On the southeastern coast of Treasure Bottle Continent, a young man and woman browsed a mounting shop in a county town before entering the tavern next door. They chose a table against the wall. The man ordered a pound of Maochai wine and several small dishes to go with it, while the woman additionally asked for a plate of salted preserved plums.
The man looked up at the poems written on the wall by a village scholar. The woman merely glanced at them, picked up a sour plum, and chewed it. It was truly sour.
The man took a book from his bookcase and set it on the table. As he drank from his bowl, he casually flipped through a book on physiognomy.
He enjoyed reading miscellaneous books. He had even dabbled in wind divination, bird augury, and the Guxu art. He called it having many skills that never weighed one down—when traveling the world, every extra craft meant one more rice bowl.
The woman's brows wound like spring mountains. Whenever she had Heart's Matter, clouds, water, mist, and haze seemed to wreathe those Autumn Water Long Eyes of hers.
She seemed troubled, her brow unable to smooth itself. Unable to resist, she asked in a voice transmission, "Yu Lu, do you think I can refuse his request?"
Someone had previously sent her a letter, saying he intended to take her as a Registered Disciple. She would not be the sort of direct disciple admitted into the inner chambers, and once she entered the Upper Five Realms in the future, she could change her affiliation or establish her own sect without issue. Yet the more accommodating he was, the less certain she felt. During their travels years ago, that scheming fellow had bullied her so badly that it had left