Ch. 07

"I thought you like sweets?"

"What made you think of it like that?"

"I often see you eating sweets"

Shengsi takes a sip of her coffee "It's nice to have it every once in a while. I'm surprised your lackey isn't around" Mu Bai rolled his eyes "His just someone who likes to stick around...Aren't you supposed to be with Mo Fan?"

"He has his own errands to run"

"Well thanks for sparing some time for me"

"It's no big deal. Now talk, what is it that you need?"

Mu Bai looked confused for a moment before he finally spoke "..Huh? What do you mean?" Shengsi clicks her tongue "You wouldn't just ask me to come with you if you have nothing to ask for" Mu Bai sweatdrops "After..After the experience trip at Snow Mountain, I-I think you're not that bad" Shengsi scoffs "You just thought that I was bad, that's all there is to it"

"N-No..No! I jusr want to get to know you more. Hangout with you and so on"

"Well I wouldn't mind but mind you, I can be really busy" Shengsi shrugs 'He doesn't seem like he wants to gain intel on Mo Fan'

The two finally cleared the unpleasant air around them and got to know each other.

>>

"Yeah, they said that the winner of the duel will have the chance to train at the Underground Holy Spring" Mo Fan stared at the girl who was busy on her phone "Oh wow, isn't that a rare opportunity? The more reasons to train" Mo Fan peeked over her shoulder and she immediately offed her phone "Awww I just wanted to see what you were doing" he huffed, resting his chin on her shoulder "Ever heard of privacy. Go and work on how you can improve your use for Wuyan"

"I've got the hang of it but it's not the easiest thing to do okay. You're constantly moving, thinking, and casting, it's so tiring" He rambled making Shengsi sigh "Well then you better up your endurance and stamina. That's just how it is"

After half an hour of practice, Mo Fan finally surrendered "Keep Wuyan until your duel" he nods in appreciation "I'm going to Xinxia's. She awakened the healing element, isn't that great! We'll be celebrating tonight, you should come" he boasted "Yeah, she told me" Shengsi rummaged through her bag and pulled out gray cloth tied with a white silk ribbon "I already have somewhere to go but give her this" she hands it to him "Please be careful with it"

"What is it?"

"It's a hair pin from where I'm originally from"

"Is that why you were absent after your encounter with the fire natured spider?...Aren't you originally-"

"Yeah, I was absent since I had something urgent to do there. Bo City isn't my land of origin"

*Ding*

Shengsi glanced at her phone "Well you and Xinxia should stay safe, I need to go now" she waved and left "I wonder where she's from"

>>

Shengsi leaned on Mu Bai as the two of them were leisurely reading their book. They've been interacting with each other for some time now and the other students were quick to notice.

"You think she broke up with Mo Fan?"

"It's not that surprising"

"I thought Mu Bai wasn't in good terms with her"

"She managed to snag him that quick?"

Kunsan glared at them "Can you guys shut up? It's none of your business" Mo Fan and Xiaohou let it slide for a few weeks but now that it had been months, they somewhat felt bothered seeing the two together, especially Mo Fan.

Mo Fan walked up to them "Shengsi let's go to the training area" the girl nods but patted Mu Bai's back before leaving.

Arriving at the area, Shengsi watched as Mo Fan started his training ever so often noting the mistakes he made.

"So?..."

"You're too rigid" she grabs the weapon from him and twirled it around a few times "You should know how to work with its flow and control it"

Shengsi started to demonstrate how she followed the flow of Wuyan and would then control it smoothly following her desired direction "Your weapon is an extension of yourself. You must not feel uncomfortable and detached from it" she said and ignited a flame on both it's sharp ends as if she was fire dancing. She was still swinging her weapon here and there whilst shooting fire or making a fire circle "It's an extension of yourself that you can conjure your magic to"

Her hair was softly flowing along with her elegant yet powerful movements as her icy orbs glistened as though being melted by the fire. Mo Fan was completely captivated by the beauty who was right in front of him.

Minutes passed and Shengsi finally finished her short exhibition "Did you grasp what I was trying to say? I hope you're not that much of an idiot" She handed him the weapon and the slight skinship made Mo Fan's heart skip a beat "Y-Yeah, I'll do my best"

>>

Weeks flew by like a breeze, there stood Mo Fan and Shengsi at their secluded training area "That was good form but stabilize your casting to keep the fire going" Shengsi pointed out as she grabbed her bag "Hey, leaving so soon?" He walks up to her "Yeah, y'know I also have things to do besides training you" she rolled her eyes at him "Aww but I told Xiaohou and He Yu that we'll be grabbing something to eat"

"Not my fault you didn't check up on my schedule"

"But you're always busy these days"

"Then learn to ask when I'm available"

Mo Fan placed his hand on the wall, next to Shengsi's face "Then when are you available?" his faced crept closer to her "I'm available when needed" she switched their position, trapping on the wall between her arms 'Damn he's a little taller than me' she looked up at him "Tell me and I might spare you some time" she smirked.

Mo Fan looked away, trying to hide his blush "If yo-your free th-this weeke-nd, m-maybe we can hangout" he managed to stutter out "Yeah, sound good" Shengsi raised her arms and walked away like nothing happened.

>

"Have you been waiting for long?"

"No, I just got here"

"That's good"

"Let's go in, I heard their cheesecakes are amazing"

Mu Bai pulled the door open letting Shengsi in first, they grabbed a seat near the corner part of the cafe.

"I'll go take our orders, usual?"

