Xiao Yu let out a sigh of relief and apologized, "Sorry, I had no idea there was such an arrangement."
Xiao Mei said with a shiver of fear, "That scared me to death! Thank goodness Xiao Yan ge was here."
Xiao Ning vigorously nodded in agreement. Despite his cultivation being higher than Xiao Mei's, already at the 1-star Dou Practitioner stage, he had almost collapsed just now. He would have been utterly embarrassed if not for Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan said in an indifferent manner, "I recall someone just now confidently patting her chest and telling us to follow her. Who was that again?"
Xiao Yu's eyes seemed to want to devour someone as she glared at him. Without a word in retort, she snorted coldly and swiftly walked toward an open green tent.
"Yu Er! Let this young lady check if you've gotten any fatter!"
Xiao Yu had just approached the large green tent when a flash of red swiftly pounced toward her. A woman's laughter immediately reached the ears of Xiao Yan and the others.
The woman in red giggled as she wrapped her arms around Xiao Yu. Her hands were like nimble snakes as they roamed around Xiao Yu's willowy waist and even attempted to slide up her skirt along her thighs.
"You lewd girl. Get off me." Xiao Yu hastily covered her skirt and grabbed the unruly jade-like hand as she pushed the woman away from her.
After a playful scuffle with the woman in red, Xiao Yu turned around and introduced her to Xiao Yan and the others, "This is my good sister from Jia Nan Academy. She's called Xue Ni. Her cultivation is even higher than mine, already a 4-star Dou Practitioner."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan finally turned his gaze to the woman in red standing in front of him. Xue Ni's pretty face was adorned with a radiant smile, her long chestnut-colored hair casually tied into a ponytail. Although her appearance was slightly inferior to Xiao Yu's, her body was so voluptuously explosive that it could be compared to a nuclear bomb.
The pressure generated when she hugged Xiao Yu was enough to make one worry about the durability of her clothes.
Her fiery and devilish figure was very alluring to men. Many of the young men who had passed the test couldn't help but let their eyes sweep over the undulating waves of her bosom in a discreet manner.
"Let me introduce you. This is Xun Er, the great beauty of our clan. This is Xiao Mei, the youngest cutie around here. Xiao Ning, my brother who is now a Dou Practitioner. And this one is Xiao Yan."
Xue Ni's face lit up with curiosity upon hearing Xiao Yan's name. "So you're Xiao Yan. You're quite handsome, not at all like how Xiao Yu described you."
"Oh?" Xiao Yan uttered as she looked at the flustered Xiao Yu nearby.
Xiao Yu quickly covered Xue Ni's mouth and said, "I haven't been badmouthing you everywhere. She just overheard me talking in my sleep once."
Xiao Yan smirked and teased, "You dream about me? What did you dream about? Surely not..."
Xiao Yu's pretty face turned red, and her long legs instinctively kicked toward Xiao Yan's crotch. However, the result was the same as before. Xiao Yan easily caught her ankle with one hand.
"What, want to do it again?"
Xiao Yu immediately became panicked, her voice tinged with a hint of pleading, "No, not here, this isn't the clan..."
Xiao Yan lightly pinched her calf with his other hand, chuckled, and then let go of her leg.
Xue Ni teased, "Oh my, a man actually touched Yu Er's beautiful leg. If the male students at the academy found out, wouldn't they cry in envy?"
"Stop fooling around. We still need to bring them to take the test." Xiao Yu pushed away her mischievous best friend, laughing as she scolded.
When the conversation turned serious, Xue Ni immediately stopped laughing and led Xiao Yan and the others toward the large tent. After a moment's thought, she whispered to Xiao Yu, "By the way, that guy Luo Bu is part of this year's recruitment team, and he's also in charge. I've heard he's advanced to a 4-star Dou Practitioner."
Xiao Yu's smiling face immediately darkened. A hint of impatience tinged her voice as she said, "Why did that irritating guy have to come too?"
"Isn't it just to see our beauty Xiao Yu in front of us?" Xue Ni teased. "Beauty often brings trouble."
Soon after, some of Xiao Yu's female friends from the academy arrived. She was clearly quite popular at Jia Nan Academy.
Just as Xiao Yu was about to shake off her friends to introduce Xiao Yan and the others to her instructor, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a male figure hurrying toward them from the corner of her eye.
Her pretty face subtly changed. After thinking of something, a hint of a shy blush appeared on her cheeks. She walked up to Xiao Yan and said, "Look at you, rushing out of the house without even bothering to tidy up your clothes. We're about to meet my teacher, who is like a mother to me. You can't be this rude."
