Chapter 36: Shadow in the Moonlight

Dongqi University is divided into an East and a West campus. Zhao Rui is at the main campus, which is located in a relatively remote development zone on the outskirts of the provincial capital. However, the outskirts of a provincial capital are not much different from the city center of a smaller town; there are simply fewer comprehensive shopping malls and fewer high-rise buildings.

Zhao Rui strolled along the wide road outside the campus, wandering aimlessly while observing his surroundings. Many of the residential communities here were old, elevator-less buildings, only five or six stories high, and quite aged. Those closest to the university were mostly former faculty dormitories or staff housing. There were newly built, modern residential complexes, but they were located further away from the university.

After circling the campus, Zhao Rui took a liking to one complex. It was not far from the school gate and offered convenient access, even if the buildings were a bit old. He found a real estate agent on the street level of the complex, inspected the property on the spot, and rented an apartment immediately.

Zhao Rui was not short on money these days. Between what he earned from his summer job and the "tribute" from Brother Hu, he had a full sixty thousand yuan in his bank account. The rent for this apartment was 1,500 yuan per month, with a discount to 1,450 for a full-year lease—hardly a burden for Zhao Rui. The apartment was on the fourth floor, a three-bedroom unit with an old-fashioned layout where the balcony was attached to the bedroom, which was quite spacious. For a single occupant, there was more than enough room to practice martial arts inside. Most importantly, the apartment came fully furnished with appliances, so he didn't need to buy anything new; all he had to do was change the bedding to move in. However, Zhao Rui didn't plan on moving in right away. After all, the semester had just begun, and he wasn't yet sure about the school’s regulations, so he decided to wait a couple of days.

After finalizing the rental, Zhao Rui checked the WeChat service on his phone to locate nearby martial arts schools, then hailed a taxi to visit them. The martial arts schools here were no different from those in Lin City; since they weren't in the bustling part of the provincial capital, they felt a bit like the Taekwondo studios of his previous life. They primarily served local martial arts students, providing training venues and extracurricular instruction, rather than engaging in high-end martial arts research or passing down secret lineages. Zhao Rui consulted two or three; they did need sparring partners, but they weren't looking for part-timers. If he could work full-time, he could interview for a position. Zhao Rui realized that made sense; after all, this was the provincial capital, and being right next to a university, there was no shortage of students looking for part-time work. After gathering some information, he took a taxi back to the dormitory.

Everything was fresh for the new semester; freshmen could be seen wandering around the campus in groups of three or five. It was easy to distinguish the upperclassmen from the freshmen—the curiosity and callowness of the newcomers were impossible to hide. Zhao Rui’s roommates were no exception; the eldest and the third oldest were the most enthusiastic, and after a brief rest in the dorm, they suggested going out to explore the campus. Being a newcomer, Zhao Rui didn't want to be a wet blanket, so he followed the crowd.

Along the way, they admired the scenery and checked out the pretty girls passing by, chatting happily. Only the fourth, Chu Yunlei, was quiet; he followed behind the other three like a little shadow, barely noticeable. Before long, Zhao Rui’s phone began ringing incessantly. There were calls from Yang Fan and Sun Tiantian, who had already started her semester, both asking for his thoughts on his first day. There was also a WeChat video call from his senior brothers and sisters at his old martial arts school, who were all gathered at a barbecue restaurant. They told him to work on his alcohol tolerance now that he was in university; since he was an adult now, they could drink together next time they met. Zhao Rui chatted with them for a while, used that as an excuse to break away from the "campus tour" group, and returned to his dorm.

After a quick wash, he climbed into bed. He sat cross-legged, formed the energy-circulation mudras, and focused on his internal energy, circulating it through his meridians to practice. He didn't practice for long—only about thirty or forty minutes—before Le Bin and the others finished their walk and returned to the dorm.

"Second brother, do you have a girlfriend?" Le Bin asked with a teasing smile upon entering. He had a somewhat delicate and handsome look, and when he smiled, he had a certain "charm" to him.

"No. How about you guys?" Aside from Le Bin, the other two shook their heads.

"I have a girlfriend, but she doesn't go to our school. I'll introduce her to you guys another day," Le Bin said with a grin.

"You're so handsome, it's a given that you'd have a girlfriend. My goal is to end my single life before university is over!" the eldest, Jian Conglin, declared with high spirits. Their major was accounting, which had a high ratio of female students—roughly one to three. They weren't lacking in girls.

"I wonder what the quality of the girls in our class is like?" Jian Conglin’s gaze drifted, as if he could pierce through time and space to see into the women’s dormitory.

"We'll find out tomorrow!" Zhao Rui said with a smile.

"I looked at the sign-in sheet during the day, but unfortunately, there were no photos!"

"Knowing their names means you're already one step ahead of everyone else, boss!" Le Bin laughed.

"Haha!"

The night sky over Jizhou seemed hazier than in Lin City. Surrounded by mountains, the summer heat felt even more intense. The oscillating fan in the dorm creaked, and together with the lively late-night conversation, it brought a faint, almost imperceptible sense of coolness to this newly occupied room.

...

