Chapter 30

The Jinwu Guard said, “It was Tang Sanlang’s birthday banquet. Xue Wulang and the others went to attend and got into an argument with Zhang… Zhang-langjun. Xue Wulang’s words were improper, so Seventh Lady Tang became angry and drove all of them out of the Tang residence. Within two days, the storybook about the madman and the delicate lady had spread all through the capital.”

Shen Jibai asked, “Did the Tang residence try to stop it?”

The Jinwu Guard said, “Tang Sanlang has smashed up several taverns in the past few days… The more he smashes, the more fiercely the tale spreads.”

Zhou Xin said, “Openly bullying a guest at a birthday banquet isn’t just making things difficult for Zhang Sheng. It’s slapping the Tang residence in the face. I’m afraid the Xue and Tang families have long held grudges against each other, and Zhang Sheng was merely the spark that set it off.”

Shen Jibai said, “Mm.”

Zhang Qingqing finished eating the last remaining bun and wiped the oil from his mouth with his sleeve. “What are you two talking about again? Why can’t I understand it again?”

Zhou Xin raised her eyes toward the second floor. Tang Jiuwei was still standing there and had not left.

She gave Zhang Qingqing a look, then turned and walked out. “Come with me.”

The two of them left the main hall one after the other. Shen Jibai, who had been left behind, pressed his thin lips together. In the end, he did not follow.

When they reached the carriage in the rear courtyard, Zhou Xin stopped. “Seventh Lady Tang will likely come to see you shortly. Have you thought of what you’re going to say?”

Zhang Qingqing said in confusion, “If she wanted to see me, why didn’t she come down just now?”

Zhou Xin said, “With so many pairs of eyes watching in the main hall, how could she come down?”

Zhang Qingqing scratched the back of his head. “Then should I keep pretending to have lost my memory?”

Zhou Xin said earnestly, “Zhang Qingqing is a gentle, refined scholar. When you meet Seventh Lady Tang later, remember to rein yourself in a little.”

Zhang Qingqing did not take it seriously. “He is him, and I am me. I’m not carrying his romantic debts for him.”

Zhou Xin shook her head and pointed at the carriage. “You get in first.”

“Oh.”

Zhang Qingqing obediently climbed into the carriage.

Zhou Xin was about to go back and call Shen Jibai, but when she turned around, she saw that man standing far away at the entrance of the main hall. His phoenix eyes looked over from a distance, his cool gaze carrying an indescribable emotion, as if he had suffered some grievance.

She tilted her head with a smile and waved at him. “Court Minister Shen, we should set off!”

Only then did Shen Jibai begin walking over. He stopped in front of her and asked in a low voice, “Why not have the Jinwu Guards send him back?”

Zhou Xin tapped his shoulder lightly with her fingertips. “You really are a block of wood. If the Jinwu Guards send him, would Seventh Lady Tang still dare to come up and speak to him?”

Shen Jibai’s gaze shifted slightly, and his expression softened a little. “You want to help her?”

Zhou Xin said, “Tang Sanlang hates Zhang Sheng and is unwilling to say much about the details of the birthday banquet, but Seventh Lady Tang will.”

Shen Jibai understood and nodded. “All right.”

The two of them got into the carriage one after the other. The driver waiting nearby jumped onto the carriage shaft and drove the carriage out of the inn’s rear courtyard.

Zhang Qingqing was very sensible. Though he had been the first to board, he sat on the side seat. Shen Jibai gave the main seat to Zhou Xin and squeezed onto the same bench as Zhang Qingqing.

Most likely because he was unwilling to have physical contact with others, his expression did not look good. With his naturally cold bearing, once his face turned frosty, the pressure inside the carriage immediately dropped.

Neither Zhou Xin nor Zhang Qingqing dared speak. One leaned by the left window; the other looked out the right window.

The carriage drove out of the locust grove and turned onto the mountain road. A moment later, it stopped.

Zhou Xin looked out the window and saw a carriage stopped on the road ahead. She gave Zhang Qingqing a look. “Here for you.”

Zhang Qingqing smiled cheerfully and got out of the carriage. He walked to that carriage and spoke a few words. No one knew what they discussed, but the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Seeing her staring fixedly at the situation by the carriage, Shen Jibai hesitated for a moment before finally asking, “When did you become so familiar with him?”

