Daylight had fully broken, and idle chatter from the yamen constables once again rang out in the mutton shop outside the alley. "When Hero Xie ate here last year, I thought he was just a pretty boy. I really never imagined-"
"Think about it. Lord Linghu is as free of worldly desires as Fairy Nangong. How could anyone she regards differently be ordinary?"
"True, but it takes a prodigy like Hero Xie to win Lord Linghu's heart. What sort of person would it take to move Fairy Nangong?"
"There probably isn't anyone left in this world. If there is, I reckon the rich waters could only flow into their own-"
"Shh! Do you want to die? You can't go saying things like that-"
Their intermittent conversation drifted into Courtyard Six, deep in the quiet alley.
In the rear courtyard's bedroom, Xie Jinhuan had recovered his usual color after a night of treatment. Hearing the voices from the street, he stole a glance beside him.
The bed curtains had yet to be drawn back. Linghu Qingmo sat cross-legged on the still-warm, fragrant bed, her back straight, her skin finer than jade. Faint green qi could still be seen gathering around her without dispersing, making her look like a jade maiden from an immortal palace.
But she wore no clothes, and sitting cross-legged like this also presented her towering snowy mountains and the secluded valley with plum blossoms hidden in its snow to her boyfriend's eyes.
As the eldest, Ye Hongshang was recording evidence of their misbehavior to consolidate her position while also supporting the younger sisters beneath her. She sat sideways behind Qingmo, holding the Crystal Ball in her right hand while her left hovered over Qingmo's head, feeding the spiritual charm plundered from the origin of Heaven and Earth into