Ye Yang’s appearance made the noisy classroom fall silent for a moment. Then, curious glances came at him from all directions. A few animals even seemed to harbor some vague hostility.
A small, slender black monkey with extraordinarily long arms clung to the back of a large black bear. Suddenly, it patted the bear’s shoulder and spoke in human language: “Director Tu personally brought him to class… a guanxi hu (someone with connections)?”
The big black bear let out a derisive snort. “Like we don’t have plenty of guanxi hu already?” Then it scratched its furry face.
A baby otter popped out of a nearby pool. Only his head was visible. His round face was adorable, and his voice was equally cute, but what he said wasn’t so nice: “I don’t think so. He can already take human form, yet he’s coming to preschool? He’s probably some country bumpkin from some remote backwoods.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the otter was suddenly pushed out of the water by something. His entire elongated body surfaced. Then, an ocean sunfish rose from the water, speaking in a calm, slow voice: “Time for class. Go back to your spot.” Her voice was quite gentle—she might have been a female.
Ye Yang instinctively took two steps back. Not for any other reason—although this ocean sunfish looked very harmless and slow-moving, their diet was not lacking in sea bunnies and other types of sea hares.
But he quickly snapped out of it. Times had changed. He didn’t need to be afraid!
A few seconds later, he suddenly realized that the conversation earlier had been about him. He pressed his lips together, about to ask what “guanxi hu” and “country bumpkin” meant—even if he couldn’t fully understand, he knew they weren’t nice words.
Just then, an elegant-looking young man suddenly pushed the door open and walked in. He was tall with long legs, handsome features, and narrow eyes that seemed to always carry a hint of a smile. His dark hair had a faint bluish tint under the light.
The moment he entered, the entire classroom went silent. Every animal stirred and, in an instant, returned to their respective spots.
The black monkey scurried up to a treetop. A greenish shadow flashed past on a cypress tree behind him. The black bear, which had been lying down, sat up straight. The ocean sunfish remained where she was, but the baby otter she had pushed out was gone. Looking more closely, he had appeared in a smaller pool off to the side.
A magnificent peacock in the distance stood perfectly still. Something seemed to dart away from its feet, but Ye Yang couldn’t catch sight of it.
After all the commotion had settled, the young man gave Ye Yang—still frozen in place—a gentle nod and said, “You must be our new little friend. I’m your teacher. You can call me Teacher Yu. Come, your spot is over here.”
Hearing the term “little friend,” Ye Yang froze again. Somehow, it felt a bit inappropriate. After all, he was several hundred years old… so old that even an ocean sunfish would struggle to bite through his tough old flesh!
Following the direction Teacher Yu was pointing with some reluctance, Ye Yang froze once more. His spot was… a pool?
Oh, right. He was an aquatic being after all.
Although he could function perfectly fine out of water, soaking in suitable seawater would certainly be better. Without much hesitation, the only unseated youth in the classroom disappeared, and a tiny, adorable, giant leaf sheep suddenly appeared, leaping gracefully into the pool.
The moment he hit the water, Ye Yang shivered with delight. It was even seawater! The bottom of the pool was also covered with algae from his diet.
Having been away from seawater for so long, Ye Yang felt incredibly comfortable. He swayed involuntarily, and the leaf-like cerata on his back spread open.
He floated half out of the water. The droplets clinging to the leaves on his back made their color even more lustrous. They swayed gently with his breathing, like gems of the highest quality.
The leaf sheep sea bunny’s true form was simply adorable. The moment he entered the water, the sharp, almost hostile gazes softened. Even the inexplicable animosity dissipated considerably.
But Ye Yang didn’t notice that the baby otter—who had just called him a country bumpkin—was now staring intently at his back. The excitement in his eyes, a heartfelt joy at seeing something he loved, was completely impossible to hide.
Seeing that all the little animals had returned to their designated spots, Teacher Yu nodded in satisfaction and began the lesson: “Little friends, today we have a new classmate, so I need to go over our rules again. Those who have already heard them, please pay attention and review carefully…”
…
Five minutes later, Ye Yang finally understood the sense of dissonance he had felt since entering the classroom.
