Otherwise, with a deity protecting, guiding, and suppressing it, such a thing could never have happened.
Tang Changsheng grew even more uneasy. He asked Zhang Bancheng to send someone to take Little Pearl back to Templefront Village, and only then did one worry ease.
That night, Tang Changsheng laid out a feast at the Green Bamboo Retreat. Without touching the food, he sat with his eyes closed.
Around midnight, he heard two soft giggles. "Are you planning to treat us to a drink, Mage?"
"How shameless! Master said men who invite women to drink are always up to no good..."
Two young girls sprang out of the thin mist before the bamboo grove. Both had pretty, expressive faces full of innocent wonder at the world.
Yet they put on airs of worldly experience and pointed at Tang Changsheng. Their eyes kept darting toward the plump chicken and fresh fish, and they swallowed from time to time. They were plainly desperate for a taste.
Tang Changsheng smiled, poured himself a cup of wine, and drank alone.
Before long, the two girls could bear it no more and edged closer.
"Please, sit." Tang Changsheng gave a slight bow.
Like startled rabbits, the girls darted back into the bamboo grove. But they refused to go far. They stared longingly at the feast, drooling enough to drown the Pacific Ocean...
Amused, Tang Changsheng said, "Don't worry, you two. I'm not a bad person. There's just something I'd like to ask you..."
"Master said anyone who says he isn't a bad person is definitely a bad person!" the younger girl declared.
"Fine, fine. The dog bites Lü Dong... Er, I offered my heart to the bright moon, only for the moon to shine on a ditch...
"If you won't come over, I'll eat alone! What