Yan Sanhe wasn’t concerned about Third Master Xie’s gratitude.

The Xie family had vast wealth and estates—would they fail to repay her this silver?

“Order half a jin of liquor. Everyone drink a little to dispel the cold,” she said.

Only then did Xie Zhifei notice that after Li Buyan had sheathed her sword, she’d been listlessly sprawled on the table with an unwell complexion.

“Waiter, bring half a jin of liquor.”

Turning around, he lowered his head and asked, “Have you caught a chill?”

Li Buyan smiled: “It’s nothing. A few sips of hot liquor will fix it.”

Under the table, Pei Xiao kicked Xie Zhifei again: Strange—how come the one with good martial skills is the one who got sick!

Xie Zhifei kicked back: With these two people, whatever strange things happen, you keep them to yourself.

When the liquor arrived, the four divided it, each getting half a bowl.

Yan Sanhe poured her half bowl into Li Buyan’s.

After Li Buyan drank it down in one gulp, followed by a bowl of hot soup, she stood up. “Miss, I’ll go sleep first and sweat it out under the covers.”

“Cover yourself well with the quilt. After I finish eating and dry our clothes, I’ll come up.”

Yan Sanhe watched her go upstairs. Only after hearing the door close did she pick up her chopsticks and lower her head to eat.

The food at the official post station was far inferior to that at small inns. Several dishes had gone cold, but when traveling, no one could be too particular.

As she ate, Yan Sanhe sensed something wrong—a gaze kept falling on her.

Yan Sanhe suddenly looked up. Xie Zhifei couldn’t withdraw his gaze in time, and their eyes met directly.

“Why is Third Master Xie staring at me?”

“Do you always eat this slowly?”

Yan Sanhe was puzzled. “Is there a problem?”

Third Master Xie curved his lips in a smile. “Slow is good—easier to digest, doesn’t harm the stomach.”

Then why are you watching?

Yan Sanhe felt this person became inexplicably strange at the dining table.

It was like this at Spring Breeze House;

It was also like this when they had lunch at the Ji residence.

Xie Zhifei withdrew his gaze but couldn’t help himself and glanced at Yan Sanhe again.

Someone kicked him under the table.

He lifted his eyelids to see Pei Xiao blinking: Why are you staring at the young lady while she eats?

Third Master Xie: Why are you everywhere? Eat your food!

Pei Xiao: You just looked at her again.

Third Master Xie ground his molars: Just go blind already!

The atmosphere felt off. Yan Sanhe looked up again.

The two beside her—one shoveling rice, one eating vegetables—their expressions exceptionally calm and composed.

Both were descendants raised by aristocratic families. Though usually wild or roguish, they observed proper table etiquette without fail.

Neither made the slightest sound while eating.

In the complete silence, Yan Sanhe finally reached her last bite.

She furrowed her brow slightly, pursed her lips a little, then took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forced herself to stuff that last bite in.

After chewing the rice thoroughly and swallowing, she set down her chopsticks. “You two eat slowly. I…”

“Yan Sanhe!”

Xie Zhifei suddenly called out: “When you ate that last bite just now, why did you take a deep breath? Why did you close your eyes?”

Watching her again?

Yan Sanhe grew somewhat annoyed. “Xie Zhifei, why are you meddling with how I eat?”

Xie Zhifei was stumped by her question, his eyes flickering. “Nothing special, just happened to see it and asked casually.”

Yan Sanhe hated most when people treated her like a curiosity, asking this and that.

She stood up and said coldly: “Third Master Xie, I won’t probe your depths, and you shouldn’t casually ask questions either. Leave each other some dignity—it’s better for everyone.”

With that, she flicked her sleeve and turned to leave.

The men’s clothes she wore were obviously too large, hanging on her like a monk’s robe. The swaying sleeves looked somewhat comical.

Xie Zhifei withdrew his gaze and met Pei Xiao’s eyes directly.

With two people gone from the table, Pei Xiao could finally speak openly.

