"Wh-what a beautiful girl. Are you an adeptus?"
Paimon seemed so awed by Shenhe's otherworldly air that she had unconsciously adopted a respectful tone.
"An adeptus? I am no adeptus, merely an adeptus's disciple."
The woman gently shook her head, her long white hair swaying with it as she denied this.
"An adeptus's disciple?" Xingqiu murmured, resting a hand against his chin before turning his gaze toward Chongyun.
Chongyun had caught on too. Looking at the white-haired woman, he asked uncertainly:
"Could you be Shenhe?"
"Hmm? Who are you, and how do you know my name?"
Shenhe rested her gaze on Chongyun without any change in her expression, a hint of puzzlement in her voice.
"Uh, my name is Chongyun. I once heard my elders mention a distant relative from a branch of our family who was studying under an adeptus. Going by our family generations, I believe I should actually call you 'Auntie.'"
Chongyun rubbed the back of his head and briefly explained why they had come.
"...A distant relative?"
Shenhe formed a hand seal, recalling the "Talisman Spirit" in the distance. As an adeptus's disciple, she lived in harmony with nature.
This had given her keen powers of perception.
Although she rarely interacted with people and was unaccustomed to crowded places, she could easily sense whether someone was good or evil, sincere or otherwise, even without using Adepti Arts.
So she knew the boy before her was not lying. In other words, she really did still have... family in this world?
"Yes, I understand." Shenhe nodded quite calmly, then continued, "What brings you to Mt. Aocang, then?"
"Wow, what a cold reaction. Aren't you surprised or happy or anything? A distant relative came all this way to visit you!"
Having learned that the woman before her was not