Chapter 47: The Strange Eared Rat

"What's wrong?" Seeing Xiao Xiao suddenly stop, Zhuge Yun and the others looked at him strangely, then followed his gaze. There was just a row of ordinary parasol trees, with pristine white snow blanketing the brown branches and revealing a mottled, pale grayish hue, while a few students walked briskly toward the teaching building ahead.

"Did you see someone you know?" Zhao Lüzheng offered a plausible guess.

"Hm? No, I mistook it for someone else." Xiao Xiao shook his head, taking the lead as he stepped forward, "Let's go, class is about to start."

...

Xiao Xiao and his companions climbed the steps upward, their classroom located on the fourth floor.

As the semi-open staircase gained height, it afforded them a better view of Yanda University's snowy scenery.

The freezing air chilled them to the bone, and the biting winter wind curled playfully past the tips of their hair and the hems of their jackets.

Unlike the others who shrank into their clothes, Xiao Xiao, whose physical constitution had been vastly enhanced, felt no bone-chilling cold. Instead, he found the slight chill refreshing and invigorating, the air seeming purer and crisper after the snow.

Suddenly, Xiao Xiao's brows twitched, his body freezing for a fraction of a second, and his advancing foot halted mid-stride. What was that?

With some trepidation, Xiao Xiao lowered his gaze. Familiar silvery-gray fur came into view—the E’shu?!

Before he could react, the preparatory bell for class rang out abruptly. The clear, soaring chime echoed throughout the entire campus, causing the accumulated snow on many trees to cascade down in a rustling shower.

For the moment, Xiao Xiao had to push the unexpected appearance of the E’shu to the back of his mind, hurriedly following behind the others and running toward the classroom.

...

Inside the classroom, the students clearly had little inclination for studying. A subtle restlessness rippled through the air; after all, this was the first snow of the year, and everyone was still buzzing with excitement.

Since this was an elective course, attendance wasn't particularly high, so Xiao Xiao and his friends managed to snap up a great window-seat at the back—which, naturally, meant it was convenient for viewing the snow.

It must have been during the brief time they spent sprinting through the corridor that a fine, powdery snow had started falling outside once more.

The light snow only accentuated the tranquil and serene beauty of the campus. Especially now during class hours, the vast campus was practically deserted. Rows of footprints wound across the snow, varying in depth, while the murmuring stream rippled with tiny concentric circles.

Soft, pure, and icy snowflakes drifted gently downward, resembling goose feathers or willow catkins. Though dancing all across the sky, they fell in absolute silence, as light as nothingness, beautiful as a dream.

However, Xiao Xiao was in no mood to admire the snow right now. The E’shu was squatting on the windowsill right beside him, its head slightly tilted, fixing him with a gaze so palpable it felt as though it could poke a hole right through him.

Its crimson eyes were genuinely a bit spine-chilling.

Especially when they glinted with a bright, glowing intensity, giving Xiao Xiao the distinct impression that the creature was sizing him up and trying to figure out where best to take its first bite.

Yet, being inside the classroom, Xiao Xiao couldn't afford to make any overly conspicuous movements.

Fortunately, Xiao Xiao didn't have to endure it for long.

After a few brief remarks, the instructor had the students by the windows pull the curtains shut. The classroom instantly plunged into dimness, and the projector flickered to life, displaying an old art-house film.

This was, after all, a movie appreciation class.

Amidst the slowly shifting lights and shadows, soulful, ethereal music flowed forth, carrying a uniquely intoxicating tranquility and a faint touch of melancholy.

Xiao Xiao wanted to immerse himself in the film, but when he looked over, the E’shu—which he had supposedly shut outside the window—was now sitting brazenly on his desk, displaying a deadpan face and a pair of expressionless eyes.

Well, he really shouldn't have expected to keep a supernatural creature at bay so easily.

Still, Xiao Xiao raised an eyebrow. Were he and this monster really that close? Why did it seem like this E’shu had locked onto him?

