Langhuan Clear Void, afternoon.
The ancient Divine Tree towered into the sky. As a breeze brushed past, it gave off crisp sounds like jade pendants striking one another.
The Azure Heaven Spirit Spring was a hot spring, yet its waters possessed a cool, chilling nature, offering something of the sensation of ice and fire at once. The moment Yun Qing entered, his Sea of Consciousness cleared slightly.
He reclined languidly in the shallowest corner of the pool, holding a black stone between his fingers, within easy reach of the long white jade table beside the water.
The fragrance of tea curled above the table, where the Go board had already been set out.
Opposite him, Yun Huang, dressed entirely in white, lounged just as lazily in a cushioned chair.
His Majesty the Immortal Emperor propped his perfectly sculpted chin on one hand while idly playing with a white stone in the other. His pale golden eyes were half-lidded, but his gaze rested not on the unfinished game before him, but on the surrounding... "scenery," with an indescribable expression.
Or rather, the "scene of the crime."
In the Immortal Emperor's flowerbed of supreme-grade spirit herbs.
Yun Shuanghua and Yun Zui had currently been "planted," heads upright and perfectly straight, beside their respective Immortal Plants.
Yes, planted.
Yun Shuanghua looked like an enormous bulbous plant, buried from the neck down, leaving only his exquisite head and the shimmering Illusory-Hued Orchid in his hair exposed. The two purple orchids set each other off beautifully. What a fine "double-flower bulb."
"Eldest Brother..." Yun Shuanghua gazed tearfully at Yun Qing, who was playing Go. His sweet, lilting voice overflowed with misery and grievance. "It's so stuffy in the soil, and bugs are biting my enchanted robes. Shuanghua knows he was wrong."
"Still your breath. Focus