Sleeping in Class

Since her own room was now vacant, there was no need to stay in Fourth Junior Brother's courtyard anymore.

Before dinner, Song Yao ran over to move her things back. Seeing the two standing paper figures in the corner, she picked up a brush from the table, drew big, glamorous eyes and thick black lips on them, and left, thoroughly satisfied.

She had originally wanted to let Fourth Junior Brother know, but he seemed to have gone out and wasn't on the main peak.

Song Yao hesitated for a moment but decided against leaving the peace jade pendant directly in his courtyard.

If such a valuable item went missing, Fourth Junior Brother would definitely have her head.

It would be better to return it to him the next time they met.

However, for the next two days, Fourth Junior Brother did not return to the main peak.

Zhu Zhao wasn't often in her courtyard either, constantly busy handling sect affairs.

Meanwhile, Cheng Yue, Ming Ran, and Jiang Jin, acting on the instructions of the Teaching Elder, dragged Song Yao down the mountain to attend classes every single day.

Furthermore, to prevent her from making noise and disturbing others, the Teaching Elder had set up a special single seat for her right in the front row, keeping a close eye on her face-to-face.

Forced to pick up her books, Song Yao fainted right in front of everyone and slept like a log in the very front row.

Cheng Yue was truly baffled and raised her hand to ask, “Seventh Senior Sister isn't being lazy on purpose; it's a physical condition that prevents her from studying. Why must you force Seventh Senior Sister to sleep... I mean, study here?”

The Teaching Elder stroked his gray beard, a trace of stubbornness in his expression. Glancing at Song Yao, who was sleeping like a baby, he let out a long sigh. “Even an unborn child in its mother's womb can be influenced by the outside world—there is a concept called prenatal education. While she is asleep, she can still absorb a thing or two, more or less.”

He looked down at the crowd of disciples, who were equally drowsy, and spoke with earnest concern, “In teaching these classes, this old man asks for nothing more than for all of you to walk the righteous path. As long as you aren't led astray by heterodox ways and lose your minds in the future, that is enough.”

“In the past, if only this old man had insisted on having that child attend classes, she wouldn't have met such an end...”

The last sentence was spoken so softly that most people didn't hear it.

Sitting behind Song Yao, Ming Ran also raised her hand. “But Seventh Senior Sister sleeps in this posture every day. Won't that be bad for her body? Will it affect her swordsmanship?”

She pondered for a moment. “My father just sent me an ice jade bed. Can I bring it to the classroom for Seventh Senior Sister to use?”

The Teaching Elder's temples throbbed. “...Listen to yourself. Does that make any sense?”

Ming Ran: “Is that a no?”

The Teaching Elder: “...Of course not!”

“Then how about I bring her a pillow?”

“...No.”

“A blanket?”

“?”

Left with no other options, the Teaching Elder quickly changed the subject. “There will be an exam in half a month. If you fail, you will have to retake the course. Don't blame this old man for being unreasonable when the time comes.”

The disciples below wore expressions of deep sorrow, forced to pull themselves together.

The bells under the corridor rang, signaling the end of class.

Song Yao was shaken awake by Ning Zhou. With bleary eyes, she followed him to Jiyue Peak for a meal.

The Fifth Elder placed a bowl piled high with rice in front of Song Yao, gently holding down her chopsticks as she reached for a braised meatball. “Have you taken your medicine?” she asked in a flat tone.

With an “oh,” Song Yao remembered. She retrieved two massive pills from her spatial pouch, stuffed them into her mouth, and struggled for quite a while before finally gulping them down.

This was the medicine refined by the Seventh Elder using the prescription provided by Ji Duchuan.

It was originally supposed to be a liquid decoction, but fearing she wouldn't be able to handle the bitterness, the Seventh Elder had turned it into pills.

Little did he know, pills were actually harder to swallow.

The Fifth Elder's husband brought a bowl of fish soup to her, saying with a chuckle, “Have some soup to wash it down. Eat slowly, no rush.”

After taking the medicine and eating at Jiyue Peak for two days, Song Yao felt that her body had indeed improved.

