"I don't have a habit of disturbing others." Shili Changkong sat to one side, drank a cup of tea, and smiled. "What if I end up offending the beauty?"
"This woman isn't simple. Be careful you don't capsize in the gutter," Xu Zimo warned, saying no more.
After about three minutes, Madam approached with a smile and said to Xu Zimo, "Young master, Miss Baiyu says that if you do not mind, would you be willing to meet her in her chambers?"
"Let's go," Xu Zimo said with a smile to Shili Changkong.
Then, beneath everyone's envious gazes, the two made their way up to the second floor.
Shili Changkong did not follow Xu Zimo inside, instead standing guard outside the door.
Xu Zimo opened the door, and a faint fragrance drifted out, somewhat like the mingled scents of roses and peonies.
The room was divided into an inner chamber and an outer hall. Xu Zimo sauntered inside.
The outer hall was simply furnished. Its walls were pink, with many little feminine ornaments hanging upon them.
The surroundings were draped in strips of multicolored, rainbow-hued silk. A melodious zither tune drifted from the inner chamber, like a little bridge over flowing water, soothing the heart and spirit.
The small door from the outer hall to the inner chamber was veiled by a thin layer of pink gauze. Through it, Xu Zimo could vaguely see a graceful figure seated within, playing the zither.
"Women always care so much about ceremony," Xu Zimo said with a smile as he walked in.
He lifted the gauze and entered the inner chamber.
It was clearly a woman's boudoir. There was a soft pink bed, and a dressing table stood by the window to the left.
Directly before Xu Zimo was a table made of sandalwood. The woman sat on the other side, her slender jade-like hands plucking the zither strings as she watched his arrival with smiling eyes.
The music came to an end. Covering her mouth, the woman laughed. "Young master, you truly are quite amusing. When others meet me, they are always drawn in by my beauty.
Yet when you entered, the first thing you did was inspect my room."
"I look at some things with my eyes, but I look at some people with my heart." Xu Zimo smiled, only then turning his gaze upon the woman before him.
She wore a white embroidered dress, its upper portion tightly wrapping around her full breasts, with a white gauze outer robe draped over it.
Her features somewhat resembled those of women from the Western Regions, every feature especially delicate and beautiful.
Willow-leaf brows, a particularly high nose bridge, large eyes as dark as ink, and cherry-red lips.
Her hair cascaded behind her, loosely tied into a small bow with a pink ribbon.
"What does Young Master think of my zither playing?" Ji Baiyu asked with a smile.
"Your service attitude is rather poor. You didn't even think to pour me any water." Xu Zimo sat cross-legged on the floor and poured himself a cup of tea. Only then did he slowly ask, "Can you play those tunes of clashing golden spears and iron horses?
The kind that makes one's blood boil? I cannot appreciate those tender and elegant tunes like the ones you play, much less judge whether they are good or bad."
Ji Baiyu gave Xu Zimo a particularly serious look. Her red lips pressed together slightly as she said, "Young master truly is different from everyone else."
"What's so different? I still have one mouth and two eyes. It's not as if I have three heads and six arms," Xu Zimo replied with a smile.
"You possess a unique air about you, young master. Calling it charm would not quite be right. You simply feel very unconventional," Ji Baiyu said after thinking for a moment.
"Not really. I simply do not follow the crowd," Xu Zimo said, shaking his head with a smile.
"What does Young Master think of me?" Ji Baiyu asked.
"What do you mean?" Xu Zimo asked in return.
"I am merely a woman of the pleasure quarter. Would Young Master think I am fickle in love and look down on me?" Ji Baiyu said dejectedly.
Her voice was soft and frail. Coupled with that forlorn, pitiful bearing, it could not help but make one want to draw her into one's arms and feel protective of her.
"How could that be?" Xu Zimo set down his teacup and looked at Ji Baiyu with a smile. "If I were to look down even on the Sword Dancing Immortal, one of the twenty-four Sword Immortals and founder of Yunyan Pavilion, then who in this world could possibly catch my eye?"
Ji Baiyu's expression froze for a moment before she smiled. "So Young Master knew all along!"
She sat up straight, no longer as pitiable and delicate as before, instead carrying herself with calm grace.
"I was supposed to play along with your performance, yet I turned a blind eye," Xu Zimo said with a smile.
"May I ask what business Young Master has with me?" Ji Baiyu asked. "If Yunyan Pavilion has offended you in any way, please speak freely."
Xu Zimo merely smiled without answering. He lifted his teacup, took a sip, then let out a long breath and sighed, "Fine tea."
"If Young Master likes it, I can give you some. These tea leaves were roasted using my own secret recipe; you will not find them anywhere else," Ji Baiyu replied with a smile.
"Is that so?" Xu Zimo's eyes were filled with reminiscence as he slowly said, "I remember that a long time ago, I seemed to have drunk this kind of tea.
It seemed to have been in a place called Lin Yun City on the Northern Continent. What a coincidence—there was also a small Lineage there surnamed Ji, the same as yours. I heard that the members of that Lineage were descendants of the Feather Emperor, though they had declined long ago."
Xu Zimo clicked his tongue, his tone full of regret.
Yet Ji Baiyu's expression changed drastically. She stared fixedly at Xu Zimo, her body even trembling slightly.
Her face had gone pale, but she forced a smile. "What is Young Master trying to say?"
"Nothing. I simply find it an extraordinary coincidence. I heard that several decades ago, that Lineage was suddenly wiped out, and all several hundred members of the Lineage died in battle," Xu Zimo said regretfully. "Later, there were rumors that the Ji Family Head's daughter escaped with the Feather Emperor's inheritance.
Tell me, how could there be such a coincidence in this world? The girl who escaped seemed to be named Ji Baiyu as well."
The moment Xu Zimo finished speaking, Ji Baiyu's expression changed instantly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The four Meridian Gates on her body opened wide, and the overwhelming power of the Empty Meridian Realm erupted. Spiritual energy swirled around her like long dragons.
"What is it? I was only telling a story. Is there any need to be so nervous?" Xu Zimo asked with a calm smile.
"Who exactly are you?" Ji Baiyu's voice trembled slightly as she stared at Xu Zimo.
"My father is the Vice Sect Master of the True Martial Sacred Sect. In a sense, I suppose I count as the son of an official," Xu Zimo replied with a faint smile.
"The True Martial Sacred Sect?" Suddenly, an aged voice sounded behind Xu Zimo.
An Old Man in black robes had appeared soundlessly behind Xu Zimo.
"Boy, what is your purpose in coming here?" The Old Man pondered for a moment, then looked at Xu Zimo as his aura gradually pressed down upon him.
"I didn't expect you to still be alive," Xu Zimo said, looking at the Old Man as though he could not feel the increasingly powerful aura emanating from him.
Before you continue