After Isabella woke up from a long sleep, she saw her respected master, and saw him pressing down on a naked girl, straddling her in a suggestive position.
She refused to believe the absurd scene she witnessed from the depths of her heart.
She believed that she still knew her master to some extent, believing that although he was greedy, cunning, and lecherous, he was ultimately a wise man with moral principles.
Isabella preferred to believe in her master's remaining integrity rather than deny everything she saw.
"It's not real! Master would never do such things. I must still be asleep, still in a ridiculous dream!"
At first, Isabella's emotions were shaken, but that was just now. Now, after some self-encouragement, she quickly regained her composure.
Wang Xiaole observed his apprentice's reaction and his level of doubt deepened.
He muttered to himself softly:
"It seems like my apprentice can show a completely different side at a certain period of time. I remember the last time her attitude changed was after the sixth chime of the clock."
Wang Xiaole came up with a conjecture, wondering if his apprentice had a dual personality.
If it wasn't the case, how could she display two completely different attitudes?
If this assumption held true, Wang Xiaole could connect a few clues or basic information in his mind:
1. The period of the personality switch occurred around 6 o'clock in the afternoon. Whether it happened every afternoon or not needed further confirmation.
2. The styles of behavior and even thought logic between the two personalities would conflict in specific situations, and the relative personality would feel unfamiliar with the actions taken.
3. The most important point was that both personalities held goodwill towards him.
Of course, these thoughts only remained at the conjecture stage.
In the short term, Wang Xiaole wouldn't make this conjecture public or explain it to the person involved.
Behind his seemingly conservative approach, he hid his attitude of continuing to observe the other's reactions.
On the other hand, since Isabella had determined that this was not the real world, her own reactions were not too constrained.
Wang Xiaole saw her take a few steps forward and wave her hand in front of her own head, like a curious child visiting a zoo for the first time, full of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.
"So real, it's like the real master is standing in front of me."
Not only real, but also obedient!
No matter which hand Isabella raised, no matter how she traced circles on the master's face, he always had a smiling face.
"Wow, you can smile? And have expressions? Can you speak?"
"I can."
"Oh, you can really speak? Say something for me to hear."
"As long as you're happy!"
Wang Xiaole had an unspeakable bitterness. Before his good apprentice left the living room, he could only become her "temporary hand model," rubbing his cheeks with her smooth fingertips.
Then, Isabella probably lost control of her strength and suddenly squeezed his face with force.
This time, Wang Xiaole didn't have an extreme reaction, but his apprentice standing across from him immediately withdrew her hand, as if she had just touched something electric.
"I'm sorry, I was too excited and didn't control my strength. Did I hurt you?"
"Fortunately, it only hurts a bit."
As the master, he was extremely relieved because even when facing the "master" in the dream, his disciple still remembered to maintain the right balance.
From the inconspicuous action just now, one could slightly detect the respectful attitude of the disciple towards the master.
However, the incident of pinching the face was just a trigger;
When Isabella started touching the "master" in her dream on the cheek, she suddenly realized something:
"Wait! Isn't this a dream? Can an illusory character in a dream have consciousness and feel pain?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Xiaole's smile froze for a moment, followed by a stony expression that resembled natural fossils.
"Pain? Did I use that word before? Are you sure?"
"I'm absolutely sure."
"No, no, you must have misheard. I don't remember ever uttering those words."
"There's no way I misheard!"
Isabella's expression became serious, answering firmly, which made someone sweat profusely.
"Seems like you're so certain, so insistent, that I can't take back those words now... Is that right?"
"It's too late!"
As soon as Isabella gave her answer, crucial information flooded her mind:
The master feels pain, indicating that the master has consciousness, and it's impossible for people in dreams to have consciousness.
"I remember now: when I got up from the ground earlier, my head also felt a bit painful; not only the master in the dream, even I have consciousness. Doesn't that mean..."
As soon as the disciple mentioned the second half of the sentence, Wang Xiaole knew something was wrong.
If it were the protagonist in some manga, facing a similar test, they would probably feel at a loss.
(Whispering) "Panic is a reasonable and normal reaction, but I'm not normal—ugh! I'm not panicking."