It turned out this was—preschool.
Apart from Ye Yang, all the other classmates were cubs that hadn’t yet learned to take human form. Some came from prominent demon families; others were ordinary animals that had suddenly gained intelligence. But they all had one thing in common: they were still very young. The oldest among them was only a few decades old.
“The entire class combined probably isn’t as old as I am…” Ye Yang couldn’t help but silently complain to himself.
This preschool session had started six months ago. These cubs had already evolved from a blank slate into little demons well-versed in both human and demon societies. They only needed to learn to take human form and advance to the ninth rank before they could graduate.
So, although Ye Yang surpassed these cubs in cultivation, they were far more experienced than him in both demon knowledge and general knowledge of modern human society.
As a “senior” of several hundred years with ninth-rank strength, Ye Yang was like a hopeless illiterate among them.
Fortunately, Teacher Yu was an excellent instructor and was very considerate of Ye Yang, who arrived knowing nothing. By the end of the class, Ye Yang had learned a great deal.
After class, as Ye Yang was reflecting on what he had just learned, the baby otter he had seen earlier suddenly darted over. With an unusually smooth motion, he shook his little head and stopped by the edge of Ye Yang’s pool in a pose that Ye Yang found quite awkward. He turned to Ye Yang, who was floating in the water, and said, “Hey there, beautiful~” He clearly wanted to look suave, but the otter (o°ω°o) face had other ideas.
As he spoke, he naturally slid toward Ye Yang’s pool. Though he was an otter that normally lived in freshwater, now that he was a demon, seawater wouldn’t be too uncomfortable—as long as he could get closer to this beautiful new classmate, even lava… no, no, lava was still a bit much…
While the baby otter was lost in his wild thoughts, Ye Yang tilted the antennae on top of his head and gently touched the otter’s dense fur. Extending goodwill to the first classmate who had voluntarily approached him, he committed the otter’s scent to memory. “My name is Ye Yang. What’s yours?”
The little otter was instantly over the moon, his expression dreamy as if drunk. “You can call me Little Thirteen. I’m the thirteenth member of our clawless otter clan to enter the YCG.” He puffed out his chest proudly, and his flat, broad tail unconsciously smacked against the edge of the pool, splashing water everywhere.
Ye Yang wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the little otter’s already high-pitched voice seemed to have gotten even higher.
Little Thirteen had no idea what Ye Yang was thinking so rudely. After exchanging names, he immediately pulled a pebble from a fold of his belly fur and handed it to Ye Yang. “This is my treasured possession. I’m giving it to you.”
Not far away, the black monkey craned his neck for a glance. The pebble was exceptionally smooth, clearly having been played with for a long time—no doubt it was the baby otter’s prized possession. The monkey curled his lip, wanting to make a comment, but thought better of it.
Ye Yang couldn’t see anything particularly special about the pebble aside from its smoothness, but that didn’t stop him from being overjoyed. This was the first gift he had ever received!
He gently moved on top of the pebble and wriggled his body. Then something miraculous happened: the pebble, more than twice his size, was completely enveloped by him and soon disappeared into his semi-translucent body.
Immediately after, a small pink pearl emerged from his body, carried by the water toward Little Thirteen’s paw.
“Wow! Thank you! What a beautiful stone!”
Otters love playing with stones. Though this stone was a bit small, it was truly lovely. Little Thirteen adored shiny, pretty things—like the gem-like leaves on Ye Yang’s back.
After exchanging gifts, Little Thirteen decided that the new classmate was now his best friend. He immediately started chattering away about everything under the sun, laying out his whole situation and practically spilling all his family secrets. As they were talking, Ye Yang suddenly noticed Teacher Yu passing by the window.
Class hadn’t started yet. Little Thirteen glanced at Teacher Yu’s fleeting figure, then turned to Ye Yang and whispered, “You know what? Teacher Yu is a Kunpeng.”
