The next morning...

Early in the morning, I got out of bed with panda eyes.

And just as I was getting up, Lan had already started making breakfast.

"Lan... Good morning!"

I greeted Lan weakly and went into the bathroom to freshen up.

After breakfast, I left the dormitory feeling equally unenergetic.

In the classroom, I felt tired all the way until lunchtime. Just as we were about to be dismissed, suddenly someone shouted loudly at the door.

"Paroni, your adorable sister is looking for you!"

Chiyori reminded me as soon as school was out.

"Don't make her wait for too long!"

"Lan? Coming to see me again?"

She casually reminded me, then slung her bag over her shoulder and waved goodbye without a care in the world.

I was stunned and didn't react immediately. Then I was shocked.

Lan is at the Ancestor's place now, and we've just finished class. Unless she can travel through time, there's no way she would come to our school to find me!

I walked out of the classroom with suspicion, and as soon as I stepped outside, I saw someone smiling at me. That person was Yukari.

"Oh my, Paroni little brother, you've made the girl wait for too long, haven't you?"

"Why is it you?"

"What do you mean why is it me?"

Both of us were a bit confused, what in the world was Chiyori up to?!

"Chiyori told you that I would be waiting for you at the gate, didn't you hear?"

"No, she just told me that my sister would be waiting at the gate. I didn't know who it was..."

When I said the last sentence, I almost blurted it out with a red face.

Seeing smiling Yukari in front of me, I was also shocked.

Why would she come at this time? And she came to my school to find me!

"Good morning, Yukari!"

Although I was suspicious, I still smiled and greeted Yukari when I saw her, opening my mouth to say hello.

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong, do I look strange?"

"Are you running a fever? It's already noon!"

"Uh... yeah, I'm feeling a bit dizzy. I think I should..."

"Alright, follow me!"

Yukari said this to me and turned around, walking towards the school gate. (I said I'm running a fever, you idiot?!)

I was taken aback for a moment, then followed without hesitation.

As soon as we arrived at the school gate, I saw a team of flying horses parked in front of our school.

"Yukari, where are you taking me?"

Looking at Yukari in front of me, I hesitated for a moment and asked.

"I'm taking you to Master Wu Xin's dojo. She's a kind old lady and she's arranged a training area specifically for us!"

Yukari said it with a casual tone.

"Old lady?" I froze, "Yukari, although Lan agreed to me learning martial arts, don't fool me too!"

"Hey, do you really want to learn martial arts?"

Yukari's gaze was fixed on me, as if she had seen through the confusion in my heart.

"It's like this... Hmm!"

Seeing the suddenly bright and compelling look in Yukari's eyes, I shook my head in the end.

"Although I want to learn, but the person you found for me is..."

"Paroni, how old are you this year?" Yukari suddenly asked me.

"I'm eighteen, I'm an adult!" I answered her without hesitation, keeping up with Yukari.

"Eighteen is not young anymore. Have you only learned to judge people by their appearance all these years?" Yukari asked me with a questioning tone. "Of course, I'm not saying that Professor Qiu Caolan's method is wrong. She may have some special thoughts about you, so I understand why she's a little wary of me. But you know better than me what happened yesterday, don't you?"

I felt embarrassed and afraid, and nodded. I understood the cause of the accident that happened yesterday, and even Yukari could see that I had become a different person.

Rather than saying I defeated the opponent with my beliefs, it's more accurate to say that I completely crushed the enemy with my desires.

"Your own path, your own choice!" Yukari said again, "If you're willing to go, I can take you to Master Wuxin right away! On the contrary, if you've made up your mind not to go, I can take you back to Qiu Caolan right now, it's up to you to decide."

"I..."

My palms were already sweating a lot...

After hesitating for a moment, I finally made up my mind and looked at Yukari in front of me, agreeing, "Yes, I want to learn Zen!"

Upon hearing my answer, a smile appeared on the corner of Yukari's mouth.

"Have you decided? Then let's go, Grandma Wuxin's place has a great hot spring!"

"Poof!"

As soon as I heard those words, I almost lost it!

A Class F for ten thousand years?!

Even if it's just being a teacher for an A-level student, having an F-level do it is just... too much, right?

"Well, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and go in!"

Yukari finally couldn't stand it anymore and pushed me inside.

"Whoa... slow down!"

After tripping on the threshold, I finally managed to steady myself, and reluctantly followed Yukari inside.

As soon as we entered, a distinct scent of the bathhouse overwhelmed us, making it hard for me to believe anything Yukari said.

"Follow me, I'll take you to meet the manager here!"

"Hey hey, didn't you say it was some Master Wuxin? Why are you too lazy to even make excuses now?"

"Don't worry about these details, all my Zen teachings were taught by her herself, so just forget about it."

After spouting some nonsense at me (basically just brushing me off), she walked ahead, leading the way into the warm building.

And what else could I do? I had to make the best of a bad situation!

We went through a corridor, turned a corner, climbed the stairs, and arrived at a room deep inside the second floor.

Up on this second floor, there was an office with the words "Manager's Office" written on it.

Sure enough, no matter how you looked at it, it was a hot spring resort... well, don't judge a book by its cover! Don't judge a book by its cover!

"Eiko-bā, I've brought the person I recommended to you last time!"

As soon as Yukari walked into the room, she immediately started chatting enthusiastically with the manager.

Clearly, Yukari and the manager were quite familiar with each other.

"Oh, it's Yukari! Come, let me see... ah?!"

The moment she saw me, her eyes almost popped out of her deeply wrinkled skin.

"This little guy... sigh, I didn't expect the energy inside him to be damaged so severely!"

"Oh, so does that mean he's beyond saving?"

Yukari quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Eiko, her expression both nervous and composed.

"If that's really the case, then I'll send him back. I won't bother Eiko-sama any further."

"Hey, why are you so quick to give up on me? Are you just going to abandon me like that?"

I was starting to get a little anxious. I felt like they were both just teasing me and finding joy in others' misfortune.

This manager's name was Eiko Tsuruda, probably around seventy years old? But there were very few wrinkles on her face, giving her a youthful appearance. Moreover, her body was quite sturdy, looking similar to a man in his early twenties.

Anyway, in the time since we arrived here, they had been talking and laughing with each other.

But when it came to my situation, they only mentioned it briefly.

"Cough cough cough, sorry for digressing. Can I entrust my poor little brother to you?" Yukari said with a smile. "If you take good care of him, perhaps Zen can have a calming effect on his Magic Sword."

"Yes, sometimes I lose control during battles, to the point where I can't even discern friend from foe!"

I respectfully bowed to Eiko, and then told her everything about my current situation in detail.

"Good, good!"

Eiko indeed had the demeanor of an elderly person.

After that, Grandma Eiko and Yukari sis started chatting about everyday stuff and gossiping again, but this time about my understanding of Zen here... Since they didn't bring it up, I naturally didn't feel like asking.

After about ten minutes or so, I couldn't hold back anymore.

"Grandma Eiko, Yukari sis!"

"What's up?"

"You've been gossiping since earlier, talking about how to make Sichuan-style mapo tofu, and then talking about the hefty portions of dishes in the ASEAN countries. What on earth are you talking about?"

"Haven't you noticed? It's class time, my dear student!"