At the very least, she no longer felt so groggy upon waking from her fainting spells. Instead, she felt refreshed and hardly needed any sleep at night.

Moreover, yesterday, under the Seventh Elder's strict supervision, she had also consumed the Heavenly Thunder Marrow-Cleansing Pill from before. Aside from a slight increase in her spiritual energy, it hadn't done much else.

Her soul hadn't been affected in the slightest.

It seemed there was no other way but to find the missing part of her soul.

After eating, she prepared to head back to the main peak. Packing two large meat pies to eat later that night, Song Yao suddenly remembered that Fourth Junior Brother had asked her to meet him at Wanchun Pavilion tonight.

As an honest person now, she certainly couldn't take favors from Second Senior Sister while also accepting things from Fourth Junior Brother.

Since she had nothing to do anyway, she might as well go return the peace jade pendant and buy a couple of flasks of wine to go with her meat pies.

With that in mind, she leisurely strolled out of the Nine Saints Hall.

By the time she wandered into Sichun City, the sun was already slanting down toward the eaves.

The Wanchun Pavilion here was slightly different from other branches; it was much more respectable. Most of the patrons coming and going were scholars in wide-sleeved robes, along with quite a few refined sword cultivators.

A faint fragrance of ink and the crisp scent of wine wafted from inside, accompanied by the occasional plucking of string instruments.

Just as she reached the entrance, she was stopped by a waiting servant. “Greetings, fellow cultivator. There is a refined gathering in the pavilion today, and all seats are fully booked. Do you have a reservation?”

Before Song Yao could reply, a young woman in a light green dress walked out with a bright smile. “Are you Miss Lin? The Fourth Young Master has already made arrangements. Please, follow me.”

The servant quickly bowed. “Ah, so you are a guest of the Fourth Young Master. Please, go on in.”

Song Yao followed her inside, unable to help sighing with emotion once again.

Fourth Junior Brother really had grown up.

He was so at ease in a place like this.

Back when she used to drag him along to brothels, he hadn't even dared to open his eyes. His entire face would turn bright red as he clutched her wrist, insisting on taking her back to the sect.

Then again, it might be because Wanchun Pavilion was Eldest Senior Brother's territory that Fourth Junior Brother dared to hang out here.

As she was thinking, a commotion in the main hall caught her attention.

A carved high platform stood in the center, where a handsome man in a brocade robe held a gilded jade tray. Resting on the tray was a pill with lotus-like petal patterns, its spiritual energy slowly swirling around it. It was clearly no ordinary item.

The man raised his voice, his clear, smooth tone cutting through the noisy hall. “The Nine-Curve Lotus Pill! It improves eyesight, detoxifies, and cures a hundred kinds of dark and evil poisons. It is of the Spirit-grade high-rank. The starting bid is eighty thousand spirit stones!”

As soon as he finished speaking, bids began to rise one after another from the crowd below.

Song Yao understood.

So they were holding an auction.

No wonder there were so many people.

Withdrawing her gaze, she went up to the second floor.

Pushing open the door of the private room, the fragrance of tea wafted over her. Xie Zhou was sitting on a soft couch by the window.

He held a white porcelain teacup in his hand, his fingertips tracing the rim. Hearing her arrive, he looked up and swept a cool gaze over her. “Sit.”

Finding this novel, Song Yao did as she was told and sat on the chair opposite him.

Xie Zhou raised his hand and pushed a bamboo scroll engraved with the Wanchun Pavilion's hidden patterns toward her. “This is the catalog of items for today's auction. Bid on whatever you like; put it on my tab.”

Song Yao glanced at the bamboo scroll.

None of the items were cheap, and some were astronomically expensive.

Fourth Junior Brother really was duplicitous. He claimed his relationship with Second Senior Sister was terrible, yet he was spending so lavishly just to help pay off her debts.

Song Yao shook her head. “No need.”

She pulled out the peace jade pendant and pushed it back along with the bamboo scroll. “Second Senior Sister is awake. If I want anything, I can just ask her directly. There's no need to trouble you, Fourth Senior Brother.”