When Shen Fei opened his eyes, gray-white morning light was already filtering through the window paper. He lay in bed without moving at first, taking stock of his body.
The spiritual power flowed steadily through his meridians, and the reserves in his dantian were full. Last night, after completing the final circulation of the Dark Prison Reincarnation Art, he had fallen straight asleep and slept until dawn without waking once.
He turned his head toward the window. The light coming through the paper was even, without any obvious shifts in brightness, which meant the sun had not fully risen yet. It was probably just past the hour of the Rabbit.
The courtyard was quiet, with only the occasional birdcall and the faint sound of sweeping in the distance. He lay there a while, going over what had happened after his return from the City Lord's Mansion yesterday.
What Nie Li had said, the matter of Mingyu and Yu Yan, the forces beyond the Dark Guild, the issue of his body's strength, the Body Tempering Pills, and the arrangements for settling the Jade Grove Clan. He laid them out in his mind one by one, then slowly put them away again.
He sat up, threw back the quilt, and put on his outer clothes. He had left them beside the bed before going to sleep last night: a dark gray, close-fitting outfit with subtle patterns at the cuffs and collar, the everyday clothes he usually wore around the residence.
He fastened his belt and tied his hair back simply, using no hair crown, only a strip of cloth to secure it.
Then he went over to the washbasin and scooped up some cold water to wash his face. As the icy water splashed against his skin, the last traces of drowsiness