Transmigration:The Villain Wants A Happy End Without His BeastHusbands-Chapter 20: Within The Grounds

Su Ningyan was certain he wasn’t the only one who had ever broken the academy rules.

The Celestial Beast Academy was full of beasts who despised one another. He had read the book. They were all psychopaths, the lot of them.

Tu Lanyin was the only anomaly.

He didn’t remember reading about her at all.

Had she appeared because he met Yan Wuhen too early?

Ningyan knelt in the center of a vast chamber accented in grey and black. Lantern light bathed the room in a muted glow, reflecting off polished stone and white fur patterns arranged like a miniature throne hall.

Four tiger-beast guards stood around him, unmoving. Two more guarded the doors.

Ningyan sighed quietly.

He already knew who they were waiting for.

He adjusted his posture, kneeling properly and keeping his gaze lowered. He avoided looking at the guards, though he could feel their sharp, curious, hostile eyes on him.

A coreless phoenix.

A first-year disciple.

Someone who had stabbed his stepbrother.

A clan heir.

They probably saw it as madness.

They didn’t know what Mingze had said to him.

Ningyan swallowed hard, nausea rising in his throat.

Why was this even a thing?

If they weren’t related at all, maybe, just maybe, he could understand the twisted justification. Forbidden romance nonsense.

But Mingze?

That wasn’t romance.

That was pure incestuous filth.

The doors opened.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the chamber as a tiger beast strode inside.

He was dressed immaculately in grey and black. His ash-grey hair was streaked with darker highlights, white tiger ears tipped with black rising sharply from his head. A long striped tail swayed behind him, and his grey tiger eyes were cold and sharp.

He moved to stand before the raised seat.

He did not sit.

Ningyan had never felt so relieved in his life.

For a moment, he had thought Rong Yue would appear.

Another male lead.

Another disaster.

Instead, it was his younger brother. Rong Chen.

Just as stern as the book had described. And just as good-looking. Still, Ningyan knew the descriptions never did them justice.

Everyone in this world was far more ethereal, far more dangerously attractive in person.

Rong Chen looked down at Ningyan, frowning.

"So this tiny, weak thing stabbed a clan heir?"

Offense flashed openly across Ningyan’s face.

He said nothing.

The guards bowed deeply.

"Your Highness," one reported. "We received the alert immediately after the incident. One of our own witnessed it."

"You mean Rong Chao?" Rong Chen said slowly. "He did mention there was a coreless weakling in his class."

His gaze dragged over Ningyan.

"He looks... presentable," Rong Chen added, his voice cool. "But punishment is still required, especially since Senior Brother is currently away handling matters back home."

Ningyan’s chest tightened.

This was bad.

And another brother...?

His mind flickered back to the tiger beast who had been seated beside him during the first lesson. Purple robes. Golden hair. Silver eyes.

He hadn’t looked anything like Rong Chen.

"So," Rong Chen said abruptly, cutting through his thoughts. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Ningyan sighed.

"If I tell you I was being bullied," he asked calmly, "would you forgive me? Take away the punishment? Look the other way?"

Rong Chen burst into laughter.

"Bullied?" he repeated, amused. "Of course you were bullied. You’re small. Weak. You have no spiritual core. No manifested beast traits. You’re a phoenix by blood alone. No different from a human."

His smile thinned.

"If you don’t want to be bullied, then leave. This academy is not a place for weaklings like you."

Ningyan let out a quiet breath.

"Trust me," he said. "I want to leave. I really do. But I can’t."

Rong Chen’s eyes narrowed.

"For your punishment," he said coldly, "you will accompany us on a hunt outside the academy grounds."

Ningyan’s eyes widened.

"No," he blurted. "I can’t. I can’t leave the academy grounds under any circumstances. Can’t you punish me within the—"

The slap came without warning.

Rong Chen didn’t even bother channeling much spiritual energy.

Ningyan was flung to the floor, the impact sharp and brutal. Blood poured instantly from his nose, streaking down his face.

His ears rang violently and then everything went black.

"Disgusting weakling," Rong Chen muttered, flexing his fingers, bones cracking softly. "Thinks he can tell me what to do."

The guards bowed their heads.

Rong Chen looked down at Ningyan’s unconscious body, blood staining the stone beneath him.

"...He’s beautiful, though," he added after a moment, blinking slowly. "Brother will be proud I handled this."

The chamber doors slammed open.

Footsteps rushed in.

Rong Chao froze the moment he saw the scene.

Ningyan lay unconscious on the floor, blood seeping from his nose and ears.

Rong Chao’s eyes widened.

"Brother!" he stepped forward sharply. "He didn’t do anything. He was treated unfairly and acted in self-defense. It was either him or the fire serpent."

Rong Chen turned slowly.

His glare was cold.

"Do I look like I care?" he asked flatly. "He broke the rules. So he will be punished."

He straightened, his presence pressing down on the chamber.

"We are of the Divine Beast King’s bloodline," Rong Chen continued. "The authority to punish within the Celestial Beast Academy belongs to us."

Rong Chao’s fists clenched at his sides.

"If it were Mingze who stabbed him," he asked tightly, "would you have punished him?"

Silence. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Then Rong Chen’s eyes darkened.

"Do you want to join him?" he said quietly.

Rong Chao stiffened. His jaw tightened.

"No," he answered.

"Then get out of my sight," Rong Chen snarled.

He turned sharply to the guards.

"Take him to the carriage," he ordered. "We leave immediately. We should reach the Drift Forest before the sun goes down."

"Yes, Your Highness," the guards responded in unison.

Two of them seized Ningyan by the arms and dragged his unconscious body from the chamber without ceremony.

Rong Chao stood frozen, watching.

His gaze burned into Rong Chen’s back.

Only when the doors slammed shut did he exhale sharply, and storm out of the chamber furiously.