At first, it was nothing more than some student's infatuation with their teacher, as someone posted a full five-thousand-word essay about how Xu Jinli was the modern reincarnation of Helen of Troy. That student went on and on, complaining about how Teacher Xu's only purpose in life was to come down to the mortal realm and mess with the pure hearts of young men. How Xu Jinli was a heartless muse, spreading his pheromones left and right without taking responsibility for those he affected, leading them all by the nose towards mutual demise. Of course, everyone made fun of that poor soul in the beginning, and even Dean Zhao giggled while reading that love letter disguised as a condemnation, thinking that young people sure had so many ways to entertain themselves.

But soon enough, someone started fanning the flames. Every time he refreshed the page, Dean Zhao read more and more anonymous posts, digging into Teacher Xu's past.

Xu Jinli was known as the pearl of the School of Drama and Film. At barely 31, he was already a retired movie emperor, a beloved actor who left behind the spotlight for the comfort of living a scholar's life, coming back to share his knowledge with the new generation. However, he was also deadly gorgeous, like a carnivorous flower in full bloom, waiting to feast on your blood as soon as you pricked your finger in its thorns. 

And the fact that he was also an Omega, famously unmarked despite already being in his thirties, didn't help his case either.

All of his students both adored and feared him, feeling that attending one of his classes was like a crash course into Buddhism... It only taught them how to struggle against mortal temptations, how to seek enlightenment, and how to ascend straight to heaven as soon as the class was over. But of course, such a person also had his fair share of haters.

Before becoming a teacher, there were rumours surrounding his elusive family background, with voices saying he definitely had a potent backer in the entertainment industry. Otherwise, how could he land so many leading roles without even auditioning for them?! In fact, it was a running joke in the industry that a famous director happened to see Xu Jinli pick his nose once, deciding to cast him on the spot as his villainous heroine, solely based on the fact that the man's fingers were as graceful as willow vines, digging in his nose like he was digging inside the hero's chest, grabbing his still beating heart!

And being cast as the heroine wasn't a mistake either. Xu Jinli's credits included both male and female roles, his appeal being universal to every gender.

However, after becoming a teacher at the National University of the Arts, those rumours underwent a subtle shift. In the dark, nasty voices started saying that he was kicked out of the entertainment industry for messing around too much, that all of his past roles were indeed won because of his talents and efforts, it's just that... His efforts were not in the auditioning rooms, but in the director's private quarters. And when those kinds of rumours found their way to their university's forum, Dean Zhao thought it was a danger for the prestigious institution, banning "The Garden of Earthly Delights" on the spot.

However, censorship never managed to block people's mouths, and Teacher Xu from the School of Drama and Film still went on to become a legendary figure...

Or perhaps… The National University of the Arts' fourth urban legend.

No one saw him outside of class. He never showed up to meetings or school events, yet somehow, his lectures were always perfectly timed and held. No one could recall seeing him eat during the day, and every time someone claimed to have met him on campus, their description changed. To some, he had short silver hair and eyes like molten glass, shining in the sun like the jewels on some cursed artefact... To others, he was a silent shadow slipping between corridors, dressed in black and with hair so long it trailed on the floor. When he moved, he left behind the tantalising aroma of cherry liquor and burnt sugar, inviting you to lick the steps he took. However, the only common trait everyone seemed to agree on was that he was "too beautiful to be real". 

And, well, that he was an Omega.

[Teacher Xu is definitely the ghost of the faculty room], someone once wrote on "The Garden of Earthly Delights". 

[I think the university installed him as an art piece, and then forgot about it.]

Also, no one seemed to know where he lived. His faculty mailbox was always empty, save for the occasional dried flower or handwritten poem that some love-struck fool snuck in. Some believed he slept in the costume room, nestled among silk dresses and old wigs, while others whispered he vanished into the walls when no one was looking, like the main character in a horror script that was still being written.

However, as stupid as those rumours sounded, it all reached a fever pitch one afternoon when a first-year student swore she saw Xu Jinli’s reflection in the third-floor window… 

From outside the building, ah!

Trembling, the child insisted her teacher wasn’t standing by the glass, nor was he hanging from the sill like some fantasy superhero, but was instead trapped inside it, watching over the campus like a Renaissance saint in a stained-glass prison!

And as one might expect, an Art University was the perfect place for pandemonium to erupt, with hundreds of students eager to jump on the train and act like little demons. After that, students started leaving offerings in front of the Drama Department’s little prop room. Flowers... Candles...

...Bubble tea and, weirdly enough, their most prized worldly possessions, but not in actual form, but rather... Pictures of them?! From proper, studio headshots of... expensive crayons, to portraits of American movie stars captured from some really unfortunate angles, the entire corridor transformed into a veritable art gallery, like the backyard of some eccentric movie villain who didn't know what to do with his family's fortune.

Someone even drew a little prayer plaque that read:

“Xu Goddess, please bless me to get over my heat safely and receive three callback auditions.”

Naturally, Dean Zhao was beside himself, both horrified by his student's audacity and terrified for his university's online reputation. After all, he had seen the name “Xu Jinli” appear in far too many gossip threads that semester, each one wilder than the last... From the Omega muse of the whole Universe to faculty room-haunting demon, to the divine punisher of bad actors everywhere, to the goddess of fortune, it wasn't just a harmless campus legend anymore... 

It was a veritable problem, ah!

A beautiful, unsolvable, scandal-prone problem that walked on long legs and still had a huge fanbase filled with diehard idiots!

And worst of all?!

Dean Zhao had no idea where Teacher Xu actually was right now, either!

Obviously, it was the middle of the day, but he wasn’t in his office! He also hadn’t answered any of his calls... And with the hot potato that was Young Master Li already burning both of his hands, Dean Zhao didn't even have time to think about the very important sponsor that was about to visit the campus soon! There were so many people he needed to impress in such a short time, so there was definitely not enough energy left to wipe clean yet another one of Xu Jinli's messes... 

...Which meant it was time to call in his most terrifying ally!

Inside his office, Dean Zhao turned towards the closed door, raising his hand to wipe the cold sweat that was prickling at his temples.

“Shen Yan!” he called. 

“Get in here, we need to talk!”