Chapter 30: Provocation

Chapter 30: Provocation

In the morning, when Wen Ying left the house, Aluda stuffed a lunch box into his hands.

Saying it was a lunch box… Wen Ying looked at the three-tiered container, reminiscent of ancient food baskets with handles, and fell silent.

"Great-Grandma, isn't this too much?"

Aluda raised an eyebrow. "How is this too much? Your body needs more magical substances to replenish itself. By the way, those feathers you brought back for me last time were great. Keep an eye out for more scales rich in magic."

That was the memory from the morning, where Aluda forcefully gave him the lunch box.

As for the note inside, Wen Ying had no idea about it. Based on his understanding of Aluda, that piece of paper likely contained something peculiar, as evidenced by Perseus' stunned reaction after reading it.

Wen Ying gathered his courage to stand up from his seat, leaning across the corridor to stretch his neck and see what was written on the note.

"Hiss…" After reading the contents, Wen Ying sucked in a sharp breath, his mind going blank.

Perseus turned his head, his dark red eyes resembling an abyss.

If possible, Wen Ying wished to vanish on the spot. He blurted out, "That note was an accident." Then, he took out a three-tier food box from the drawer and opened it while saying, "You can see that there's only s...

The rest of his words vanished as Wen Ying wept internally. Wail, how could Aruda be so deceitful? The moment the box was opened, the top layer was filled with delicate pastry dishes. Crucially, each type had exactly two, including the sandwiches.

Wen Ying's face turned green, but he pretended nothing happened and casually closed the lid before opening the second layer. His expression turned even greener.

The second layer contained meat - steaks, chicken legs, meatballs, grilled slices, and so on. Everything was in pairs.

The surrounding demons naturally directed their attention towards them. Upon seeing the setup, the wicked bird spoke their minds, exclaiming, "Wow, a couple's bento?"

Wen Ying contemplated throwing the food box at the malevolent bird, but instead, he reluctantly closed it, his toes digging into the ground as if they were excavating a three-bedroom apartment. Despite his despair, his mind was still racing for a solution when a deep male voice, tinged with displeasure, sounded beside him: "Do you want to have lunch with me?"

Wen Ying instinctively wanted to shake his head, but seeing the expression on Bellerophon's face, he intuitively sensed that declining might be disastrous. Thus, he tentatively nodded.

Bellerophon leaned forward, supporting his chin in one hand, his fierce canine eyes silently assessing Wen Ying. After a moment, he seemed to take pity and said, "Alright then."

Wen Ying's eyes widened in surprise.

Bellerophon narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Wen Ying forced a smile. "I'm so excited." His tail twisted into a tangled mess.

Poros huffed and swished his tail gently behind him before turning away.

The Evil Bird practically pressed its entire body against Wen Ying to witness the spectacle. It clicked its beak in amazement. "Could it be that Poros is reaching maturity and experiencing restlessness?"

Essence chuckled softly behind them, like a gentle breeze carrying willow catkins that brushed against their face with a ticklish sensation. Wen Ying, who had just started interacting with a succubus, involuntarily responded to the demon's innate charm – a slight numbness tingled through him.

"You're quite impressive," Essence said. "To actually make Poros develop feelings for you."

An alarm bell rang in Wen Ying's mind. Drawing on his years as a student, he quickly picked up his book and pretended to study intently.

Muershi looked at his desk mate, puzzled. "What are you doing?"

"Muershi, it seems you've already mastered the spell to instantly send messages without incantations," Feng Luo's voice suddenly sounded very close.

Muershi was taken aback. When did Feng Luo come over? How did he not notice? He shifted back awkwardly, realizing why Wen Ying had suddenly grabbed his book. If he hadn't noticed Feng Luo's approach, how did the center of the incident, Wen Ying, manage to?

"Do it now. If you can't, copy the message-spelling spell ten thousand times," Feng Luo instructed.

Muershi's eyes widened as he blurted out, "Are you a devil?"

Feng Luo narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Twenty thousand."

Muershi raised his hands. "N-No more, please."

"Quickly, don't waste time," Feng Luo said. "Do it."

Muershi sighed. What kind of miserable luck was this? He tried to perform the spell instantly. After a cloud of smoke, the note still lay on the desk. Muershi's eyelids twitched wildly, and he hastily tried again, but it failed once more. He looked at Feng Luo, speechless.

"Twenty thousand, due by latest day after tomorrow," Feng Luo turned around, apparently ready to inspect a random lucky demon's result. The demons around them pretended to be engrossed, except for a few who were confidently skilled in instantaneous paper message spells.

Felos, the Cherubim from Lake Pupa, sat against the wall, watching from across the classroom with pursed lips.