"Yeah, I want to see if they live up to the expectation" she chuckled

After grabbing their order, the two chatted idly "So how is it?" Mu Bai asked as he sips his caffe mocha "I'm impressed. This is now my go to place for coffee~" she happily sips her drink "Oh and the cheesecake is good too, here try some" she urged but he declined.

"At first, I was surprised with your order and thought that you were just trying new things but then the more we go to these cafe, your repetitive order of Iced Americano and Plain Cheesecake got stuck in my mind"

"How so?"

"With the attitude of yours I thought your choice of food and drinks would've been more...differnt"

"Is my order too boring for you?" She snorts and pointed at his order "Macarons, cupcake, and brownie a la mode? And that sweet drink. Hun, that's diabetes" the two laughed and continued talking unaware of the eyes that were staring at them.

•~•~•~•~•

Mo Fan stood in front of the Wei residence as he waits for Shengsi "Okay, calm down. It's just like our usual hangout, what's there to be nervous about" the sound of the door opening and closing caught his attention.

"Where to?"

"Let's go grab some ice cream and head to this go kart place that I know"

"Ooh go kart! Hurry! Let's go get some ice cream so I can beat you on a race"

After buying their ice cream, they were on their way to tha so called adventure park that Mo Fan was talking about.

"There's this cafe near campus, we should go there with Xiaohou and He Yu sometimes"

"You mean Oasis?"

"Yeah, bet Xiaohou was the one who told you about that place"

The two got their park pass courtesy of Mo Fan paying for them "Best out of five, winner will pay for the food when we all hangout" Mo Fan suggested "Game on, hope your wallet is ready" Shengsi taunted.

The two were laughing and would have a friendly banter as they raced each other on the tracks and Mo Fan ended up winning by a millisecond "I lost! Aww I was sure that victory was mine"

"Remember the bet"

"Yeah, yeah but atleast I finally know something you're good at"

The two grabbed something to eat as they browse the activities they can do at the park "We'll go pistol and riffle shooting, Zipline back and forth, and  Gyroscope" Mo Fan listed "They have archery! I wanna do that after the Zipline" Shengsi added.

Following the course of activities they had, both of them seem to forget about the people around them as they enjoy each other's company.

*Pistol and Riffle Shooting*

"This paperman will suffer" Shengsi aimed her pistol "bladder..stomach..lungs..eyes....heart..head" she muttered as she shoot her  shot

The one attending the booth and  Mo Fan were slightly frightened by the precision and accuracy of the girl but also her lack of hesitation "That was fun" she grinned and then it was Mo Fan's turn "Wouldn't want you to get all the glory" he made it rain bullers on the target "Not bad"

*Zipline*

The two have come to an agreement that both of them will go at the same time and they were facing down strapped next to each other.

They were now zipping over a lanscape filled with flowers and a clear lake "This view is beautiful! Just look at it" Shengsi smiled as she stared at the passing scenery before her unaware of Mo Fan's dazed expression towards her "Yeah, so beautiful"

*Gyroscope*

"I hope the food we had earlier already went down" Shengsi said jokingly as they were buckled in the seat of the contraption.

*Archery*

"How are you so good at this?" Mo Fan breath out as Shengsi shot another arrow on the bullseye

"It's almost a common skill to learn from where I'm from. Here, let me guide you" she went close to Mo Fan and lucky for him he wasn't facing her as she fixed his form.

"Now shoot" as he did, the arrow wasn't far from the center "I almost got it" he cheered.

•~•~•~•~•

"So how was your date?" Xiaohou asked his two close friends as He Yu was sat next to him smiling excitedly.

Before Mo Fan could speak, Shengsi beat him to it "Date? We just hangout, get your head out of the clouds" she scoffed.

"Shengsi, I got you coffee" Mu Bai popped out of nowhere and handed her the cold drink "Thanks, I'll make it up to you next time" she smiled "Then how about the garden cafe near the skating rink" he was interrupted by fake coughs and he stared at the three people glaring at him behind Shengsi "Text me when you're free, I'll be going now"

"Jiejie, seriously?"

"What's up with you and that arrogant Mu Bai?"

"Hey relax, he wasn't that bad when I got to know him"

"Are you guys dating?" Mo Fan was the one who asked 'Oh..right, Mo Fan likes Shengsi. Sorry bro but I think that Mu Bai is a problem' Xiaohou thought to himself.

Baffled she almost spat her coffee "What? He just gave me a morning coffee. Don't read too much into it, besides we're cafe buddies"

"I didn't know you liked coffee and isn't that from the one nearby?" He Yu said "Yeah, that place is great. How about after class we head there, my treat" Xiaohou and He Yu cheered as Mo Fan and Shengsi exchanged looks as if saying that the deal is done.

>>

"Waaah! You're so right big sis! Their muffin is so delicious" He Yu cheered.

They were lively to say the least, fortunately they sat outside so they weren't disruptive to the people in the cafe "Oh didn't you come here with Mu Bai?" Xiaohou blurted earning different types of glances by his friends.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"We've already been here and it just so happened that you and Mu Bai were here as  well" Xiaohou explained not knowing if his making the situation worst or not.

"You guys can come with us sometimes when we go cafe hunting"

Relieved Mo Fan was quick to speak "Then you won't mind us tagging along at the garden cafe he was talking about" Shengsi shrugs "If you have time why not" the positive atmosphere was back again and they were happily having their random conversation.

"Zhao Yue" Shengsi paused and her friends took notice notice.

"Is something wrong?" He Yu whispered as she discreetly looked at the person infront of her and was behind Shengsi.

Shengsi turned her head to see a very familiar person, he stood there waiting for her to say or do something and finaly, she spoke.

"Nie Huaisang"