Zither Emperor

Nina explained, “During these past few days, any intelligent person can see that although the Divine Music division is made up of five competitors, in the end, you basically prevailed over the six magic divisions by yourself. You work too hard. Regardless of whether it was magic power or spiritual power, the consumption wasn’t small. Even though your body is currently already recovered, I want you to rest as much as possible so that you’ll be in the best condition for the finals. Furthermore, in the finals, if you encounter a situation as dangerous as the one yesterday, concede immediately. This is, after all, only a competition. I don’t want anything bad to happen.”

Although Nina’s manner of speaking was very straightforward, Ye Yin Zhu and Sura could both discern the concern in her voice.

“Grandma Nina, who will be our opponents in the finals? Ye Yin Zhu asked.

Nina answered, “At this moment, it is difficult to tell; the Martial Arts Department over there has 17 divisions. Their round-robin tournament lasts several days longer than ours. Among the top few divisions, there isn’t much of a difference in terms of strength. Right now, it is still very difficult to tell who will enter the finals. If we end up placing second in the Magic Department, we will have to face whoever is ranked first in the Martial Arts Deparment in the first match of the finals. The top few specializations of the Martial Arts Department have relatively equal strength. There shouldn’t be much difference between the strengths of first and second. Therefore, us giving up first place in the Magic Department doesn’t matter. The earliest the finals stage of the competition might begin is in a week. For the next few days, you don’t need to go to the Divine Music division to report in. Just rest in your dormitory.”

“Well — thank you, Grandma Nina.”

“Oh, that’s right. President Ferguson has been observing all of our Divine Music division matches. Aside from being the president of the institution, he is also the most powerful mage here—he is a Spiritual mage. He told me in private that he intends to guide your spiritual power cultivation. Although there are some differences between our Divine Music division and the Spiritual division, through practice we still to achieve the same result. By the time this term truly begins, I want you to accept his pointers. You can benefit from his instructions. I need to go, come show me out.”

Nina stood up, and Ye Yin Zhu accompanied her out of the room and dormitory. When she glanced back and saw that Sura didn’t follow them, she said to Ye Yin Zhu, “Yin Zhu, when President Ferguson comes to find you, it is fine for him to give you pointers in cultivating your magic, but you must remember that you cannot tell him the Divine Music division secrets your teacher taught you. Do you understand what I mean?”

Ye Yin Zhu nodded and said, “I understand.”

“Are you comfortable living here?” Nina looked back into Ye Yin Zhu’s dormitory and couldn’t help but wrinkle her brows.

Ye Yin Zhu nodded and replied, “Very good.”

“Good? Nonsense. Later I’ll help you exchange residences. How can a Divine Music division student live in this kind of place?”

“But… but I don’t have any money,” Ye Yin Zhu said softly.

Nina commented indifferently, “I have the authority to reduce part of a student’s dorm fee. You don’t need to worry.”

“Grandma Nina, I…”

“You what? Return quickly.” Nina had a kind look in her eyes and nodded towards Ye Yin Zhu before turning around and leaving. Ye Yin Zhu followed with his eyes as her figure, not even looking the least bit elderly, disappeared into the night.

Returning to the dorm room, Ye Yin Zhu fetched a large basin of fresh water on his way back to the bedroom. He retrieved his towel from the bedside cabinet and threw it into the basin.

Sitting on the bed to the side, Sura asked in surprise, “Yin Zhu, what are you trying to do?

“Bathing! My body is all sticky that it’s so damned uncomfortable.” As he said this, Ye Yin Zhu quickly took off his Divine Celestial Protection robe leaving only a pair of shorts. Even though the Divine Celestial Protection didn’t stain, he was still very sweaty and felt really uncomfortable.