Oh no.

Zhou Xin rubbed the tip of her nose and said, “Can you not ask?”

His eyes darkened slightly. Shen Jibai said directly, “You don’t want to say?”

“That’s not it…” Zhou Xin thought about her wording for a while. “It’s that I don’t know how to say it, and you won’t allow me to lie. How about this? When the time is right, I’ll tell you. Is that all right?”

He shifted his gaze toward her.

The two of them looked at each other for a long while before he finally gave a light nod.

“All right.”

Zhou Xin’s eyes curved, and she smiled.

She leaned closer, bringing her face especially near, and said softly, “You don’t even know who I am, yet you dare to trust me this much?”

Shen Jibai lowered his ink-dark eyes and looked steadily at her.

“…I want to trust you.”

It was not “I trust you,” but “I want to trust you.”

Zhou Xin blinked and suddenly felt as if a burden had settled on her shoulders.

She said solemnly, “I promise there will never come a day when I disappoint you.”

Shen Jibai’s gaze shifted slightly. His ink-wash eyes seemed filled with falling stars, bright and glittering, dazzling beyond measure.

He said in a low voice, “Mm.”

Creak—

The carriage door was pushed open. Zhang Qingqing had returned.

Zhou Xin got off the carriage. Seeing that the carriage in front had already made way, she ran over in a few steps and stopped beside the carriage window. “Seventh Lady Tang.”

The carriage window was pushed open. Tang Jiuwei’s eyes were red, as though she had just cried. “Does Lord Lingyun have some important matter?”

Zhou Xin said, “Do you know why Zhang Qingqing appeared here?”

Tang Jiuwei gently shook her head.

Zhou Xin said, “Someone lured him here and wanted his life.”

Tang Jiuwei’s face paled slightly. “Does Lord Lingyun know who did it?”

Zhou Xin shook her head. “He was attacked by a rat demon after attending the Tang residence’s birthday banquet. Doesn’t Seventh Lady Tang find that too much of a coincidence?”

Tang Jiuwei said, “Lord Lingyun means… the Xue family?”

Zhou Xin said, “What exactly happened that night? I ask Seventh Lady Tang to tell me everything. This is the root of Zhang Sheng’s misfortune.”

Tang Jiuwei said, “That night, Xue Wulang came uninvited. Not only did he slander my father, he also repeatedly humiliated Zhang-lang. My elder brother was so furious that he nearly came to blows with him. I was afraid the matter would grow too large to resolve, so I had someone drive him out.”

Zhou Xin said, “So he slandered Lord Tang first, and Zhang Sheng asked about the details of Lord Tang’s alchemy afterward? May I ask how Xue Wulang slandered Lord Tang?”

Tang Jiuwei moved her lips, as if the words were difficult to say.

The maid beside her said indignantly, “He kept saying His Excellency’s alchemy harmed people and cursed His Excellency, saying he would not live past the next day!”

Zhou Xin became alert. “Alchemy harming people? Lord Tang said he has never successfully refined any pills. Where does this talk of harming people come from?”

Tang Jiuwei said, “Lord Xue’s health has not been good these past few years, so my father recommended that he practice alchemy. The two of them often held candlelit discussions in the pill chamber late into the night. Later, as Lord Xue’s condition grew more and more serious, Xue Wulang blamed my father for leading him astray. From then on, the two families fell out.”

No wonder Zhang Qingqing had asked about the details of the alchemy. He must have suspected Lord Xue had been harmed by someone else.

With this, it could be confirmed that the evil cultivator who harmed Lord Xue had attended the birthday banquet that day and, because of that, developed murderous intent toward Zhang Qingqing.

Zhou Xin asked, “May I ask Seventh Lady Tang, how were you certain that the person you encountered outside the city that day was Daoist Master Xuchen?”

Tang Jiuwei said, “My father often sent people to Feishui Inn to buy pills from Daoist Master Xuchen. That day was my elder brother’s birthday, and the Daoist Master also attended.”

Zhou Xin jolted. “He attended?!”

How could that be?

Could paper effigies enter the Eastern Capital?

With such a distant control range, just how deep was his cultivation?

Tang Jiuwei said, “He only attended for a short while before leaving… He and Xue Wulang left one after the other.”

Zhou Xin lowered her eyes. “Many thanks. Chao understands.”

