Yusang had thought that when Yan Qige came looking for her, he intended to bring her back. Even if his pride wouldn’t let him say anything apologetic, he would at least say some soft words to coax her, giving her a way to return with dignity. But who would have thought that Yan Qige would come all the way here just to mock her before leaving? This made Yusang feel that her slightly subsided anger immediately flared up even more, and she had nowhere to vent this fire—it could only burn within her heart, truly vexing and injurious.

“So infuriating!” Yusang angrily waved her hand, but feeling uncomfortable inside, it seemed even heaven wanted to oppose her. As her hand rose and wrist fell, her sleeve caught on a tree branch, and with a tearing sound, a large piece of the sleeve was torn off.

“Even a tree bullies me.” Yusang wore a bitter expression, both angry and amused. She flipped down to the ground, raised her wrist to look at the torn sleeve, and glared at the big sophora tree.

Earlier, when selecting clothes for Mingran, Yusang had taken a fancy to a light azure dress in the clothing shop. The style was simple, but the fabric was quite good, and the workmanship was very fine. She had examined it for quite a while, but hadn’t thought of buying it for herself at the time, so she had returned it to the shopkeeper. Now that she needed to change into new clothes, this was her first choice. When she returned to the clothing shop and the shopkeeper saw Yusang enter, he immediately treated her as a returning customer and greeted her with a smile.

“Miss, I knew you’d come back.”

“Really? I didn’t know the shopkeeper could not only do business but also predict the future.”

The shopkeeper chuckled and brought out the dress she had looked at before, handing it to Yusang, “Miss, this dress truly suits you. Please try it first—I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”

Yusang went behind the screen in the inner room to change clothes. When she emerged moments later, the shopkeeper looked her up and down several times with an expression of admiration, saying, “Miss, wearing this outfit, you’re truly like a heavenly fairy descending to earth. If you walked down the street in this ensemble, all those young men would surely have their eyes pop out.”

Yusang lifted the skirt hem and looked left and right, having to admit that this outfit truly fit her well, and she indeed liked it, so she asked, “How much does this cost?”

“Seeing how beautiful you look in it, I’ll remove the fraction and charge you just ten taels.” The shopkeeper smiled with narrowed eyes.

Yusang’s heart sank hearing this price. Not to mention that she was a demon with little concept of money in daily life, even if she wanted to get money, she didn’t yet know the magic to conjure gold and silver from thin air.

“Shopkeeper, I didn’t bring that much silver.” Yusang turned her head and drooped her eyebrows into a figure-eight shape, actually putting on a pitiful act.

“How about this—Miss, you tell me how much money you have in total to give me.” The shopkeeper waved his hand with feigned generosity.

Yusang smiled apologetically and somewhat anxiously held up her fingers in the shape of an eight.

“Eight taels?” The shopkeeper asked back, then shook his head repeatedly, “Miss, that price is too low, no good, no good.”

Yusang felt it was useless to say more. Though reluctant, since she couldn’t afford it, she could only lower her head and turn to go to the inner room, planning to change out of the clothes.

Seeing the business about to fall through, the shopkeeper’s expression immediately changed. Getting somewhat anxious, he reached out to grab Yusang’s arm and changed his tune, “Wait, wait, wait, don’t rush, Miss. Business deals can be negotiated.”

“I…” Yusang was about to explain with a distressed expression, but before she could speak, a clear male voice with a hint of laughter suddenly interjected.

“Shopkeeper, this young lady will take the clothes.”

It was just a very ordinary, very common marketplace phrase, but when spoken in this voice, it had an indescribable, extraordinary feeling—like the pleasant sensation of a March spring breeze caressing one’s face, or like the aesthetic beauty of spring water reflecting flowers, making listeners feel comfortable in their hearts and unable to refuse.

Hearing this voice, Yusang felt slightly surprised in her heart. A figure quickly flashed through her mind, and many past events roared through her heart. Like clusters of white mist gathering before her, then dispersing one by one, numerous memories suppressed in the depths of her heart now came flooding forth. A moment later, she slowly turned her head toward the door and indeed saw a somewhat familiar figure.

At this time, the sun was blazing outside the door, shining on the threshold of the clothing shop. Standing at the threshold was a man with black hair secured by a jade hairpin, phoenix eyes shimmering like water, wearing a dark wide-sleeved deep robe with a light-colored jade hook belt at his waist. His figure was tall and slender, and sunlight fell through from beside him into the room, outlining his form like a dream or fantasy.

“You look good in this outfit—no need to change out of it.” The man spoke to Yusang while tossing an ingot of silver toward the shopkeeper, who was standing there staring at him in a daze.

“Let’s go.” The man extended his hand toward Yusang.

Yusang stared at that hand for a while before confirming that he had truly found her. Feeling a mixture of emotions, she walked forward a few steps and extended her hand. The man took Yusang’s hand and left the shop. Outside the store, there was already a dark red, golden nanmu wood hexagonal carriage with two white horses waiting quietly in front. A refined young man in azure robes sat in front of the carriage holding a whip. The man led Yusang into the carriage, and it began to move slowly forward.

The interior of the carriage was simply decorated with azure silk lining the walls and light-colored floral patterns. There were two stools and one table, with a small red clay stove placed on the table and a teapot of water on top.

“Please sit.” The man sat down on the stool on the left side, speaking unhurriedly. He casually brushed his sleeve beside the small stove on the table, and orange flames rose in the small clay stove. From the color of the firelight, which was different from ordinary fire, one could tell it was spiritual fire deliberately conjured by magic.

Yusang carefully sat down across from the man, moving her lips as if wanting to speak but hesitating, only staring intently at the man’s every movement, unwilling to miss any subtle expression.

Time passed bit by bit. Although the man said nothing more and didn’t even look up at her, Yusang’s face appeared increasingly tense, and she began unconsciously fidgeting with her fingers.

“Ding.” The carriage gently jolted, and the azure porcelain teacup on the table made a small sound, startling Yusang so that she suddenly stood up from the stool, stepped back, and lowered her head, saying fearfully, “I… I know I was wrong.”

The man didn’t look up, only continued tending to the teapot on the small stove. After a moment, he slightly raised his hand, indicating for Yusang to sit down, saying, “You haven’t returned to Jiwu Mountain for a long time, and you probably haven’t tasted cloud-mist tea for a long time either. Try this and see if the flavor has changed.”

“I know I shouldn’t have left the mountain without permission. If the Immortal Lord is angry with Yusang, Yusang is willing to accept punishment.” Yusang slightly lowered her head, her tone very cautious, lacking her usual unrestrained playfulness.

The man extended his slender hand to lift the teapot, took an azure porcelain teacup from the table, poured tea, and pushed it in front of Yusang. Through the light white steam rising from the tea, he raised his head, revealing a pair of shimmering eyes that seemed to keep people at a thousand li distance, yet carried what appeared to be a warm smile.