The next morning, Zhao Rui woke up early as usual. This time, instead of practicing, he went for a slow jog around the campus, stretching his limbs while admiring the campus in the morning light. After exercising, he returned to the dorm to find the others were already awake. After a quick wash, he went with them to the school cafeteria. There was a large, three-story cafeteria right next to their dorm, which was quite spacious. Compared to high school, the university cafeteria was not only larger but also had a wider variety of dishes. Just for breakfast, there were dozens of options—from north to south, west to east, it covered the culinary delights of the entire country.

After enjoying a hearty, fresh meal, the group followed the flow of students to the lecture hall that had been notified. Today was the meeting with the counselor, primarily for students and teachers to get to know one another, and to appoint an acting class monitor to prepare for the upcoming military training. The process was standard. The counselor was named Liu Jie, a petite woman with short, ear-length hair and a slender build. It was said she was a new teacher who had stayed on after graduating as a senior. The entire meeting was relaxed; Liu Jie didn't drone on about nonsense but gave a pragmatic briefing on university matters and the arrangements for military training.

Zhao Rui acted like a standard freshman, listening to the counselor's speech; there was no need to stand out, and nothing unusual happened. The class monitor was a tall girl pre-selected by the counselor, named Cai Xinyue. She was quite pretty and had an elegant air, appearing outgoing and capable. She looked like someone who had been a class leader often. The ratio of girls in the class was about what they had expected—roughly two-thirds. This ratio made the eldest, Jian Conglin, incredibly excited, and he spent the entire morning eyeing the female classmates, laying a solid foundation for finding a suitable girlfriend.

After the first class, the group gathered downstairs at the teaching building to collect their military training uniforms and shoes. Tomorrow was the start of the two-week military training, which would involve not only on-campus drills but also a trip to a military base for live-fire target practice. It was diverse and taken quite seriously. Zhao Rui didn't care much about the military training; with the physical fitness of a Level 5 Martial Artist, it was a piece of cake. However, his indifference didn't mean others felt the same; before the training even began, several girls had already submitted requests to the counselor to be exempted. None were granted; according to school regulations, even if one had special circumstances, they were required to stay with their class and rest on the sidelines.

After collecting his uniform, Zhao Rui returned to the dorm with his roommates. This time, the interaction among the freshmen was no longer limited to their own dorms but had spread to others. It was bustling and lively. Jian Conglin was big and tall and had a smoking habit; before long, he had become familiar with a few other smokers from other dorms. Zhao Rui also made new friends—two fellow students from Lin City. Since there were few boys, even including the other class in the same department, there were only about twenty of them, so it was a surprise to find three people from Lin City. It went to show how hard the people of Lin City studied. These two were from county schools and had been in regular classes, completely different from Zhao Rui, who was a martial arts student. Their academic scores were solidly high.

After chatting with his new classmates for a while, Zhao Rui found an excuse, grabbed his backpack, and left the dorm. Although it was stuffy outside, the bright moon hung high, and white clouds drifted by, leaving behind a cold, jade-like radiance. Inspired by the scene, Zhao Rui felt his internal energy stirring and was in a great mood. Perhaps because he had experienced a major life milestone recently, he felt a subtle ripple in his inner strength. He quickly found a secluded grove, leaped onto the top of a tree, and sat cross-legged.

Borrowing the moonlight and the moving clouds, he began to practice the Ethereal Divine Art taught to him by "Big Head Li." The Ethereal Divine Art was not a top-tier martial art, but Zhao Rui didn't have a better core cultivation method at the moment, so he could only proceed slowly, aiming to increase the capacity of his Dantian energy sea first. Before the semester started, he had used his time as a sparring partner to accumulate five advancement points, and now he poured them all into improving his internal energy. This brought his cultivation to the level of a fifteen-year veteran martial artist—a respectable amount of power.

Zhao Rui meditated for a full hour until the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the cool breeze brushed his face. Only then did he finish his practice and jump down from the tree. Just as his feet touched the ground, a slightly startled cry came from not far away.

"Who's there?"

Nearby, a young man and woman were huddled together, looking over with shocked expressions.

"Ahem, sorry, just passing through! You two carry on!" Zhao Rui smiled, stamped his feet on the ground, and leaped away.

"It's a martial artist! Let's get out of here!" Seeing Zhao Rui vanish in a few bounds, the young couple was terrified. They didn't care about their intimacy anymore and fled the scene. Encountering a martial artist in a grove in the middle of the night was no laughing matter. Who knew if this person might suddenly have lecherous intent? It wasn't as if there hadn't been news reports of such things. While the perpetrators were usually caught, those were just the reported cases. How many others went uncaught or unreported? When it came down to it, the government was simply powerless to restrain all the martial artists.

When the couple returned to their dorms, they recounted their encounter to their roommates or friends in a panic. This grove didn't belong to the Martial Arts College, so martial arts students usually didn't come here to stroll. They had their own "territory" and the school provided them with a higher quality of living environment.

"Could it have been a freshman? Or someone from outside the school?"

"Possible. You should tell the counselor tomorrow!"

"Yeah!"