Xu Zizhen's sincere admission of fault improved the girl's expression considerably.
She took her hand off Xu Zizhen's shoulder.
"As long as you know you were wrong."
"Don't do it again."
"Got it."
Xu Zizhen nodded.
The girl left.
Xu Zizhen let out a breath of relief.
He turned around.
Seeing Xiao Xiao absorbed in his book made the corner of his mouth twitch.
Had Master Xiao still not noticed him?
That couldn't be, could it?
"Master Xiao."
Xu Zizhen called softly.
Xiao Xiao closed his book and turned to look at him.
"Xu Zizhen."
He didn't look surprised at all.
As expected.
Master Xiao had known he was there.
"Master Xiao—"
Xu Zizhen looked around at their surroundings—
Though he was anxious, this clearly wasn't the place to talk.
"Let's go outside."
Xiao Xiao put the book back on the shelf.
Xu Zizhen paused. "Master Xiao, aren't you borrowing it?"
"I've already read these."
Xiao Xiao pulled a few more books from the shelf. "I'm borrowing these."
"Oh, okay."
Xu Zizhen followed Master Xiao through the checkout process, then they left the library.
There was plenty of open space outside the library.
Few students passed by, too.
After all, the students who came here were inside the library. Few people would go out of their way to hang around the entrance.
"Master Xiao."
Anxiety showed on Xu Zizhen's face, and his voice rose slightly without him realizing it. "The maple tree is sick!"
Hm?
Xiao Xiao paused.
The maple tree... was sick?
Spirit Maple... was sick?
"What happened?"
Xiao Xiao tried to calm Xu Zizhen. "Don't panic."
"Spirit Maple wouldn't get sick so easily."
Then again, could a demon get sick?
He didn't know.
He'd never encountered a sick demon before.