Chapter 604 - Heavenly Melody Academy
"Sect Master, regarding this year's disciple recruitment…"
A group of high-ranking sect elders stood before Song Ling'er as they talked about their future plans for the Heavenly Melody Academy.
However, midway through their meeting, Song Ling'er noticed that one of her communication jade slips was trembling, and it was the one that she'd been anticipating for the longest.
Seeing this, Song Ling'er immediately listened to the message from it.
"I am currently outside the Heavenly Melody Academy." Yuan's voice resounded.
"He's finally here!" Song Ling'er stood up and shouted in an excited voice.
This startled the sect elders, and they all proceeded to stare at her with puzzled looks.
"The meeting will end early today. We'll continue this at another date." Song Ling'er said to them before leaving the scene in a hurry without explaining to them the situation.
The sect elders could only speculate that something serious must have happened to cause her to leave with such urgency.
Little did they know that she was only going to greet a young man at the entrance of their sect.
Once Song Ling'er left the meeting, she quickly sent Yuan a message stating that she will be there shortly.
Meanwhile, outside the Heavenly Melody Academy, the disciples guarding the gates said to Yuan, who had been standing outside their sect for a while now, "Excuse me, but you cannot linger outside the sect, so you'll have to leave."
"I am waiting for your Sect Master, who should be arriving here now." Yuan said to them in a calm voice.
The disciples looked at each other before laughing out loud, "The Sect Master is coming here? Who do you think you are? The Sect Master has never greeted anyone at the entrance before!"
"I don't know what else to tell you if you're not going to believe me." Yuan shook his head.
Now that he understood why the 'NPCs' act like real humans, he no longer saw them in the same light as before.
The disciples then approached him and said, "If you're not going to leave, we'll make you leave!"
"Are you sure you want me to leave?" Yuan looked at them with a nonchalant gaze.
"Do you think we're joking?!" The disciples then retrieved their weapons, but it wasn't what one would normally expect, as they were instruments instead of actual weapons.
Yuan merely shook his head and turned around, before walking away.
Of course, he didn't actually leave the place.
Once he was out of the disciples' sight, he stopped and began waiting there, as he was in no mood to deal with the unreasonable disciples.
After all, the easiest way to deal with these types of people is simply to avoid them, and arguing with them would only escalate the situation.
A few minutes after Yuan left the place, Song Ling'er showed up at the scene, which shocked the disciples there.
"S-Sect Master? What are you doing here?" The disciples guarding the gate asked after greeting her.
They had a clue why she was there, but they didn't want to believe it, as they would definitely be punished if it was true.
Song Ling'er didn't answer their question and instead looked around, but when she couldn't see Yuan anywhere, she frowned.
"Hey, was there a young man here just now? He should be around your age. Black hair." Song Ling'er decided to ask the disciples, as she didn't think Yuan would be the type to play such a cruel trick on her.
The disciples immediately felt as though they'd been slapped in the face when they realized who Song Ling'er was referring to, and they cried inwardly, 'So he was actually telling the truth! And we chased him away! We're doomed!'
"S-Sect Master… W-What had happened was…"
The disciples began trying to give excuses, but Song Ling'er didn't care about any of that, and she asked again, "Did you see him or not?"
"W-We did…"
"Where is he then?"
"We thought he was someone suspicious, so we kind of forced him to leave…" One of the disciples eventually resigned to his fate and revealed the truth.
"You what?!"
As they'd expected, Song Ling'er immediately fumed with anger.
"We're sorry, Sect Master! We really didn't know he was telling the truth!"
The disciples quickly got on their knees and begged for forgiveness.
After a moment of silence, Song Ling'er spoke in a cold voice, "If you're really sorry, then go bring him back! And you're all forbidden to return until you do!"
The disciples felt like crying after hearing her words that low-key expelled them from the sect.
However, right as tears began forming in the corner of their eyes, Song Ling'er noticed a figure approaching them from a distance.
When she saw Yuan's face, her cold face immediately softened.
"Yuan!" She called out to him, causing the disciples to turn their heads.
When they saw the young man they'd turned away return, their eyes glistened with hope and joy.
"I apologize for making you wait even though I messaged you earlier." Yuan said to her.
"Don't worry about it, I have heard the situation from these idiots. Please forgive their rudeness just now." Song Ling'er shook her head.
And she continued, "Follow me, let me show you around the sect before we sit down."
Yuan nodded and proceeded to follow her.
The disciples sighed in relief inwardly when they saw them leaving, but alas, Song Ling'er suddenly said, "All of you here will spend 1 month in the chamber of repentance starting today."
"Y-Yes, Sect Master!" They all responded simultaneously.
Although they were still getting punished, it was much better than getting kicked out of the sect that they worked so hard to enter.
Once they entered the sect, Song Ling'er began guiding Yuan around the Heavenly Melody Academy.
"Since you're here, does it mean you'll be challenging the Stairway to Heaven soon?" Song Ling'er asked him as they walked around the sect.
"Yes… I wanted to explore the Lower Heavens a little more before, but alas… Looks like I will have to postpone that plan for the future."