“Xia Xia, are you okay?”
Wen Ruan waved her hand in front of Xia Xia’s face. As a fellow girl, she naturally felt the need to check on their youngest junior sister.
“Could it be motion sickness? Just hang in there for a bit longer; we’ll be there soon.”
“Mng… why are there two Sister Wen Ruans?”
Xia Xia let out a yawn and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Her body couldn’t seem to hold itself up, and she nearly slumped onto Nan Xi, who was sitting beside her.
But in the next second, she snapped her back straight, forcing herself to sit up and narrowly avoiding a fall.
“Xia Xia, you didn’t stay up all night, did you?” Wen Ruan asked, looking startled.
After two days of exhausting travel, she and the others had fallen asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows last night, sleeping comfortably until dawn.
Looking at Xia Xia’s current state, however, it was obvious she hadn’t had nearly enough rest.
“It’s all Master’s fault. He wouldn’t let me sleep at all last night.”
Xia Xia murmured the words, her eyes nearly fluttering shut. She didn’t notice in the slightest how scandalous her words sounded.
‘Is this something we should be hearing?’
Wen Ruan and the others were shocked, turning to look at Nan Xi with horrified expressions.
‘No way, is the Peak Master’s stamina really that good?’
“What are you looking at me for?” Nan Xi asked, his arms crossed as he sat steadily in the center of the carriage.
“N-nothing, Lord Nan Xi!”
“If it’s nothing, then get ready. We’re almost at Daye Village School,” Nan Xi said irritably.
How could he not know what these two girls were thinking? At such a young age, they weren’t focused on their studies and instead filled their heads with such nonsense.
Wasn’t it just making Xia Xia practice her swordplay for an extra night?
What was so strange about that?
“Whoa!”
With the driver’s loud shout, the carriage came to a steady halt.
Nan Xi reached out and gave Xia Xia’s soft cheek a pinch.
“Mmph… gurgle…”
“Wake up, we’ve arrived.”
However, seeing Xia Xia yawn repeatedly with tiny tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes, it was clear she wouldn’t be fully awake anytime soon.
He couldn’t exactly carry her off the carriage on his back.
Nan Xi rolled his eyes and shifted his gaze toward Wen Ruan and Ji Hongmei.
“Help Xia Xia off the carriage. You two look after her in the back. I’ll handle the communication with Daye Village School.”
After saying that, Nan Xi stood up, leaned forward, and slipped out through the carriage door.
……
The moment he stepped off, his lungs filled with fresh air mixed with the slight chill of melting winter snow, which was incredibly refreshing.
Before they knew it, they had reached the outskirts of the city.
Unlike the bustling city center where they had stayed the previous night, there were no crowded throngs of people or noisy markets here.
If Nan Xi weren’t so familiar with the area, he might have thought they had already left Daye City.
However…
Nan Xi looked up, gazing at the tall plaque before him.
[Daye Village School]
‘Celebrate, Daye Village School! Your Demon King has returned!’
Nan Xi grinned and placed his hands behind his back, preparing to walk into the school.
The area of Daye Village School wasn’t small. It occupied a piece of land roughly 10 miles square on the outskirts of Daye City, large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of Elders and disciples for study and cultivation.
However, to enter or leave the school, one usually had to pass through the main gate where the plaque for [Daye Village School] hung.
Of course, the number of times Nan Xi had actually used the front gate could be counted on one hand. Walking in openly and honestly without jumping over a wall felt a bit unnatural to him.
He wondered if the Elder guarding the gate back then had reached the Golden Core Stage yet.
Nan Xi had already planned it out. When the gate-guarding Elder tried to stop him, he would reveal his identity as a member of the Tianhe Sect and then stride inside amidst the Elder’s shocked expression.
It would be glorious!
However, reality defied Nan Xi’s expectations.
He didn’t encounter a gate-guarding Elder. On the contrary, as he approached the main gate, he found more than ten people already waiting by the entrance. Above the main gate, a massive banner had been raised—
“A Hearty Welcome…”
Before Nan Xi could finish reading, the person leading the group spotted him.
