Only Human Here 23

The Mountain and Sea Festival is a much-anticipated event for students, whether currently enrolled or alumni. President Baize even granted a day off for staff to relax, allowing those interested in the festival to participate. After drawing lots, everyone was led by booth coordinators for preparations. Yang Sheng, dressed as Bai Wuchang, looked like he had rolled in a pile of flour, with a long fake tongue sticking out.

"I think it's unfair," Yang Sheng said, glancing at Su Buyu, who was portraying a handsome young man. His fake tongue swung as he spoke, "You look so handsome."

"It's okay; Ah Huan will balance things for you," Su Buyu said with a suppressed smile, but his dimples couldn't hide.

In no time, Wei Huan emerged, complaining, "This dress is too tight; I can't even walk properly!"

Yang Sheng stared at him for a moment, fake tongue flying as he laughed, "Haha, who's this little beauty?"

Wei Huan felt no embarrassment, instead flirtatiously running his eyes at him, "Just got my makeup done by Jiahui Institute's Peach Demon senior."

Su Buyu fanned himself, tapping his left hand's knuckles, observing Wei Huan's peacock-blue phoenix-patterned cheongsam. He even reached out to touch Wei Huan's twin buns, saying, "Looks good; Ah Huan surprisingly suits this style."

"Don't you think he looks like a Barbie doll?" Yang Sheng adjusted his fake tongue, pulling Wei Huan's blue hairband.

Wei Huan swatted his hand away, "You know nothing; this is Chun-Li's cosplay. The senior said it's a game character people loved a long, long time ago. Don't you know? Entered a knowledge blind spot, huh?"

Yang Sheng couldn't argue. He whispered, "What about another one?"

"Yes!" Wei Huan suddenly realized, "There's only one dressing room. After I came out for makeup, I saw Yun Yongzhuo go in. It's been a while; he should be done by now."

As he finished speaking, a tall figure walked out of the dressing room, an elegant "beauty" in a dark red velvet cheongsam with long black hair. A natural flame mark adorned the left forehead, harmonizing with red lips, exuding a cold and stunning beauty.

Wei Huan suddenly froze. He had prepared a long speech to tease Yun Yongzhuo, but upon seeing him, his mind inexplicably went blank.

Yun Yongzhuo frowned, maintaining the distant expression. His distinctive features and fair skin needed minimal makeup, perfectly matching his black straight hair.

"Keep staring, and I'll gouge out your eyes."

His voice was cold and deep, instantly pulling Wei Huan out of his admiration for the beauty, "What's wrong? Can't you look at me? Am I not attractive? So fierce…"

Not far away, the people from the horror house booth called Yang Sheng, and Su Buyu was pulled away by the cosplay planning sisters in ancient costumes. This left Wei Huan and Yun Yongzhuo as the remaining two cross-dressing experts. The senior sister in charge of the women's cafe emerged from the dressing room, pushing both of them, saying, "Let's go, two beauties."

Yun Yongzhuo looked displeased, "Who are you talking about?"

Wei Huan pouted, "I'm not a beauty; I'm a big! Beauty! Queen!"

Yun Yongzhuo: "…"

The two were taken to the coffee shop. While Wei Huan flourished, imitating a girl's voice and running around, Yun Yongzhuo was uncooperative. He stood at the bar, wearing a cold expression, wiping glasses. In no time, he had wiped a whole cabinet of empty coffee cups.

Since their battle when Wei Huan and Yun Yongzhuo entered school, they became prominent figures at Shanhai, swiftly replacing the previous supernatural beings as the most frequently mentioned boys among girls. The title of school hunk hovered over both of them. In the eyes of most girls, Yun Yongzhuo was the unapproachable school hunk, while Wei Huan, who enjoyed joking, appeared to be the more approachable one.

Knowing that both had been chosen for the lucky award of cross-dressing, almost all the girls at Shanhai gathered around the coffee shop booth, forming a tight crowd.

"Ah, Ah, Ah, Huan's Chun-Li hairstyle is so cute!!!"

"Oh my, my forever handsome Yongzhuo with black straight hair is too beautiful!"

