The Heaven Dou Grand Auction House

When Xiao Yun woke the next day, the space beside him was already empty.

A few faint golden strands of hair lay on the pillow, and a sacred aura lingered on the quilt—not perfume, but the scent left behind by the holy energy leaking from Xue Qianren's body.

Outside the window, the sky had only just begun to brighten. The Morning Mist had yet to disperse, and the Old Plum Tree in Jingzhe Courtyard loomed in and out of sight within it.

Xue Qianren had left. She was always like this, always leaving early.

Xiao Yun lay in bed for a while, then got up and dressed.

Last night's clothes were a little wrinkled. He smoothed out the creases with his magic power, then tidied his hair in front of the bronze mirror.

There was a faint red mark on his neck. He erased it with Spiritual Power, only turning to leave the room once no trace of it could be seen.

The Years Manor in the early morning was still asleep.

Dew hung from the petals of the Spring Garden's peach blossoms. The first frog croak came from the Lotus Pond in the Summer Garden. The maple leaves in the Autumn Garden swayed gently in the morning breeze. Beneath the plum trees in the Winter Garden, dew on the blades of grass shimmered with crystalline light. The kitchen in the Central Main Courtyard was already lit, the cook preparing breakfast as wisps of smoke curled upward.

Xiao Yun quietly returned to his own room, and met no one along the way.

He changed into clean clothes, washed up, came down from the second floor, and entered the dining room. Only Liu Erlong was there.

She sat at the dining table with a bowl of porridge, a small dish of