Tang Jiuwei said, “Lord Lingyun is too serious.”

Zhou Xin felt the matter had become somewhat troublesome.

After returning to the carriage, she lowered her eyes and remained silent for a long while.

Shen Jibai kept glancing at her, looking as though he wanted to speak but hesitated, yet in the end he said nothing.

The carriage leisurely entered the Eastern Capital. Hawkers’ cries came from both sides of the street. Zhang Qingqing leaned out the window and looked all around.

Zhou Xin said, “I’ve changed my mind. You should still call for the yamen cultivators! Forget it. I’ll do my best to persuade the Perfected One to step forward and settle this matter.”

Shen Jibai’s expression turned grave. “You suspect that the one who attacked Eldest Young Master Zhang was Xuchen?”

Zhou Xin said, “It’s not impossible.”

“Wow! So this is the future Divine Capital! It really is prosperous! What’s that over there? It smells so good…” Zhang Qingqing leaned against the window, muttering nonstop.

Zhou Xin rolled her eyes at him and sighed inwardly.

Now she knew why, when she had first transmigrated, Shen Jibai had kept looking at her with a scrutinizing gaze.

The difference in personality was too great.

Although she had never dealt with the clear-headed Zhang Qingqing, from others’ descriptions she knew that he was a refined and courteous gentleman.

Compared to the person before her now, they were simply worlds apart.

As she thought this, she subconsciously looked at Shen Jibai. Sure enough, he was looking at that startled, fussing man with a scrutinizing gaze.

To prevent this person from doing anything even more outrageous, Zhou Xin suggested, “Why don’t you drop us off here? The Zhang residence isn’t far from Taiqing Temple. We can walk back.”

Zhang Qingqing’s eyes shone with delight. “All right, all right!”

Shen Jibai said, “No need. It’s on the way.”

Zhou Xin tilted her head slightly. “Don’t try to fool me. Zunxian Ward and the Court of Judicial Review are one in the south and one in the north. How is that on the way?”

Shen Jibai lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Zhou Xin pushed open the carriage door and had the driver stop by the roadside.

Zhang Qingqing jumped off the carriage and, like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, darted around everywhere. He looked east and west, finding everything novel and liking everything he saw.

Zhou Xin followed behind him and waved at the person in the carriage. “See you later!”

Shen Jibai looked at the young woman not far away and lightly pressed his thin lips together.

For some reason, he simply did not wish to see her walking beside Zhang Qingqing.

Especially since those two shared some unspeakable secret. Once they stood together, he seemed utterly superfluous.

Shen Jibai silently watched for a long while before lowering the carriage window and coldly instructing, “Return to Zunxian Ward.”

He returned to the osmanthus courtyard with a foul expression. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Madam Shen sitting beneath the osmanthus tree, combing Tannu’s hair.

She looked over and said with some surprise, “Why has Fourth Young Master changed into such clothing? And what happened to the injury on your face? Did you fight with someone?”

“No.”

Shen Jibai walked over and hung the thunderstruck-wood protective talisman around Tannu’s neck.

“Was this given by Perfected Linghe?”

Shen Jibai said, “Lord Lingyun carved it by hand.”

Tannu lowered his head and looked at the chicken-scratch markings on his chest. “It was given by the pretty older sister!”

“Fourth Young Master did not return all night. Were you together with Lord Lingyun?”

Shen Jibai said solemnly, “The Court of Judicial Review was handling a case. Aunt, do not overthink it.”

Madam Shen found it strange.

Lord Lingyun was a demon-catching Heavenly Master. How had she ended up handling a case together with the Court of Judicial Review?

A thought stirred in her heart, and she asked, “Fourth Young Master is still suspicious of her?”

＊

Zhang Qingqing was silver-tongued. Although he did not have a single coin on him, he relied on his face to buy a white jade fan on credit from a jewelry shop. Then, fanning himself with that expensive white jade fan, he went everywhere chatting up peddlers and shopkeepers, buying quite a few things on credit along the way.

Zhou Xin followed behind him, shaking her head again and again.

“Spendthrift. What a spendthrift.”

The spendthrift walking in front of her bought something else, then came running back with an oil-paper bag, as though presenting a treasure.

“So this is cherry bilo! I’ve only ever seen it in TV dramas! It really is pretty tasty! Hurry and try some!”

