Outside the Prince's Manor.
A silver moon hung overhead. With a longsword on his back, Nangong Ye hovered a hundred zhang above the ground in the night sky, the black curtains of his veiled hat swaying in the wind as he surveyed the vast residence diagonally below through the thin gauze.
The Prince's Manor was elegantly landscaped. In the West Residence Guest Courtyard, a young woman in a white dress sat on the White Stone Steps, propping her chin on one hand as she watched a Vine Ball rolling back and forth nearby.
A plump black eagle stood atop the Vine Ball, seemingly performing a barrel-balancing trick. Every so often, it rolled up to the young woman and opened its beak to beg for food. Once rewarded, it rolled away again on its own.
Watching this from afar, Nangong Ye inevitably recalled when Qingmo had first come to Purple Emblem Mountain.
Qingmo had only been three or four then, with her hair in little horn-shaped pigtails. She had been timid and afraid to speak around anyone. Even the sight of a White Crane could frighten her into hiding behind him, clutching his skirt as she cautiously peeked out:
"Master, this long-legged goose won't bite, will it?"
Remembering those amusing childhood moments, even Nangong Ye, whose temperament was like an iceberg that never melted, felt the faintest curve lift the corners of his mouth.
Over a decade had passed in a flash, and Qingmo had grown into a young woman. Judging by that dreamy look, her first feelings of love had blossomed too...
Once a girl grows up, there's no keeping her at home...
Unfortunately, my disciple's sweetheart isn't particularly reassuring...
Recalling how smoothly Xie Jinhuan had struck up a conversation with a woman that day, Nangong Ye could not