Ye Yang was startled. “Ah?” He had seen mention of the Kunpeng in his inherited memories and had been deeply impressed by this unique and powerful mythical creature. He couldn’t help but sneak a peek at Teacher Yu’s back. No matter how he looked, he couldn’t see any connection between this slender figure and the Kunpeng—whose size was beyond imagination.
Seeing how receptive Ye Yang was, Little Thirteen’s enthusiasm grew. “During the Calamity War, the elders of the Kunpeng clan put Teacher Yu into a forced deep sleep to keep him from getting hurt—since he was still a cub. He only woke up in the last thousand years.”
Their preschool teacher, Yu Bei, was indeed a Kunpeng. Yu Bei considered humans to be very fragile, so he strictly managed the behavior of his demon students—not only to prevent them from harming humans but also to keep them from making mistakes that would leave them with nowhere to go. He was gentle, yet as a Kunpeng, he carried an inherent authority. That made him well-suited to wrangling the unruly preschool cubs.
“But don’t let Teacher Yu’s gentle looks and soft voice fool you,” Little Thirteen said, looking traumatized. “He’s actually terrifying! If you fail an exam, he becomes super scary.” After all, he was one of those “unruly cubs” himself.
“I see.” Ye Yang nodded, also looking fearful.
Ye Yang possessed fragmented inherited memories from ancient times. Now that Little Thirteen had mentioned it, he immediately made the connection. No wonder Teacher Yu was so good at teaching—he was the very same little Kunpeng he vaguely remembered from his memories, the one who had looked like a tiny chick. And his father was Yu Jiang, the first Demon Master of ancient times. That was probably another reason the YCG had placed Yu Bei in charge of educating newborn demons.
Then again, Yu Jiang later betrayed the Demon Emperor…
Just as he was thinking this, Teacher Yu walked over and said gently to Ye Yang, “Ye Yang, since you arrived late, you might not keep up with some of the material. From now on, after class each day, stay behind and I’ll help you with anything you don’t understand.”
Ye Yang nodded obediently and watched Teacher Yu return to the front of the classroom. When he turned back, he noticed that Little Thirteen, who had been badmouthing the teacher behind his back, had already disappeared to who knows where.
…What a chicken.
·
Though it was called preschool, there were quite a few classes every day—running from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon.
At noon, the students usually went to the nearby cafeteria to eat with other YCG staff. A few, like Ye Yang and the ocean sunfish, stayed in the classroom.
Because their food was right there in their pools.
Ye Yang had had his eye on the decent-looking algae at the bottom of his pool since the first class break. He had patiently waited until noon before swimming down to have a proper meal. The algae here were actually pretty good!
By the time he finished, the ocean sunfish next to him was still eating. Ye Yang stole a glance and saw that her meal consisted of jellyfish and some small fish. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure he could handle watching a classmate eat one of his own kind right in front of him.
After school, some of the cubs went home on their own, while others were picked up by their parents. Soon, only Ye Yang, who needed extra help, and Teacher Yu remained.
Teacher Yu answered various questions for Ye Yang, including the two terms he hadn’t had a chance to ask Little Thirteen about: “guanxi hu” and “country bumpkin.”
He also specially reassured Ye Yang not to take it to heart. “The little ones speak without thinking. They don’t mean any harm. It’ll get better once you all get to know each other. But if anything like this happens again, tell me, and I will definitely punish the troublemakers.”
Ye Yang waved his hands repeatedly, too embarrassed to admit that he actually thought what his classmates had said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Just before leaving, Teacher Yu suddenly said with a hint of a smile, “Mm… it’s been many years since I’ve had a student as unique as you. Unique species, unique innate abilities—yours are of the potential-awakening type, but very different from the ordinary support-type abilities.”
Yu Bei’s words revealed a level of knowledge about Ye Yang that went far beyond what should have been normal. Ye Yang immediately thought of Director Tu’s warning, and his nerves tensed. How did Teacher Yu know about his abilities? He had never displayed them since coming ashore—not even Director Tu knew!
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