"What are you so focused on, Felos?" asked a towering demon beside him, whose physique was exaggerated even by demonic standards.

"Clowns," Felos replied, his tail swishing irritably at the end when he was in a bad mood.

Muershi propped his chin on the desk, looking utterly dejected.

"Need help?" Wen Ying asked kindly.

"You think you can copy it for me?" Muershi said sarcastically. He now understood that this magic mirror demon might not get along with him, just like how humans say they have incompatible horoscopes.

Wen Ying tapped his fingers on the table. "You can write only a few pages, and I'll replicate them for you. It won't last long, but you can take a photo to show your teacher."

"That makes sense." Muershi sat up straight immediately, suspiciously asking, "But why are you being so nice? What do you want from me?"

Wen Ying glanced at Berlos and whispered in Muershi's ear, "Have lunch with me today."

"But aren't you..." Muershi glanced subtly at Berlos, making his meaning clear.

Wen Ying sighed. He didn't even understand how things had turned out this way, let alone explain it to others. He simply said, "Are you coming or not? For lunch together."

Muershi pondered for a moment before gritting his teeth and agreeing. "Alright, but just so you know, if he hits you, I won't step in to take the blows. You saw yesterday, right? That guy's ferocity when he's angry. Three-Headed Hellhounds have short tempers, and they go into a frenzy when they're agitated."

With the awkwardness of the two demons' lunch temporarily resolved, Wen Ying focused on practicing magic. Just before the end of the first class, he managed to cast the instantaneous message paper spell without any mishaps.

All the demons in Class One were highly talented, except for the unlucky Muershi, who was randomly chosen to copy twenty thousand words of spells.

After a brief respite, the bell signaling the start of the second class rang.

Wen Ying glanced at his class schedule and saw that it was Human Disguise class. The textbook was the very book 'Encyclopedia of Pretending to Be Human'. Expecting someone to arrive, he waited patiently. Eventually, he spotted a timid figure peeking through the door. The man's face was etched with fear and reluctance, clutching the textbook tightly. Despite being a living, breathing person, his pace was slower than a tortoise's.

The sounds within the classroom had vanished without notice, replaced by an eerie silence. This profound stillness made the person who had entered with bated breath feel as if their hair was standing on end, almost prompting them to turn around and dash out.

The mere gaze of the demons sent shivers down the teacher's spine. The entire classroom of students appeared otherworldly, with some exuding malevolent intentions as they subtly closed in, their demonic auras weaving a tapestry of nightmares.

At last, the teacher stepped up to the lectern under immense pressure, mustering a smile more pitiful than tears, struggling to force their voice past their lips: "G-g-good morning, e-e-everyone. I am your t-t-teacher for the course on Imitating Humans. It is my sincere h-h-hope that you will all derive s-s-some benefit from this c-c-class..."

The last syllable "huò" stuck in his throat; his entire body trembled as if his heart was plummeting into an abyss.

"Teacher, are you human?" A casual male voice rang out from the back of the classroom. It carried a devilish undertone, and as soon as he spoke, more devils tittered.

"Yes, yes." Lu Qingtao, standing on the lectern, struggled to answer with his legs still shaking. That devil had no ears; instead, feathers grew where they should be, resembling ears but stretching upward to cover two-thirds of his head. From a distance, they resembled sinister black cosplay accessories dangling from his temples.

His facial features exuded an eerie charm, and there was a clear air of nonchalant arrogance typical of a spoiled second-generation heir. Lu Qingtao's heart sank; he sensed that this devil would be a formidable thorn in his side.

"From the Human Realm?"

"Yes, yes."

Wu Shaluo immediately called out to Wu Fei, "Second Prince, what about your fellow tribesman? You must have plenty to discuss with this teacher. Why don't we skip the first class and give you two some time to catch up?"

Wu Fei was taken aback. Why did this guy sound so aggressive? It was clear that he was targeting him. Lilith chimed in, "Prince Wu Fei, that blabbering one is from the Scarlet Crow Clan, named Wu Shaluo. He was arrogant enough to consider you as his prey not long ago."

Wu Fei's eyelids twitched.

"He's the grandson of His Majesty the Devil King's sister, so he's particularly conceited," Lilith added.

Well, my father is the Devil King, Wu Fei thought to himself. Feeling more daring after yesterday's confrontation with the devil, he directly retorted, "Didn't you read the school rules? Disturbing the teacher during class and wasting everyone's time—what gives you the right to make all these demons wait for you?"

Lu Qingtao and Wen Ying felt a sense of familiarity hearing these words, which gave Lu Qingtao the courage to speak up, "This student is right. We should be in class, and we can't waste everyone's time."