Zhou Xin took it with a face full of black lines.

“Brother, I think I need to lay down three rules with you.”

Zhang Qingqing was studying the wind-seeing powder sold by a nearby shop, answering absentmindedly, “Go ahead.”

Zhou Xin stood in front of him, blocking his line of sight, and instructed him earnestly. “First, I only met the original owner of your body twice. We aren’t familiar at all, not to the point where you can chat with me so casually. So you need to address me as Lord Lingyun.”

Zhang Qingqing tilted his head to look at the acrobatics performance across the street.

He said perfunctorily, “Oh, fine.”

Zhou Xin turned his head back. “Second, Zhang Qingqing is an elegant scholar. Even if he went mad, he was only a scholar afraid to meet people. He is very proper and refined. Your words and behavior need to match his character as much as possible!”

Zhang Qingqing: “…”

“And finally!”

Zhou Xin emphasized, “The man traveling with us just now was Shen Jibai, a Court Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. He is very intelligent, extremely suspicious, and he has already begun to suspect you!”

At that, he finally listened a little.

“…Is it that serious?” Zhang Qingqing bared his teeth and grimaced, expressing his dissatisfaction. “Then why are you only telling me now?”

Zhou Xin felt speechless.

“This is common sense, big bro! Who would have thought you didn’t know!”

Zhang Qingqing retorted with perfect confidence, “How would I know any of that? This is my first time transmigrating!”

“Please. Whose isn’t?”

Zhou Xin felt utterly helpless.

Zhang Qingqing nodded. “You make sense. I’ll pay attention from now on.”

Zhou Xin gave him a sidelong glance.

He immediately corrected himself. “Lord Lingyun, please rest assured. Zhang will certainly be more careful in the future!”

“That’s more like it.” Zhou Xin lifted her chin toward the road ahead. “Continue browsing the street, then.”

“Right away!”

He turned and continued going from shop to shop, buying almost anything he saw. And whenever he bought something, he had to buy two portions.

By the time the two of them reached the Zhang residence gates, Zhou Xin’s two hands, all ten fingers, were covered with different oil-paper bags and lotus-leaf bundles.

She said with relief, “Your home is here. I should go too. See you.”

But Zhang Qingqing did not go back. Instead, he followed her.

“I won’t. I don’t know a single person in that residence. I’d rather stay by your side. At least it feels safer!”

Zhou Xin’s face filled with black lines. “…”

The person beside her was still chattering nonstop. “Just treat me like I don’t exist. Do whatever you need to do. A Daoist temple has to open its doors to guests anyway. I’ll just go in and wander around. I’ve never visited a Daoist temple in my life!”

Zhou Xin sighed deeply.

“But your presence is too strong. It’s very hard for me to pretend I don’t see you.”

“Is that so?”

Zhang Qingqing smiled broadly.

He fanned himself with extreme smugness and said complacently, “Is it because this face of mine is quite handsome? Speaking of which, I still haven’t seen what I look like. I wonder if I’m as handsome as I was before. But if I could attract a beauty like Seventh Lady Tang, I should be pretty good-looking, right?”

Zhou Xin could not bear it anymore and kicked him. “Can you be quiet for a moment?”

“I can, I can!”

Zhang Qingqing staggered back two steps and stretched out an Erkang hand. “Using words is fine. Using feet is far too inelegant!”

That was what he said, but his mouth did not idle for even a moment.

Since he could not talk, he kept eating all the various foods he was carrying, occasionally making “crunch, crunch” sounds, looking rather as though he were thoroughly enjoying himself.

Zhou Xin turned back and glared at him.

Zhang Qingqing immediately closed his mouth. His cheeks bulged like a hamster’s. Paired with those round, wide, very innocent eyes, no matter how she looked at him, he resembled a hamster demon that had taken human form.

Zhou Xin thought, in any case, after meeting Perfected Linghe, she would still have to go to the Zhang residence as a bodyguard. If he wanted to follow, then let him.

She turned and continued forward.

She had not taken more than a few steps when the “crunch, crunch” of chewing came from behind again.

Just like this, he crunched all the way to Taiqing Temple. Only then did Zhang Qingqing throw away the messy food scraps, wipe his mouth with his sleeve, straighten his futou headcloth, and quickly follow her.

