Yixuan had set down the whole burden of being Sect Master of Yunkui Summit.
For the rest of the walk, she took the lead in the conversation, telling Miguel about the small daily affairs of Yunkui Summit.
She told him about Pan Yinhu, who could haggle with the merchants at the foot of the mountain half a day over a grocery bill of a few hundred Denny.
About Ye Shiyuan, who gave her so little to worry about on the surface and yet kept so much buried inside.
And about the trip she had made down the mountain a few days ago with Ju Fufu, reading fortunes for passersby in the market streets and untangling their troubles.
“The truth is, I hate going to any trouble.
Sometimes, when I’m reading for a stranger and I really can’t be bothered to lay the whole thing out, I just stuff the fortune box full of best-luck slips.
It’s not as though any of them ever look.” There was a girlish slyness in her voice as she said it.
“Fufu has done plenty of grumbling behind my back about how her Master treats the job like clocking in at an office.” Miguel was thoroughly entertained.
“So when the Sect Master comes down the mountain to bless people, the main event is slacking off?” he teased.
“Then Mayor Mayflower rating you a Void Hunter tier investigator was probably about that ‘efficient’ work style of yours.” “The Mayor has always had a merciless eye for talent.
Call it putting a resource to its proper use.” Yixuan answered without a trace of shame.
The two of them talked as they walked, and before either noticed, they had made a full circuit around the courtyard house and the Tranquil Heart Pavilion.
The familiar gate came into view again.
Yixuan stopped and turned to look at Miguel.
After more than half an hour of idle talk under the moon, she understood the man in front of her a good deal better than before.
Until tonight, she had heard so many rumors about the “Savior” that some part of her had laid a thick filter over Miguel without her ever deciding to.
That filter was gone now, completely.
“Tonight was a pleasure, Miguel.” She met his eyes, and her voice was sincere.
“You don’t feel like someone I’ve just met.
More like an old friend I’ve known for years.” Miguel folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.
“See?
Exactly.
Didn’t I tell you my personal charm isn’t half bad?” Yixuan choked on that shameless piece of self-praise.
She shook her head, helpless, though the smile never left her face, and simply let the claim stand.
The night had grown late, and the conversation was winding down.
Just as Yixuan was about to say goodnight and send them each to their rooms, Miguel called out to stop her.
“Ah, Yixuan.” “There’s something I’d like to ask of you.” She halted and turned back, puzzled.
“What is it?” The easy manner Miguel had been wearing a moment ago was gone.
“I wanted to ask, does Yunkui Summit still take in disciples?” That gave Yixuan pause.
She studied his expression carefully before answering.
“We do take them, of course, though Yunkui Summit has always put weight on affinity when it comes to disciples.
You bring it up so suddenly — do you have someone in mind to recommend?” “I do.” Miguel nodded and laid out the situation plainly.
“Two juniors of mine, a brother and sister.
They get by taking commissions over in Sixth Street.
Their circumstances are a little unusual.” He weighed his words before going on.
“Their Ether adaptability isn’t like an ordinary person’s.
And in the days ahead, they may not be able to avoid some very high-intensity fighting.
They need the means to keep themselves alive.” “I was thinking, the arts of Yunkui Summit draw on the force of heaven and earth.
They can be studied and adjusted to suit whatever Ether adaptability a person happens to have.
So I’d like to send those two here, to learn from you how to use their Ether abilities.
And if it’s possible, it would be best if they could pick up some of Yunkui Summit’s arts along the way.” When he finished, Yixuan fell briefly silent, thinking.
Sixth Street.
A brother and sister.
Unusual Ether adaptability.
The pieces ran quickly through her mind.
As one of New Eridu’s foremost combatants, Yixuan kept track of the movements of every faction.
Juniors whom Miguel would personally entrust to her could be nothing so ordinary as they sounded.
More importantly, if Miguel was the one recommending them, their character was beyond question.
“Not a problem.” She agreed without the slightest hesitation.
“Since you’re the one asking, of course I’ll help.
Where are the two children now?
Should I go collect them myself tomorrow?” “No need to go to that much trouble.” Miguel waved a hand, his tone light.
“In a few days, I’ll bring the two of them up to Yunkui Summit myself.” There he paused deliberately, looking straight into her eyes.
When his voice died away, a brief silence settled over the courtyard.
Yixuan was far too clever a woman.
Her golden pupils narrowed slightly, and her gaze rested on his face for a moment.
She thought back to noon, in the Tranquil Heart Pavilion, and the exacting conditions Miguel had described for the “destined one” — and set that beside his decision to bring this brother and sister up the mountain.
An extremely bold guess surfaced in her mind.
She looked at him and did not tear through that last thin sheet of paper.
She only nodded and answered calmly.
“What you mean… I understand.” Miguel held her gaze and added nothing.
He trusted her to grasp what lay beneath the words.
He didn’t want to tell everyone at Yunkui Summit outright that Wise was Little Guang’s destined one, but as their Master, Yixuan needed to know something of it in advance.
That was exactly why he had let the hint slip in sideways.
“Mm.” With that confirmation, everything fell into place for her.
The look on her face turned graver than it had ever been.
“Once they arrive at Yunkui Summit, I’ll instruct them personally.
So long as they’re willing to learn, I’ll hold nothing back of Yunkui Summit’s arts.” It was a promise to Miguel, and more than that, a promise for the sake of the little disciple who carried such a heavy fate.
“With that from you, I can stop worrying.” Miguel smiled, satisfied.
Business settled, the air between them turned easy again.
“It’s late.
Get some rest.” Miguel waved at her.
“Goodnight.” They exchanged goodnights at the gate of the courtyard house, then turned and walked off toward their own quarters.
The night wind swept over Yunkui Summit again, scattering the sound of their footsteps.
And yet, outside the courtyard house, at the corner of a stone wall furred with moss — A silver-white figure stood soundlessly in the shadows.
The figure gave off no presence whatsoever.
Even the night wind, flowing past that spot, curved eerily around it.
It simply stood there, a pair of red eyes glowing faintly in the dark, fixed without a single blink on the direction Miguel had gone.
A full head of long silver-white hair stirred in the night breeze, and at the brow, the outline of something dark red showed and faded again in the moonlight.
Only when Miguel’s back had vanished at the end of the corridor did the silver-white figure withdraw its gaze and slip quietly away into the night.
Walnut-chan🔥👻 🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: