As Xiao Yu remembered it, the owners of the Leisurely Cloud Tavern were the grandfather and granddaughter surnamed Xiao, and they possessed an exceptionally formidable secret technique for concealing their aura.
Before long, Xiao Yu arrived outside a sizable residence in Lingshui Alley, just as the shopkeeper had described.
He walked a short distance along the courtyard wall. When no one was looking, he lightly sprang over the ten-foot wall and landed in a small courtyard. The entire movement was clean and crisp, without the slightest sound.
Then Xiao Yu calmly followed the covered walkways and paths deeper into the residence, easily avoiding every maid and servant he encountered along the way.
After passing through several courtyards, he reached an open space in a garden deep within the residence.
A pretty girl of twelve or thirteen was practicing spells there. Her hands formed a seal, her little face flushed red with effort as she recited an incantation.
With a clear cry of "Go!", a fireball the size of an egg slowly appeared at her fingertips, then wobbled away in the direction she pointed.
"When casting the Fireball Spell, you can... do it like this..." A gentle voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.
"Oh..." The girl answered instinctively, then realized something was wrong and abruptly turned toward the arched gateway behind her.
An ordinary-looking young man of twenty-five or twenty-six in blue robes stood there, smiling at her. It was Xiao Yu who had just offered her pointers on casting the Fireball Spell.
"Ah! Who are you? What are you doing in my home?" Startled, the girl immediately questioned him without the slightest courtesy.
"I've come to bring you something good!" Xiao Yu smiled mysteriously.
"What something good? One look at you tells me you're no good. Tell me who you