“Kong Hou.”

As Kong Hou was preparing to return to her courtyard, a white figure descended from the sky, stopping five steps away from her.

Seeing that Huan Zong’s clothes were neatly arranged and his hair undisturbed, Kong Hou guessed he hadn’t yet lain down. “Huan Zong, you haven’t slept yet?”

“Not tired.” Huan Zong glanced at her black hair cascading behind her, emitting a clear fragrance. “What just happened?”

“Daoist Shuangqing’s eldest disciple ran over here—that man who seems somewhat mentally unclear.” The wind kept blowing Kong Hou’s hair about. She pushed her hair back, but as soon as she released it, the hair flew up again.

A hand extended before her. This hand was fair and clean, with slender fingertips holding a plain silver ribbon. The ribbon was enhanced with talisman patterns, its flowing light magnificent in the night.

Kong Hou looked up at him.

Huan Zong placed the ribbon in her hand. “Use this to tie it up.”

“Thank you.” Many people couldn’t refuse beautiful things, and Kong Hou was the same. Using the ribbon to tie a pretty bow behind her hair, Kong Hou turned around to let Huan Zong see. “Does it look good?”

The ribbon in her hair made her black tresses seem as if they were dyed with moonlight, making even the night more beautiful.

“It looks good.” Huan Zong withdrew his gaze and tucked the stray hair by her cheeks behind her ear. After unconsciously completing this action, his expression became somewhat unnatural as he withdrew his hand and placed it behind his back. It seemed that when he was with Kong Hou, he would inexplicably do things that only frivolous rakes would do.

This was truly too improper.

Kong Hou used two Cleansing Techniques on the clothes Xu Feng had dirtied, making them look clean as new. “After all that fuss from Xu Feng, I can’t sleep either. Why don’t I sit with you for a while?”

“The stars in the sky are beautiful.” Huan Zong suddenly spoke.

“Hm?” Kong Hou was puzzled.

Huan Zong produced a jade boat, flew into it, and bent down to extend his hand to Kong Hou. “Come.”

Kong Hou smiled. “No need for you to pull me up.” With that, she leaped onto the bow with a flip. Huan Zong looked down at his empty palm, turned to her and said, “Sit steady.”

The jade boat rapidly ascended. Kong Hou leaned against the boat’s railing, watching Yuanji Sect grow smaller and smaller. She pulled out two packages of snacks from her storage pouch and gave one to Huan Zong. Watching stars, watching the moon, and chatting all required food.

Placing a night-luminous lamp in the center of the jade boat, Huan Zong sat cross-legged, holding the snacks but not eating. Clouds and mist swirled around them. Kong Hou looked up at the sky, where countless stars dotted the darkness, becoming the night’s finest embellishment.

“I wonder when exactly the secret realm will open.” Her flowing sleeves danced behind her. What should have been an ethereally immortal scene was completely ruined by Kong Hou looking down to eat.

“It should be at noon two days from now, in the southeast direction.” Huan Zong looked toward the southeast, his eyes showing neither pleasure nor anger.

“How do you know?” Kong Hou looked at Huan Zong in surprise.

“I know a little about divination arts.” Huan Zong knew Kong Hou wasn’t skilled at divination, so he didn’t elaborate too much.

“Huan Zong.” Kong Hou leaned her upper body forward, getting a bit closer to him. “Why don’t you just tell me what you’re not good at?”

Meeting the young woman’s bright, large eyes, Huan Zong couldn’t help but laugh. “There are many things I don’t know. You’ll gradually find out in the future.” Was the fragrance on Kong Hou’s body floral or fruity?

“That will definitely take a very long time.” Kong Hou cupped her face and sighed. “No wonder your Liuguang Sect can become the number one major sect.” If Huan Zong, who was relatively unknown in the cultivation world, was already this formidable, how capable must the other people of Liuguang Sect be?

“It’s because you look at me too generously that you think I know everything.” Huan Zong chuckled softly. “Actually, aside from the way of the sword, I don’t understand many things.” Didn’t understand how to get along with people, didn’t understand emotions.

Master said his emotions were naturally indifferent, making him excellent sword cultivation material. Later, Master said he regretted only teaching him sword techniques and forgetting to teach him what life meant.

“That’s still better than me—I don’t understand anything.” In the several years since joining Yunhua Sect, Kong Hou had focused on internal cultivation. Though her cultivation level and mental state had improved, the sword techniques she knew were still those learned in her first two years. She’d only learned the basic foundations of other techniques as well.

“That’s not true. You know many things.” Huan Zong saw Kong Hou’s smile dim slightly and consoled her. “You’re still young. Learning too much and too diversely isn’t good.”

“You’re not that old either.” Kong Hou wasn’t too discouraged. She knew biting off more than one could chew wasn’t good, but seeing Huan Zong know so many things, she couldn’t help feeling envious. “Chu Jixuan said you’re his great-grand uncle. Were you an imperial prince in the palace back then?”

Huan Zong had thought Kong Hou would ask which generation of great-grand uncle he was. He’d already decided to reveal his true age. Who knew Kong Hou wouldn’t ask about this—the decision that had just emerged was buried back in his heart.

“Mm.” Mentioning the past, Huan Zong showed no emotion. “In my youth, I wasn’t favored by my father. Mother lived with me in the deep palace; everything was fine. Later, Father wanted to depose the Empress. Mother fell ill from grief. After Mother passed away, Master brought me to Liuguang Sect.”

What should have been a tumultuous past was recounted by Huan Zong in a dry tone, seemingly lacking melancholy and sorrow. Yet Kong Hou felt somewhat indignant. “How could he do that!”

