NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22: “So your name is Shenshah?”
"Hmm, I don't know if it's just me…the mood here seems a bit low?"
As I walked inside the sect's gate, even the guards guarding the entrance didn't ask me to show my sect token as if they were lost thinking about something.
Somehow I felt my sixth sense screaming not to enter inside; my footsteps momentarily paused.
I had always been one of the guys who trusted his guts.
I turned back and walked to one of the guards,
"Hello, senior brother!"
To show more respect, I even bowed a little half-heartedly.
The guard's vanity was satisfied upon seeing someone bowing before him. He nodded,
"Greetings!"
Seeing that his tone was positive, I directly asked the thing on my mind,
"Senior brother, is something wrong today?"
"Earlier, the sect's entrance was always bustling with fellow cultivators, but today I can hardly see anyone?"
"Did you come back from some sect mission?"
He asked.
"Yes", I answered right away. It seemed the best plausible excuse.
"So that's why!"
"The prestigious ranking lists have been made public. Our sect fell from the 10th to the 21st position while the sect master's ranking slipped from 40th to 166th position; as a result, the sect master was furious."
He took a small pause as his eyes dimmed.
"Yesterday evening, she decisively called a sect meeting, scolding everyone present for their incompetence, saying that even her personal ranking suffered because of taking care of so many disciples. She even arrested many elders saying they were not teaching the disciples properly and instead were thinking of overthrowing her."
-The guard, after sighing dejectedly, became quiet and went back to his original position.
It was clear that he was no longer in the mood to talk about this topic anymore.
'Given his attitude, it seems that this scammy-bitch exploded once I left with Xenia and should have relieved her frustration on poor disciples.'
Looking at the situation, I was pretty sure that if I met the sect master again, things wouldn't end well for me.
'It's okay, all I need to do is go to Xenia's cave and get the earring before leaving as fast as possible.'
Shenshah, without wasting any further time, headed towards his destination~
Maybe it was his bad luck, he had barely walked a few metres when the sect master, along with her only friend, entered the sect.
Sect master's footsteps instantly stopped as she looked at the back of a man getting further and further away.
How could she forget this person so easily?
This lowly mortal dared to talk back to her, such presumptuousness.
Shenshah's image was long feeded in her mind.
She instantly recognised him.
"This brat still had the courage to come back?"
Even though the sect master's voice was shallow, she forgot the person beside her was someone whose level was only slightly below her.
The soft bunny ears above the woman's head just like antennaes instantly caught the sect master's low-amplitude whisper.
'Brat? This tone is similar to the one with which she was scolding that boy.'
This new woman once again recalled all the words she had heard when she secretly eavesdropped on the sect master before entering her room.
'Yes, I remember…at that time she cursed this brat as Shenshah', her eyes were filled with curiosity.
"Sister, you were right. Those unique sunflower fields bloomed as soon as the sun was up. It was worthwhile to watch such beautiful scenery as soon as you got up!"
"Sister?"
"Nothing!" -The sect master quickly hid the change on her face and acted as if everything was normal.
"It's just that I remembered something trivial."
Before the conversation could make any progress they were interrupted by an elder who came running towards them.
"Sect master, finally you are back!"
"There are some important guests who came to see you!"
-The elder's face was full of sweat. It was clear he had been waiting for the sect master's return for quite some time now. Probably the identity of visitors was not that simple.
"Did they arrive so soon?"
"Shao, you can go look around the sect while I take care of my business."
It was clear she wanted to keep her privacy regarding this matter.
"It's okay, everyone has their own little secrets."
Shao, the bunny-eared woman replied nonchalantly.
Shao looked at the receding back of her friend who followed after the Elder to meet the new guests.
"It's so boring here, what should I do?"
"Oh yes, let's meet this boy who managed to make her angry! I have never seen her so angry because of someone before."
Shao, too disappeared: Her destination, where Shenshah was.
...…..
Xenia's cave was pretty small, just a bed and a little washroom. Even after searching for many minutes, I couldn't find her mother's earrings.
"Damm! Did those sweepers who cleaned the cave after she left, take it?"
"Nahh! I think that bitch sect master must have ordered someone to burn everything left in our caves."
"With her pride, she can never sit back after what I said before leaving."
Just as I was about to leave the cave and look for the sweeper who might have cleaned the cave, a sweet voice interrupted me.
"So your name is Shenshah?"
"Scolding your master behind her back so openly?"
Like a butterfly, a very beautiful woman gracefully walked in.
There were so many remarkable features about this new woman: her unique stylish dress, her wavy dark brown hair tied into a ponytail, her round eyebrows accompanied by equally sharp eyes, and not to forget her non-human rabbit-ears… just by looking at once, one can make out that her identity was not simple.
She was definitely one of those who could easily score 11/10 on any aesthetic scale.
But I was not concerned about any of those details.
My shock on seeing her face was too great to express in mere words.
I couldn't help but blurt out the name of the girl who seemed familiar yet unfamiliar~
"Zyra, is that you?"