After finishing two bowls of Dough Drop and Vegetable Soup with great satisfaction, Zhu Xia's stomach was bulging. Chen Chao paid the bill under the stall owner's resentful eyes and they left. It was now dusk and they had finally arrived at the entrance of the academy.
Just as Wei Xu had said, the current Divine Capital was very quiet, absolutely no one would dare to cause any more trouble. Hence, there were no problems encountered on the way here.
The two walked into the academy and arrived at South Lake. Listening to the sounds of insects on the summer night, they both felt happy.
Zhu Xia patted her stomach and looked at the black-shirt young man who had a saber at his waist. She then grinned and said, "I'm so full!"
Chen Chao felt rather helpless and did not make conversation. He was just thinking that he had already brought her here, why was there no one here in the academy to receive her?
He was just told to bring this guy to the academy, but who would he hand her over to?
This was a problem.
Chen Chao found a long bench and sat down by the lake, going into a daze while looking at the heart of the lake.
Zhu Xia sat beside him. After walking for so long, she was a little tired and wanted to sit for a while.
As they sat by the lake, they suddenly saw some faint light in the distance. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be some fireflies. Zhu Xia spread her hands out excitedly, waiting for a firefly to land on her palm, and exclaimed happily, "Look, fireflies!"
Chen Chao nodded his head and said rather tiredly, "Yes, not bad."
He was just casually brushing off the girl in front of him, like most men in the world often did.
Maybe it was because Zhu Xia was too young, or maybe it was because she was completely immersed in those fireflies at the moment, she did not hear anything and just said to herself, "There are no such things on Mount Xi. My master said it's because of the mountain protecting grand array. Even things like butterflies can't fly in."
"Oh, right, if you have the chance, come visit our Mount Xi. I'll show you the mountain scenery!" Zhu Xia was rather excited. The mountain scenery on Mount Xi was really famous among foreign land cultivators.
"Okay, I'll definitely go if I have the chance."
Chen Chao leaned on the bench and was actually a bit sleepy.
He had experienced a lot today. Disregarding the life-and-death battle with that old man in hemp robe before, even earlier, he was already very tired after fighting with those assassins as well as that thin middle-aged man. Especially when he fought with the thin man, it looked as if he won at an extremely fast speed, but it was actually very strenuous too.
His injuries were not serious, but he had consumed too much energy.
So he was very lethargic at the moment.
Zhu Xia glanced at Chen Chao and was about to speak when there was suddenly some light in the distance.
Chen Chao perked up, thinking that someone must be coming to bring this little girl away.
He perked up and looked into the distance.
The light quickly approached; it was a lantern. The light was not too bright and the figure did not seem very tall. It did not seem like the scholar from earlier. Could it be a student from the academy out for a night stroll?
Chen Chao furrowed his brows. He could understand why students would take a night stroll around the academy. After all, this was the academy, what could not happen?
But he quickly remembered those things too. He learned earlier about the rumors of the academy being haunted.
Could there really be ghosts?
Chen Chao silently put his hand on the hilt of his saber.
Until the lantern got closer and closer.
He then saw the arrival, it was also a young girl.
Chen Chao loosened his grip on his saber awkwardly and chuckled softly, trying to conceal his embarrassment.
He hoped the girl did not notice.
Chen Chao perked up a little, but when he realized that there was still a girl sitting next to him, he quickly moved to one side.
That girl carrying the lantern came here, it was Xie Nandu.
Zhu Xia also just happened to look up at the same time. The two girls' eyes met in the darkness and the atmosphere suddenly became a little delicate.
Feeling that something was not quite right, Chen Chao quietly stood up and said with a smile, "You came?"
Xie Nandu glanced at this youth whom she had not seen for quite some time and furrowed her brows as she said. "I think it's you who came."
Although the academy was not owned by Chen Chao, it could be said to be Xie Nandu's academy.
Chen Chao wondered to himself why the atmosphere tonight was so subtle, so he did not say anything.
Xie Nandu had already turned her head and looked at Zhu Xia.
The two exchanged glances again.
Zhu Xia asked, "Are you the genius girl of the academy, Xie Nandu?"
Her voice was a little crisp and her tone was direct, but it did not give the impression of being impolite. It just made people feel that this young girl's temperament was very straightforward.
Of course, Chen Chao had already experienced this, so he naturally knew this. It was just that this was Xie Nandu's first meeting with her. If she left a bad impression on this young girl, it would not be good.
Chen Chao was a little worried, but he immediately thought to himself: what business was it of his whether these two people liked each other or not? His worries seemed to be rather redundant.
Thinking up to here, Chen Chao laughed mockingly at himself.
Xie Nandu looked at her and said, "You are the saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace, Zhu Xia."
