"A friend?" Lan Susu repeated softly, her mind racing through the people they knew, wondering who could possibly be acquainted with Her Highness the Princess of the Heaven Dou Empire.
"Yes." Vina nodded, a hint of something more entering her smile. "A friend you should know very well. He comes from the Star Luo Empire, and his surname is Dai."
"Dai!" the sisters blurted out almost in unison, disbelief written all over their faces. Among the people they knew with that surname, only one could possibly know a princess!
"Is it-Brother Youheng?" Lan Luoluo's voice trembled as she instinctively used her old way of addressing him.
"Dai Youheng, indeed," Vina confirmed. "A little over two years ago, I met him once in the Star Dou Great Forest. Even then, he anticipated that you might seek a path into the Body Sect after graduation. Knowing that the Body Sect's whereabouts were elusive and difficult for ordinary people to find, he specifically asked me to guide you if you came to the Heaven Dou Empire."
She paused, watching the sisters' utterly stunned expressions, then continued, "He said, 'Those two girls have good talent and determination, too. If it is convenient for Her Highness the Princess, please look after them a little on my behalf.'"
As Lan Susu listened, a sudden sting rose in her nose, and her eyes instantly reddened. She hurriedly lowered her head, unwilling to lose her composure. Lan Luoluo's eyes were red as well, and she murmured, "He-he actually remembered us, and even arranged all this for us."
Far from their homeland, newly graduated and feeling lost and helpless about their future, they suddenly learned that an old acquaintance-one whose fame had long since spread far and wide, who seemed to inhabit an entirely different world from theirs-had quietly