The eastern sky turned fish-belly white, but the Walled Settlement in the mountains was still shrouded in darkness. The tribespeople who had celebrated all night had long since gone to bed, and scarcely a sound could be heard anywhere.
Rustle, rustle~
Before the roosters crowed, faint footsteps sounded on the mountain path outside the Walled Settlement.
Dressed in white robes and a veil hat, Perfected Person Xuanji first climbed to higher ground and surveyed the Walled Settlement, just as she had when scouting it in years past. Then she passed through the entrance with practiced ease and entered.
After leaving Yazhou, Perfected Person Xuanji had gone straight beyond the border pass to search for Ye Jingtang. Before she reached Tianlang Lake, she heard that the Left Xian King had died.
Since Ye Jingtang had killed the Left Xian King without immediately returning inside the border, he must have been hiding somewhere. Of all the Western Sea tribes, Perfected Person Xuanji could think of nowhere he would go except the Dongming Tribe, so she changed course and headed straight for Dongming Mountain.
The last time she had visited, Old Zhu Zong had still been in charge of Dongming Mountain. Now Hehe had become king, leaving her with something of a sense that the place remained, but its people had changed.
Perfected Person Xuanji strolled through the stronghold as comfortably as if she were at home. Before long, she arrived outside the "Royal Palace" on the heights. Looking up, she saw a bored Niao Niao pacing about the platform with feet turned outward, softly cooing and chirping, presumably muttering, "Startled into flight, then looking back, with grievances no bird understands. Having searched every cold branch, unwilling to perch, alone upon the chilly sandbar..."
Perfected Person Xuanji raised her eyebrows, slipped around behind