"Help me!"
Xiao Yi Xian panicked, suddenly unsure what to do, and could only cast Xun'er a discreet plea for help.
"Brother Xiao Ting, you still have the nerve to ask?" Xun'er returned a reassuring look, then shot him a slightly coquettish sideways glance. "You were staring so openly at Sister Xiao Yi Xian's face. Even Xun'er would blush if you looked at me like that."
Thinking about how he had been distracted writing his Notes and had apparently, perhaps, maybe been blankly staring at Xiao Yi Xian, Xiao Ting felt it was only natural for her to misunderstand. He could not help feeling awkward. "Sorry, I was thinking about something just now. That was rude of me."
"It's fine." Xiao Yi Xian secretly sighed in relief and gave Xun'er a thumbs-up beneath the table. "With Sister Xun'er here, I believe Young Master Xiao Ting did not mean anything by it."
"I wouldn't have meant anything by it even if Xun'er weren't here," Xiao Ting immediately argued.
If he had meant it, he would have done it even with Xun'er present.
Whether he dared to do something and whether he had done it were two different matters.
"Don't explain, Brother Xiao Ting." Xun'er suddenly stood up, speaking with a hint of jealousy. "You've never looked at Xun'er like that."
Xiao Ting's mouth twitched. Back before my Past Life Memories awakened, I treated you more like a little sister.
Now that their relationship had been made clear and he had successfully started living off her, he could not act like some lecherous fool.
"Since Brother Xiao Ting has already spoken to Uncle, shall we leave for Qingshan Town now?" Xun'er spoke again before he could explain.
"It's already evening, and traveling at night would be inconvenient." Seeing Xun'er take the initiative to change the subject, Xiao Ting naturally went along with it. "Let's leave tomorrow morning. I also need to inform Brother Yan and Yao Lao."
He also needed to give Xiao Zhan time to "accidentally" spread the news and lure the fish in.
"Then I'll take my leave first." Xiao Yi Xian stood up, her expression having returned to normal.
"Is Sister Xiao Yi Xian going back to the inn?" Xun'er asked proactively. After seeing Xiao Yi Xian nod, she invited her, "There are several guest rooms in my courtyard. Why not stay with me tonight? It will be more convenient for us to leave tomorrow."
"Wouldn't that be inappropriate?" Xiao Yi Xian looked hesitant.
"There's nothing inappropriate about it." Xun'er smiled sweetly. "I have many books there. Sister Xiao Yi Xian may borrow and read any of them."
"Staying with Xun'er would indeed be more convenient," Xiao Ting chimed in.
"Then I shall accept your kind offer." After a brief hesitation, Xiao Yi Xian nodded.
"Then let's go." Xun'er seemed to glare at Xiao Ting before leaving with Xiao Yi Xian.
"This girl." Xiao Ting shook his head with a smile.
Still, this incident did remind him of something.
He needed to choose times when no one was nearby, or when nothing else was happening, to write his Notes.
Although no one else could see the Notes and nobody knew what he was doing, spacing out all the time was not a good look.
Unless he encountered something especially important or interesting.
Boom!
In the Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy in the Black-Corner Region, a certain building was shaken so violently by brute force that it seemed on the verge of collapse.
"Little ancestor, what are you trying to do now?"
An old man dressed in black robes, with white hair and a white beard, spoke helplessly, his eyes filled with affection.
If any Inner Academy students of Jia Nan Academy had been present, they would have been utterly shocked by this scene. The speaker was Su Qian, the First Elder of the Inner Academy, usually stern and rigid, with a cold glint in his eyes.
As a Dou Zong, Su Qian was a rare existence in the Black-Corner Region and carried an imposing aura. Yet now, he was treating a girl in a white dress, who looked no older than twelve or thirteen, with remarkable kindness, completely at a loss over what to do.
But if those students knew the girl, they would find everything perfectly natural.
After all, she was the number one ranked expert on the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking, Zi Yan!
"I want to go out and play." The girl cutely raised her chin, mischief hidden deep in her bright eyes. "The Outer Academy is sending people out to recruit students soon, right? Give me a token, and I'll sneak into one of the Outer Academy recruitment teams to look around nearby."
"You..." Su Qian shook his head with a laugh.
Recruiting students was such a serious matter, yet she wanted to slip into the team just to go out and play. It had to be said, that was very Zi Yan.
With Zi Yan's strength as a Dou Wang, she had long met the Inner Academy's requirements for graduation.
But she was an orphan with no idea where she came from and nowhere to call home, so she had stayed.
"You really want to go?" Su Qian asked sternly for confirmation.
"Old Su, are you done nagging?" Zi Yan seemed to appear on the table in an instant. Sitting there with one leg raised, arms crossed over her chest, she turned her head aside with an arrogant look. "I said I want to go, so of course I'm going."
"Fine." After a slight hesitation, Su Qian did not refuse. "With your strength, there is no problem with you going out. This old man has only one requirement: listen to the lead instructor."
Zi Yan was powerful, but her temperament was unstable, and she easily caused trouble.
"Got it, got it, hmph~" Zi Yan held out her hand.
Su Qian did not give her a token. Instead, he sent word to Hu Gan, Vice Dean of the Outer Academy and the person actually in charge there.
Not long after, Hu Gan, who had happened to be in the Inner Academy to report on some matters, hurried over. "First Elder, you were looking for me?"
"Zi Yan wants to accompany a recruitment team and go out for a stroll. Take her to the Outer Academy and make the arrangements." Su Qian resumed his stern expression. "Find a team led by a steady-tempered instructor."
Hu Gan was no stranger to this first genius of the Inner Academy, whom the First Elder had brought back. Even his own granddaughter, known as the Little Enchantress, was completely outclassed before her.
"Yes, First Elder." Hu Gan considered it briefly, then said, "Ruo Lin of the Outer Academy is gentle by nature, adheres to principles while remaining flexible and accommodating. She would be perfect to lead Zi Yan."
"I don't want that." Zi Yan immediately objected. She was not really going out just to play. "I heard that above the Black-Corner Region lies the Northwest Continent, and some areas directly border the Black-Corner Region. I want to go there, to places like the Jia Ma Empire, Chu Yun Empire, Mu Lan Empire..."
Surprise flashed through Su Qian's eyes. Zi Yan had clearly come prepared.
Could it be that she had recalled some childhood memories and wanted to verify them?
Su Qian did not ask further. He merely nodded at Hu Gan.
"Hehe, little girl, then there's no better team for you than Ruo Lin's." Hu Gan stroked his beard and smiled. "She is one of the lead instructors assigned to the southwestern part of the Northwest Continent, and her recruitment route includes the empires you mentioned."
"All right, then it's her." Zi Yan immediately nodded.
Once the matter was settled, Su Qian said, "Hu Gan still needs to attend a meeting in the Inner Academy. Wait here for a while, then let her take you to the Outer Academy."
"Got it. Go on, go on." Zi Yan flashed over to a bench some distance away and lay down. Raising a hand, she took a fruit from her Storage Ring and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Hiss." Hu Gan's pupils contracted.
If he was not mistaken, Zi Yan was eating a Fifth Rank spirit fruit, an ingredient needed for refining certain sixth-grade pills. Eating it directly was simply too wasteful.
But seeing Su Qian's utterly unsurprised expression, he chose to pretend he had seen nothing.
"Pah! Pah!"
After spitting out several spirit fruit pits, Zi Yan stretched lazily and stared expectantly at the Notebook Copy.
"Jie jie jie." Zi Yan let out Soul Hall's signature creepy cackle. "So you're Xiao Ting, huh."
"You seem to know me very well. I'm coming to play with you."
Before you continue