"Lord Xiao Xiao, what's in that room?"
The white snake asked curiously.
Xiao Xiao lowered his eyes and smiled. "Yes, what is in there?"
"If we get the chance, perhaps we'll find out."
Xiao Xiao's ears twitched slightly.
A few muffled thumps came from the child's room.
There were hurried footsteps, too.
He had no intention of eavesdropping.
So he stood up and walked over to the window.
A faint heat seeped in through the cracks.
Cicadas chirred incessantly nearby.
He remembered how, when he was little, a regular at the teahouse had tricked him into eating a roasted cicada in all sorts of ways.
The man had only wanted to see how Xiao Xiao would react when he found out what he'd eaten.
What a mischievous adult.
Unfortunately, he'd disappointed the man back then.
When he learned he'd eaten a cicada, he'd merely said, "Oh."
He hadn't reacted much beyond that.
The customer had rubbed his head in disappointment.
Xiao Xiao had unhappily brushed the man's hand away.
He hadn't shown it on his face, but he had felt rather uncomfortable about it.
He'd only pretended nothing was wrong because he didn't want to give someone who hoped to make a "joke" of him the satisfaction.
"Teacher."
The child's uneasy voice came from behind him.
Xiao Xiao turned around, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Can we start our lesson?"
The child froze.
The teacher wasn't going to ask anything.
"...Teacher, aren't you going to ask?"
After hesitating for a long while, the child finally voiced his confusion. "Why?"
"Would you be willing to tell me?"
Xiao Xiao bent down to look into the child's eyes.
The child instinctively avoided Xiao Xiao's gaze.
Then he realized what he was doing and looked at Xiao Xiao in