Ma Xiaotao froze when she saw the familiar figure ahead. Then, clasping her hands behind her back, she broke into a sweet smile and skipped toward Yan Shaozhe. "Teacher! What are you doing here?" she called coquettishly.
Yan Shaozhe looked at his troublesome disciple, but unlike usual, he did not wear an indulgent smile.
Instead, he regarded her calmly and spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of deeper meaning. "If I hadn't come, how would I have known that the evil fire inside you had suddenly flared up?"
The smile on Ma Xiaotao's face instantly stiffened.
But she quickly composed herself and stubbornly retorted, "Teacher, what are you talking about? When did my evil fire suddenly flare up? Look, aren't I perfectly fine?"
As she spoke, she deliberately spun around on the spot to show that she was unharmed.
Yan Shaozhe remained unmoved. He looked at her calmly, his tone still unhurried. "Perfectly fine? If that boy Li Changqing hadn't helped you, would you still be standing here, talking to me?"
At those words, Ma Xiaotao instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.
She lowered her head. Her hands were no longer behind her back, but twisted together awkwardly as she murmured, "So you knew all along, Teacher..."
Seeing her guilty expression, Yan Shaozhe spoke with both helplessness and severity. "If there had been another outer courtyard disciple there today instead of Li Changqing, do you know what the consequences would have been?"
Ma Xiaotao lowered her head even further, her voice filled with guilt and regret. "I'm sorry, Teacher... I thought I could control it, but..."
Of course she knew the consequences.
Someone would have died. That was all.
Seeing how sincerely she admitted her mistake, most of Yan Shaozhe's anger dissipated.
He sighed softly, and his tone gentled.