A little girl of about ten with delicate features walked toward the Steward Hall. Her sect robes differed from everyone else's, drawing plenty of attention along the way.
"Who's that little girl?"
"Why are her sect robes two different colors?"
"She's so cute."
"Look at the token at her waist. Isn't that top-grade mutton-fat white jade?"
All along the way, these whispered comments reached Su Jiu's ears.
"Su Jiu!" a girl's clear voice called out.
Su Jiu stopped and looked back. She hadn't expected to run into familiar faces at the Steward Hall.
"Xia Meng, Mu Zihan." Su Jiu nodded.
Xia Meng seemed not to notice the change in Su Jiu. She spoke as warmly as ever, as though they hadn't been apart for very long, and smiled brightly. "Su Jiu, where have you been this past year?"
Su Jiu was silent for a moment before giving a faint smile. "Cultivating in seclusion."
She hadn't answered the question directly, but it was an answer all the same.
Xia Meng frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with that response, but soon smiled again. "Look at me! I'm in the middle qi refining stage now. I can take missions too."
"Congratulations!" Su Jiu said with a smile.
"Are you here to pick up a mission too? What a coincidence! Our team mission happens to need one more person. Come with us!"
Behind her, Mu Zihan frowned slightly and tugged at Xia Meng's hand.
Xia Meng blinked her large, adorable eyes and looked at Mu Zihan.
Mu Zihan whispered to her, "Don't... Su Jiu hasn't agreed."
Xia Meng's expression instantly dimmed. "Oh, right. A Jiu's Cultivation Level is so much higher than ours now. She might not want to do missions with us anymore."
Su Jiu frowned and studied Xia Meng closely, but found nothing unusual.