Chapter 169: Meeting & Mixed Feelings

"Xiao Ming! Grandpa didn't lie to me, you're really back!". Looking at Xiao Ming who was opening the door, a joyful look appeared on Hu Jia's face as she turned into a shadow and pounced on him.

Her hands wrapped around Xiao Ming's neck, her head buried in the curve of his neck, inhaling his scent heavily, her whole body pressed tightly against him.

The girls beside him looked at Hu Jia in Xiao Ming's arms, and their eyes widened in surprise, even Zi Yan was no exception.

'Where did this woman come from!?'

'I hadn't heard Xiao Ming say that he had a friend in the Outer Academy!'

At fifteen years old, Hu Jia was quite a beauty, with the fact that she seemed to be well endowed, Xiao Ming could feel two softnesses squeezing into his chest and a pleasant scent flooded his nose.

Looking into the surprised eyes of the girls beside him, Xiao Ming coughed lightly.

"Ahem, Hu Jia, could you let go of me first?".

Hu Jia listened to his words and only after inhaling a little more, reluctantly moved her slender arms that were around his neck apart, her face blushed slightly and she spoke happily.

"Hehe, Xiao Ming, I'm sorry, I haven't seen you in a long time, I got too excited."

Hu Jia explained with a smile, then added, pretending to be annoyed.

"I heard from Grandpa that you came back yesterday, why didn't you come to see me, did you forget about me?".

"How could I forget you? When I came back yesterday, it was already evening, so I just paid a visit to the Deputy Headmaster." Xiao Ming explained.

When Hu Jia heard his words, she inwardly pouted, 'What did it matter if it was evening?' but she didn't say anything else, instead, she moved her head to look at the three girls who were staring at her, somewhat surprised.

She had only had Xiao Ming in her eyes just now, and she hadn't expected the three girls beside him to all be so pretty, not losing to her at all.

The two younger girls were fine, however, the girl in white, with a graceful figure and an ethereal, fairy-like appearance, made her pale a little in comparison! When had Xiao Ming ever had so many women around him?

Hu Jia was alarmed and immediately asked, "Xiao Ming, who are these three?"

"They are Qing Lin, Xiao Yi Xian, and Zi Yan respectively." Xiao Ming introduced them, and also introduced Hu Jia to the girls.

Through the introduction, the girls had a preliminary understanding between them, and they learned that Hu Jia was the first person to meet Xiao Ming among them.

They had known each other since they were children, so it was normal for them to be so close, right?

However, they were no longer children!

Xiao Yi Xian, in particular, had a strange look on her face when she looked at Hu Jia.

A certain hostility arose from Hu Jia as she looked at the girls who had suddenly appeared and were so close to her best friend.

However, Hu Jia said nothing on the surface.

After greeting each other, none of them said anything else.

When a strange atmosphere was about to fill the air, Zi Yan blinked her big eyes and said.

"Xiao Ming, weren't we going back to the Inner Academy? Hurry up and take us there!"

"Mm, we will, but Xian'er and Qing Lin still need to change their clothes, in the meantime, let's wait for them on Shi Zi's back."

Finished speaking, Xiao Ming blew a whistle under the gaze of the girls.

A few seconds after the whistle blew, a fierce wind picked up and the Amethyst Winged Lion King flapped its wings and slowly landed in the courtyard.

The Amethyst Winged Lion King had been arranged by Xiao Ming to stay in a small courtyard not far away because of its enormous size.

Zi Yan took Xiao Ming's hand and directed him towards the Amethyst Winged Lion King's back, Hu Jia, seeing this, stepped forward and silently took his other hand, saying that she wanted to accompany him a little longer before he left.

Seeing her little movement, Zi Yan was immediately annoyed, and when she was about to tell her off, she noticed the look Hu Jia was giving Xiao Ming, which caused her to swallow the words she was about to say, and just walked silently after a loud "Hmph!".

Xiao Yi Xian finally came out of her thoughts and after looking at Hu Jia's back with complicated emotions, she signaled to Qing Lin, and together, they hurried to a room to change their sweaty clothes.

A few minutes later, Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin came out with a new pair of clothes, giving them a refreshed appearance.

After the girls climbed onto Shi Zi's back, Xiao Ming came down with Hu Jia and said goodbye to her.

"Xiao Ming, do you have to go to the Inner Academy already? Hu Jia asked softly as she looked at him with reluctance in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Hu Jia, but a few things came up that I have to deal with, I promise I'll go out with you next time, how about it?". Xiao Ming said with a slight sigh.