Zhou Xin felt slightly gratified. “You actually know to tidy yourself before entering a Daoist temple. You’re not completely hopeless.”

Zhang Qingqing laughed loudly. “I’ll take that as praise. Oh right, I’ve been wanting to ask—how did you figure out I transmigrated here?”

Hearing this, Zhou Xin could not help thinking of how she had looked when she first woke up in the locust grove.

Actually, she had not been much different from the current Zhang Qingqing.

Her robes had also been messy, and she had looked dirty all over. After walking out of the locust grove, she had foolishly stopped passersby to ask questions.

Even her wording had not differed much from Zhang Qingqing’s, and she had caused several jokes. Fortunately, just as passersby were looking at her as if she were a madwoman, a carriage had stopped.

Sitting in the carriage had been a delicate young lady, soft and timid like a hibiscus flower just about to bloom.

Only after hesitating again and again had she spoken, as if mustering great courage just to say a word to Zhou Xin. “Lord Lingyun… have you perhaps encountered some difficulty?”

Such a timid girl had nevertheless been able to bravely step forward when others slandered the person she loved. In the posture of the weak, she had protected someone stronger than herself!

From the bottom of her heart, Zhou Xin admired her, and sincerely felt pity for her.

“Is it inconvenient to say?”

“No.” Zhou Xin said, “The form of address you used when asking for directions was wrong.”

Zhang Qingqing understood at once. “Oh, right! This is the Tang dynasty. There’s no such thing as gongzi or guniang. Everyone calls people langjun and niangzi!”

“Not only that. In the Tang dynasty, gongzi means the son of a xianggong—that is, the son of a prime minister.”

Zhou Xin patiently explained, “And the word ge, elder brother, could refer to either a father or an elder brother in the Tang dynasty. When you called a passerby xiao-ge, it was basically the same as acknowledging a father in the street.”

Zhang Qingqing clicked his tongue three times. “No wonder he ran off like he was avoiding a madman!”

As they spoke, the two of them had already entered the quiet-room courtyard.

The door of the quiet room was open. Changsheng stood beneath the nanmu tree, and a precious sword was stuck into the ground before him.

He gently raised his sword fingers upward and called, “Rise!”

The sword body trembled in response. A moment later, the blade flew out of the sheath.

Zhang Qingqing’s eyes widened. He said in shock, “Holy mother, is this sword-control art?!”

Before his words had finished falling, the sword blade dropped to the ground with a slap.

Changsheng ran over, his eyes filled with delight. “Senior Sister!”

“Where is the Perfected One?” Zhou Xin asked.

“The Perfected One has entered meditation. He told Changsheng to keep watch here so no one disturbs him.” Changsheng’s eyes were fixed on the food in her hands, and he swallowed.

“Then we’ll wait a while.” Zhou Xin handed all the things in her hands to Changsheng in one go.

The latter happily accepted them and hurriedly opened one portion, stuffing it into his mouth.

Perfected Linghe’s voice came from inside the room. “Come in.”

Zhou Xin answered and entered the room. Seeing this, Zhang Qingqing also wanted to follow, but Changsheng stopped him.

His mouth was stuffed full of food, his cheeks bulging, so his speech was also muffled.

“Good sir… please remain here. The Perfected One has something to say to Senior Sister. Please wait.”

Zhang Qingqing said, “Fine.”

He pulled an oil-paper bag from Changsheng’s arms, untied the sealing string, and squatted on the ground to eat.

Changsheng tilted his head and stared at him sideways without moving.

Zhang Qingqing said, “What are you looking at? I bought all of these!”

Changsheng continued staring at him.

Zhang Qingqing said, “Fine, fine. I’ll give you ten back next time. I’m the richest man alive, the kind so poor I have nothing left but money! I absolutely won’t go back on my word.”

“Braggart!”

Changsheng curled his lip and lowered his head to take a bite of cherry bilo.

＊

Inside the quiet room.

Perfected Linghe sat on a prayer mat and did indeed look as though he had just entered meditation.

Zhou Xin casually closed the door, lifted her robe, and knelt at the lower seat.

“Perfected One.”

The person seated above her let his gaze fall on the coarse linen clothing she wore. His white brows lightly furrowed. Then his gaze moved downward, landing on the bandages wrapped around her right hand, and his brows furrowed even more tightly. The ends of his eyebrows, like two dragon whiskers, moved along with them.

