Overhead, a fluorescent light tube swayed precariously. Its silver-white lampshade hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long, black grime mixed with brown rust, exuding an air of antiquity.
Underfoot was a thick, indigo carpet, soft and yielding to the tread, very pleasant.
In each of the four corners of the room stood a wide, four-poster bed. The dark purple bed frames were carved with intricate patterns, and deep red curtains hung from them.
In the very center of the dormitory was a massive desk.
The ochre-yellow square table and four matching black armchairs rested steadily in the middle of the room. On the smooth, reflective tabletop, there was only a pot of somewhat withered daisies, their orange-yellow petals drooping limply over the pot's Edge.
The entire room was quite spacious, but it only had one balcony and one window.
A wooden sliding door separated the balcony from the dormitory, and it was currently wide open.
Outside the door, a chubby figure in a red robe was struggling through some stretching exercises.
Hearing the door open, he laboriously straightened up and poked his head into the room.
“Ha, you’ve all arrived together! I was just wondering who the rest of my roommates would be.”
“My name is Xin Banner Schmidt-Bayer; you can just call me Xin.”
Xin Fatty enthusiastically waved his hand, chattering away as he greeted the two people who had just entered the room:
“Finally, I can breathe a sigh of relief!”
“Just thinking about staying in the same room with Dylan for so long made me feel unwell!”
Xin Fatty exaggeratedly waved his thick arms, his voice loud and booming.
Zheng Qing looked at this noisy fellow and, for no apparent reason, thought of the stories from Daming Ward.
Before he could ponder further, the red curtain of a nearby four-poster bed rolled up, and a figure tumbled off the bed, appearing before them.
“Dylan O'Brien Talbot.” This male, with black curly hair, emerald eyes, fair skin, and a well-proportioned physique, extended his hand and said in a slow, muffled voice: “A student from Starry Sky Academy, Potion 08-1 Class.”
Zheng Qing looked at the blue robe he was wearing, a bright smile blossoming on his face.
“You’re the second Starry Sky Academy freshman I’ve met. I thought all the dorms were for Nine Provinces College students,” he said with a smile, extending his hand to Dylan, then pointing at Xin Fatty, who was squeezing into the room from the balcony, and asked curiously, “What did he mean by what he just said?”
“He’s probably worried about his bit of fat,” Dylan took Zheng Qing’s hand, shaking it in a friendly manner, and his lips twitched, “I’m a hybrid of a Werewolf and a Vampire. For many wizards, I’m not a suitable roommate choice.”
Zheng Qing’s arm, holding Dylan’s hand, felt a bit stiff.
He somewhat understood what Xin Fatty’s unease earlier was about.
“I thought you would have special dorms,” he pictured Werewolves on a full moon night and Vampires hunting in the dark, and his mouth couldn’t help but twitch, but then he quickly apologized, “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“It’s fine. I was just worried that the new roommate would pull out a bunch of garlic or splash holy water on my face. Your reactions are much better than I expected.” Dylan tilted his head, smiling indifferently, “The School Hospital will prepare special potions for me. On normal days, you can treat me as a regular person. During special periods, the school will arrange special quiet rooms for us, so you don’t need to worry about safety at all.”
“My name is Zheng Qing, pure-blood human, Nine Provinces College, Astronomy 08-1 Class student.” Zheng Qing carefully withdrew his hand and was curious to find that his hand had a faint warmth.
“Vampires are undead, but Werewolves are living beings.” Xiao Xiao squeezed in front of him, smiling as he held Dylan’s hand and refused to let go, “It seems I really have a very interesting roommate.”
“Xin is a Blue Giant.” Dylan’s eye twitched, and he subtly pulled his hand away, pointing at Xin Fatty, who had his head poked out: “Not only is he very strong, but his spiritual value is also abnormally high.”
Xin Fatty waved his hand good-naturedly.
“Blue Giant?” Zheng Qing asked with great interest.
“A rare variant of the Green Giant; I’ve only heard of it,” Xiao Xiao’s attention was indeed diverted, “It’s said that he can only successfully transform and unleash superhuman strength when he truly calms down.”
“That’s right. I can’t explain it any better.” Xin Fatty squeezed into the dormitory with some difficulty, panting and smiling, “I’m also a student of Nine Provinces College, Astronomy 08-1 Class.”
“Classmates, how unsurprising,” Zheng Qing laughed, unable to resist complaining, “It’s a small world. Before classes even started, I feel like I’ve already met most of my classmates.”
“Actually, you’ve only met six, far from ‘most’,” Xiao Xiao corrected.
“What were you doing on the balcony just now? Exercising?” Zheng Qing ignored Xiao Xiao, curiously watching Xin Fatty sit by the bed, panting heavily.
“Just moving around a bit, hehe.” Xin clearly didn’t want to talk much about this topic. He pointed towards the balcony and smiled, “You just arrived, you must not have gone to see it yet.”
“The balcony?”
“The view is very nice,” Dylan nodded in agreement from the side.
Separated from the dormitory by a heavy wooden sliding door, the balcony was not large, only about three to five square meters. Tall glass windows enclosed it from floor to ceiling, allowing ample light to enter from all directions.
The moonlight was clear and bright, making the world outside the window seem like dawn.
Standing there, looking out in all directions, Zheng Qing somewhat understood what Dylan and Xin meant.
The green lawn, bathed in moonlight, exuded a soft aura, stretching softly into the distance.
In the distance, dozens of sparse, thick old trees spread their gnarled branches, their leaves in various shades of cyan, green, black, white, yellow, and red, blooming freely against the pale green backdrop.
A bit further, a silver-mirror-like lake lay quietly at the Edge of the grass, a disc-like moon reflected in its shimmering surface, and indistinctly, peacefully moving animals could be seen by the water’s Edge.
In the farthest distance, the pale green lawn had already merged into the deep colors, and a tall, bare, conical black mountain peak rose from that shadow, quiet and silent.
“So beautiful!” Zheng Qing exclaimed, turning to Xin Fatty, “We can see Linzhong Lake from here, does that mean the dormitory isn’t too far from the Teaching Building?”
Xin Fatty shook his head, saying nothing.
“A mountain looks closer than it is; your eyes will deceive you,” Xiao Xiao explained, pointing to the sparse students strolling on the lawn below, then looking left and right, he nodded, “Every dormitory is unique, and every balcony has its own view.”
“You stand on the balcony looking at the scenery, and the person looking at the scenery is looking at you.” For some reason, this somewhat hazy poetic line popped into Zheng Qing’s mind, and he couldn’t help but shake his head and recite it aloud.
Xiao Xiao raised his eyebrows.
“No, no.” Xin struggled to wave his hand, shouting to the two, “What’s so good about the scenery? I mean that little fellow!”
Then he squeezed onto the balcony with some effort, and a strong, sweaty scent wafted over, making Zheng Qing feel instantly suffocated.
“Look there!”
Following the direction of Xin’s furry arm and stubby finger, a yellowish-white furball appeared in his field of vision.
It was a cat.
The furball rested peacefully on a short ledge extending from outside the balcony, motionless, enjoying the gentle caress of the moonlight. Its pointed ears occasionally twitched, and the comfortable purring sound seemed to be felt by the group even from a distance.
“Well, I’ll be!” Xiao Xiao was uncharacteristically interested in something so common.
It seemed very safe, Zheng Qing thought, a feeling surfacing in his heart as he looked at the soft, round, chubby creature.