At this hour, most of the students from the Three-Centimeter Hall should have been in cla.s.s, making the way to the academy unusually quiet.
Upon Mo Lian's return to the academy, she appeared preoccupied with something, and Qiao Mu didn't press her for details. Instead, she decided to make her way to the Cultivation Hall to cancel her leave.
After all, she was losing 500 contribution points every day, and delaying another day would mean forfeiting an additional 500 points. While her contribution point balance still exceeded 30,000, it couldn't withstand daily deductions of 500 points.
As they approached the entrance of the Cultivation Hall, Qiao Mu's gaze was drawn to someone seated in the middle of the lawn. This individual audaciously occupied the main entrance of the Cultivation Hall, casually reclining in a chair with his legs spread out, as if he had been intentionally waiting for her.
However, Qiao Mu was quite certain that she didn't recognize this person.
While she might be a bit prideful, her memory had never been this poor. She typically remembered people she had encountered before, but she had no recollection of ever seeing this young man.
Qiao Mu continued walking straight toward the mentors' office. Unexpectedly, the man extended a long leg to block her path.
Qiao Mu's eyes narrowed dangerously, and her cold gaze shot toward the man in the chair like a sharp arrow.
"Crown Prince Consort, I've been waiting for quite some time," the man, Su Xihua, commented, momentarily taken aback by her sharp glare. However, he quickly reverted to his earlier lazy and insolent demeanor, just as when they had first met.
"What do you want?"
"The Crown Prince Consort might not know someone as insignificant as me," Su Xihua replied, standing up and regarding her with a faint smile.
This man possessed a natural fair and handsome appearance that might be considered quite attractive at first glance. However, the way he scrutinized people with his narrow eyes was undeniably unsettling.
His piercing gaze made it seem as if Qiao Mu were merely a commodity in his eyes, an att.i.tude that displeased her greatly.
"Indeed, I don't," Qiao Mu coldly interjected, cutting off the latter part of his sentence. "If everyone in the world approached me like you do, stopping me on the way for introductions, I'd be so busy that I might just keel over."
Su Xihua hadn't antic.i.p.ated that the young girl wouldn't show him any respect. He suppressed the anger simmering in his eyes and sneered, "I'm a senior student from the Cultivation Hall. I just came out of seclusion two days ago. I overheard people in the academy talking about the Crown Prince Consort and thought you were quite talented. How about it? Interested in a friendly compet.i.tion?"
"Let's see what the Crown Prince Consort is truly capable of," Su Xihua added, regarding the woman before him with a glum expression.
In their upcoming battle, he was determined to humiliate this young girl.
Despite her youth, she had an impressive figure, and a scheming and malicious intent glinted in Su Xihua's eyes as he surveyed Qiao Mu's body.
After all, it was her fault for shaming his sister, Su Xitao, in the Listless Pavilion. Upon her return, Tao'er had not only confined Big Bro, but she had also endured countless hards.h.i.+ps, almost succ.u.mbing to illness.
While Qiao Mu observed the sparks of hatred flickering in Su Xihua's eyes, she couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled. She had long forgotten about Commandery Princess Tao of the Listless Pavilion, so how could she connect the two events?
Qiao Mu cast a cold glance in his direction. "Are you really intent on fighting me?"
This disdainful tone only further infuriated him. "Don't think you're so superior just because I called you Crown Prince Consort. You haven't even selected a Third of a Centimeter yet!"