The man lunged forward in a sprint, tightly grabbing Nan Xi’s hand. He moved so fast that a slight ripple of Spiritual Power still lingered in the air.
“Oh my, oh my! We’ve truly been waiting for you!” The old man shook Nan Xi’s hand vigorously, acting as if they were long-lost friends.
“And you are…” Nan Xi searched his memory until a sudden thought flashed through his mind.
Nan Xi’s eyes froze for a moment before he gripped the man’s hand back just as tightly, his tone sincere.
“It’s the Principal! Long time no see, long time no see!”
Indeed, the man standing before Nan Xi was none other than the Principal from when he had attended Daye Village School.
It wasn’t surprising that Nan Xi hadn’t recognized him at first.
Five years had passed, and the Principal’s already thinning hair had become even more pitiful. Only four or five strands remained plastered to his scalp, stubbornly pretending he wasn’t bald.
One couldn’t help but offer a compliment.
“Principal, your current style is quite unique.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, you flatter me.” The Principal chuckled and rubbed his head, but his expression soon turned puzzled. “Based on what you just said, have we met before?”
“Naturally!” Nan Xi nodded seriously. “Principal, don’t you remember me? I’m Nan Xi!”
“Nan Xi?”
“That’s right.” Nan Xi pointed at himself. “Me, Nan Xi. Five years ago, I caught and ate that koi fish you’d been raising for ten years in the school’s back lake. You even ate it with me, remember?”
“Nan Xi… Nan Xi…”
The Principal repeated the name several times, his deep-set eyes staring intently at Nan Xi. Back then, those sharp eyes had caught Nan Xi more than a few times.
After a long moment, the Principal suddenly slapped his thigh and pointed a finger at Nan Xi’s nose in outrage.
“So it was you, you brat! That fish tasted…”
Suddenly, as if remembering something, the words the Principal was about to blurt out got stuck in his throat. He couldn’t get the rest of the sentence out for a long time.
“Principal, you remember now?”
“You…” The Principal pinched his own thigh hard, then forced a smile. “It tasted great!”
“Not at all, it’s only because you raised it so well, Principal,” Nan Xi said mischievously.
“You little…” The Principal was suddenly choked up. After a long while, he let out a long sigh, as if he had finally calmed his emotions. His tone held a hint of relief. “I didn’t expect it to be you coming back, you brat. Hahaha!”
“Indeed, Principal, I’ve come back for a visit. I also brought a few disciples along for an exchange.”
“Hahaha, good!” the Principal said with a smile, his gaze moving past Nan Xi to the disciples behind him.
Perhaps sensing it was a formal occasion, the previously sound-asleep Xia Xia had woken up.
She stood beside Wen Ruan and the other girl, and aside from looking a bit listless, she seemed perfectly normal.
Nan Xi smiled faintly and introduced his disciples to the Principal.
“Principal, these are the disciples I’ve brought today. This trip is meant to let them interact more with everyone.”
“Good, good, good.”
Behind Nan Xi, Ji Hongmei from Tianshu Peak stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the Principal.
Excluding Yun Peng, who cared only for cultivation, she held the highest status among the disciples.
Combined with the fact that she came from the Tianhe Sect’s main peak, Tianshu Peak, it was only fitting for her to introduce herself first.
“Ji Hongmei, disciple of the Tianhe Sect, greets the Senior.”
“Hello, hello!” The Principal bowed slightly in return and gestured for Ji Hongmei to rise, his tone exceptionally kind.
“Thank you, Senior!”
Ji Hongmei nodded slightly, but once she stood up, her gaze seemed somewhat uneasy.
The Principal frowned slightly and asked with concern, “Is there a problem?”
“Mng… yes.”
“If there’s an issue, feel free to speak up.” The Principal chuckled, projecting the warm aura of a kind elder.
“Mng, thank you for your kindness, Senior.”
Ji Hongmei’s brows furrowed. After a moment, as if she had finally made up her mind, she looked up and pointed toward the banner hanging over everyone’s heads.
“It’s just… this…”
“What does it mean by ‘A Warm Welcome to the Faculty and Students of Wuxing Sect for Their Visit and Guidance’?”