( ) Do Not Disturb During the Chen Hour
With matters weighing on their minds, neither the Gentleman Sword, Yue Buqun, nor Ning Zhongze, the Ning heroine, slept very soundly that night. As a result, the couple got up early the next morning.
After washing up and eating breakfast, they saw that nothing else needed their attention. Without saying it aloud, they set off together, a trace of eagerness in their steps as they made their way to the small courtyard in the rear of the Huashan Sect compound. It had been set aside especially for honored guests and was not far from their own residence.
But when they arrived, the couple were surprised to find the main hall's doors still firmly shut. It seemed that...
The person inside, the little girl Annie, hadn't gotten up at all?
"Perhaps..."
"Children like to sleep in. Maybe we came too early?"
With no other choice, the couple exchanged a glance. Yue Buqun could only console himself with that thought before he and his wife, Heroine Ning, turned away in disappointment.
After all, Yue Buqun had a certain ulterior motive. He didn't want the little girl to form a bad impression of him, for instance, because he had disturbed her sleep.
"Alas!"
Ning Zhongze glanced back once more. The door was still shut, and there was no sound from inside. She furrowed her brows slightly, then spoke softly:
"But it's not that early anymore..."
"Why does this child sleep in so much?"
After all, she and Yue Buqun had already washed up and eaten breakfast before coming over. Looking at the sun now, it was past the Chen hour and nearly the Si hour. It was no longer early.
If her daughter, Yue Lingshan, or her senior apprentice, Linghu Chong, had still been