"Cough cough cough!"
Hearing Xiao Ting's words, Yun Yun hadn't even reacted yet when Xiao Zhan was already heavily shocked.
When Yun Yun had first come to instruct them in cultivation and teach them Dou Techniques and skills, they had already been shocked enough.
Privately, they had discussed that it was probably related to Xun Er. After all, the latter had a mysterious background and most likely stood behind a Dou Ancestor.
But he never expected Xiao Ting to actually want Yun Yun to act as his personal maidservant.
"Are you deliberately humiliating me?!" Yun Yun put on an angry expression.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't explain clearly," Xiao Ting apologized without any sincerity and explained, "I need you to pretend to be my personal maidservant for a while. You don't actually have to perform the duties of one."
"Pretend?" Yun Yun had already guessed what Xiao Ting was going to say, but she still asked with feigned confusion, "Why?"
"This isn't a good place to talk. Come with me." After nodding to Xiao Zhan, Xiao Ting turned and headed toward the residential area in the rear courtyard.
Yun Yun followed with her hands behind her back, immediately adopting an unapproachable demeanor—cold, proud, and aloof like a solitary green lotus standing apart from the world.
"Please sit."
Xiao Ting led Yun Yun to the guest room in his small courtyard, invited her to sit in a chair, and personally brewed tea for her.
"No one offers hospitality without an ulterior motive—either adultery or theft," Yun Yun said warily as she looked at the tea Xiao Ting handed over. "Tell me first—what exactly do you want?"
"Look at you, misunderstanding me again." Xiao Ting picked up his own teacup and shook his head lightly. "It's just inviting you for tea. What does that have to do with hospitality? You're a Dou Emperor powerhouse and the Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect."
"If I really wanted to be hospitable, I would immediately have Cai Lin undo your seal and let you go. That's when you should be worried."
"That's true." Yun Yun was convinced and put away her vigilance. She picked up the teacup, gently blew on it, and took a small sip.
The tea tasted excellent and left a fragrant aftertaste. As a tea connoisseur, Yun Yun nodded in approval.
"I didn't expect a young man like you to be such a skilled tea brewer."
Xiao Ting didn't take credit and smiled. "It's mainly because the tea is good. This is Misty Cloud Sect's Cloud Spirit Tea—only a couple of taels are produced every few years."
Yun Yun: "..."
No wonder the taste felt familiar. It was her own sect's specialty tea leaves.
"By the way, do you know who Cai Lin is?" Xiao Ting suddenly changed the subject, his eyes carrying a probing look.
Yun Yun's heart skipped a beat. She realized she had accidentally slipped up, but it wasn't hard to cover.
"Is it that hard to guess?" Yun Yun answered calmly. "The only one who could undo my seal must be Queen Medusa. Though the name Cai Lin doesn't quite match her temperament. I remember her original form is the Quiet Purple Flame Serpent—shouldn't it be something like Purple Ling?"
"I gave her that name," Xiao Ting's lips curved.
"Why did you choose that name?" Yun Yun asked, full of confusion.
"Cai Lin has successfully evolved. She is no longer the Quiet Purple Flame Serpent but the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python, and she possesses Dou Ancestor cultivation." Xiao Ting crossed his arms, looking at Yun Yun with interest. "She herself likes this name."
"Queen Medusa has broken through?!" Yun Yun stood up abruptly, her expression turning somewhat ugly.
"Yes, so undoing the seal on you will be even harder now," Xiao Ting said with a hint of schadenfreude.
"Hmph. Is this the confidence behind wanting me to act as your personal maidservant?" Yun Yun clenched her fists. "I am not someone who fears death. If not for the Misty Cloud Sect, I would never…"
Swish!
Before Yun Yun could finish, a streak of seven-colored light flashed out from Xiao Ting's sleeve and appeared in front of her.
Those purple eyes revealed Cai Lin's emotions, as if saying: "You can act, but don't act in front of me."
"You…" Yun Yun turned to look at Xiao Ting and spoke coldly, "Let's talk business."
"Little Cai, come back." Xiao Ting beckoned to the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python, having her return to his sleeve.
"Look at you getting anxious again." Once Little Cai returned, Xiao Ting put down his teacup and spoke unhurriedly. "You should have heard that Jia Nan Academy is recruiting in Wu Tan City. I've already passed the assessment and am preparing to go study at Jia Nan Academy."
"I know about that. You mentioned it when I first came to the Xiao Family wanting to take you as a disciple," Yun Yun's eyes grew complicated. "But what does that have to do with this Sect Leader?"
"I'm going to Jia Nan Academy, and Cai Lin is coming with me. That means no one will be watching you." Xiao Ting stared at Yun Yun's fresh and refined face. "Although you only have Dou Spirit cultivation right now, you are still the Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect. What if you cause trouble while I'm gone?"
"With Queen Medusa backing you, would this Sect Leader dare do anything detrimental to you?" Yun Yun countered.
"What if?" Xiao Ting shrugged. "I can't afford to gamble. The best solution is for you to come to Jia Nan Academy with me. With me and Cai Lin watching you, there's nothing to worry about."
Yun Yun: Exactly what I wanted.
"You think Jia Nan Academy is the Xiao Family, where you can do whatever you want?" Yun Yun said with an amused look. "For so many years, I've never heard of anyone being allowed to bring a maidservant to study at Jia Nan Academy."
"If you have the ability, you can take a maidservant inside the academy."
"You don't understand," Xiao Ting shook his head lightly and crossed one leg over the other. "The Outer Academy of Jia Nan Academy indeed doesn't allow maidservants, but the Inner Academy has no such strict rules. Most students enter from the Outer Academy and go there to study, so they don't bother bringing any."
"But if it's a genius who can enter the Inner Academy directly upon enrollment and wants to bring a maidservant, there's absolutely no problem. The Inner Academy won't restrict such things."
"As long as you're a genius, you really can do whatever you want. And luckily, I happen to be that kind of genius."
Yun Yun was momentarily rendered speechless.
Even though she had known the answer all along, she was still left somewhat speechless by Xiao Ting's thick-skinned attitude.
Yet his high-spirited appearance was like a stone thrown into the calm lake of her heart.
"Since that's the case, why are you asking me?" Yun Yun turned her head away, refusing to meet Xiao Ting's gaze. "You've already made the decision—could I possibly defy it?"
"Forcing you to go and discussing it with you feel different after all," Xiao Ting stared straight at Yun Yun. "After all, I have no intention of becoming enemies with Sect Leader Yun. It was Cai Lin who sealed you—it has nothing to do with me."
"I can even help you suffer less hardship and fight for a slim chance of freedom for you. Isn't that right?"
Heh, what slim chance of freedom? You never planned to let me go in this lifetime.
But it's exactly what I wanted, so I might as well continue the act with you.
"You have a point," the hostility in Yun Yun's eyes faded. She took a deep breath. "I understand the matter."
"No, you don't," Xiao Ting wagged a finger. "There's another reason I'm telling you this—I want you to make a trip back to the Misty Cloud Sect."
"You're letting me return to the sect?" Yun Yun's beautiful eyes brightened, though she felt a little panicked inside.
Wouldn't this affect her acting?
"You'll be gone with me to Jia Nan Academy for quite some time. You should at least go back and explain things, right?" Xiao Ting said in a considerate tone. "If the Sect Leader disappears for a long time and the Misty Cloud Sect falls into chaos, what then?"
"Although the Misty Cloud Sect falling into chaos has nothing to do with me, it does concern you. I don't want it blamed on Cai Lin and me later."
"So, I'm giving you a chance to go back and handle things."
"You shouldn't have any little schemes, right?"
…
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