The temporary manager, senior sister Peach Demon, didn't expect the situation to become so intense. In a panic, she used her magic. Suddenly, peach trees grew around the coffee shop, and blooming branches intertwined, enclosing the entire booth, leaving only one entrance.

"Everyone, please line up to come in! Don't rush!"

Wei Huan, tired from serving so many people, was almost ready to collapse. At first, he enthusiastically served coffee and cakes, cooperated for photos and videos, but later, he created eight clones to give himself a break.

"I'm tired." Wei Huan crawled behind the bar, about to rest his chin on Yun Yongzhuo's shoulder. However, Yun Yongzhuo reacted faster, stepped aside, and Wei Huan missed, almost stumbling.

"Cold-hearted guy, can't you lean on something else?" Wei Huan lay on the bar. The senior sister approached, standing at the bar, suppressing a smile as she patted the small buns on Wei Huan's head, "You've worked hard."

Wei Huan looked aggrieved, "Mommy, too many customers chose me."

"Haha, you're too popular; you're the star of our shop."

Wei Huanzhao, who has been professionally cleaning glasses for a hundred years, exchanged a glance with Yun Meiren and said, "The main attraction is hanging right here, like a mascot."

Yun Yongzhuo ignored him.

Wei Huan pointed at Yun Yongzhuo's waist, "Beautiful lady, could you please pour me a glass of Jia Guo [1] juice? I'm tired and need a buff."

Yun Yongzhuo frowned, a flame approaching Wei Huan's nose, "Fine, fine, I'll do it myself." Wei Huan raised his hands, walked to the other side of Yun Yongzhuo under the coercion of the small flame, opened the fridge, took out the Jia Guo juice, and a gust of wind whisked away a freshly cleaned glass from Yun Yongzhuo's side, "Do it yourself, be self-sufficient."

The juice slowly filled the transparent glass. Suddenly, Wei Huan's communication device behind his ear beeped with a flashing blue light. He placed the juice on the fridge, touched the communication device behind his ear, and the earphones extended, "Hello, you've connected to the channel of Fu Yao's first beauty. May I ask…"

"Stop joking, Wei Huan. Come quickly to the South Gate of Shanhai!" Yang Sheng's voice came from the communicator, "The instructor just summoned us to the South Gate, saying that demons from outside have infiltrated!"

"What?" Wei Huan slammed the fridge door shut, turned around to see Yun Yongzhuo, who had just been at the bar, already gone. He rushed out, grabbing his earphones with his right hand, "Hey, Yun Yongzhuo, wait for me!"

"I haven't even drunk my Jia Guo juice yet…" Wei Huan hurriedly caught up with Yun Yongzhuo. The previous avatars followed his footsteps back to him one by one, but too many people outside the coffee shop blocked their way. "What should we do?"

Yun Yongzhuo walked to the gate first and coldly said, "Excuse me."

His voice was not loud, but the girls in line in front were all subdued by his presence. From the front to the back of the line, everyone gradually quieted down, making way for Yun Yongzhuo. Wei Huan followed behind, smiling, "Thank you all. I'll be back to serve you later!"

As soon as they went out, Yun Yongzhuo flew directly into the sky, and Wei Huan followed.

"Hey, be careful not to expose yourself!"

Yun Yongzhuo: "…"

The sky was filled with colorful balloons and floating lanterns celebrating the Shanhai Festival. The teaching building projected one virtual electronic screen after another, displaying President Bai Ze's congratulatory words, performances by famous demon world female singers who graduated from Shanhai, and promotional videos for the Shanhai Festival produced by each college.

The sky was too crowded; they should use teleportation. Wei Huan thought.

"Sorry, excuse me! Sorry!" They passed through a group of people flying upward. It seemed to be a queue of girls from the Fu Yao Academy, each with a bun and dressed in gauzy clothes like flying fairies. The two of them scattered the queue, with Wei Huan apologizing repeatedly, "Ah, sorry for bumping into you! I apologize… Wow, your clothes are really beautiful!"

After flying past a group of fairies, the oblivious Wei Huan almost collided with a massive object.

