The pitch-black dragon of a procession passed before him. Pei Ye's gaze remained fixed on empty space, motionless, while the mountainlike carriage stood majestic and silent.
The only things fluttering were several banners bearing the character for Yan. Many who saw that character needed a long moment to recall where it came from.
He had indeed been away from the Divine Capital for far too long. At midnight on the sixteenth day of the third month of the renwu year, King of Yan Yongbei returned to the capital he had conquered with his own hands.
Pei Ye watched the long procession pass straight down the street and enter the Imperial City in sequence. It even left black-armored guards at the gates, standing alongside the Imperial Guard.
Ignoring the clamor in the street, he turned his head to glance at the distant Star-Watching Tower, tall and slender as a needle, then went straight back to the Sword Cultivation Academy.
"In the past, I would certainly have told you not to act rashly." Black Cat lay before the window lattice, taking the rare initiative to speak.
Pei Ye rested both hands behind his head and gazed at the rafters. "You could just praise me for being levelheaded now. But I wasn't that reckless or stupid before either, all right?"
"You're still nowhere near levelheaded. You're just not quite so stupid anymore," Black Cat said.
"I told you I'm not stupid," Pei Ye retorted absently, his fingers tracing the grooves on his sword hilt.
He gazed quietly at the rafters. No voice sounded in the room for a long time-roughly half an hour.
Pei Ye said softly, "Motherfucker. I really want to slaughter him."
Black Cat leaped beside his pillow without saying a word.
Pei Ye stared at the rafters a