The current situation was indeed a huge crisis, but Wang Xiaole could turn it into an opportunity. His brain needed to work at full speed, surpassing its memory;
Solutions are always thought of by people, the more critical the situation, the more his cunning and trickery could be fully utilized.
Until the next moment, Isabella finally accepted the reality. In fact, she had no choice but to accept it because she was facing reality:
"So that's it, I'm not dreaming or sleepwalking. The absurd scene I saw just now actually happened in reality."
With a sudden realization, Isabella naturally had many unclear doubts, but the thing she wanted to ask the most was still the master standing in front of her.
And at this moment, Wang Xiaole still maintained his riding posture, exerting force on Freya without being rough;
The goddess forced to fall to the ground, despite vigorously flinging her hands and legs in mid-air, at least managed to stay quieter than before, without making a big fuss.
As long as there were no chattering and noisy voices, it wouldn't be too difficult for Wang Xiaole to continue his deception.
"Master..."
"Disciple! I'm sure you have many questions, right?"
No evasion, Wang Xiaole chose to confront the questioning.
Now, apart from the fact that the position he was sitting in was a bit inappropriate, everything else, such as the "kind face" and "appropriate manners," presented him as an esteemed saint.
"My disciple, I understand. First, you want to ask why you ended up in this living room in an unconscious state. And why I am here as well."
"Although this question is important, my disciple, you are more interested in..."
"Listen carefully, my disciple!"
After forcefully changing the subject, Wang Xiaole smiled kindly and personally painted a vivid picture for his beloved disciple.
It was on a day that was gradually becoming wintry (today), when a wise person (we all know who) who was busy doing good deeds happened to pass by the disciple's residence (the palace) during a charitable event.
The wise person thought to themselves:
"What is my beloved disciple, whom I am always concerned about, doing right now? It's almost time for a meal, did she eat properly?"
With a caring heart, the wise person entered the palace, adhering to the principle of not causing trouble for others, and didn't make the guards at the entrance spend unnecessary time and effort.
When the wise person entered the palace and arrived at the disciple's room, they found that she was not there.
The overly worried wise person became anxious at that moment, eagerly hoping to find her.
After searching through almost half of the palace, the wise person finally found her, with the help of the heavens.
Where was she?
It turned out that the disciple was sleepwalking in an unconscious state and ended up in the living room.
After following her into that place, the wise person discovered that the disciple was murmuring in her dream, seemingly discussing state affairs with foreign ministers who had come to visit.
At that moment, the wise person, who had the position of a master, couldn't help but shed tears.
The wise person was deeply moved.
Even in her rest, even in the relaxation of her mind and body in the dream, the disciple was still concerned about the country.
Even though she was not fully conscious, she left her bedroom in an unconscious state and arrived at this solemn place, which could be used for dining and even for work.
"How can I compare to such a diligent and responsible disciple? It's overwhelming, overwhelming!" Wang Xiaole lowered his head, grabbed Isabella's sleeve, and wiped away his tears as if using it as a tissue.
Now his eyes looked moist and melancholic.
After listening to the master's narration of the fabricated little theater scene, Isabella understood two questions:
She already knew how she got here and also understood how the master got here.
Half of the questions were cleared up, but there was another half to go.
"Master, my dear... "
"You are very confused, right? Why would someone as pure as the master have seemingly impure contact with a naked girl? And you really want to know who this girl is!"
Although the master avoided mentioning certain words, Isabella knew that those two questions were essentially what she wanted answers to.
Compared to the previous questions, the current disciple is obviously not easily fooled. So Wang Xiaole took out a prop from his pocket, a mobile phone.
He turned it on, accessed the phone's page, opened a cloud platform, and played a selected instrumental music.
Immediately, a melancholic background music started playing. Against the backdrop of those notes, Wang Xiaole's ordinary speech sounded as if it had a lingering sound of sobbing.
"Sob, my dear, you don't understand. This girl is the only daughter of a friend of mine who is a landlord. Due to certain congenital factors, her brain doesn't function very well, and she is silly."
"Is she intellectually impaired?"
This is more or less what Wang Xiaole meant to express, just not as directly as Isabella.
Listen to Wang Xiaole sad story about friendship:
"My friend, who was my mentor, had a bad fate. He passed away at an early age due to illness when his precious daughter was only fifteen.
And the mother of the child turned her back on her daughter and ran away with the neighbor Wang..."