Ye Ziyun lightly lifted the hem of her skirt and walked gracefully into Yun Tian's courtyard, shattering the chorus of cicadas.
"Zi Yun? What brings you here?" Yun Tian set down his teacup and raised an eyebrow at her.
The girl's cheeks flushed faintly. She stepped forward, her voice soft as cotton. "Brother Yun Tian, I... I'd like to ask you a favor."
"Oh? What favor?"
Only then did Ye Ziyun lower her voice and explain the matter of the Ten Thousand Demon Spirit Great Array in detail. After hearing her out, Yun Tian shook his head like a rattle drum. "Ask Nie Li about that! You want me to do it? Work myself to death? No way, no way!"
Seeing that he would not budge, Ye Ziyun steeled herself and wrapped her arms around his arm, pressing the softness of her chest tightly against it. Her voice took on a coaxing, nasal lilt. "Brother Yun Tian, please? Pretty please?"
Feeling the warm, soft touch against his arm, Yun Tian sighed inwardly at how much more developed the girl had become, but feigned reluctance aloud. "Fine, fine. But I'm not doing the work. I'll get Nie Li."
He went straight off to find Nie Li. At first, Nie Li stubbornly refused, but Yun Tian pulled him aside to "talk reason," and before long, Nie Li agreed with a look of being "deeply moved"-had anyone been there, they would surely have seen his face turning blue and purple, with a faint hint of grievance lingering at the corners of his mouth.
Spiritual energy wreathed Ye Ziyun's courtyard. The girl sat cross-legged in cultivation, shimmering light swirling around her, while Yun Tian lounged lazily in a rocking chair nearby, swinging his legs at leisure.
"Not bad," he commented, opening his eyes.