“Young Master, what was Elder Yu going to reveal if you didn’t pass the written test?”
William’s eye twitched in irritation, not in the mood to be reminded of that. Nor did he ever intend to answer that question. He would take the na ‘Fury of the Five Heavenly Dragons’ to the grave.
“Not the ti, Sister Lingxi,” William scowled.
“There’s nothing else to do other than talk,” i Lingxi countered, and she was right.
Apparently, they wouldn’t be allowed to leave the Teleportation Hall until his assigned ntor arrived to receive them. The core formation realm cultivators guarding the hall refused to say anything else, which led them to this predicant.
It wasn’t the welco to the Inner Court that William had been expecting. The only good thing was that Ren Bo wouldn’t find out about it after, sothing he was thankful about after his impromptu failed bragging. It would make him want to avoid the kid for years from the embarrassnt.
“Alright then, let’s talk about Prince Yuan.”
i Lingxi’s expression, normally in so combination of teasing and happiness, turned frighteningly blank.
“I’m afraid that’s the one thing I can’t speak of, Young Master.”
William winced at his stupidity. There was no teasing tone in her voice this ti, not even a hint.
“Sorry… the contract?” It had only been ntioned once, and after he found that it worked like an employnt contract instead of anything resembling servitude, he had promptly forgotten about it.
i Lingxi nodded, “Yes, I’m barred from speaking of my ti working for Prince Yuan.”
“So, like a non-disclosure agreent,” William said to himself.
“It’s exactly that,” i Lingxi replied with surprise, “Have you been researching contracts, Young Master?”
“Er, yes,” William chuckled awkwardly, “Just a little.”
He hadn’t really, but this might be one of the things that Sophia had brought over from Earth, though it seed that an NDA in this world seed to have much harsher penalties than a lawsuit or a fine.
“Forget I ever ntioned that, Sister Lingxi. Would it be fine if I ask about your past, other than the prince?” William asked cautiously.
“My past?” i Lingxi’s expression relaxed almost imdiately, “Go ahead, Young Master. I’m an open book.”
“Did you really skip the entrance tests for the major sects?” William asked bluntly, rembering what the Grand Elder ntioned in the teahouse. It had been hard for him to forget that, especially since he rembered i Lingxi talking about how jealous she was about him being a mber of the Jade Healing Sect.
“… Not exactly,” she replied with an awkward look. “When the Grand Elder said I never attended the entrance tests, he was correct, but it wasn’t on purpose.”
He already knew what was about to be said... or thought he did.
“The first one I traveled to was the Jade Healing Sect. It made the most sense because it was so close to my ho in Qingyun City. Plus, it is highly regarded in the Empire. When I was halfway to the testing site, my horse suddenly decided that it would be best to try and eat every grass stalk it could see.”
i Lingxi must have seen the incredulous look on his face because she laughed. “That’s the sa look I had. I later learned that my cousin had given the horse so pills that gave it endless hunger. It literally ate itself to death… on grass.”
“… I see,” William said hesitantly, “You didn’t try to get there so other way?”
“I was a mortal,” i Lingxi said as if that explained everything. “I gave up and went back ho. Later, I learned that bandits raided the group I was traveling with, so it was a boon in the end.”
He stared at her. It was all he could do. He expected sothing like this, but hearing it was difficult to fathom. “Did sothing like this happen when you tried to join the other sects?”
“It did,” i Lingxi shifted uneasily. “I felt like I should have fought harder to get to the testing sites, but I have a different view in life. If a sect was ant for , I would have gotten to their testing site smoothly. I never did, so I simply gave up.”
That repeated in William’s mind.
I simply gave up.
She said that so easily. So if sothing doesn’t go her way, her instinct is to abandon course and do sothing else. That… was concerning.
He didn’t have many requirents with the people he wanted around him, but the flakey behavior i Lingxi admitted to was a huge concern. Wouldn’t that an she could leave whenever she felt this no longer fit her?
“That’s an interesting way to lead your life, Sister Lingxi,” William was proud that he didn’t show his sudden doubts. “How did you end up in Xuanjing City after all that?”
“I ran away from ho,” i Lingxi shrugged. “My cousin tried to give the sa pills she gave my horse, so I decided that was that.”
This ti, he didn’t bother to hide his thoughts. He stared at her like she had a few screws loose in her head, to which she rolled her eyes.
“I knew what she was trying to do, Young Master. I just couldn’t be bothered dealing with the jealous pig that happened to be my cousin. I had bigger plans for my future than marrying the magistrate's son and becoming a wealthy housewife, lording over so weak mortals. She can have that life. I am ant for greater things.”
William stared at i Lingxi for a different reason this ti. She may be flaky, but she was terrifying in her own way.
“Have you contacted your family since then?”
“Why would I?” i Lingo asked, confused such a question was directed at her.
The definition of flightiness, but ruthlessly decisive in her own way. So perhaps it wasn’t the issue of her abandoning him whenever it benefitted her that should worry him, but stabbing him in the back when it best suited her.
William needed to have a talk with Elder Yu and take a close look at the contract. After Zheng Tao, he was out of trust. If i Lingxi turned out to be steadfastly loyal toward him, then this can just be a practice to keep exercising caution.
“You have had an interesting path, Sister Lingxi,” William smiled, “The Grand Elder was right when he said your decisions were fascinating.”
i Lingxi shrugged, “That wasn’t what the Grand Elder ant, but close enough, Young Master.”
The talk about the Grand Master reminded him of the teahouse. He wanted to bring up her promise of treating him to another cup of tea, mainly to lighten the atmosphere from talking about her past. However, soft murmurs stopped all of that.
The core formation guards posted outside never spoke with each other, so they were talking to soone who just arrived. William couldn’t hear anything clearly, but he was trying to see if the new voice was feminine, which would confirm his suspicion that Lan Yin was his ntor.
“Young Master, didn’t you say Sentinel Lan would be your ntor?”
“No, but I said I strongly suspected it,” William replied, still trying to eavesdrop on the conversation outside.
“You’re right, but it’s still not the person you were thinking of.”
He turned to i Lingxi, who had a full-blown smirk on her face. That didn’t bode well for him.
The door to the Teleportation Hall opened.
“I apologize for making you wait, Junior Wei.”
William turned back to the entrance to et dark green eyes. Oh. It was Lan Yang.
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