Direct Selection

Hearing such an answer from the fellow opposite him, Zhang Xiaohua was truly speechless. He had seen rude people before, but never anyone so bluntly discourteous.

Zhang Xiaohua gave a slight shake of his head and followed Junior Brother Zhai out of the dining hall.

Junior Brother Zhai led him to a somewhat secluded little house and said apologetically, "Senior Brother Ren, you are not yet a disciple of our Lihuo Hall, so you cannot stay with our ordinary disciples. Our Lihuo Hall does not really have guest rooms either, so following Senior Sister Zhang's instructions, we cleaned up a room here for you. Please bear with it, Senior Brother Ren."

Zhang Xiaohua waved a hand and smiled. "Many thanks for your trouble, Junior Brother Zhai. I have no complaints."

"Very well. Please rest early, Senior Brother Ren. Senior Sister Zhang will likely come looking for you tomorrow. I will come by first thing in the morning."

After Junior Brother Zhai cupped his hands in farewell, Zhang Xiaohua pushed open the door and entered the little house.

The little house was quite refined, with no especially notable furnishings inside. A faint sniff revealed a lingering smell of dust; presumably, no one had lived here for a long time, and it had only recently been cleaned up.

Zhang Xiaohua did not mind. He set up restrictions, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, and quietly began cultivating.

After a long while, night gradually deepened. A dark gray figure suddenly darted out from the woods beside the little house. Rather than using lightness skills or anything of the sort, the figure merely crept forward on tiptoe, silently approaching the house where Zhang Xiaohua was staying. He pressed himself to the door and listened with pricked ears for quite some time, then looked around.