Zhang Lexuan's cheeks burned, faintly flushed. After fidgeting for a long while, she finally called out in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "Senior Brother."
Once she said it, Zhang Lexuan was mortified.
Calling someone so much younger than herself Senior Brother felt strangely embarrassing.
"That sounded nice. Very pleasant to hear."
Gu Yunxiao smiled, then nodded toward the Sea God Pavilion Elders, giving Mu En and the others a meaningful look.
The Elders: "..."
What a loss! What a crushing, bloody loss!
Not only had they failed to win over Gu Yunxiao, they had lost Zhang Lexuan in the bargain.
And with Gu Yunxiao's formidable background, they couldn't even renege.
The Elders could only force smiles uglier than tears.
"Teacher, this..." Yan Shaozhe looked at Mu En, his mood foul and his face full of gloom. "Lexuan is a genius the academy painstakingly nurtured."
"Mu En, should we try talking things over with Gu Yunxiao?" Xuan Zi asked.
The other Elders also looked at Mu En, varying degrees of hesitation in their eyes.
Hand Zhang Lexuan over on a silver platter?
They certainly weren't willing to do that.
"..."
Mu En remained silent for a long while before shaking his head, his tone helpless. "Gu Yunxiao isn't so easy to negotiate with. Since we agreed to gamble, we have to accept the result."
"Lexuan... belongs to Gu Yunxiao now."
Did it hurt? His heart ached too!
But aside from aching, there was nothing he could do.
Rather than renege and offend Gu Yunxiao, they might as well accept defeat gracefully, leave him with a good impression, and foster some goodwill toward Shrek Academy.
"Alas."
The other Elders sighed, utterly helpless.
Since Mu En had put it that way, there was little else they could say.
"Though we've