A gentle breeze brushed the green willows, and warm sunlight shone on red blossoms.
Though this inner courtyard was neither large nor particularly new, it was kept very tidy. A large willow tree stood before the Main House, with a small, lush vegetable patch on the left and a flower bed on the right. Vines twined around the fence, giving off wafts of fragrance.
Dressed in a blue-green robe, his hair tied in a scholar's topknot and gray cloth shoes on his feet, Xu Qingyan was bending over to put out the stove.
Ren Ye stood a short distance away, quietly studying him.
This Mr. Xu, who enjoyed quite a reputation in Gutan City, looked about forty. He was lean, with graying temples, but his features were refined and scholarly. He did indeed have something of the bearing of a master who lived in seclusion in the mountains, teaching and nurturing others.
He was definitely a bit fond of showing off, though...
Remembering the poem about Crouching Dragon that the man had just recited, Ren Ye could not help silently mocking him.
Beside the stove, Xu Qingyan slowly lifted the medicine pot with his back to Ren Ye and said softly, "My brush was hanging there quietly. If you hadn't forced your way in, how could it have done anything to you?"
Ren Ye smiled faintly and cupped his fists. "Sir, your little display might have just been sitting there, but it was mysterious and unfathomable, capable of swallowing people's minds. Naturally, that set the imagination running and made me want to force my way in and try it. Your display might not have moved, but it was a temptation in itself."
"Heh."
Hearing this specious argument, Xu Qingyan could not help glancing back at Ren Ye. "A fine thing