This imposing young woman was none other than Cui Yuanxi, the Aohai Cui Clan's Colorful Rhyme Celestial.
She was an old acquaintance, too.
Hearing someone call her, Cui Yuanxi looked down and spotted Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun inside the temple. Her eyes lit up at once. She descended from midair, landed before Zhang Yuan, and gave him a meticulous once-over from head to toe.
"Huh? Fellow Daoist Zhang! What are you doing here?"
Cui Yuanxi was delighted at first, but then she quickly backed up two steps and said seriously, her brows knitting, "No!"
"You're not Fellow Daoist Zhang!"
Zhang Yuan was puzzled. "If I'm not me, who else could I be?"
Cui Yuanxi shook her head. "The real Fellow Daoist Zhang and I are the very best of friends. Fellow Daoist Zhang calls me Miss Yuanxi. Why would he keep calling me Miss Cui, so distant and formal?"
"So you're not the real Fellow Daoist Zhang! Tell me, where have you hidden my best friend? Otherwise, don't blame me for getting rough!"
Cui Yuanxi scowled, looking as though she would never let the matter rest unless Zhang Yuan handed himself over.
Zhang Yuan said helplessly, "You're joking, Miss Yuanxi. That was merely a slip of the tongue. I wasn't trying to be distant."
Having received a satisfactory answer, Cui Yuanxi's brow instantly relaxed, her eyes curving into crescents.
Of course she knew nobody could impersonate Zhang Yuan. She had said that on purpose, just to make him call her Miss Yuanxi even when there weren't two Miss Cuis around.
Hehe.
Those months of playing chess with Father hadn't been wasted. My mind really is much nimbler than before.
"Greetings, Senior Profound Mystery," Zhang Yuan said, turning to the other person.
Accompanying Cui Yuanxi was her third uncle, Cui