Xiao Yu extended her pair of delicate jade-like hands and proceeded to straighten his clothes in front of the group's astonished eyes, much like a wife fussing over her husband's attire before he headed off to work.
"Uh..." Xiao Yu's group of female friends were all taken aback, looking at each other in bewilderment at her never-before-seen shy demeanor. Her tone and actions resembled those of childhood sweethearts!
Even Xun Er and the others were equally stunned by Xiao Yu's affectionate manner. They exchanged glances full of confusion. Since when had the relationship between Xiao Yu and Xiao Yan become so close?
"Xiao Yu! You!... Long time no see," a man called out as he appeared behind Xiao Yu just as Xiao Yan was feeling utterly baffled.
Upon hearing the man's voice, Xiao Yu wrapped her arms around Xiao Yan's arm and greeted with a smile, "Long time no see, Luo Bu."
Xiao Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Xiao Yu was actually using him as a shield!
He glanced at Luo Bu. Although the man wore a smile, there was a subtle flash of coldness and anger in his eyes as he looked at him.
Leaning closer to Xiao Yu, Xiao Yan whispered, "You're using me as a shield?"
Xiao Yu whispered back, "You said you would protect me."
Too lazy to comment on her twisting his words, Xiao Yan directly slapped her perky butt.
"There's a price for that."
!!!!!
Xiao Yu leaped away like a frightened rabbit, clenching her fists and glaring at Xiao Yan with a mix of embarrassment and anger. This man was becoming more and more excessive!
"Let's not waste more time. Let's go in and find the instructor," Xiao Yan said straightforwardly.
Luo Bu's gaze turned icy when he saw Xiao Yan's action. He stretched out his hand to stop Xiao Yan and pointed at the new students sitting under the scorching sun, "Sorry, the instructor is busy right now. Please wait outside for half an hour."
"Luo Bu, what do you mean by this?" Xiao Yu demanded coldly with a frosty face.
"Hehe, the temperament of the new students is getting more and more impetuous these days. It is for their own good to tone down their sharpness a bit, to help them in their future life at the academy. This is the earnest intention of a senior student," Luo Bu said with a hypocritical smile.
"You're talking nonsense! I might not care about others, but you dare to mess with my clan members!" Xiao Yu's pretty face was icy cold, not buying into his act at all.
The members of the Xiao Clan were very protective of each other.
"Since the instructor put me in charge of the recruitment, my rules are the rules!" Luo Bu's mouth twitched. Xiao Yu's refusal to give him a face in front of everyone also fueled the anger and jealousy in his heart.
"You!" Xiao Yu stood in front of Xiao Yan and said, "Don't bother with him. We're going to find the instructor right now."
"Oh, Brother Luo Bu, seems like there's some trouble here?" Amidst the ongoing dispute, a group of men emerged from the tent's shadows, all wearing broad grins on their faces.
All these men had golden stars pinned to their chests.
"It's nothing. It's just that this new student doesn't want to go out and enjoy the sun," Luo Bu said with a casual laugh, his words dripping with innuendo that everyone picked up on.
The group of men exchanged smiles and their gazes towards Xiao Yan turned unfriendly, "Doesn't want to, huh? Those who don't know how to respect their seniors have no right to enter the academy. You'd better scram."
Xiao Yu was almost at her boiling point. She took a step forward and coldly said, "I'm going in right now. Try to stop me!"
Just as Xiao Yu was about to force her way through, Xiao Yan grabbed her arm and gently but firmly pulled her beside Xun Er. In a commanding tone that brooked no argument, he said, "Be obedient."
Xiao Yu immediately gave a slight nod like a little wife and fell into silence.
Facing Luo Bu and his group of more than a dozen alone, Xiao Yan's eyes showed neither joy nor sorrow. He hooked his finger and said, "Let me see how you seniors teach the new students."
Xiao Yu's friends were shocked to see Xiao Yan ready to take on more than a dozen opponents by himself. Xue Ni said, "Xiao Yu, quickly stop him! I'm afraid Luo Bu's strength is probably stronger than mine now, and the rest are all 1-star to 3-star Dou Practitioners! How can he defeat so many people!"
Xiao Yu looked at Xiao Yan's figure and felt a sense of relief wash over her. With the air of watching a show, she said, "How miserable Luo Bu and the others will be today depends on how well that guy slept last night."
"If he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, not even the instructor will be able to do much."