Temporary residence
"Junior sister!"
Xiao Wan'er faintly heard Pei Yingguan's shouts as her consciousness blurred. She was unable to respond, letting her mind completely return to chaos.
Pei Yingguan rushed onto the stage and picked her up by the waist. He looked at the old man who presided over the competition. After the old man announced that Xiao Wan'er had won the championship, he carried her back to his residence.
When Xiao Wan'er opened her eyes again, she saw a familiar room. Pei Yingguan stayed by her side. When he saw that she was awake, he checked her physical condition. After confirming that she was fine, he withdrew his hand with relief.
"Brother?" Xiao Wan'er struggled to sit up. "What's going on? Did I win?"
"You slept for five days," Pei Yingguan's face was obviously a little haggard, "The competition is over, and you are the champion."
"Five days?"
Xiao Wan'er didn't expect that she would be unconscious for so long. She lifted the quilt, stood up, and ran straight out the door. Seeing this, Pei Yingguan followed her.
When the door opened, she saw the old man who presided over the competition and the owner of the villa.
"Young man, you've finally woken up!" The old man greeted him and then looked at the owner of the villa. "Can we now have a proper discussion about what I mentioned earlier?"
Four people sat in the villa owner's reception room, each with a different expression. The villa owner was clearly in a very bad mood, but he had to endure it. The old man was smiling, Xiao Wan'er looked confused, and Pei Yingguan sat solemnly, his thoughts impossible to discern.
"I would like to stay in the villa and teach Xiao Xiao for a while."
The owner of the villa obviously knew about this. Although his expression became even uglier, he did not object in the end.
"That's right. Fellow Daoist Xiao, please stay in the villa for the time being."
"Can I stay with my junior sister?"
As soon as Pei Yingguan said this, the owner of the villa changed his expression. When he was about to refute Pei Yingguan, the old man raised his hand to stop him.
"If you want to stay, Pei Xiaoyou, please stay."
"Senior!" The villa owner was inconsolable. "That Pei Yingguan is an even more loyal court lackey than Xiao Wan'er!"
"Master, don't worry. I just want to accompany my junior sister in her cultivation. I have no interest in your villa." Pei Yingguan became angry when he saw that the owner of the villa was guarding against him like a thief.
Finally, the old man came out to smooth things over: "It's just a place to practice. Don't worry, if he really has bad intentions, can't I deal with him?"
The owner of the villa snorted coldly, but finally compromised.
"Brother, do you know who this old man is?" After returning to her residence, Xiao Wan'er asked Pei Yingguan.
"He's a casual cultivator who's incredibly close to reaching the True Realm," Pei Yingguan replied. "He doesn't have a sect and usually wanders around, never getting involved in disputes within the cultivation world, nor does he care about worldly matters. He's a true hermit. In fact, in terms of pure strength, he's even stronger than Master, but he's been away from the world for so long that Master became the publicly recognized strongest person in the cultivation world. I didn't expect him to come preside over this competition and pass on what he's learned to you."
"Yeah, it's unbelievable."
This pie that fell from the sky was quite big, and it stunned Xiao Wan'er.
"But since we have this opportunity, we must strive to seize it."
The next morning, Xiao Wan'er was waiting at the gate. The old man had also arrived early, so Xiao Wan'er didn't have to wait long.
Xiao Wan'er bowed respectfully.
"I don't know what to call you, Senior?"
"Just call me Senior," the old man said nonchalantly. "If I don't tell you my name, just think of it as me casually pointing fingers. It doesn't count as becoming your disciple."
"The juniors know."
"First question, how did you enter Taoism?"
The old man's question was beyond Xiao Wan'er's expectations.
"Didn't this junior enter Taoism through magic?"
"Of course not," the old man said with absolute certainty. "A cultivator is good at whatever they entered the Dao with. For example, your master is good at divination, and your senior brother is good at swordsmanship. Do you have any special skills?"
Xiao Wan'er thought about it carefully and found that there really wasn't one.
"So it's absolutely impossible that you entered Taoism through magic. Tell me about your experience when you entered Taoism."
Xiao Wan'er recalled carefully and then told the story.
"I had just gone to visit my parents in Dongdu at the time. Seeing that they had a little sister, I felt a little sad. After returning, I entered the Dao."
"Why do you feel bad?"
Xiao Wan'er recalled carefully and said uncertainly, "Maybe I'm afraid they'll forget me."
The old man pondered for a moment and said slowly: "So that's how it is."
From that day on, the old man would come to Xiao Wan'er's residence every morning, either to discuss Taoism with her or to teach her what he had learned in his life.
Pei Yingguan would also attend as an observer, but soon he no longer had the opportunity to do so.
That evening, the owner of the villa broke into their residence with a cold face and threw an imperial edict to Pei Yingguan.
"This is for you," he said coldly. "The messenger's hawk is outside my villa. I don't want him to stay here for too long. Leave quickly."
After he finished speaking, he turned away. Pei Yingguan opened the imperial edict and scanned it from top to bottom.
"His Majesty summoned you back?"
"Yes," Pei Yingguan put the imperial edict away, "Commander Li sent your Majesty's adopted daughter, Princess Jincheng, to marry in Tubo, and your Majesty summoned me back to Chang'an."
Xiao Wan'er did not like the marriage and remained silent about it.
"I'm going back now. I'll write to you after I get back to Chang'an."
Pei Yingguan walked quickly, leaving the villa in just a moment. After that, Xiao Wan'er was the only one left listening to the old man's teachings.
But just one month later, the villa received a letter from Chang'an. The carrier pigeon flew in with a very thick letter, and it was obvious that it was very tired.
From then on, a letter from Chang'an arrived at the villa almost every five days, and the owner of the villa was almost driven crazy.
"What on earth does Pei Yingguan want to do? Where on earth does he get so much to say?"
In fact, most of the letters sent by Pei Yingguan were about his daily life.
At this point, Xiao Wan'er could see through Pei Yingguan's thoughts. After all, she was just a piece of wood, not really stupid. She took one night off, took out the divination grass, and divined their fate.
Unfortunately, it is a very bad omen.
Xiao Wan'er felt a slight headache and rubbed her forehead. After thinking for a moment, she decided to put it aside for now. She wrote back, also describing her experiences during this period.
When the carrier pigeon saw Xiao Wan'er coming, it flapped its wings happily. Xiao Wan'er recognized at a glance that it was a carrier pigeon raised by their Shenlong Guard.
She rolled up the letter, tied it to the pigeon's leg, and patted it twice. The pigeon spread its wings and flew north out of the villa.
Inside Chang'an, Pei Yingguan waited for the return of the carrier pigeon. Unlike previous arrivals, this time it had a letter tied to its leg. Overjoyed, Pei Yingguan took the letter down, carefully reading it several times before carefully folding it and placing it beneath his shirt.
That night, all the monks of the Divine Dragon Guard came off duty on time, and many of them were puzzled as to why the deputy commander was in such a good mood.
When the next letter arrived at the villa, Xiao Wan'er unfolded it and saw that Pei Yingguan promised to come to the villa in the New Year.
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