On the second day, Zanxing was awakened by Mimi.
The chubby white cat stepped over her chest, leaving four gray footprints, its tail swaying back and forth, brushing against her nose, more ticklish than sunlight.
Zanxing rubbed her nose, lifted the covers, sat up, and rubbed her eyes. The sun streamed in from the window. On the long bench, the figure of the youth was no different from yesterday, almost like a statue.
She got out of bed, put on her shoes, and walked to Gu Baiying’s side.
Was this person really sitting here all night? But is he sleeping now?
Zanxing slowly squatted down and looked at the young man in front of her.
Gu Baiying always seemed a bit impatient when he spoke. If someone annoyed him, that impatience turned into arrogance. When he closed his eyes, his eyebrows relaxed, revealing a gentleness that was rarely seen in ordinary times.
He had a strikingly handsome face, with every feature finely crafted. Both high and low ranks of the Taiyan Sect all said that the Qinghua Fairy was a rare beauty of a millennium. Zanxing had never doubted this point. Without saying anything else, just looking at Gu Baiying’s appearance, she knew the Qinghua Fairy couldn’t possibly be ugly.
The sunlight fell on the tip of the youth’s nose, making his skin translucent. His lip line was extremely beautiful, and the contour of his jawline seemed as if it were drawn on. With his eyes closed, his eyelashes drooped softly, like the wings of a butterfly in spring, or the phoenix flowers in the courtyard, always evoking words of freshness and beauty.
As Zanxing gazed, as if enchanted, she couldn’t help but reach out her hand, wanting to touch the youth’s eyelashes. Her hand had just reached halfway when Gu Baiying’s eyelashes moved, slowly opening his eyes.
She saw her own reflection in his eyes.
The wind in the courtyard dispersed the morning mist, causing the early morning sunlight to dance in the air as fine lines of stars. In the corner of the room, the special-made magnolia incense from the palace spread its fragrance to every corner. The white gauze canopy behind the youth fluttered, as if not in the palace of the Li’er Country, but in the Shuiyun Ravine of the Gufeng Mountain.
Both inside and outside the painting, it was all spring scenery.
Before she could come back to her senses, she saw Gu Baiying furrow his brows, pushing her hand away, asking, “What are you doing?”
“I…” Zanxing hesitated to admit she was mesmerized by his beauty, so she said, “It seems Senior Brother is asleep. Let me get a piece of clothing to cover you.”
Gu Baiying glanced at her empty hands. “Where is the clothing?”
Zanxing replied, “I forgot.”
“Yang Zanxing,” Gu Baiying stood up, staring at her suspiciously, “are you scheming something in your mind?”
“No,” Zanxing also stood up, rubbing her knees earnestly. “What could I possibly scheme? Senior Brother, if you’re not going to sleep, why not freshen up? The maids will bring breakfast soon. I wonder if Senior Brother Tian and Junior Brother Men Dong?” As she spoke, she opened the door. Someone happened to pass by the door and saw Gu Baiying and Zanxing inside.
“Rong Yu?” Zanxing asked.
The poor cultivator stood still, then after a long while, he struggled to speak, “Did you… sleep together last night?”
“Hey, don’t talk nonsense!” Gu Baiying immediately stepped forward from behind, annoyed. “I was practicing cultivation in her room all night and did nothing else!”
Zanxing remained silent. Gu Baiying rarely explained himself to others. Sometimes, clarification only made things worse. The more one explained, the darker the situation became. It was as if there was no silver lining.
She looked at Rong Yu. “Last night, it seemed like there was a demonic presence in my room. Senior Brother was worried about my safety, so he practiced cultivation in my room to protect me.”
“As elders, taking care of juniors is expected,” Gu Baiying added. Pausing for a moment, he stepped forward and warned Rong Yu, “Kid, if you dare to spread rumors everywhere, I’ll deal with you.”
Rong Yu quickly replied, “I won’t say anything.”
Zanxing noticed the basket made of redwood in his hand and asked, “What are you going to do with that?”
“These past few days, Senior Brother has been staying in the palace, and the king sent over many medicinal herbs. In a few days, we’ll be entering the secret realm, and Senior Brother has to stay in the palace. I want to go thank the king.”
Since his altercation with the Chihua Sect at the Qiang Qiang Gambling House, Rong Yu’s life had been difficult. The Liuli Sect was a small sect, with only two slots for entering the secret realm. Now that his Senior Brother was severely injured and couldn’t go, there was only Rong Yu left. Although Tan Tianxin didn’t openly interfere with Rong Yu due to Gu Baiying, he would probably create obstacles for him in the future.
Zanxing looked at Rong Yu’s patched old clothes and shook her head. The sect was so poor that it was fortunate the king of Li’er Country was wealthy enough to provide medicinal herbs from the palace storeroom for his Senior Brother. Otherwise, they probably couldn’t even afford to buy healing stones.
“Perfect, we also have some matters to discuss with the king,” Zanxing said. “Wait for us to freshen up, and we’ll go together.”
There were too few detailed records about the case of the shark demon forty years ago. Zanxing and Tian Fangfang had discussed it last night. After breakfast, they planned to ask the king if there were any other records available. Since Rong Yu was going, they decided to go together.
Zanxing looked at Gu Baiying. Gu Baiying didn’t object, and after a moment of hesitation, Rong Yu agreed, saying, “Alright.”
After the two men freshened up, they went together to the main hall of Li’er Country.
The king, already aware of their visit, was waiting in the main hall. Upon seeing the three of them, he ordered breakfast to be served and invited them to eat while discussing.
As expected, Gu Baiying refused to eat “ordinary food.” Rong Yu, here to express his gratitude, barely touched his meal before expressing his thanks multiple times. The king was also very approachable, telling him not to be so formal. Zanxing listened to their conversation and enjoyed her meal even more.
“Yang Zanxing, mind your manners,” Gu Baiying whispered a message to Zanxing using a telepathic technique, not forgetting to admonish her, “I see the centuries-old image of the Taiyan Sect being ruined in your hands sooner or later.”
“Senior Uncle,” Zanxing transmitted silently, “They invited you to eat, and you refuse and even show disdain. That’s what I call impolite.”
Gu Baiying decided to give up reasoning with Zanxing.
The king looked at Zanxing and Gu Baiying, expressing concern, “The palace guards reported that there seemed to be a demon sneaking into the immortal’s room last night. Is the immortal injured?”
Zanxing replied, “I’m not injured, and we can’t be sure it was a demon, right? Actually, the reason we came today is also to inquire about the case files from Your Majesty. We’ve already seen the files sent by the maidservant yesterday, and there’s not much information about the shark demon. So we want to ask if Your Majesty has more detailed records, preferably with more information about the shark demon.”
The king shook his head. “When the case of the shark demon occurred, I had not yet been born. Many of the courtiers who witnessed the chaos caused by the shark demon from beginning to end are no longer alive. The palace has already sent you all the available case files. There are no other records.”