March was about to end, and Celestial Pivot Prefecture had entered autumn.
A red maple tree on the mountain blazed like a cluster of heavenly fire, standing proud in the high sky as it swayed in the wind. Prefect Luo's palace stood beneath that red maple.
Prefect Luo's palace was not particularly luxurious. Only the screen at its very center drew the eye.
The screen was carved with flowers, birds, insects, and fish, all lifelike.
The next moment, three figures suddenly stepped out from the screen, like people emerging from an ink-wash landscape painting.
The three were two men and a woman: Ye Jinghu, Ye Yunxi, and Prefect Luo.
Prefect Luo was not young, and he appeared to be a shrewd old man.
Yet he carried none of the airs of an elder. Instead, he was exceptionally easygoing.
"You two Daoists are too courteous. This old man should have been the one to pay you a visit, yet you even brought such generous gifts," Prefect Luo said with a smile.
"Prefect Luo, you are the one being too courteous. You are our senior, while we are juniors. It is only natural for juniors to visit their seniors. How could an elder go to see a junior?" Ye Jinghu said.
Ye Yunxi also cupped her hands in salute. After chatting for a while longer, the two took their leave.
This visit to Prefect Luo had not been for any particular matter. They had merely come to pay their respects and establish goodwill, much like when Ye Jingcheng had first entered Xiao Mountain Prefecture.
Yet the moment they entered Prefect Luo's palace, the two had been greatly enlightened.
Inside Prefect Luo's palace was a spatial treasure known as the Flower and Bird Screen.
Within the treasure were pavilions, lakes, and over a