Xie Changsheng looked at the three large, gleaming golden characters, then at Si Chen. "Brother Si, shall we go in?"
Si Chen did not move.
His gaze swept over the stewards welcoming guests at the entrance with smiling faces, then over the bustle faintly visible inside the residence. Finally, he shook his head.
"Tomorrow is the auspicious day."
"Going in to look for someone now would be improper. We might disrupt the host's arrangements."
Xie Changsheng froze. "No, Brother Si, we're here to find someone, not actually to visit relatives and attend a feast..."
"Even looking for someone requires proper etiquette."
Si Chen looked at him, his gaze frank. "Since this is a celebration, we should follow the rules of a celebration."
"Tomorrow, we'll bring gifts and visit, then look for him openly and aboveboard. Wouldn't that be better?"
Xie Changsheng opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his words.
He turned toward Luo Hongyi, only to find her standing there with her arms folded, showing no intention of objecting.
After spending every moment of every day together lately, she had gradually come to understand Si Chen.
This fellow usually seemed indifferent to everything, yet at certain times, he insisted on the most inexplicable things.
"What are you looking at?" Luo Hongyi glanced at him. "Was Brother Si Chen wrong?"
Xie Changsheng raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, proper etiquette, proper etiquette. So what do we do now?"
"Find somewhere to rest and buy congratulatory gifts."
Si Chen said it as though it went without saying. "Didn't that fellow cultivator say earlier that bringing gifts would get us in?"
Half an hour later, on the main city's busiest market street.
Luo Hongyi was haggling with an old man selling jade wares.
"Fifty low-grade immortal crystals? Are you robbing people?"