Spirit Snake struggled a couple of times. “You’re not going for your walk today, so what’s wrong with me going by myself?”
Shen Ming replied, “You know I know what you’re thinking. Don’t even think about it.” Don’t even think about sneaking across to the other side.
Spirit Snake went limp and draped its long, large tail over Shen Ming’s back. “Well, you also know that I know what you’re thinking. You clearly regret it.” Regret it so much you can’t sleep~
Shen Ming said nothing.
Spirit Snake tried wheedling, “Just let me go explain things to him~”
Shen Ming still didn’t respond.
Spirit Snake got angry. “Can’t even mentor a single student properly. You old turtle deserves to be alone forever!”
·
Ye Yang had no idea what time he’d finally fallen asleep the night before. He opened his eyes to blinding sunlight, feeling dazed.
Wait a minute—something wasn’t right with his field of vision. Why was his pillow so huge?
Ye Yang jumped up. He had reverted to his original form.
Alright, he didn’t know how this had happened, but he could just change back.
Yes, just change back… change… change… Why couldn’t he change back???
Now Ye Yang couldn’t worry about whether he’d be bothering anyone. He immediately sent Shen Ming a message.
Shen Ming opened the door, and for a moment, he felt a sense of history repeating itself.
The little sea hare looked up at him with pleading eyes, both beady eyes full of panic. “Professor Shen, something terrible has happened! I can’t shift back to human form!”
Shen Ming furrowed his brow slightly, picked up the little sea hare, and placed it in his palm.
Ye Yang’s two antennae twitched. He felt a warm current envelop his entire body—a powerful, undeniable energy gently washing through him, inside and out.
The sensation was both unfamiliar and familiar.
Before Ye Yang could figure it out, Shen Ming set him back down on the ground. “There is indeed a small problem. Don’t worry—it’ll be fine in a few days.”
“Huh?” Ye Yang grew even more anxious. “Then how am I supposed to go to class?” He had already missed three days of class because of the mission and his injuries!
Shen Ming was momentarily distracted, allowing Spirit Snake to slip out. Seizing the opportunity, Spirit Snake darted far away, making sure Shen Ming couldn’t catch it for a while, then shouted at the top of its voice, “Let Shen Ming figure out a way to take you to class! This is all his fault!”
Ye Yang quickly said, “No, no, it’s not Professor Shen’s fault!”
“No, no, no, little rabbit—you don’t get what I mean~” Spirit Snake wore a meaningful expression, though it was hard to imagine how such a complex look could be discerned on a snake’s face.
“Ahem.” Shen Ming suddenly cleared his throat. “Here’s the thing. Earlier, I infused some of my divine power into you to heal your injuries. What’s happening now is likely a result of divine power rejection.” Shen Ming hadn’t wanted to say anything, but that wretched snake had blurted it out directly.
Ye Yang swore he had just seen a flash of guilt cross Shen Ming’s face.
Spirit Snake gleefully added an explanation: “Divine power heals wounds quickly—under certain conditions, it can even resurrect the dead. However, divine power and yaoguai power can’t merge. Forcing divine power into someone might cause some side effects. But you’re pretty lucky—it’s only a few days of not being able to shift.”
Ye Yang, however, latched onto something else. “So the reason I recovered so quickly was because of Professor Shen?”
He instantly forgot his panic about not being able to shift. His beady eyes grew moist with emotion. “Professor Shen, you’re so kind!”
Spirit Snake: “…” This kid is too earnest.
Shen Ming felt even worse. He nearly couldn’t maintain his aloof persona anymore. He picked Ye Yang up again. “Enough talk about that. Let me figure out a way to get you to class.”
·
Today’s classroom was unnaturally quiet.
Not only the students but even the teacher felt a bit on edge. All because of who was sitting in the last row.
It wasn’t that no one was curious—in fact, everyone was dying of curiosity, scratching their heads to figure out why Professor Shen was suddenly attending class.
But the moment his icy gaze swept over them, even the instructor didn’t dare say a word.
Finally, class ended. Shen Ming suddenly looked down, doing something for a moment. Then he got up and left the classroom. Only then did the room erupt in excited discussion.
“What’s going on?”
“I have no idea. I just know Professor Shen didn’t come to class for the past few days and had substitutes fill in for him.”
“He’s already sat through two of our classes today, hasn’t he? He’s not going to keep this up in the afternoon, is he?”
“Maybe. He’s followed us through both our major course and the big lecture today. It’s like he’s zeroed in on our class.”
“Oh my god, no! I mean, Professor Shen is really nice to look at, but with a cold-air machine like that sitting behind me, I don’t even dare touch my phone.”
“I know, same here. My back is completely stiff after that class. I didn’t dare move an inch!”
Li Chanyi wasn’t interested in Shen Ming. He looked around and muttered, “When is Yeye coming back to class? Does paperwork really take this long? Is he actually handling paperwork?”
No one answered him. The students were still guessing why Shen Ming had been following their classes all day.
Even the instructor couldn’t help chiming in: “Did you guys see what was in Professor Shen’s chest pocket? I kept feeling like something in his pocket was moving during class, but I was too far away to see clearly.” Plus, he hadn’t dared to stare.
The students exchanged blank looks. They had either been facing away from Professor Shen or had their backs to him. None of them could see anything, okay?
The next class was with the same instructor. He taught like he was walking on eggshells this period because, for some unknown reason, Shen Ming had suddenly moved to the front row!
The instructor’s tone visibly grew nervous. The man who usually taught with such ease and confidence actually stumbled several times. Every student knew why, but not a single one dared to laugh.