Two sentences, one sentence had some intent to inquire, while the other sentence did not. But in fact, the meaning was the same.
"I heard about you a while back, you're the dean's final disciple."
Zhu Xia looked at Xie Nandu, some curiosity on her face. She was really interested in the dean and since Xie Nandu was the dean's disciple, and was even the final one, she was naturally very interested in her too.
"I've also heard about you, saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace. Why did you start only start cultivating after these years?"
Zhu Xia was a few years younger than her, but she had been brought into Myriad Heaven Palace much earlier than Xie Nandu had entered the academy. However, she only started cultivating in the past two years, which was similar to Xie Nandu's situation.
"My cultivation method is a little problematic. If one is too young, it will be very difficult."
The cultivation method was a big secret for cultivators and was not something that people usually shared with others.
However, it was already pretty good that Zhu Xia could mention this much. This was related to her straightforward personality.
Xie Nandu gave an mhm and asked, "Are you going to stay in the academy?"
Zhu Xia also gave an mhm, "Mr. Wei told me to."
After each of them said a sentence, it seemed that there was nothing else to say. Xie Nandu picked up the lantern and was about to leave when Zhu Xia said behind her, "I heard people say that you're planning to win first place in the literary exam?"
Xie Nandu turned around, glanced at Zhu Xia, and nodded, "Yes."
There was nothing to hide about this. Since she was participating in the literary exam, she naturally wanted to win first place. She had been studying diligently these days, so she believed that there was no problem for her to win.
Zhu Xia smiled and said confidently, "The top spot in the literary exam this time belongs to me!"
Besides wanting to see the academy, her purpose for coming to the Divine Capital this time was naturally to participate in the literary exam. She was also prepared to win first place in the literary exam. Moreover, given that the Myriad Heaven Palace only sent her to participate in the literary exam, it could be seen how much confidence they had in her.
Xie Nandu gave an "oh" and said, "It's not just about talking the talk."
Whether was it the literary or martial exam of the Myriad Willow Convention, it all came down to the actual competing.
Zhu Xia smiled and said, "See you then."
Xie Nandu nodded and repeated, "See you then."
After saying this, she looked at Chen Chao who had been ignored and asked, "Are you still going to sleep outside tonight?"
"I'm really quite tired today and don't want to run around. Can you take me in for one night?"
Chen Chao felt a bit uneasy. He kept feeling that there was something that Xie Nandu had not made clear, but he could not quite put his finger on it. In any case, he looked into her eyes and felt that there were many words hidden behind them.
Zhu Xia watched this scene, furrowing her brows slightly, feeling a bit uneasy.
It was hard to describe the feeling, it was just a little inexplicably uncomfortable.
"Where is your senior brother? I brought Zhu Xia here, but where will she stay tonight?"
Chen Chao looked at Xie Nandu. Since this matter fell on the head of the Left Guard, Chen Chao felt that he needed to hand over Zhu Xia safely to the other party for it to be considered a job well done. It was just that he was here now, but the whereabouts of the person who was supposed to receive her were nowhere to be found. This made Chen Chao feel a headache and rather helpless.
He could not dump this Myriad Heaven Palace saintess by the lake, right?
Besides, they were considered friends now.
Xie Nandu smiled and said nothing. She just carried the lantern and walked away.
Chen Chao was feeling a bit depressed.
Some light appeared in the distance again. A lantern was currently approaching.
It was that scholar from earlier, Wei Xu.
He walked out from the darkness and looked the same as during the day, still smiling at them like an ordinary scholar.
A scholar carrying the lantern was a good match for this lakeside.
Chen Chao clasped his hands.
Wei Xu smiled and nodded without speaking. Then, he looked at Zhu Xia and said, "Saintess, please follow me, your master and my teacher have been waiting for you for a long time.
Zhu Xia nodded her head. Then, she turned around to smile at Chen Chao and said, "Commander Chen, until we meet again."
Commander Chen, a rather playful form of address.
Chen Chao did not have any reaction, he just said, "It shouldn't be hard to meet in the academy, right?"
When Zhu Xia heard this, she said softly, "Oops."
These words had the emotions of a young girl, but Chen Chao did not understand it and did not detect it at all either. So, he just remained silent and said nothing.
Zhu Xia said softly, "You aren't angry, right? We're friends."
When Chen Chao heard such cute words, he could only shake his head and said, "How can I possibly get angry? Of course we're friends."
Zhu Xia's mood improved and she said with a smile, "I'll come and find you again to play when I'm free."
Chen Chao thought for a moment and did not refuse. He nodded and said, "Sure."
Zhu Xia waved at him before rubbing her belly and following Wei Xu's lead.
Chen Chao stood in place, watching these two people's back view, and yawned. He was really quite tired.
