Chapter 56: Treasure Pavilion (4)
William was finally seeing something other than amusement on Mei Lingxi’s face, and thankfully, it had nothing to do with him.
“It seems that my Senior is busy, Little Brother Wei,” Mei Lingxi sighed as she crossed her arms and tapped her forearm with her fingers, “I’m sure he will let us enter soon.”
He couldn’t do anything but nod his head as they waited in front of the sealed door leading to the third floor. With nothing better to do, he looked around, wondering if there was something else to check out. It was a little surprising that Mei Lingxi seemed to know exactly what he would find useful, but she could have missed something.
“Sister Lingxi, do you work here?” William asked unsurely, remembering how Lan Yin was incredulous at the idea of Mei Lingxi showing him around the Treasure Pavilion. It had made him assume she wasn’t a worker, but she knew her way around far too well, so perhaps that had been wrong.
“Indeed,” Mei Lingxi confirmed, “I’m the manager of the first two floors of the Treasure Pavilion.”
William uttered a soft sound in acknowledgment as everything suddenly made sense. It had been a little strange that almost everyone recognized who Mei Lingxi was. It was also strange when they followed her orders without fail, no matter how vague the orders were. Most of what he had seen were the slight motions of her hands followed by the attendants scrambling around. However, if they were familiar with her mannerisms because she was the manager, it made perfect sense.
He looked down at the Impact Boots and pushed down his irrational need to activate it and figure out how it worked, but he doubted Mei Lingxi would take kindly to that. She told him to try to activate the gauntlets because it was apparent he wouldn’t be able to do it. That same suggestion was missing when he put on the Impact Boots.
“Wait until you leave my Treasure Pavilion, Little Brother Wei,” Mei Lingxi could predictably tell what he was thinking, “I shudder to think of the consequences I will face if you get hurt.”
“Er, don’t you mean if I break something?”
Mei Lingxi laughed, “If something so minor could damage anything in the Treasure Pavilion, we would have been robbed blind long ago.”
William erased all thoughts of being impulsive and wondered why it had come into his mind in the first place. His need for doing things that couldn’t be explained by logic had mostly been erased by the time he had become an adult in his old world. It was almost as if his decision-making was regressing, and he had to fight against impulses he hadn’t had for over a decade.
Perhaps becoming a thirteen-year-old again came with all the annoyances the age was known for. It certainly made sense why William was so easily distracted by the women he had seen, and why he wanted to do something as idiotic as activating boots that should only be used in dire situations or during training.
Luckily, these impulses seemed to be minor annoyances that could be managed.The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.
William saw Mei Lingxi frown before knocking hard on the door and muttering, “What is Senior Sun doing?” A few seconds later, her expression brightened before she stepped back from the door. “It seems that a guest has arrived on the third floor. Senior Sun will be able to let us through in a few minutes.”
“Sister Lingxi was instructed to let me pick three treasures by Prince Yuan,” William said truthfully before expanding when Elder Yu seemed a little displeased, “Senior Sister Yin is also here with me.”
“Is she?” Elder Yu looked around exaggeratedly, “Then why do I not see her?”
“Prince Yuan had a matter to discuss with Sentinel Lan, Elder Yu,” Mei Lingxi answered as she bowed deeply.
Elder Yu stared at her bowing form blankly before saying, “Sun Jian, do your juniors have no respect? What made this one think she could speak to me?”
William shivered, even though he wasn’t the target of those words. Perhaps it was the affectionate way Mei Lingxi referred to him, or maybe it was simply because his hormones were screaming at him to save the pretty woman. Whatever it was, he was about to open his mouth in her defense. Since Lan Yin looked up to Elder Yu, he could only imagine what the latter would do to someone she felt disrespected her. He hoped that being part of the Sect would give him some say.
Thankfully, William didn’t need to find out.
“Kneel!” Sun Jian barked at Mei Lingxi, who dropped to the floor immediately with a pale face, “Foolish girl! To have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai! What a waste!” Sun Jian gave Elder Yu a flattering smile, “Please forgive my junior, Elder Yu. I’ll teach her a harsh lesson myself on when to speak. Please, pay no mind to her.”
William would have giggled like a kid at hearing the infamous idiom being used for the first time, but he couldn’t find any amusement at the moment. The silence seemed to stretch for hours, even though it was a few seconds at most.
“Very well,” Elder Yu acquiesced, “Fetch Little Yin for me. I feel we have overstayed our welcome.”
Mei Lingxi immediately stood before bowing deeply and rushing off. Sun Jian did the same when he received a look from Elder Yu. Soon, the second floor was once again quiet.
“Wei Liang,” Elder Yu said slowly as she glanced at him.
“Yes, Elder Yu!” William bowed, terrified by the woman after what had just happened.
“You are lucky I was alerted. It would be best to avoid this place in the future. And if you must come here, avoid the third floor at all costs until someone from the Sect arrives to release you,” Elder Yu said solemnly, surprising him with a different warning than he expected.
It felt like his emotions were being played with as his fear was suddenly replaced with confused gratitude.