For this girl, who was his first female friend, Xiao Ming was naturally willing to spend more time with her, however, it was true that he had important matters to deal with, who made a greedy bastard prepare to attack him?

Hearing Xiao Ming say that there was something he had to take care of, even though Hu Jia still wanted to stay with him a little longer, she didn't insist anymore, instead, she hugged him again, as she softly said, "Don't forget your promise."

"I won't." Xiao Ming smiled and hugged her as well.

While hugging Xiao Ming, Hu Jia's eyes stayed on Xiao Yi Xian, who was perched on the back of the Amethyst Winged Lion King, for a few moments.

Hu Jia didn't take so long this time, and after a few seconds, she released Xiao Ming, and stayed where she was, watching him leave.

With the flapping of wings from the Amethyst Winged Lion King's back, Xiao Ming and the girls slowly disappeared from Hu Jia's sight.

When Xiao Ming disappeared, Hu Jia did not leave immediately, but pushed open the door to Xiao Ming's room and entered.

During Xiao Ming's absence, his room had always been tidied by her, and she was very familiar with the furnishings of this room.

If anyone familiar with her knew that the usually cold and aloof number-one beauty of the Outer Academy was voluntarily cleaning a boy's room, they would have been dumbfounded.

Arriving at Xiao Ming's bed and lying down slowly, Hu Jia hugged his pillow and took a deep breath, looking intoxicated.

After a while, only a delicate voice was heard in the quiet room.

"Of course, your scent still lingers here."

...

During the flight of the Amethyst Winged Lion King, Xiao Ming met Deputy Headmaster Hu Gan, who had been waiting for a long time.

After Xiao Ming's greeting, Hu Gan landed on the back of the Amethyst Winged Lion King.

"Hehe, I didn't expect that you would be able to obtain a sixth-rank magical beast as a mount." Standing on the Amethyst Winged Lion King's back, Hu Gan spoke excitedly.

Xiao Ming had yet to say anything, and hearing Hu Gan's words, Shi Zi felt somewhat displeased, and its indignant voice resounded like thunder.

"Old man, I am not a mount, I am a subordinate."

"Well, a mount or a subordinate, both forms give the same thing." Hu Gan said nonchalantly.

'What do you mean they are the same? A mount is a pet, a subordinate is not, even if I am carrying a human, it doesn't mean I'm a pet, can this old man speak well!?' The Amethyst Winged Lion King cursed inwardly.

If it wasn't for Xiao Ming and the girls, it would have definitely thrown the old man off it, hmph!

"It's true that Shi Zi is a subordinate." Xiao Ming explained with a slight cough.

Hearing Xiao Ming say this, the Amethyst Winged Lion King did not say anything else, instead, its wings vibrated and its speed accelerated immensely.

Under the Amethyst Winged Lion King's full power flight, the canyon where the Inner Academy was located soon appeared in front of Xiao Ming and the others.

Through a special magic seal, Xiao Ming and his group entered the barrier smoothly.

During this time, they also met two familiar elders and exchanged greetings.

After passing through the Inner Academy barrier, led by Xiao Ming and Hu Gan, the group headed straight to First Elder Su Qian's office.

The two of them, Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin, were considered outstanding geniuses that Xiao Ming, as an Elder, had brought in from outside and needed to report, so they also followed Xiao Ming.

Zi Yan naturally didn't need an introduction, and only Shi Zi required Xiao Ming to find it a place to stay temporarily.

Shi Zi was also happy with the arrangement.

Xiao Ming and Hu Gan were not afraid that First Elder Su would not be in his office, Hu Gan had informed Su Qian in advance through a special contact between the Outer and Inner Academy.

When they arrived at the First Elder's study, Su Qian had been waiting in his chair for a long time.

In the classy old study, there was not only Su Qian, but also Xiao Ming's Master, Elder Huo.

And when Xiao Ming and his group entered the door, they saw the two people talking to each other.

The sound of the door made Su Qian and Elder Huo stop talking and they both looked at the door.

Su Qian looked at the one leading the group, Hu Gan, and shook his head wordlessly.

"Old Hu, you are still so rude, you don't even knock on the door!"

"Old Su, we've known each other for so long, what's the point of being polite!? Besides, didn't I inform you yesterday?". Hu Gan walked to a seat and sat down, laughing.