"Oh my… what is this?" Wei Huan flew a bit away and realized it was a floating structure filled with candies, resembling a gigantic aircraft carrier, even larger than two classrooms combined.

"I see, this is the final setup for the candy celebration." Wei Huan avoided the candy carrier, "Let's use the barrier teleportation technique, Yun Yongzhuo! Flying over seems troublesome!"

While discussing, Yun Yongzhuo suddenly stopped. Seeing him not flying, Wei Huan stopped as well. Following Yun Yongzhuo's gaze, not far from the South Gate, there was a colossal snake-like creature, half the height of a building, known as a Gou She [2]. Its massive tail split into two parts, wildly thrashing around. Fortunately, the South Gate was in the faculty area, and students were not allowed to set up stalls. But because of the Shanhai Festival, instructors had the day off.

"Whoa, is this the demon from outside that Yang Sheng mentioned?"

The communicator beeped again, and Wei Huan answered, "Hello? We're here. How did such a big Gou She manage to sneak in?"

"It seems the person who brought it has spatial manipulation skills!" Sounds of battle came from the communicator, "This Gou She has lost its consciousness, so feel free to attack when you see it. Be careful."

"Got it." Wei Huan ended the call, "Should we discuss a tactic? Hey hey hey, Yun Yongzhuo, wait for me…"

Yun Yongzhuo's wings fluttered, and countless slender beams of golden light appeared in the sky, avoiding other demons in the air, heading straight for the troublesome Gou She near the South Gate.

Damn, he's too impulsive. Wei Huan shook his head, and as he glanced around, he noticed the Gou She had lifted a Bai Jiu [3] with its tail. The girl looked pale and terrified; Bai Jiu was a tree demon from the Jiahui Academy with natural hemostatic and healing abilities, likely called to provide healing.

The number of light blades increased, and Yun Yongzhuo didn't care whether there were allies on the Gou She's hands. Wei Huan clenched his teeth, flipped his palm, and condensed the surrounding wind into temporary shields for protection. However, Yun Yongzhuo's light blades were evidently more resilient; Wei Huan could almost hear the sound of the wind shields shattering.

The Gou She swung its long tail, holding the frightened Bai Jiu high. Wei Huan rushed forward, seeing Yun Yongzhuo's light blades blocked by the Gou She's tough armor, with only a few embedding into the gaps between scales, making the Gou She agitated and roaring.

Amidst the sea of light blades, Wei Huan swung both arms outward simultaneously. Two invisible long knives appeared in his hands. Finding the gaps on the swaying long tail, he forcefully inserted the wind blades.

The Gou She howled in pain, releasing the coiled tail. Seizing the moment, Wei Huan caught the nearly unconscious Bai Jiu. At this moment, his wind shield shattered, and a light blade flew past. Wei Huan sensed it but, holding Bai Jiu in his arms, couldn't react in time.

"Ah, Huan—be careful!"

A concerned voice.

Wei Huan slightly tilted his head backward, narrowly avoiding the light blade grazing his cheek.

Through the intricate web of light blades, Yun Yongzhuo met Wei Huan's gaze, noticing a faint wound beneath the blue demonic mark on his cheek. Yun Yongzhuo instinctively paused, and the countless light blades, rushing downward, instantly froze, as if time stood still.

Before Wei Huan could understand Yun Yongzhuo's intention, the Gou She's tail swung towards him. He ascended quickly, seeing Su Buyu rushing over, "Quick! Take care of the girl!"

After saying this, Wei Huan handed the unconscious Bai Jiu to Su Buyu.

"No! Huan, she's a living being…" Su Buyu was startled by Wei Huan's astonishing move, quickly raising his hand to catch the girl with a clear spring, placing her aside, and then heaved a sigh of relief.

Yang Sheng also arrived beside him, glancing at Wei Huan, "Why are you just coming now? Didn't even change your clothes?"

"I did change, but I couldn't catch up after changing! Too many people blocked my way. This guy doesn't need to use teleportation." Wei Huan sighed, and the Gou She's tail swung again.

"Be careful; its tail is highly poisonous. One hit can cost half a life!" Su Buyu nervously reminded, protecting the girl.

