Yu Sui and Li Jinshuang talked by candlelight in the room. Mei Chengyu listened outside, sometimes shaking his head with a quiet laugh, sometimes frowning with a cold expression.
As the night deepened, the voices inside gradually faded. Li Jinshuang did not leave; she stayed the night again.
Silence settled over the room. Even the wind in the courtyard quieted.
Mei Chengyu rolled his neck beneath the wall, then prepared to leave. He had not gone far when he saw Nian Qiuyan waiting beneath a tree at the entrance to a narrow path surrounded by several Red Maple Ancient Trees.
Beneath the Red Maple Ancient Tree stood a stone table and chairs for people to rest and admire the scenery. Nian Qiuyan sat beside the table, toying with the Divine Wood Sign in his hand. The Star Divination Array glowed before him, its deep blue starlight flickering in the night and shifting positions with the motions of his fingers.
Nian Qiuyan's Star Divination Array never reached its final step. This was an unintentional reading, a Yun Divination, and did not count.
From the look of him, Mei Chengyu could tell Nian Qiuyan was not just out prowling because he could not sleep in the middle of the night.
Nian Qiuyan noticed Mei Chengyu standing at the entrance to the path, not coming any farther. He raised his head and smiled at him, then asked gently, "Meimei, did you finish listening in at the wall?"
Mei Chengyu looked at him expressionlessly.
Before Mei Chengyu could ask, Nian Qiuyan explained of his own accord, "I came to find you. By chance, I saw you standing guard by the wall without going in. After thinking it over, I decided it'd be better to wait for you here."
Mei Chengyu walked over with a