Su Li stopped walking.
Saina, who navigated entirely by instinct, walked straight into Su Li's solid back.
"Why did you stop?" Saina poked her head out from behind the tall sack.
Elena stopped as well and looked in the direction Su Li was facing.
At the entrance to Ginkgo Alley, in front of the courtyard gate of their two-story stone house, someone was standing there.
She wore a gray robe, its hood pushed back to reveal a pair of pointed ears. A female half-elf.
Su Li recognized that gray robe. When they had first moved in a few days ago, he had spotted a nearly identical hem of one at the street corner.
Su Li moved Saina behind him and stepped forward himself.
Elena naturally pressed close to his right side. Through the slit in the hem of her black velvet dress, her pale thigh was dazzlingly conspicuous.
When they reached the courtyard gate, the female half-elf turned around.
Her features were neat, her expression calm, and there was nothing to fault in her manner. She placed her right hand over her left breast and gave a slight bow.
"Mr. Su, forgive my presumptuous visit."
Su Li kept his hands in his pockets and remained silent. He circulated his Sword Spirit Root and took a measure of the other party.
Peak first tier—she was just about to touch the threshold of the second tier. That was not weak in the Free City-State, but in Su Li's eyes, it was nowhere near enough.
"Who are you?" Elena spoke first. She straightened her back, the startling expanse of snowy white above the neckline of her black silk dress displayed with brazen boldness as her powerful aura bore down on the woman.
The female half-elf ignored Elena's hostility, her tone even.
"I am