Chapter 1306: Caught Red-Handed

Chapter 1306: Chapter 1306: Caught Red-Handed

Everyone in the hall sat upright and rigid, only Pei Yan was restlessly pacing around the room, sizing up the furnishings. He’d come full of expectations, but now that he’d truly arrived at Yixue Pavilion, it struck him as rather ordinary. In terms of luxury and grandeur, forget the Immortal Palace Villa, even the temporary lodgings of the investigation team were more impressive. That said, this place did have a neat, quiet charm. If there was anything truly special here, it was the weather, which matched its name quite well. The moment he stepped inside, he felt the temperature plunge, and scattered snowflakes brushed against his cheeks. After entering Yixue Pavilion, the snow drifted down like willow catkins, turning the whole courtyard into a silver-clad scene with its own unique flavor.

Leaning against the doorway, he looked out at the snowy view. He had no idea what Secret Technique Lin Ruxue was using—the snow kept falling, but the snow on the ground didn’t seem to pile up, and the pond wasn’t frozen either. The fish inside swam about freely. The sight reminded Pei Yan of the koi in the shallow pond of the courtyard he’d stayed in when he first arrived at the Investigation Office. He wondered if these fish were the same species, and whether they tasted any good.

Thinking about food made Pei Yan hungry again. With his cultivation level, he could easily use his own source energy to suppress the hunger, but he’d never done that. In his view, this was one of the few things about him that still felt human. Keeping this little habit reminded him, constantly, that he was still just an ordinary person with seven emotions and six desires.

He looked up at the sky; it was already fully bright. It had been more than two hours since he’d been brought back from the Beast Taming Institute, and yet no one had come to see them. He turned back to look at the Sect Leaders and elders sitting in the room—two hours sitting like statues, not moving at all. Maybe this was the "steadfastness" Cultivators were always talking about.

Pei Yan didn’t have that kind of steadiness. He let out a long sigh, lifted his foot, and headed for the door. The moment he moved, everyone’s gaze fell on him. He hadn’t gone more than a few steps before the door of a side room was pulled open. A pretty little girl came trotting up to him and blocked his way, looking at him timidly as she whispered, "The Spirit Lord wishes that sir waits in the hall. Once the Lord has finished dealing with matters, he will come here to receive you all."

He looked down at the little lass who barely came up to his waist, taking in her rosy cheeks. She looked so festive that Pei Yan squatted down and pinched her nose with one hand, laughing as he said, "Little girl, how old are you? How come your Spirit Lord is still using child labor? That’s really not very proper."

The little girl didn’t understand what "child labor" meant, but she could tell it wasn’t anything good. She shook off Pei Yan’s hand at once, cheeks puffed up in anger as she scolded, "How dare you! How can you speak disrespectfully of the Spirit Lord!"

"I wouldn’t dare! Wouldn’t dare! How could I ever be disrespectful to your Spirit Lord?" Pei Yan smiled and joked, "But I’m hungry! For the sake of your Immortal Palace, I worked through the whole night and didn’t even sleep. I’d just come back from outside when I was dragged here. I haven’t had a drop of water or a grain of rice; I’m so hungry my chest is sticking to my back. Hey now, even emperors don’t keep their soldiers starving! I’ve been working for your Immortal Palace—surely you ought to at least feed me one meal."

As soon as he said this, the hall erupted in snickers. The little girl suddenly looked flustered. She felt Pei Yan had a point, but ever since she’d come to Yixue Pavilion, the Spirit Lord had never given any instructions about preparing food. Wasn’t it said that the higher one’s cultivation, the less one relied on grain? Even she only ate once every three months, a mouthful of dawn dew bestowed by the Spirit Lord, and that was enough to fill her belly. So how could this man possibly feel hungry?

Hearing the laughter from inside, the little girl felt more and more that they were laughing at her—that it was her ignorance that had made the Spirit Lord lose face. At that thought, her nose burned, and tears were about to burst forth.

"Hey! Hey! Don’t cry! If there’s no food, then there’s no food! I can go hungry for a while, it’s no big deal!" Pei Yan couldn’t stand that sort of thing. The moment he realized his teasing had left the girl wronged and on the verge of tears, he panicked and hurried to comfort her.

Children are like that: when they’re about to cry, it’s better not to coax them. The moment you try, they cry for real. Watching the little girl in front of him tilt her head back and bawl, Pei Yan was at a complete loss. Just then, Lin Daozi’s teasing voice sounded from behind him: "Junior Brother Pei, you really are something. This little girl is from the Langya Wang Family. My master took notice of her and kept her at his side to observe her conduct and aptitude before taking her in as a Disciple. She’s my future junior sister, and you managed to make her cry the moment you met. Unlike us, she’s only just turned eight this year. Junior Brother, bullying her—don’t you feel the least bit ashamed?"

Now that she had someone speaking up for her, the little girl cried even harder. While Pei Yan flailed about trying to comfort her, a cool, clear voice drifted in from the courtyard.

"What’s with the crying! You’re soft-hearted to a fault, child. If he wants to eat, just feed him! In a grand Immortal Palace like this, are we really afraid we can’t scrape together one decent meal to stuff this stinky brat?"

The moment those words rang out, the little girl stopped crying at once. She turned, following the direction of the voice, and ran off. At the same time, everyone in the hall smoothed the laughter from their faces, stood up, and bowed toward the entrance. Before long, Lin Ruxue walked in from outside leading the little girl by the hand. At her side was Lin Junzhao, whom Pei Yan hadn’t seen for days. Behind the two of them stood a man and a woman—the woman Pei Yan had just met the previous night: Li Ang, Vice Mountain Head of the White Deer Institute. The man Pei Yan had never seen before, but he figured this must be Su Fengchen, the Mountain Head of the White Deer Institute.

Lin Ruxue ignored Pei Yan, who was standing under the corridor bowing with an awkward smile as he saluted her. She brushed past him and came to stand in front of Lin Daozi, scolding, "You say she’s your future junior sister, yet you stand here watching her cry and don’t step out to speak up for her. Is that how a senior brother is supposed to behave?"

Faced with his master’s scolding, Lin Daozi shrank back and admitted his fault over and over. Lin Ruxue casually placed the little girl’s hand into Lin Daozi’s and instructed, "Take your junior sister and prepare a banquet according to the number of people here."

"Uh, Spirit Lord, I was just talking nonsense to tease the child! It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, really!" Seeing Lin Ruxue actually give the order, Pei Yan hurried forward to explain.

"What, not calling me ’big sis’ anymore?" Lin Ruxue turned to look at Pei Yan, mocking him.

"Uh~!" Pei Yan froze at the question, and before he could respond, Lin Ruxue added, "Did you think the food was going to be just for you? You really think a lot of yourself. I simply happened to feel like indulging my appetite today, is that not allowed?"

"Allowed! Of course allowed!" Pei Yan laughed awkwardly and backed off to stand beside Lin Junzhao, only to find a gloating look in Lin Junzhao’s eyes as he glanced over at him.

Lin Daozi accepted the order and left Yixue Pavilion with his junior sister. Lin Ruxue stepped into the hall in one stride. Seeing everyone bow to her in unison, she waved her hand and then pointed back at Pei Yan, indicating, "Since this brat is here today, everyone needn’t fuss over the usual formalities. Sit as you please. Jun Zhao and I have a few things to take care of; we’ll come meet with you all in a little while."