After bidding farewell to his aunts, Xiao Se returned to Xiao Xiao's courtyard.
Along the way, he saw many familiar faces hurrying about, their expressions grave and clearly different from their usual simple busyness.
It was as though something bad was about to happen.
Xiao Se instinctively wanted to ask Ancestral Master. His Ancestral Master was his father's teacher and a dependable elder, but with the atmosphere throughout the Endless Fire Domain growing so tense, as the manager of the Medicine Tower, Ancestral Master was probably no less busy.
Everyone had their own duties, and so did he.
Giving up on seeking out Ancestral Master, Xiao Se returned to his sister's courtyard.
Above his head, Jian Mu's radiance remained brilliant and resplendent, replacing the distant sunlight, though it seemed to have dimmed somewhat in recent days.
Xiao Se also felt somewhat weighed down. As his mother's child, he had been born with a spiritual sense far beyond what others could hope to attain. Though he had spent these past years cultivating and learning to control his strength, without yet systematically studying how to use that power, he could still sense the feedback received by his immense spiritual sense.
The ominous feeling in his heart was not entirely an illusion.
As though sensing something, Xiao Se looked at Xiao Xiao's peaceful sleeping face, then instinctively turned to look out the window. He saw that the courtyard gate had opened.
Two somewhat unfamiliar figures stood waiting quietly in the courtyard.
He slipped out the door quietly and saw the two of them bow to him. "Greetings, Young Master."
"Sister Qing Lin, it has been a long time."
Though the two before him did look somewhat unfamiliar, Xiao Se had met the beautiful woman with the slightly serpentine, bewitching features once or twice