even ‘heroic figures’ possessing martial arts skills were so easily swayed, there was certainly no need to elaborate on my own predicament, stripped as I was of all internal energy.

Thus, upon hearing her call, I immediately turned around, obediently. From the doorway, I offered a respectful nod to the person inside. “Excuse me for intruding,” I murmured.

Only then did I slowly step inside. The corridor’s oppressive gloom abruptly receded, giving way to a sudden, expansive light. My eyes brightened considerably.

There, bathed in the soft glow of the lamps, stood a vast, antique-styled desk. Behind it, a woman in a suit, elegant and beautiful as a flower, sat smiling faintly in my direction.

A blush warmed my cheeks, and my heart fluttered with a sudden shyness. Then, a peculiar sense of unease settled over me.

Only then did I realize: I was now a girl. How could I possibly react this way to another woman?

Amidst my profound embarrassment, her gentle voice reached me. “What’s wrong, student?” she inquired softly. “Aren’t you here to see Principal Dugu? Come, sit here. Tell me first, what urgent matter brings you to the principal?”

Upon hearing her, I obediently moved to the opposite side of her desk, pulled out a chair, and settled into it. Yet, I felt a degree of awkwardness, utterly unsure of how to proceed.

“Oh, stu… student… are you truly a student of Tianwu University?” she asked, her beautiful eyes assessing me with a touch of unexpected curiosity. “Or perhaps from Tianwu University Affiliated High School?”

“I, I, I’m not, not yet a student of Tianwu University…” I mumbled, my head bowed, not quite daring to meet her gaze. As I looked down submissively, my eyes suddenly caught sight of the nameplate resting on her desk: “Feng Tian’er.”

The name made me pause, a flicker of recognition sparking in my mind. I immediately recalled Yang Laoer’s dorm room complaints about ‘Principal Dugu’s little secrets.’

It was after he’d received his thirteenth, or perhaps fourteenth, rejection from a girl he’d pursued. He’d been drowning his sorrows in the dorm, chatting aimlessly. The girl who had just dumped him was a descendant of the Feng family, from the Mount Hua Sect of the Five Peaks Academy.

As their conversation meandered, the topic somehow drifted to that girl’s aunt—none other than Principal Dugu’s personal secretary.

I vividly remembered a somewhat inebriated Yang Laoer, spittle flying as he ranted. He cursed Principal Dugu, claiming the man was old in age but not in spirit, and that his legs were weak—[CENSORED]—not weak at all!

He was convinced there had to be something scandalous afoot, for the principal to deliberately keep such a beautiful, newly graduated doctor by his side as a secretary.

Just then, his class counselor happened to push open the door for a room inspection. Yang Laoer, who had been grandstanding atop the table, was so startled he nearly wet himself.

‘So, it was her he was speaking of? Feng Tian’er.’