Xiao Yu'er held Li Miaoxin's hand, looked at the old man in fear and didn't dare to make a sound. Lin Xiaolu, on the other hand, admitted arrogantly: "Yes, it's me!"
Facing the boy's showing off, the old man wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled kindly and said: "Your senior sister brought you here too early. It will be a while before the inner disciples under ten years old from other branches come."
After that, the old man pinched the beard on his chin and smiled: "Well, let me have a preliminary understanding first. Before you entered Emei, have you learned any characters?"
"Mother taught us to write our own names." Xiao Yu'er said.
The old man nodded upon hearing this: "Then your foundation is rather weak. It doesn't matter. I'll give you some extra lessons later."
Li Miaoxin was overjoyed when she heard this and quickly asked the siblings to say thank you.
The siblings expressed their gratitude. The old man nodded slightly while lying on the rocking chair and then smiled: "My surname is Yang. You can call me Mr. Yang."
Xiao Yu'er then said crisply: "Good morning, Mr. Yang. My name is Lin Xiaoyu."
Lin Xiaolu also nodded and said: "My name is Lin Xiaolu."
The old man smiled, and thus they got to know each other.
After a while, some children's voices gradually came from behind. Li Miaoxin knew that these were the disciples under ten years old from other branches coming to study.
She squatted down, touched the heads of Lin Xiaolu and Xiao Yu'er and said: "Study hard in the Literacy Hall and listen to Mr. Yang. Senior sister will come to pick you up at Shen Shi."
"No need to pick us up. I remember the way." Lin Xiaolu said proudly: "My sister and I can go back by ourselves. Don't trouble senior sister."
Li Miaoxin chuckled and affectionately pinched the boy's cheek and said: "Do you really know the way?"
"Of course. Alright, senior sister, you can go back."
Li Miaoxin smiled at his words, then got up, clasped her fists at the old man on the rocking chair and turned around to leave.
After Li Miaoxin left, Xiao Yu'er tightly held Lin Xiaolu's hand and sucked her finger while looking at the other children coming over.
These children were both boys and girls and were not very old. The oldest was only ten years old. The others were mostly seven or eight years old like Lin Xiaolu, and there were a few four or five years old like Xiao Yu'er. They all wore navy-blue Taoist robes and carried small cloth bags for books. Their clothes were exactly the same except for the embroidery on the chest.
For example, on the chests of Lin Xiaolu and Xiao Yu'er, the words "Star-Plucking" were embroidered.
And the embroidery on these little Taoist attendants' robes was various, such as "Crescent Moon", "Sun God", "Medicine Essence", "Talisman" and so on, which were dazzling and could let people know which branch they were from at a glance.
"Huh? There are new classmates in the Literacy Hall?" A boy of eight or nine years old looked curiously at the embroidery on the siblings' chests and asked in surprise: "Are you the new disciples of the Star-Plucking Branch?"
"Wow ~ It's you two." A group of little Taoist attendants exclaimed and gathered around, looking curiously at Xiao Yu'er and Lin Xiaolu.
Xiao Yu'er seldom saw so many strangers at once and hid behind Lin Xiaolu in fright.
Lin Xiaolu frowned, wanting to make these people go away. But suddenly a familiar voice came from outside the crowd.
"Brother Nianyun, Mr. Yang has gone into the room to prepare for teaching. Let's go in first."
Lin Xiaolu thought the voice sounded a bit familiar. He looked through the crowd and found that it was the little fat boy Dongfang Dan who was scared to wet his pants by him yesterday.
At this moment, Dongfang Dan, also wearing a navy-blue Taoist robe, trembled when he saw Lin Xiaolu looking at him. As if recalling his fierceness, he quickly trotted back into the Literacy Hall.
The remaining few Taoist attendants were all puzzled when looking at the running-away little fat boy.
"What's wrong with Dongfang Dan? Is he so fond of studying?"
Among the crowd, the little Taoist attendant called "Brother Nianyun" didn't look at Dongfang Dan but looked at Lin Xiaolu and his sister and asked loudly: "You two newbies, what are your names?"