Did it need his help with something?

A passing thought crossed Xiao Xiao's mind, and he managed to guess the E’shu's intentions to some extent.

He tried to communicate with the creature using his eyes, but all he got in return was the E’shu slightly raising its chin and returning a condescending gaze.

It was an utterly undisguised look of disdain.

Ugh, fine. Xiao Xiao withdrew his gaze; his ego had taken a hit. What a thoroughly unlovable monster!

He decided that his fleeting fondness for it earlier was entirely an illusion!

Composing his expression, Xiao Xiao stared intently at the projector screen, acting completely as though the E’shu in front of him did not exist.

Of course, he would never admit that he was deliberately giving the creature the cold shoulder because of its disdainful look—he was certainly not such a petty and vindictive person.

He was simply paying attention in class.

After talking himself through it with this bit of self-justification, Xiao Xiao instantly felt completely at ease, losing himself in the visual and auditory splendor of the film.

The E’shu didn't cause any more trouble either. Having frequented the campus, it naturally understood that shouting and making a fuss during class was strictly forbidden. Seeing Xiao Xiao's focused profile, the E’shu lowered its body, resting its head on its crossed paws. Although a trace of shallow anxiety and unmasked urgency flashed through its slightly chilling, sharp, vertical pupils, it simply waited quietly for the end-of-class bell.

With its back to the podium, it lay flat on Xiao Xiao's desk, facing him directly.

After silently staring at Xiao Xiao for a while, the E’shu slowly closed its eyes.

Once those dangerous, blood-red eyes were concealed, the E’shu suddenly looked much more harmless. Its tiny figure gave off an endearing, obedient kind of cuteness—if any female student were to see it right now, she would undoubtedly squeal about how adorable it was and hold it tight to rub against her cheek.

Predictably, this E’shu would be an absolute weapon for attracting female students.

However, Xiao Xiao wore a blank expression. No matter how cute it was, the other girls couldn't see it, so what good was it?

Thus, when the movie ended and the class bell rang, Xiao Xiao looked down to find the E’shu staring right back at him with wide-open eyes, and he simply couldn't muster up a pleasant expression.

*You're the one who looked down on me, if you've got the guts don't come looking for me,* Xiao Xiao thought with an aloof expression on his face, mentally unleashing a fierce rant.

In the blink of an eye, most of the students had cleared out of the classroom.

Xiao Xiao and the others finally stood up to head back to the dorm; they only had the two movie appreciation classes scheduled for this morning.

The E’shu persistently trailed right behind Xiao Xiao.

Seeming to sense Xiao Xiao's aversion toward it, the E’shu very consciously kept a slight distance as it followed him, making no fuss, just silently tagging along.

Regarding this, Xiao Xiao felt rather helpless. He had no interest in dragging around a clinging parasite wherever he went.

"Boss, Second Brother, Fourth, you guys head back first. I have some things to attend to."

...

The snow had already stopped by the second class.

Xiao Xiao walked on the soft, piled snow, his shoes sinking in and pulling back out. The biting wind blowing in his face was piercingly cold, and he felt like he was really going to great lengths just to find a place to talk with a supernatural creature.

It didn't take him long to find a secluded corner. After all, in a university campus, such hidden spots weren't particularly hard to come by.

It was a corner near an old teaching building, where several sturdy, vigorous banyan trees perfectly blocked any outside lines of sight.

Xiao Xiao stopped in his tracks, turning to look at the E’shu that had followed him all the way. Though tiny in stature, it was extremely agile, treading so lightly across the snow that it left not a single footprint, sinking not even an inch into the white layer.

Xiao Xiao felt that, incredible as it seemed, his guess that the E’shu was asking for his help was becoming more and more certain.

Otherwise, why would it docilely follow him all this way?

Though, he remained deeply puzzled as to what kind of help he could possibly offer this strange E’shu.