Though the praise delighted Zheng Zhuxi, she did not simply believe it. Her eyes shifted slightly, and she told her junior brother with a faint smile:
"Tell me the truth."
Senior Sister was getting harder and harder to fool... Ding Songyan coughed and said:
"Master sent a pigeon back to the sect a couple of days ago to make arrangements. Though she didn't say so outright, I could deduce that you would return from the Flame Capital to Dingjiang Prefecture today. If you had breakfast, lingered over your reluctant farewells, then set off at a leisurely pace, taking the Painted Airship to Prefecture City before returning to the mountain, you would arrive at about this hour."
"At least you're honest." Zheng Zhuxi's dimples appeared.
She looked around and asked with a smile:
"How long have you been waiting?"
"Less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn," Ding Songyan answered frankly.
"You didn't need to come here specially to wait." Wearing a red-and-white padded jacket, Zheng Zhuxi walked beside her junior brother toward Peaceful Lake.
"Doesn't it show my respect for you, Senior Sister?" Ding Songyan chuckled softly, without the slightest trace of embarrassment.
Zheng Zhuxi gave him a sidelong glance, but her smile did not diminish in the least.
The girl stopped and took out the white porcelain bottle her mother had given her:
"This is from my mother, a gift for you. It's an Illness-Curing Longevity Pill. Its main purpose is to cure all ailments, but the additional twenty years of life it grants makes it worth many times more. Even with a fortune in silver, you might not be able to buy one."
"There's no need to convey my thanks, Senior Sister. When I see Master tonight or tomorrow, I'll thank her myself." Ding Songyan