The other little Taoist attendants also looked at the siblings again when they heard him speak, casting curious glances one after another.
Xiao Yu'er didn't say a word and just hid quietly behind her brother. Lin Xiaolu, on the other hand, squatted down among the curious gazes of the group of little Taoist attendants.
After squatting down, he first observed the surroundings, then looked up at a little Taoist attendant and said: "Lift your foot a bit."
"Oh, okay." The little Taoist attendant instinctively lifted his foot.
As his foot was lifted, Lin Xiaolu picked up the cobblestone that could just fit in his hand under his foot.
The ten-year-old "Brother Nianyun" and the other few Taoist attendants all looked at Lin Xiaolu in puzzlement, not knowing why he picked up the stone.
Xiao Yu'er, on the other side, wasn't afraid anymore when seeing her brother like this. Instead, she smiled cutely at these little Taoist attendants.
Under the gaze of the children, Lin Xiaolu weighed the stone in his hand and then said very calmly: "Make way. I'm going in with my sister."
As soon as he said this, the group of Taoist attendants immediately felt Discontent. They thought these two new guys were too arrogant and simply didn't take them seriously.
"Hey, newbies, you haven't answered Brother Nianyun's question yet!" A little Taoist attendant said with his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, it's so impolite of you not to answer when others ask you."
"So you and this little girl are siblings. We are the seniors in the Literacy Hall. You have to listen to our orders from now on. Hurry up and say, what are your names?"
"Right. If you don't say, we won't let you go."
The surrounding little Taoist attendants urged the siblings one after another. Lin Xiaolu calmly looked at them and finally at the so-called "Brother Nianyun".
"Are you the boss here?" Lin Xiaolu blinked his big eyes and asked.
The ten-year-old Taoist attendant said proudly with his arms crossed: "Yes."
Lin Xiaolu nodded obediently at his words: "Oh, then you're not from today."
The Taoist attendant was stunned, and the others were also taken aback, not knowing what the new guy meant. And in the next second, Lin Xiaolu suddenly raised his hand and threw the cobblestone hard at the head of "Brother Nianyun"!
"Ah!" With a scream, the ten-year-old Taoist attendant fell to the ground on his butt, and a touch of bright red spurted out from his forehead.
The surrounding little Taoist attendants were all frightened by this scene and backed away one after another. Lin Xiaolu continued to weigh the blood-stained cobblestone in his hand and slowly looked at all of them.
"Now, do you still want to ask my sister and my names?"
The Taoist attendants trembled in fear and were too scared to speak. But a little girl Taoist attendant of eight or nine years old was very Unconvinced. She pointed at Lin Xiaolu and threatened: "You, you hit people with a stone. I'm going to tell Mr. Yang."
Lin Xiaolu smiled disdainfully at her words and tilted his mouth in the direction of the Literacy Hall: "Go."
The little girl Taoist attendant seemed not to expect Lin Xiaolu to be so fearless. She was slightly stunned at first. Then, as if being enraged by his arrogance, she stamped her foot angrily and turned around to run towards the gate of the Literacy Hall.
But before she had run far, Lin Xiaolu suddenly picked up the cobblestone in his hand and threw it with all his might.
"Whoosh!"
"Thud!"
With a crisp sound, the little girl Taoist attendant who had run halfway screamed, fell to the ground on her small body, and then opened her mouth and wailed loudly while holding her bleeding head.
The clear crying was very loud and finally attracted Mr. Yang, who was preparing to teach inside the Literacy Hall.
"Mr. Yang, this new guy hit us with a stone." As soon as they saw the old man coming out, the Taoist attendants all shouted and gathered around like finding their backbone.
"Mr. Yang, he hit Brother Nianyun and then Chuchu."
"Mr. Yang, look. Brother Nianyun and Chuchu's heads are both broken."
"Right, Mr. Yang. You must punish these two newbies severely. They've gone too far."