While evading the Gou She's separated tail, Wei Huan thought about a strategy.

After a while, he looked up at Yun Yongzhuo and shouted, "Yun Yongzhuo, how thick and long can your light tendrils be!"

Yun Yongzhuo didn't speak, but his eyebrow slightly raised. The fingers hanging by his side clenched into a fist subconsciously. In an instant, all the shapes of the light blades in the sky became elusive, converging onto Yun Yongzhuo's hands. As Yun Yongzhuo flew towards them, those lights gradually transformed into tangible tendrils, as thick as human arms, parallel to him, weaving around the Gou She.

When the tendrils approached the Gou She, Yun Yongzhuo ascended into the sky, overlooking the colossal creature.

He extended his slender index finger, casually swinging it back and forth in the air. At the same time—

"Yang Sheng, give me wind." Wei Huan reached out his right hand towards Yang Sheng. Their tacit understanding developed over more than a decade meant Yang Sheng didn't need to think. He drew a purple circle on his chest and pushed it towards Wei Huan. Suddenly, a smoky purple tornado surged from the center of the circle, seemingly about to engulf Wei Huan.

Just as Wei Huan's palm touched the tornado, he smirked, and his transformed canine teeth became sharp.

"Here it comes."

The muscles in Wei Huan's arm tore the short sleeves of his qipao, transforming the massive purple tornado he grabbed into a giant wind blade!

At that moment, high in the sky, Yun Yongzhuo raised his hands, spreading them apart as if grabbing an invisible thread and pulling it fiercely.

The light tendrils surrounding the Gou She suddenly tightened, entangling the colossal creature tightly, rendering it almost immobile.

Excellent!

Wei Huan gathered all his demonic energy in his right arm, the demonic mark on his cheek continuously turning blue as he transformed, revealing a glowing blue Nine Phoenix family emblem on his exposed right arm.

"Let's see how you hook—" Wei Huan swung the purple wind blade in his hand forcefully, soaring high into the air and then descending rapidly.

With a swift motion, he severed the Gou She's two long tails.

The excruciating pain caused the giant beast to emit a terrifying wail.

These kinds of monstrous creatures possessed astonishing healing abilities. Su Buyu, standing on the side, worried that its tails might reattach. He quickly raised his hand, took off the jade bead hanging around his neck, and threw it into the air. The bead, emitting a faint green light, turned entirely black in an instant. A wave of sea surged out of nowhere, rolling up the two tails cut off by Wei Huan, swirling and sucking them into the black bead.

Wei Huan turned his head and smiled at Su Buyu, giving him a thumbs-up with his left hand. He then tightened his grip on the gigantic wind blade, preparing to chop off the Wind Snake's head. However, at this moment, Yun Yongzhuo suddenly set the snake's head on fire, startling Wei Huan and causing him to miss his target.

"What are you doing!"

Yun Yongzhuo descended slowly, his facial expression unchanged. He simply said, "He's just like you."

Afterwards, he swung his right arm backward, and the entire Gou She was enveloped in roaring flames.

"Fear of fire."

Wei Huan was infuriated. This Yun Yongzhuo was more infuriating than a head-snatching dog.

"I'm going to carry this wave!!!" Wei Huan was on the verge of exploding.

"He did the right thing. We can't kill the Gou She casually. I've already contacted the instructor." Yang Sheng caught up, gesturing for Wei Huan to calm down. The large blade he was holding immediately turned into a purple storm and was sucked into Yang Sheng's palm.

Not only did he miss the head, but now his knife was also taken away. Wei Huan was even more upset.

Seeing that the girl had awakened, Su Buyu left her and approached Wei Huan. "What should we do now? Wait for the instructor to come back?"

"Wait…" Wei Huan suddenly felt something was off.

Several people sensed it; a massive shadow loomed over them.

Yang Sheng had a bad premonition. "Wei Huan… what did you just cut?"

"How would I know?!"

All four of them raised their heads simultaneously. The gigantic, candy-filled inflatable aircraft carrier floating in the air had a large tear, losing balance and flying towards them.

Oh damn…

Rustling sounds filled the air as a colorful candy shower poured down, submerging the four in a pile of candy.

