Xiao Hua looked on with great interest. He reached out and placed the Star Token in the rabbit's mouth. "Squeak, squeak..." The rabbit seemed to cry out, then drew back its head. With a creak, the vermilion palace doors slowly opened, revealing a room about ten feet across. When the rabbit retracted its head, Xiao Hua had not sensed the slightest fluctuation of magical power. It seemed to be nothing more than... a mechanism technique.
Seeing the door open, Xiao E bowed again. "Please enter, Senior."
Xiao Hua nodded and walked into the room. It was exceptionally clean. Apart from the door through which he had entered, there was only a window opposite it. Beside the window stood a desk and a chair. On the desk were several Four Treasures of the Study, a plate of spiritual fruits, and a jade-green tray containing a wine pot and a wine cup.
"Please sit, Senior!" Xiao E walked to the window and invited Xiao Hua to sit down. Carefully lifting the wine pot, she poured him a cup of spirit wine as green as jade and said with a smile, "This is Star Picking Tower's Cloud E Solitude, one of the famed fine wines of the Cangxian Continent. Please have a taste, Senior!"
"Forget it." Xiao Hua waved his hand. "This old man does not care for spirit wine. You may have it all. I'd rather taste these spiritual fruits."
"Heehee, thank you, Senior!" Xiao E was delighted. Seeing Xiao Hua pick up a spiritual fruit to taste, she put away the jade-green tray along with the wine, then walked to the window and pushed it open. With a creak, the window opened as well...
"Buzz, buzz..." As the window opened, a burst of extraordinarily clamorous noise rushed in from outside, along