Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

Just as Chai Xiaomi was about to agree, she suddenly felt a cold wind blow from somewhere.

Looking up, they saw a figure slowly drifting past them.

Her voice was cool: "You have quite a few things you want to learn. One minute you want to learn archery, and the next you want to learn something else."

The boy discreetly folded his blood-stained cuff several times, turning it inside out to hide it, revealing a clean, white wrist and a small corner of a tattoo faintly visible on his forearm.

As he passed by, his gaze seemed to casually sweep over the white cat.

"What kind of broken magic is this? It takes nine repetitions to learn. I think this master is mediocre at all."

Jiang Zhiyu was suddenly stunned.

She felt an instant joy at finding a kindred spirit, and her eyes, filled with gratitude and emotion, almost welled up with tears as she looked at Wu Li.

Especially when he thought about how he had tried to get closer to Wu Li along the way, but the other party remained aloof and cold, and their occasional conversations were full of barbs.

Today, someone actually spoke up for him!

Jiang Zhiyu was extremely excited.

But the white cat's fur stood on end, its back arched, and its whiskers trembled with anger.

Which disciple of Jingmingtai doesn't respectfully call him "Master" or "Uncle-Master"? And who among the world who knows his name doesn't address him respectfully as "Master Ji"?

It was already thought that taking on a troublesome disciple like Jiang Zhiyu was enough to exhaust it.

Who would have thought there could be such a disrespectful brat in this world?

"It's clearly you youngsters who are dull-witted!" The white cat angrily crossed its paws, mimicking a human's arms-crossing posture, but it looked comical on a cat. "I refuse to believe that you can learn it after I teach you three times myself!"

"Oh."

Wu Li lowered his eyes as if he had heard a joke, raised his hands and calmed himself for a while, as if he was recalling and thinking about something. Then, the corners of his lips curved slightly.

He interlaced his fingers, his palms lightly closed, and formed a hand seal, mimicking the white cat's earlier movements.

It whispered the incantation it had recited.

The boy's fingers were long and beautiful, and his hand seals were sharp and swift. When he slowly pulled open the transparent mirror of truth, Chai Xiaomi's gaze was almost entirely fixed on his elegant and well-defined hand shapes.

Just as everyone was shocked that Wu Li had learned Ji Fangshi's True Form Mirror hand seal after only a short period of observation.

Only Chai Xiaomi stared blankly at those hands, her mind filled with only one thought: ...Help, those hands are too alluring.

Ji Bai stood frozen in place, remaining silent for a long time.

Could this be the legendary once-in-a-millennium prodigy of the sect?

Looking across the entire Jingming Platform, apart from its already ascended master, there is no one else who can understand the essence of the magic after just one glance.

This has made things really awkward.

So, was Jiang Zhiyu simply too dull-witted? Or was Ji Bai's teaching method ineffective?

Wu Li has learned it all by himself without anyone teaching him.

Ji Bai and Jiang Zhiyu started arguing like oil and water. The white cat nimbly leaped and sat on Jiang Zhiyu's head. Knowing that its apprentice was usually arrogant and concerned about his appearance, it deliberately combed his hair so neatly that he sat crookedly. The cat paws waved wildly, scolding him the whole time with a tone of "look at other people's children".

*

The top-tier room is located on the top floor corner of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion, offering an excellent view.

One side faces the street, brightly lit, while the other side faces the lake, where moonlight bathes the shimmering water.

After Chai Xiaomi and Wu Li returned to their rooms one after the other, they took turns washing up and then went to sleep in their own beds.

Compared to Zhu Yu's small inn, the guest rooms at Huanyin Pavilion are much more spacious, exquisitely furnished, and beautifully decorated, with all kinds of furniture.

Wu Li no longer has to sleep on the floor.

There was a chaise lounge against the wall, just big enough for one person to lie down. Although it was a little cramped for him, he didn’t suggest switching beds with her. He just quietly spread out the bedding on the chaise lounge himself.

No one spoke throughout the entire process.

After the candle went out, there was no more sound in the room.

But the streets outside the window were bright and bustling, and in the town of Qianwu during the new moon season, the moonlight was exceptionally clear, shining into the room and making the outlines of objects faintly discernible.

Outside the door, the cheers of the onlookers downstairs could be faintly heard, along with the occasional soft sounds of a courtesan and her patron laughing and joking as they walked by.

Chai Xiaomi is not a quiet person. Even when she sleeps, she likes to fall asleep to white noise, such as thunder, flowing water, or cicadas in the forest.

For her, as long as it's not a startling, ear-piercing sound, even voices coming from afar can be used as a sleep aid, making her sleep more peacefully.

But tonight was strange; the more she listened, the more agitated she became.

There's always a picture in my mind that I can't shake off.

Inside the bow and arrow shop, Wu Li intentionally created a scene where Song Yueyao came into contact with him, repeatedly reminding her that he really was going to start planting the love potion in Song Yueyao.

Whether the young man on the chaise longue was disturbed by the noise outside or not, he suddenly sat up.

Chai Xiaomi squinted and peeked in the dim light. She saw Wu Li quietly get up and walk lightly to the corner of the wall, where the piece of wood that had been exchanged for the Crimson Blood Silkworm was placed. It had already been brought into the room by the servants of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion.

He bent down, picked up the piece of wood, and walked to the window.

Judging from their posture, they're going out.

Just when Chai Xiaomi thought he would leap out of the window, he suddenly stopped, turned slightly to the side, as if glancing in her direction.

She hurriedly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

All that could be heard was the boy's low voice softly saying, "Go and keep watch over her, make sure she doesn't fall off the bed."

Immediately, a cool, sticky sensation brushed against her fingertips.

It was definitely that fat snake.

As soon as Wu Li left, she immediately opened her eyes.

He met the red dragon's round, vertical pupils.

Red Dragon: "?"

She realized that she was now invincible; not only could she meet the snake's gaze, but she could even read the question mark in its eyes.

"Yes, I'm pretending to be asleep. If you dare tell him, I'll stew you! Steamed or braised, you choose," Chai Xiaomi threatened.

Red Dragon quickly shook his head, blinked, tilted his head to the side, and slumped limply onto the pillow.

They'd better admit defeat; they can't afford to mess with this guy.

Even her owner couldn't do anything about her, let alone the dog?

If her eyes started gushing water again, her owner might actually throw her into the pot.

The moonlight gently spread across the lake, and the ripples reflected in through the window, casting dark water shadows on the display cabinet inside the room.

The light and shadow swayed gently with the ripples on the water, brushing over the little sugar figurine in the blue and white porcelain vase.

Chai Xiaomi tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so she simply stared at the little sugar figurine.

Its hands-on-hips posture seemed to mock her: Xiaomi, admit it, you've already started to be infatuated with him...

Tired from staring, she rolled her slightly sore eyes and suddenly noticed a man's outer garment hanging on a wooden shelf next to the curio cabinet. There was a mottled dark stain on the cuff, which was the same garment that Wu Li had stained with blood earlier.

Normally, after washing up, he would immediately wash his clothes as well, without any procrastination. He would not rest until he had finished everything on his plate.

Having been used to doing all sorts of chores since childhood, he was the kind of guy who always had something to do. Sometimes, when he was washing his own clothes, he would see her dragging her feet and dawdling, and he couldn't stand it, so he would just grab her clothes and wash them too.

But tonight, I don't know what I was in such a hurry to move a piece of wood out for, I didn't even have time to wash my clothes.

Chai Xiaomi simply got up. Since she couldn't sleep anyway, she decided to wash off the bloodstain; otherwise, it would make her uncomfortable.