After exchanging messages with Himeko last night, Xiao Xi went straight to bed. She didn't wake until the morning sunlight streamed into her room.
She squinted and stretched with a big yawn. "Mmm, that was a great sleep..."
Once Xiao Xi had fixed her clothes and stepped outside, she spotted Stelle, who had come looking for her.
"Xiao Xi, take a look at this." Stelle handed her a brochure.
"'Aurum Alley Travel Guide,' published by the Star-Plucking Society. Stelle, are you thinking of checking the place out?"
"Yeah. We finally got everything on the Luofu sorted out. You know, after finding out what those High Elder Preceptors did to the Vidyadhara..."
"Witnessing the diversity of species before you've even turned one. That must've been rough." Faced with all that, Xiao Xi could only tease her helplessly.
Speaking of the Vidyadhara, Stelle had somehow managed to uncover a lot of evidence in the Alchemy Commission. Who knew why those High Elder Preceptors had been sending letters on paper? Did they not have phones?
It made the secret collusion between the Vidyadhara and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus seem ridiculously foolish. Both sides had left evidence in the Alchemy Commission—wouldn't the whole scheme fall apart as soon as the Luofu investigated?
It was pretty strange, though. Before Stelle arrived, the Luofu's security system hadn't been bad. Even if the Alchemy Commission was crawling with traitors, such obvious evidence shouldn't have gone unnoticed. Could some mysterious force really have been helping Stelle?
In any case, with the evidence Stelle had uncovered, along with the High Elder Preceptors' attempt to plot Bailu's assassination—which Dan Heng had witnessed, thankfully, allowing both of them to escape unharmed—there was more than enough to let Jing Yuan suppress or even purge the Vidyadhara on the Luofu.
Jing Yuan had also taken the opportunity to eliminate most of the Luofu's reactionary forces. It was a happy ending for everyone. Now that everything had wrapped up smoothly, it was time for a proper rest.
"The guide says Aurum Alley is a famous commercial street on the Luofu, with all kinds of local Xianzhou snacks. We can try some when we get there."
As they walked toward Aurum Alley, Stelle and Xiao Xi discussed what they should do once they arrived.
"Hey." Xiao Xi looked toward the bushes up ahead, then hesitated. "Stelle, did that bush just move? Is there something hiding in there?"
"The bushes?" Stelle turned to look at the roadside. The Luofu's workers had trimmed them into neat, orderly shapes. When the two of them went over to inspect, they could just make out something purple among the leaves and branches.
Stelle and Xiao Xi exchanged a glance. After hesitating for a moment, they decided they should first ask whoever was hiding in the bushes to come out.
"Um... I don't know who you are, or why you're hiding in the bushes like this, but would you mind coming out, if you can?" Xiao Xi asked gently.
The person hiding in the bushes was clearly startled by Xiao Xi's sudden voice. The low shrubs shuddered.
"Eek! Eek!" The voice sounded flustered. When the person came running out of the bushes, she nearly ran into Stelle's thigh.
"A little girl?" Xiao Xi exclaimed in surprise.
The little girl had long purple hair and a tiny gourd hanging at her waist. And those things on her head... were dragon horns, with a dragon tail, too? Was she a Vidyadhara child?
Come to think of it, there was probably only one little Vidyadhara girl on the entire Luofu who dressed like that: Bailu, the Dragon Lady.
"Are you Bailu, the current High Elder of the Vidyadhara? What are you doing here? And why were you hiding in the bushes?" Xiao Xi asked, puzzled.