Volume Five: "Wine-flushed, I drew my sword and struck the earth in song" - A jade soul held affection, a fragrant spirit seeped pure into flesh and bone

Xing Yan slowly opened his eyes-

Above him, white clouds drifted across the pure blue sky, like the snowy peaks of Mount Luofu.

"What a blue sky!"

"Huh? Was I asleep just now?"

Xing Yan suddenly realized he was lying faceup on the grass. Beside him, a few blades swayed in the breeze and brushed his cheeks, tickling him. Lying so comfortably on the lawn, he felt as though he had just awakened from a nap-and perhaps had dreamed a strange dream.

As the boy breathed in the sweet, fresh scent of the grass, a girl's lovely head suddenly appeared against the blue sky overhead. With mingled surprise and delight, she said:

"Brother Xing Yan, are you really awake?"

"Ha! It's Qiong Rong. Good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon!-Huh? Brother, you're still teasing me at a time like this? Does your shoulder still hurt?"

"My shoulder?"

Her words puzzled Xing Yan. He sat up at once and turned to look at both shoulders. How odd. Apart from a hole in the left shoulder of his thin cloth vest, nothing seemed amiss. He rolled his shoulders back and forth, but still felt nothing unusual.

"It doesn't hurt. Ah, how careless of me! How did I snag a hole in this?"

Still lamenting the damage, Xing Yan collected himself and looked around. Only then did he notice an unfamiliar young woman kneeling in the grass nearby, staring motionlessly at him.

"Thank heaven!"

At his words, little Qiong Rong, who had still been anxious and uncertain, immediately broke into a radiant smile. She pressed a small hand to her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.

"So that pretty stone really did cure your snake venom!"

"That big snake monster was horrible!"

The little girl had been overjoyed just a moment before, but