Deep, deep lay the courtyard-how deep? Willows piled like mist, curtains layered beyond counting.
Wang Yang spotted a large hall with entrances on opposite sides, screened on all four sides by bead curtains. The music of a zither drifted out, rustling like wind and rain, pure and ethereal. The effeminate-looking man from earlier stood outside, bowing.
"Halt!" A thick-browed man suddenly stepped out from behind a poplar, drew his bow, and aimed at Wang Yang.
Wang Yang ignored him and walked straight toward the hall.
Whoosh!
An arrow struck precisely in front of the toe of Wang Yang's shoe.
Wang Yang chuckled. "If you haven't got the nerve to kill anyone, don't shoot. What's the point of this little performance?"
He stepped around the arrow and approached the hall. Through the bead curtains, he could just make out a figure seated inside.
At a loss, the man could only draw his bow again in intimidation.
Wang Yang paid him no heed and reached out to part the bead curtain.
Just then, a woman's icy voice came from within. "Bai Si, shoot anyone who steps inside. No need to report to me."
A mature woman's voice?
"Yes!"
The thick-browed man answered loudly, drawing his bow into the shape of a full moon.
Wang Yang naturally withdrew his hand and stepped back. His back straight, he inclined his upper body slightly, his sleeves swaying gently. "So there is a lady here. How presumptuous of me."
Since arriving in this ancient world, he had learned quite a bit of etiquette. That little bow really did lend him some of the bearing of a young master from a great family. His movements were graceful and entirely unhurried, making it seem that he had stopped purely out of courtesy and good breeding, not because he