“How did you end up like this?”

Zhou Xin was silent for a moment. She did not particularly want to admit that her skills were lacking, so she said vaguely, “That… is a long story.”

As if seeing through her with a single glance, Perfected Linghe shook his head slightly.

“Where did you go last night?”

Zhou Xin answered honestly, “I went to Fengyun Temple.”

Hearing this, he froze for a moment before asking, “You broke into the barrier?”

Zhou Xin tilted her head. “This disciple also finds it strange. Why was I able to enter so smoothly this time?”

“Tell me everything that happened last night from beginning to end.”

Zhou Xin concealed nothing and recounted the entire sequence of events.

The more Perfected Linghe listened, the more solemn his expression became.

After pondering for a long while, he finally said, “…It seems the event Master prophesied is about to happen.”

Zhou Xin could not help feeling puzzled. “What did Grandmaster prophesy?”

Perfected Linghe lowered his eyes and did not speak, wearing an expression of deep secrecy.

Only after a very long time did he say with some sorrow, “Have you heard the prophecy of the Grand Astrologer?”

Zhou Xin nodded. “When five demons appear, the ruler will change.”

“This is the Dao of Heaven, an irreversible calamity.”

He sighed. “A hundred years ago, Master calculated it and ordered me to wait here and guard the barrier. For a hundred years, I have not dared leave Luozhou for even a single day.”

Zhou Xin did not understand. “What does this have to do with Xuchen?”

Perfected Linghe slowly said, “Master’s prophecy had three more words than the Grand Astrologer’s.”

“The barrier breaks.”

The barrier breaks, five demons appear, and the ruler changes.

Zhou Xin immediately understood. “Xuchen really is connected to the Demon-Locking Tower! But why did the Perfected One say the evil cultivator causing chaos in the Eastern Capital is not him?”

Perfected Linghe said with certainty, “It is indeed not him. He cannot enter.”

“He cannot enter, but paper effigies can!”

Zhou Xin said, “Seventh Lady Tang said he once attended Tang Sanlang’s birthday banquet!”

Perfected Linghe shook his head. “All arts have their limitations. The control range of paper effigies cannot reach that far. Someone must have been impersonating him.”

Zhou Xin was faintly alarmed.

There really was an accomplice of Xuchen’s inside the Eastern Capital.

She continued asking, “Perfected One, why did Court Minister Shen’s jade pendant show no reaction when we came into contact with Xuchen?”

“That means he was not the one who devoured the mist spirit.”

Zhou Xin said with certainty, “So the person keeping the qi-eating spirit is someone else.”

Perfected Linghe nodded slightly. “His cultivation is not shallow. He has no need to devour a mist spirit.”

His tone was very certain, as though he understood that person extremely well.

Zhou Xin could not help asking, “Is Xuchen truly the Perfected One’s fellow disciple—this disciple’s martial uncle?”

Hearing this, Perfected Linghe once again fell silent for a long time.

Although he did not avoid discussing the past, he gave off an extremely heavy feeling, as though every time it was mentioned, he was reopening his own wounds.

Zhou Xin waited patiently for a while before she finally heard his answer.

“…That is indeed so.”

She immediately pressed, “Then what he said about the Perfected One killing the snake immortal—is that also true?”

Perfected Linghe turned his head to look outside the window. His gaze drifted vaguely to the branches of the nanmu tree, as though he had sunk into memory.

“That snake failed its tribulation. In order to recover as quickly as possible, it harmed many living beings. I killed it, and I do not regret it.”

Zhou Xin was completely confused.

If that was the case, why had Xuchen looked so contemptuous when he mentioned this matter? Why had he also been so disrespectful toward Grandmaster, as if the two of them had done some monstrous wrong and had wronged him?

“So Fengyun Temple was originally in the locust grove. Grandmaster raised the mountain from the ground in order to trap him there?”

Perfected Linghe closed his eyes and slowly nodded.

“Then what exactly did he do to be imprisoned inside the temple for a hundred years?”

Perfected Linghe’s brows and eyes lowered. His tone became obscure.

“I do not know. At that time… I had already been expelled from the sect.”

“What?”

Zhou Xin’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Why would that happen? Did the Perfected One do something wrong?”