What was going on?
Yue Wen swept his gaze around without betraying anything, unsure what had stirred the Ancient Painting.
Most of the things in the courtyard had little spirituality. The only things with any were the tall tree in the center and the young cook before him, Jiang Hongxiu, whom he was meeting for the first time.
Yue Wen's main suspect was Jiang Hongxiu.
Since Storage Artifacts could not be nested inside other Storage Artifacts, he had no way to put that pendant into his Sumeru Jade and could only carry it on him. He had not expected the Ancient Painting to sense the aura outside even through the barrier of a Storage Artifact.
Fortunately, with that barrier between them, Yue Wen could still suppress its agitation.
He forcibly contained the spirituality leaking from the pendant so that no one around him could notice anything amiss, then smiled at Jiang Hongxiu. "Miss Jiang, you really are too kind."
"Hehe." Beaming, Jiang Hongxiu said softly, "Come on in, everyone. I arrived a day before you and familiarized myself with the area, so of course I should be the one to welcome you."
Xing'er went straight up, put her arms around Jiang Hongxiu's shoulders, and hugged her tightly, nuzzling against her. "You smell so nice, sis."
"And you're so pretty." Jiang Hongxiu held Xing'er's hand, and the two exchanged compliments for a while.
After letting go, Jiang Hongxiu made a small movement to straighten her clothes and apron, arranging everything meticulously until not a wrinkle remained, before sitting down with everyone else. As she took her seat, her posture was composed, her back perfectly straight.
Every movement looked as though it had been rigorously trained.
Yue Wen quietly observed from the side. *Looks like this girl pays a lot of attention