"You guessed right, that little girl of yours indeed has never seen that box," Qie Yue said as she made her way directly to the table and sat down, looking at the person feigning sleep in the chaise longue, "But that girl is truly interesting. An unfamiliar person appears in her room, and she actually isn’t scared. She even exchanged a few moves with . Her skills are not bad, and her temperant is good too. No wonder Hei Zi couldn’t stop praising her last ti he returned."
Zi Xiao, with his eyes squinted, opened them wide, fixing his gaze on Qie Yue, and said leisurely, "Hei Zi went on a task, and there’s no one managing the General Pavilion right now..."
"Damn, you can’t do that!" Before Zi Xiao could finish, Qie Yue jumped up from the stool and headed towards the door, "I’m just complinting her a bit. Is that really necessary?! With so many things to do at headquarters, let whoever wants to manage it do so; don’t look for . I’m more comfortable staying in Pearl City anyway. Besides, didn’t Ming just go back? He will take care of it."
Zi Xiao didn’t care about Qie Yue’s attitude and started feigning sleep again. It seed that his absence had been too long, the girl had almost forgotten him. He needed to quickly wrap up matters here and then stick by her side; otherwise, with her current charm, she would attract too many flies. If soone else stole her heart, he would have no regrets to speak of, not even a window left to sigh through.
On the last day of September, Fen Jian, the City Lord of Pearl City, received students from the four empires and held a banquet.
The banquet was set in the Guest Hall of the City Lord’s Mansion. Xie Ping, leading the people from the Mors Empire, arrived just ten minutes before the banquet began, at which point the delegates from the other empires had already arrived. Seeing them arrive late, those from the other empires exchanged whispers.
The maid led Xie Ping and his party to their seats. It was not until they sat down that Dugu Qianye noticed a person sitting in the top seat of the hall. A man of about twenty-three or twenty-four, with fair and handso features, a gentle smile hanging on his lips, dressed in fine white brocade, he exuded a holy aura.
Dugu Qianye stared at the constantly smiling man, feeling his smile seed a bit fake; it seed gentle but was laced with irony. Moreover, his eyes and chin looked sowhat familiar.
"Sister, that man is the one from the other night. I rember his scent," Xiaohuo conveyed a ssage to Dugu Qianye from within the sleeve.
"Is he Qie Yue?" Dugu Qianye found it difficult to associate the person before her, cloaked in a guise of hypocrisy, with the demonic Qie Yue of that night. But she believed Xiaohuo’s words, considering that Phantom Beasts had more direct senses than humans.
A mber of the Secret Pavilion hiding in the Divine Temple in such an important position, what exactly was Zi Xiao up to? Just as she was puzzled, she suddenly felt a pair of eyes upon her. Looking up, she saw it was that charlatan, Qie Yue.
Qie Yue hadn’t expected the little girl to be so sharp, just a two-second longer gaze and she’d noticed him. And judging by her expression, she seed to have recognized his identity already. He raised his cup to her, and while no one else was looking, he squeezed his eyes and silently said, "Keep it a secret, okay."
Dugu Qianye watched Qie Yue’s actions, and her eyes twitched involuntarily. Yet under the watchful eyes of all, she could only lift her cup and drink.
The others, seeing the banquet hadn’t yet started and Fen Jian already toasting to Dugu Qianye, looked at her with envy. The Divine Temple was obviously paying special attention to Dugu Qianye; they might even invite her directly into the temple. But all they could do was watch eagerly; who asked them not to be the number one in the individual competition? anwhile, the rest of the Mors Empire’s party wore a look of pride.
As the ti arrived, the music paused. Fen Jian stood up and spoke to those below, "Welco to Pearl City. As the City Lord, I am honored to invite all of you to tonight’s banquet. As a mber of the Divine Temple, I welco everyone to visit the temple. Tomorrow morning at 9 A.M., the temple’s special boat will depart from the northern port and take you to Holy Sea City. Now, here is so food and drink prepared by the City Lord’s Mansion for you, as well as so performances. I hope you all have an enjoyable evening."
As soon as Fen Jian’s words ended, the music resud, and a dozen or so veiled won in white gauze dresses entered from outside the hall to the rhythm of the music, beginning to dance.
Indeed, as the territory of the Divine Temple, even the dances seed unreachable. Dugu Qianye inwardly comnted. And these were not ordinary people; she could feel Phantom Power fluctuations emanating from them.
As for the n, their eyes were practically glued to the dancing girls. But that was normal, considering they were all at the peak of their virility.
During the banquet, Dugu Qianye was plied with a lot of alcohol by people from other countries. They seed to have conspired to get Dugu Qianye drunk, hoping to see her embarrass herself, but alas, she was soone who could drink a thousand cups without faltering.
At one point, Lin Feng, the fourth prince of the Glei Empire, also ca to drink with Dugu Qianye and chatted with her for a while. His witty and humorous speech made her laugh continuously, much to the annoyance of soone hidden behind in the hall.
Finally, when the banquet concluded, Dugu Qianye felt a sense of relief. Such gatherings were truly dull; she decided not to attend any more in the future! Back on Earth, as a young mistress of an Ancient Martial Family, she had no choice but to attend many gatherings, and it seed that wasn’t going to change on the Xuanyue Continent. She really didn’t like interacting with people who wore masks.
The next morning, students from the four countries arrived early at the North Pier.
The North Pier stretched on for several kiloters, luxuriously constructed, with even the hundreds-of-ters-high navigation towers built from the valuable white Liuyan rock. The spacious pier was devoid of any ships, confirming that only the ships of the Divine Temple were allowed to dock there.
The students headed for this trip were mostly from the Mors Empire, numbering 30 in total. The Glei Empire followed with 13 people. The Cangqiong Empire had 3, and the Gabina Empire only had 1 person. Since it was not ti yet, the ship of the Divine Temple had not arrived, and everyone gathered together, whispering amongst themselves. A teacher from the Glei Empire and Xie Ping were talking not far away, with Lin Feng standing behind them, listening.
"Ah!" Dan Jingtian yawned, rubbing his still sleepy eyes, and said, "It’s still early; why did we co here so soon? We might as well have gone back to sleep. I didn’t even have breakfast, and I’m so hungry."
"Everyone was up earlier than you; you were the last to get up. If you hadn’t overslept, only getting up when everyone else was about to leave, you would have had ti for breakfast!" Ye Canglan said helplessly to Dan Jingtian.
"How can you bla !" Dan Jingtian retorted, "I was just too excited last night and went to bed late. If I had gone to bed early, I could have woken up early today!"
Dan Jingtian’s words left everyone speechless. Mo Ziqing took out a dish of pancakes and handed it to him, saying, "I knew you wouldn’t be able to get up today, so I kept it for you."
"Wow! Ziqing, you’re the best!" Dan Jingtian exclaid as he took a pancake and bit into it, saying, "I knew you wouldn’t forget about your brother here."
Mo Ziqing smiled and looked up at Dugu Qianye.
Dugu Qianye was standing in front of the pier, holding Xiaojiu, silently staring at the place where the sea t the sky. Her right hand unconsciously stroked Xiaojiu’s back, her face calm and emotionless, but her heart was filled with worries and tension.
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