"It's already afternoon, Brother Chen."
Meng Chunqiu turned and smiled at him.
He was dressed in splendid finery. Though the streets were full of people in traditional clothing, the fabric and cut of his outfit were plainly a class above theirs. His sleeves billowed, and a blue-green, bottle-shaped jade pendant hung at his waist. On closer inspection—oh. It was a bottle of medicated oil.
"Don't worry about the details." Chen Shu waved a hand. "What about the Group Leader and Brother Unknown? When will they get here?"
"Soon, I think."
"Oh..."
Zhang Suannai quietly studied him and Ning Qing, making sure Chen Shu really was Chen Shu, rather than Ning Qing controlling his body and imitating him. Those two had made her so jumpy that every rustle in the grass sounded like an enemy soldier. No idea was too ridiculous to pop into her head anymore.
No, not those two.
Chen Shu.
Qingqing was still noble and pure, a lotus unstained by the mud it grew from.
After a few more glances, Zhang Suannai finally worked up the courage to ask, "You two switched back?"
"Yeah."
Meng Chunqiu immediately looked puzzled. "What? Switched back from what?"
The rest of the group snapped their gazes toward them.
Zhang Suannai froze for a moment—
When had this started? Since when had these dumb-dog group members developed such sharp noses for this sort of thing?
"It's nothing."
"Right, right. Nothing at all..."
For once, the two agreed, which only made everyone more curious. But they looked at Chen Shu, then Zhang Suannai, then Ning Qing, and figured they would get nothing out of them. Regretfully, they let it go.
"Master Xuanzhen."
Standing beside a tree and picking at its bark, Chen Shu asked Young Master Xuanzhen, "Are you still single?"
"..."
Young Master