Su Yuan felt as if he had been struck by a so - called sweet thunderbolt. His whole body was in a state of numbness from head to toe.
Actually, with his peerlessly handsome face and the aloof aura that kept people at a distance, Su Yuan always attracted a group of infatuated little demons who vied to confess their love to him. He had heard even more nauseating and explicit words before, but never had he felt so out of control both physically and mentally as he did at this moment.
Like a marionette, Su Yuan was dragged out of the interrogation room by Zhaozhao. Looking up at the bright sunlight outside, he gradually regained a bit of his senses.
"You..."
"Hmm? What?" Zhaozhao, pulling on Su Yuan's sleeve, walked in front, concentrating on the steps and not bothering to turn around as she asked him.
Su Yuan swallowed hard. With a sudden exertion of strength in his hand, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
He must be out of his mind. Su Yuan knew how overstepping this move was, but the hidden feelings he didn't even realize had taken over his entire mind.
He just couldn't care anymore.
"Just let me hug you, just for a moment..." Su Yuan's voice trembled slightly, revealing his unease.
Zhaozhao keenly sensed something was off about Su Yuan. He seemed a bit nervous, she thought.
She reached out and hugged Su Yuan back, pressing her whole body into his arms as she softly comforted him, "Okay, just for a moment～"
She didn't know why Su Yuan was acting like this, but giving a hug wasn't a difficult thing for Zhaozhao. She liked Su Yuan and was willing to do it.
She hoped that after the hug, Su Yuan would stop being nervous!
The two just hugged quietly for almost two minutes. Then Su Yuan let go of Zhaozhao and only then did he belatedly notice something else.
"Zhaozhao, don't let just anyone hug you in the future." Su Yuan bent down to look at Zhaozhao and said seriously to her.
Zhaozhao stated her stance, "I won't hug just anyone. You can only do this with friends. I know that!"
The first half of her sentence made Su Yuan feel relieved, but the second half made his heart sink again.
Su Yuan said sternly, "No."
This tone scared Zhaozhao a bit. She shrank back and looked at Su Yuan innocently, "Why?"
Su Yuan tried to control his tone, "Not just any friend will do. You can hug girls, but not boys. You yourself said that men and women should keep a proper distance."
Zhaozhao looked at him with a complicated look in her eyes, "But aren't you a man too?" Had she misunderstood all this time? Was Su Yuan actually...
Su Yuan was momentarily at a loss for words. Then he decided to lie through his teeth, "I'm different. You said I'm your good friend. Do you know what a good friend means?"
"What?"
"You can have many friends, but only one good friend. So you can only do this with me, a man. Do you understand?"
"Okay, I'll remember." Zhaozhao didn't quite understand, but judging from the strength of Su Yuan's grip on her shoulders, she'd better just agree for now.
Su Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief.
Zhaozhao was thinking over Su Yuan's words when she suddenly realized a problem.
She tugged at the corner of Su Yuan's clothes, looked up at him with her little face and asked, "I regard you as my good friend. What do you think of me?"
Su Yuan was stunned. He hadn't thought about this question before, but since Zhaozhao had asked, she must be expecting an answer.
Su Yuan thought for a while. Looking at her innocent and pure face, he suddenly smiled, "You? You're a little kid."
The word "little kid" was a common and normal one, but coming from Su Yuan's mouth, it somehow became ambiguous, carrying a hint of doting, like the flirting between a young couple.
It was a pity that innocent as Zhaozhao was, she didn't realize how strange the atmosphere between them was at this moment. She was still stuck on the word "little" in "little kid". She didn't really like this title.
It always reminded her of the fact that she was shorter than her cousin and Nanjia.
"Um... okay." But out of politeness, Zhaozhao didn't show her dissatisfaction. She thought that Su Yuan had talked a lot today and was easily nervous. She'd just be generous and accommodate him!
As night fell, Zhaozhao waited until she thought everyone must be asleep before sneaking out of her room. She followed the route Su Yuan had given her and headed for the imperial examination hall.
She'd be able to see her master soon! Zhaozhao was very happy.
The imperial examination hall was quite a distance from where she lived, and it took her a while to get there.
When Zhaozhao finally arrived at the imperial examination hall, she didn't see her master, Chongming. She didn't even sense a trace of the aura of the Chongming bird, which meant her master hadn't been there.
Zhaozhao found a place on the eaves corridor and sat down. Maybe her master would come later... She propped her chin on her hand and stared blankly at the railing.
That night, Zhaozhao waited at the imperial examination hall for a long time. It was almost dawn, but she still didn't wait for her master.
Zhaozhao dejectedly searched the imperial examination hall for a few rounds before she had to admit that her master really hadn't come.
Why? Why didn't her master come?
Zhaozhao couldn't figure it out. Her master had never lied to her and always kept his promises. This was the first time he had broken his promise, and she was very worried that something might have happened to him.
The seal on her forehead had a connection with her master. If something had happened to him, the seal would have reacted. But from yesterday until now, the seal had been quiet, showing no sign of abnormality.
Zhaozhao couldn't get in touch with Chongming, and she still remembered about the exchange conference today. So she had to go back with a worried heart.
Needless to say, the pomp of the Xuanmen and the Demon Management Bureau was grand. It took quite a while just for the leaders to give their speeches in turn. Even Zhaozhao, a little tree that needed to soak up the sun often, couldn't stand it, let alone the mortal disciples of the Xuanmen.
Song Yao complained to Zhaozhao, "When will they cancel these empty - headed speeches? What's wrong with just getting straight to the point?!"
Zhaozhao nodded in agreement. Not all humans were good.
The representative of the Demon Management Bureau giving the speech was Nanjia. It had to be said that Nanjia understood everyone. When she took the stage, she only said one sentence, "The exchange conference has always been a major event for the Xuanmen and the Demon Management Bureau. On behalf of the Demon Management Bureau, I wish everyone a great time at this conference. I'm really looking forward to everyone's performance."
Zhaozhao took the stage as the representative of the Song family. Because she hadn't slept well the previous day, she muddled through the group display session in a daze.
Fu Huai in the team saw Zhaozhao looking so sleepy and dazed. He sneered mockingly.
He thought generously in his own mind, "I knew that little girl was just bragging yesterday. If she's drawn for the competition later, I'll just go easy on her."
Zhaozhao had no idea what he was thinking. Her mind was all on getting some sleep.
Song Yao watched from outside the crowd and couldn't help but feel a bit worried.
What followed was the sword - control display, which was to test the power that the magic sword could exert in the hands of each disciple.
Because of her height, Zhaozhao was arranged in the first row. In her daze, she didn't quite catch the rules clearly. She only vaguely heard a few words - "slash", "the deeper the mark...", "first place".
Well, she got it!
Zhaozhao shook her head to wake herself up a bit. Looking at the spiritual stone stele in front of her, she estimated that using just a little bit of her power should be enough.
So she twirled the sword in her hand and then swung it down.
As Zhaozhao's sword energy fell, there was a loud boom!
The spiritual stone that had stood in the Xuanmen for a hundred years shattered instantly.
The surroundings fell completely silent. Everyone looked at the broken stones on the ground in disbelief.
Zhaozhao felt that the atmosphere seemed a bit strange. She looked at Song Yao for help and said innocently, "Cousin, I didn't use much strength... It was just too brittle..."