Wu Shaluo's brows furrowed, his glare causing Lu Qingtao's legs to weaken. If not for the support of the lectern, he would have crumbled on the spot.

Levimo casually released his demonic power, intercepting Wu Shaluo's intimidating aura to protect Lu Qingtao. With a calm voice, he said, "If you have an issue with this human teacher, you can take it up with His Majesty the Devil King."

Wu Shaluo's expression twisted into a terrifying one, but he quickly regained his smile. "I was just joking, Second Prince and Levimo. Why take it so seriously? I was merely showing this human teacher what a demon is like, so he doesn't mistake our resemblance to humans as being the same. Don't you agree, Teacher? Humans are so fragile, they'd die with just a squeeze."

When Wu Shaluo said "crush to death," his smile didn't reach his eyes as he gazed at Wu Fei with a malicious and disdainful gaze.

Lu Qingtao felt humiliated but dared not speak up, clenching his lips tightly.

Suddenly, a light and pleasant male voice spoke with a hint of sarcasm, "Since you think humans are so fragile that they can be crushed to death, why don't you go wreak havoc in the human world?"

Who?! Wu Shaluo glared over, spotting Wen Ying and bursting into laughter, looking down on him condescendingly. "I thought it was someone else. Even if you have some novel abilities, you're still just a Mirror Demon."

As he laughed, his eyes were cold, and his domineering demonic power pressured towards Wen Ying across the classroom.

Wen Ying clenched a wand worth ten thousand magic coins, ready to draw on its magic power at any moment. However, the menacing pressure never reached him, dissipating effortlessly when it collided with Beros's.

Wu Shaluo froze, confusion filling his mind. How could Beros s help Wen Ying? After what the Mirror Demon had done during yesterday’s ranking match, Beros couldn’t have been more eager to tear him apart. Why was he assisting Wen Ying now?

The neutral demons watched silently, while the weaker ones dared not speak.

Muershi raised an eyebrow and said, "Wu Shaluo, let me ask you, do you not take me seriously? I'm right here, so what's with this arrogant pressure? What do you intend to do?"

Hearing the Extreme Evil Bird also defending Wen Ying, Wu Shaluo was astonished. He'd heard that Wen Ying had plucked out a patch of this guy's wings and even got him beaten by Feng Luo. Yesterday, Wen Ying had threatened to sell his puppet in public. Given these circumstances, was the Extreme Evil Bird insane or something to help Wen Ying?!

Scarlet felt that this was a good chance to improve his relationship with Wen Ying and prevent him from placing his doll in the women's restroom. He followed suit and said, "Wu Shaluo, I'm sitting here too."

Wen Ying glanced at Scarlet in surprise. Scarlet harrumphed, still unable to let go of his pride.

What was wrong with this guy, Scarlet? Wu Shaluo felt as if he was in a surreal world. He even suspected that he had fallen under the illusion of some devil, and perhaps Levimo had cast an illusion on him right from the start.

It must be so, otherwise, Scarlet, who had been forced to kneel before Wen Ying in public, would never help him now!

Wu Shaluo immediately used his precious enchanted item to dispel illusions. After a while, nothing happened, and the scene remained the same. His eyes widened in disbelief.

Before he could try again, Beros’ blood-stained magic energy swept over, pressing down on Wu Shaluo until his back bent slightly. His face darkened – it wasn’t an illusion.

He didn't think that these devils were helping Wen Ying. Instead, he considered another possibility – they weren't helping Wen Ying, but aligning themselves with Second Prince Wu Fei.

This was bad. The three major devil powerhouses – the Cerberus, Nine-Tailed Fox, and Avian of Extremity – were all on Wu Fei's side. The current situation for First Prince was rather perilous.

Wen Ying’s shock was no less than Wu Shaluo’s. He looked at Beros in disbelief, wondering why this towering devil, shrouded in an unshakable aura of violence, would come to his aid.

His expression was complicated, but Beros didn’t spare Wen Ying a glance. His voice was low and hoarse due to his anger, “You brushed your magic energy past me. Have you weakened, or have I grown stronger, Wu Shaluo?”

Wu Shaluo's hands were clamped tightly on the table edge, deforming it with his grip.

He couldn't defeat Beros, that violent madman.

Essence, who yesterday had suffered a worse beating while disguised as Wen Ying, pondered over this. The three-headed hellhound's possessive instinct, prone to either violence or on the verge of it, was quite severe. He needed to hit back even harder, and no other demon could even touch him with their magic.

Lu Qingtao was at a loss, sensing that two factions within the class were in conflict. If they were ordinary students, he could immediately slam the table to intimidate them. But these were demons who could crush him with a single finger...