…
By the afternoon, the students finally understood what the morning instructor had been talking about.
The second class of the afternoon happened to be Shen Ming’s. He stood at the podium, no different from any other time he taught. But the expressions in the students’ eyes were anything but ordinary.
Some students dared to whisper even under Shen Ming’s icy glare.
“Did you see it?”
“Saw it. You saw it too?”
“Yeah, really.”
Shen Ming’s gaze swept toward them. The two girls in the corner quickly grabbed their pens and pretended to look busy.
Shen Ming looked away and continued the lecture. Only his hand would unconsciously touch his chest pocket from time to time.
The students’ eyes couldn’t help following his hand.
Everyone saw it. Professor Shen Ming—usually so cold and aloof that no one dared approach him, so unshakeable that nothing seemed to faze him—had brought a dwarf rabbit to class today, tucked inside his pocket!
The little dwarf rabbit was tiny, a soft milky tea color with long, plush fur, looking round and chubby. Especially when it poked half its head out to look around, its cheeks squished against the stiff edge of the pocket—
Oh my god! Every single person itched to ruffle that little rabbit head. That thick fur looked wonderfully soft and smooth.
At first, the students could barely believe their eyes. But later, they ignored even Shen Ming’s death glare and practically stared outright.
There was no denying it—that little creature was impossibly cute. No wonder even Professor Shen couldn’t resist.
When class was finally over and students started to crowd around, Shen Ming moved quickly. He protected his pocket with one hand while using the other to rapidly pack his books, notes, and laptop. His hands practically blurred—within just over ten seconds, he was out the classroom door.
No one could figure out how he managed it. His posture was steady and elegant, but his steps were lightning fast, and he vanished almost instantly.
He walked several hundred meters past the school gate until no one was around. Only then did he pull the dwarf rabbit out of his pocket.
Seeing the little rabbit tumble and roll in his palm before catching its balance, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and his voice softened. “Sit in the front row again tomorrow?”
The little rabbit nodded its head up and down. “Yes, yes. The view is better in the front row. Thank you, Professor Shen.”
What happened that day wasn’t just a novelty for the students—it was a new experience for Shen Ming himself.
Ye Yang couldn’t shift back to human form, and Shen Ming couldn’t use his divine power to maintain Ye Yang’s human form either. After much struggle, Ye Yang was near tears.
That morning, pressed for time with Ye Yang desperate to get to class, Spirit Snake had come up with the idea: Shen Ming would carry Ye Yang on him and attend class that way.
After all, no one would dare ask Shen Ming why he was doing it.
Halfway through the first class, sensing that Ye Yang was feeling cramped in his pocket, Shen Ming had a sudden idea. He tried slightly altering Ye Yang’s form.
To his surprise, it worked. He couldn’t maintain Ye Yang’s human form, but keeping the tiny dwarf rabbit’s appearance required almost no effort.
And just like that, Ye Yang could poke his head out too.
Ye Yang had been thoroughly startled at first, almost crying out. But soon, he adjusted to his new form and greatly appreciated its advantages.
Ye Yang’s true form was the size of a thumb—already far larger than a normal sea sheep’s—but making himself even smaller would seriously affect his ability to follow along in class. So after leaving the house that day, he had done his best to stay hidden and avoid being discovered.
But he couldn’t rely on hearing alone during class. He kept wanting to poke his head out.
Now, with the dwarf rabbit the size of a palm, it filled his pocket completely. His little rabbit head stuck right out, giving him excellent visibility.
Listening to class in his true form had been difficult too. Even in preschool, Ye Yang usually maintained a larger form—exactly the size of a dwarf rabbit—to avoid getting stepped on by classmates.
This size was convenient for class and didn’t consume much spiritual energy.
Plus, dwarf rabbits were common pets. If someone saw him, there was no cause for alarm—unlike a sea sheep. This was the College of Marine Biology. If anyone saw a sea sheep the size of a palm, it would be a huge problem.
At first, Shen Ming had been even more nervous than the students. But as he stroked the dwarf rabbit’s smooth, soft fur, he gradually relaxed. By the end, he even started to enjoy the furtive, longing glances from the students—those looks where they desperately wanted to stare but didn’t dare. He found a certain amusement in it.
Unlike the cold, damp touch of marine creatures, the dwarf rabbit’s fur was dry and soft. Ye Yang’s body temperature ran a bit low, so it wasn’t as warm to the touch as one might expect—but Shen Ming loved it. He couldn’t stop touching it.
He blamed that shameless Spirit Snake for influencing him.
Ye Yang, for his part, was also enjoying himself. Wrapped in Xuanwu’s unique moist aura, he felt as comfortable as if he were back in the ocean.
This situation continued for three full days. By the third day, the students who had to attend class alongside Professor Shen Ming were completely numb. Faced with the envious or sympathetic looks from students of other classes, they could no longer muster any reaction.
Fortunately, on the fourth day, Professor Shen suddenly returned to normal.
He no longer followed Ye Yang’s classmates to class every day, nor did he bring that little milky tea-colored rabbit to school anymore.
Li Chanyi grabbed Ye Yang, who had finally returned to class, and vividly described the events of the past three days, focusing especially on Shen Ming’s rabbit.
Finally, Li Chanyi propped his chin on his hand, savoring the memory. “It’s such a shame you weren’t there. That rabbit was really cute. I kind of want to raise one if I get the chance. I wonder if they’re hard to take care of, and whether their poop stinks.”
Ye Yang: “…” No comment.
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