"Ugh. My goodness," Wei Huan, now with just a head, adjusted his disheveled bun. "Someone give me a hand, quickly." Naturally, Yun Yongzhuo wouldn't help him. Even though he had already freed himself from the candy mountain, Yun Yongzhuo nonchalantly stepped on the candies, ignoring Wei Huan's head, and headed toward the fire cage he had prepared for the Gou She.

Wei Huan quickly grabbed Yun Yongzhuo's small leg. "Don't run! Save me!" He forcibly pulled Yun Yongzhuo down.

"Wow, your qipao is torn," Wei Huan said, holding Yun Yongzhuo's leg.

"Let go!"

"No!"

"Hey, Wei Huan, this rectangular-shaped candy is delicious. Try it; I've peeled it for you."

"I don't have time for that!"

"Huan, I'll pull you out. I'll be quick…"

"Let go of me."

"No! If you pull me out, I'll let go!"

After much fussing, just before it got dark, the group returned from the South Gate to the teaching area. Su Buyu and Yang Sheng hurried back to their stalls. Yun Yongzhuo and Wei Huan were exhausted, dragging themselves back to the coffee shop. Their qipaos were in tatters, lipstick smeared, hair disheveled – a sight too embarrassing to behold.

"Oh my, what did you two just do?" A senior sister covered her mouth in horror.

Wei Huan tugged at the torn hem of his severely damaged qipao. "We did what real men would do."

Yun Yongzhuo couldn't help rolling his eyes, pulling off the wig from his head. "I'm going to change my clothes."

"Me first!" Wei Huan was about to run but was caught by the senior sister. "Wait, I'll take off this bun for you."

"Oh." Wei Huan had to obediently bend down, allowing the senior sister to remove the two buns that had already come apart. "Let him have a taste too."

The senior sister teased with a smile, "You two have a really good relationship."

"Good?" Wei Huan pouted. "Not good at all. After the fight, he just runs away."

"You even rhymed in response to my joke." The senior sister removed the bun and said, "All done."

Wei Huan walked proudly towards the changing room, casually chatting, "Gou She, head-snatcher, snatches heads, after snatching heads, no friends left…"

Coincidentally, as he said this, Yun Yongzhuo lifted the curtain, dressed in a black shirt with a stern and menacing expression.

"…friends." Wei Huan quickly switched to a brilliant smile and extended his hand towards Yun Yongzhuo as if waiting for a high-five. "Yo, yo! Yun Yongzhuo! You're my good friend~"

Ignoring the hand stretched towards his face, Yun Yongzhuo walked straight out, dressed in black with a cold and stern expression.

"Do you think I want to high-five you? No way." The hand-lifting expert smoothly used the extended hand to open the curtain of the changing room, showing no awkwardness. "I'm going in to change. Disappointed, huh~"

When he came out, Yun Yongzhuo was nowhere to be seen.

For some reason, Wei Huan felt a bit disappointed. He called Yang Sheng, making plans to explore the Shanhai Night Market together. After hanging up, the senior sister stopped him.

"Xiaohuan, wait." The senior sister handed him a band-aid.

Wei Huan was puzzled for a moment until he saw the senior sister pointing to his cheek. He then remembered the wound he got when saving Bai Jiu, cut by Yun Yongzhuo's light blade. Yun Yongzhuo's light blade was not only sharp but also caused wounds that were challenging to heal for most demons.

"Thanks, senior sister." Wei Huan took the band-aid from her.

"Don't thank me. It was from Yongzhuo." She chuckled, "He left this on the counter, didn't say anything. Luckily, I'm smart enough to realize it must be for you."

Wei Huan shrugged. "Perhaps not." He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Anyway, thanks."

The senior sister looked at Wei Huan with a strange expression.

"What's wrong?" Wei Huan also glanced at himself, teasing, "Are you not used to seeing me in men's clothing now?"

"No." The senior sister tilted her head, "Why do I feel like this black shirt is bigger than when you came over earlier? Is it just my imagination…"

Wei Huan tugged at the shirt he was wearing.

"Is it?"