“Xie Fifty, you’re acting a bit strange!”

“Strange how?”

Pei Xiao leaned forward. “Tell me honestly—do you have feelings for that Yan spirit medium…”

“Don’t think nonsense!”

Xie Zhifei’s usually smiling face suddenly darkened: “I don’t have those kinds of feelings for her!”

“Really?”

“Absolutely certain!”

“Really absolutely certain?”

Xie Zhifei slammed down his chopsticks, his sword-like eyebrows rising: “Pei Mingting, you damn…”

“Alright, alright, my mistake for being nosy.”

Pei Xiao raised both hands in surrender.

“I’m going to dry clothes in the back. These shabby clothes—no quality fabric, no quality workmanship. Still more comfortable wearing your own clothes. Have you eaten your fill? Come along.”

“Eaten my fill what? The liquor isn’t finished yet!”

Xie Zhifei poured Pei Xiao’s leftover liquor into his own bowl and gulped down a large mouthful.

The liquor burned all the way down his throat, burning into his internal organs, igniting a restless, unspeakable dry fire.

He set down the bowl heavily and walked straight to the eaves.

The rain was still falling with no sign of stopping, accompanied by cold wind that made one shiver.

He knew clearly what was making him restless.

The way she looked at that bite of food—wanting to eat it but not wanting to—was exactly like that person.

First the furrowed brow, then the slight pout, then an expression of determination, and finally closing both eyes and shoveling it in with chopsticks.

Every step was identical, yet the person clearly wasn’t that person. That person had long ago…

Footsteps sounded behind him.

“Pei Mingting, can’t you just let me…”

Xie Zhifei whirled around.

Yan Sanhe stepped back half a step, her face stiff. “I came to tell you we’ll depart a bit later tomorrow morning.”

Xie Zhifei quickly composed his expression. “You’re worried about Li Buyan…”

“Yes.”

“You don’t need to tell me about such small matters. Decide as you see fit.”

His voice was somewhat cold, but Yan Sanhe’s voice was even colder: “In my view, anything affecting our schedule isn’t a small matter. I won’t disturb Third Master Xie’s contemplation.”

Well, now he was even more irritated.

Even the cold wind couldn’t suppress it.

Xie Zhifei’s chest rose and fell.

…

The stove was in the kitchen.

Yan Sanhe moved over a long bench and draped their clothes on it piece by piece.

The clothes dried easily, but the shoes did not.

Yan Sanhe held the two pairs of brocade shoes in her hands, turning them over repeatedly above the stove to roast them.

“Yan Sanhe.”

As Pei Xiao’s voice fell, he squatted down, holding two pairs of black boots in his hands. “Make some room for me.”

Yan Sanhe pulled her hands back, and Pei Xiao reached his hands forward accordingly.

Peaceful coexistence!

Peaceful it was, but also wordless.

Lord Pei most feared wordlessness—how awkward! He coughed once. “That… about the eating matter, I’ll apologize on Xie Fifty’s behalf.”

Yan Sanhe didn’t even lift her eyelids.

“He’s not usually like this. Usually his little mouth is like it’s been smeared with honey—as sweet as can be. I always say he’s a honey bee spirit reincarnated.”

Lord Pei gave a dry laugh: “But isn’t this traveling away from home, brain got soaked in too much rain, not quite normal?”

Yan Sanhe looked up coldly.

“Really, I’m not lying.”

Lord Pei nodded seriously. “This person—ever since childhood, whenever he gets caught in rain, his brain immediately goes abnormal. Gets sick every time, and not minor illnesses either.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Hey, what kind of person are you?”

Lord Pei didn’t like hearing this.

“They say a hundred years of cultivation earns you a boat ride together. We few have sheltered from rain together, fled danger together, eaten at the same table, and even roasted shoes over the same fire. This karmic connection must be worth at least five hundred years of cultivation.”

Yan Sanhe truly didn’t know what this person was trying to say with his scattered ramblings.

“So what?”