The Thunder Spirit's Grievance!

In Cloudrest Courtyard!

Beside the pavilion's stone table, Shen Qinglan lay slumped over the tabletop, gently stroking the Thunder Spirit as she muttered under her breath. Suddenly, an unmistakably familiar voice reached her ears.

"Just what?!"

Shen Qinglan froze for a moment, thinking she must be hearing things, and failed to react at first.

The Thunder Spirit, who had been lounging lazily on the stone table, sprang up instantly. A golden lightning pattern flashed through the blue fur as the little creature whipped around toward the voice, round beast eyes brimming with delighted surprise.

"Ying-yoo!!~~"

The Thunder Spirit gave a joyful cry, then turned into a streak of blue lightning and leaped onto Chen An's shoulder. A fluffy head rubbed ceaselessly against his cheek, while soft cries of "ying-yoo, ying-yoo" spilled from a tiny mouth, filled with joy and affection.

Only when the Thunder Spirit suddenly vanished did Shen Qinglan snap out of her daze. She abruptly turned her head, and the figure she had yearned for day and night came into view.

A cool breeze drifted through the courtyard, carrying fallen petals in gentle spirals along the covered walkway.

Beneath a tree nearby, a man in white stood with his hands behind his back, untouched by worldly dust, like an immortal descended to earth. Yet his eyes overflowed with tenderness that would not melt away as he smiled at the young woman in the pavilion.

"Chen... Chen An?!"

At the sight of him, Shen Qinglan froze again, then blinked hard. When his figure did not disappear, she sprang to her feet, her beautiful eyes instantly reddening.

Less than two months had passed, but to her, it felt as though decades had gone by.

She had thought Chen An would return after a few days away, as usual. She had