“Ah——!” Suddenly shrieking an octave higher, Sura stared at Ye Yin Zhu’s naked upper body, his lips moving as he seemed to receive a very big fright. He saw that Ye Yin Zhu’s ordinarily slender build was very muscled and well proportioned, an excellent build. Although his muscles weren’t extremely thick and bulging, it was very well proportioned. His bronze colored skin appeared to have a layer of faint violet light circulating around it.

Ye Yin Zhu was startled by Sura’s shriek. Jolting, he nearly flipped the basin over. “Sura, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing, just — why are you bathing in the room?” Sura watched as Ye Yin Zhu shed his last article of clothing, his shorts. In a flurry, he turned his body around and covered his head with his quilt.

Ye Yin Zhu laughingly teased, “It’s cold outside! Right now, the weather is cold. Besides, going outside where the female students can see is no good; I’m not an exhibitionist.”

“You, you are an exhibitionist!” Sura’s voice sounded like it was shuddering. Beneath the quilt, his heartbeat was rapidly accelerating. As a calm, very fierce student of the Assassin division, he couldn’t remember how long it had been since he felt so bewildered. Hearing the sound of gurgling water echo, Sura wished he could immediately leap out of the dormitory and escape outside. Right now, every minute felt as long as an hour to him.

“Feels so good~~~~.” Moaning contently, Ye Yin Zhu reclined on his small bed, comfortably stretching out his body. Thoroughly washing the filth off of his body was an absolutely satisfying pleasure. “Sura, are you not going to bathe? It seems like I still haven’t seen you bathe.”

“I’ve already washed myself. I’m just not an exhibitionist like you who bathes in front of other people,” Sura unhappily replied.

“Both of us are men. What’s there to be afraid of? I can’t think of a reason why not. Our Divine Music division has unexpectedly qualified like this.”

Sura turned his body and popped his head out from beneath his quilt. He looked at Ye Yin Zhu and said, “Right! Since you can rest for this next week, it would be better for us to go look for a temporary job. Yesterday I looked within Milan City and found a place recruiting workers.”

“Eh? Good!” Without even asking what kind of job it was, Ye Yin Zhu immediately agreed to join him.

✶

The next day, early in the morning.

Just when the sky started to brighten, Ye Yin Zhu was pulled out of bed by Sura.

“Let me sleep some more,” Ye Yin Zhu closed his hazy eyes and hugged the quilt. Although his body miraculously recovered, yesterday’s fight still used up a lot of his spiritual power.

“Hurry and get up; I already prepared breakfast. Didn’t you promise to go to work with me today?” Sura was inflexible, dragging Ye Yin Zhu from bed and forcing him to sit up. He pressed a cold towel to Ye Yin Zhu’s face.

The icy, moist towel immediately cleared away his drowsiness, and he grudgingly sat up. His nose twitched. Breakfast was simple steamed rolls, salted vegetables, and congee. Sura’s excellent culinary skills, however, created waves of aroma that unceasingly aroused his appetite. He felt that his stomach was absolutely empty and made a beeline for the dining table to start eating.

“Hey, you still haven’t washed your face or rinsed your mouth. Go clean yourself up before eating.” Sura pulled Ye Yin Zhu back.

“Boss Su, do you have an obsession with cleanliness? I’m very hungry, so can’t I eat first?”

“No,” Sura replied bluntly. His luminous eyes glared at Ye Yin Zhu, his finger pointing towards the clean freshwater basin to the side.

“Fine, fine. I’ll listen to you.” Although Sura resembled a very severe housekeeper, this warmth of a home was something that, even in Desolate Jade Sea, Ye Yin Zhu very seldom experienced. Although somewhat helpless, he very much enjoyed this feeling subconsciously. After all, Qin Shang originally only cared for his cultivation. He was free to do whatever he wanted for everything else.

After the two of them ate breakfast, they left the Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts. The majority of the institution was still asleep or in meditation. Milan was situated in the northern part of the continent. As early autumn approached, the weather was already somewhat chilly. Even at the institution, the lush plants inside already began to look fairly desolate.