“Probably because some men, when faced with beauty, are no different from beasts.” Huan Zong saw Kong Hou was even angrier than himself and turned his head. “Why are you angry?” He could no longer remember what that man looked like—only vaguely recalled he wasn’t much of a person.

“I’m angry on your behalf.”

“Don’t be angry.” Huan Zong felt he should tell Kong Hou something happy. “When I left the imperial palace, I pried away the only dragon pearl from the dragon throne.” Later, Master told him this dragon pearl contained dragon energy, so he threw it into a forging furnace and made it part of his life-bound sword.

The two sat in the jade boat for nearly an hour. They didn’t really appreciate the night scenery much, but Kong Hou did peel a full handful of dried fruit shells and leave them in the boat. After she lay back in bed again, she fell asleep before long.

That night she had a rather unpleasant dream. A burly man chased after her all night calling her “auntie.” When she got up from bed in the morning, she rubbed her forehead, not wanting to rise from the soft bed.

After rolling around in bed a few times, she reluctantly got up to bid the bed farewell. When she jumped down from the bed, she noticed the hair ribbon Huan Zong had given her last night had fallen to the floor. Bending down to pick up the ribbon, Kong Hou tied it around her wrist.

In the morning, Yuanji Sect prepared sumptuous food as usual. When Lin Hu was picking up some pastries, he saw what was on Kong Hou’s wrist and turned to look at Huan Zong in shock. When Young Master had previously given Kong Hou other precious magical artifacts, none had shocked him as much as this item.

This was originally a hair ribbon Young Master had made for himself, refined from starlight and moonlight, jade cicada silk, and pristine snow. From collecting materials to successful refinement took Young Master a full three years. More importantly, the ribbon contained a strand of Young Master’s divine consciousness. If a Divine Transformation stage cultivator attacked, this strand of consciousness could take the injury in Miss Kong Hou’s place.

How could Young Master give such a personal item to Miss Kong Hou?

“Senior Lin, what’s wrong?” Kong Hou noticed Lin Hu had secretly glanced at her several times. She touched her face—had sleeping too late last night made Senior Lin see her haggardness?

“Nothing.” Lin Hu shook his head and said no more.

Kong Hou turned to look at Huan Zong. Really nothing?

“Lin Hu means to say that the dish Daoist Baian gave you was very effective—your skin is even fairer than before.” Huan Zong wiped his mouth clean. “Sorry, he’s not good with words and made you misunderstand.”

“Really?” Kong Hou touched her face.

Lin Hu quickly nodded. “Really.”

Young Master had finally become one of the common masses. He could lie, exaggerate, and even coax young ladies. The great dye vat of the cultivation world had indeed turned him multicolored.

Hearing that Kong Hou had eaten some dish that made her skin even better, Lingbo kept looking at Kong Hou. Even after breakfast was finished, she still felt too embarrassed to ask Kong Hou how one could eat this dish.

She’d used all kinds of Beauty-Preserving Pills, Youth-Retaining Pills, and Immortal-Transforming Creams, but the effects weren’t obvious. No wonder when she saw Kong Hou yesterday, she felt her skin was especially radiant—it must be because she ate that miraculous dish.

“Miss Kong Hou…” Lingbo’s words were cut off before she could finish.

“Grandfather, Auntie, save me quickly!”

Panicked shouts came from outside the courtyard. Kong Hou unobtrusively observed Shuangqing. She noticed that when Xu Feng called out “Grandfather,” Shuangqing’s knees moved as if preparing to rush out, but when he saw the table full of guests, he suppressed the impulse. However, the disciple standing behind him reacted alertly and immediately left the inner hall to lead Xu Feng away.

“Fellow daoists, please try this dish.” Shuangqing smiled and greeted everyone, but his gaze frequently turned toward the door. He didn’t seem to find Xu Feng annoying—it was more like worry.

Seeing his distraction, Kong Hou put down her chopsticks. “I’ve finished eating. Everyone, please continue.”

Huan Zong put down his chopsticks. “I’ve also finished.”

Chang De and the others also put down their chopsticks one after another. After Shuangqing exchanged a few pleasantries, he found an excuse to leave the inner hall. The direction he departed was exactly where his disciple had taken Xu Feng.

That noon, the person who came to accompany them was Zhou Xiao, Yuanji Sect’s head disciple.

Seeing Kong Hou and the others, Zhou Xiao was extremely surprised. He hadn’t expected to meet Kong Hou so soon, and that she was actually a distinguished disciple of Yunhua Sect. No wonder this young master could feed his horse with expensive spiritual herbs—he was actually a sword cultivator from Liuguang Sect.

“I didn’t know you three were distinguished disciples of major sects. Please forgive any offense.” Zhou Xiao’s opening words were an apology. After exchanging pleasantries and taking their seats, though Zhou Xiao was enthusiastic toward all the guests, anyone with eyes could see he was especially enthusiastic toward Kong Hou.

Lingbo felt this head disciple of Yuanji Sect had something wrong with his eyes. Was she, this living, breathing beauty, just being ignored like this?

“Miss Kong Hou, please try this soup. These pigeons are usually fed with spiritual grain. There are no impurities left in their flesh and blood—it has the effect of stabilizing the spirit and awakening the mind.” Zhou Xiao personally brought a bowl of soup before Kong Hou.

Crack.

A faint sound came from the table. Everyone looked toward the sound—the spoon in Huan Zong’s hand had shattered into powder.

“My apologies. Hand slipped.” Facing everyone’s gaze, Huan Zong explained expressionlessly, lowering his head to slowly wipe the powder from his hands with a handkerchief.

—

**Author’s Note:** Huan Zong: The spoon in my hand wants to fiercely make contact with your face.