The Snow Mink Robe wrapped her small frame, and beneath the robe was a splendid brocade gown woven from golden threads.

Her soft, fluffy jet-black hair was crowned with golden rings and pearl hairpins; around her slender, fair neck hung an ornament strung of beaded agate and emerald, so unspeakably noble and extraordinary, dazzlingly beautiful.

She sat at the banquet with an easy air, those innately aloof eyes half-lidded as she looked at people, like some snow-pale, highborn Persian cat.

Baili An cast his gaze over and stepped into the upper-floor seats.

As if sensing something, Fang Geyu also glanced lightly his way; that snow-white face, that arrogant expression, her eyes calm and estranged.

When their eyes met, it was as though they were back at their first encounter on Kongcang Mountain, and nothing had ever happened since.

Only the tiny cinnabar mole at the tip of the girl’s ear burned red as Yao-fire, just as it had when they parted back then. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Baili An’s eyes dimmed slightly; though what he was fixed on at this moment was the identity and shell of Ji Xinnian, it would be hard for Fang Geyu to recognize him.

Yet that strange and indifferent gaze seemed to cruelly remind Baili An once more.

Her seven emotions were all sealed away, a spiderweb for a cage, a dark box for a seal.

And all of this had sprung from him.

Even if he stood here in his true face, she would likely remain without the slightest ripple.

"So you are Ji Xinnian?" Fang Geyu’s clear and dark-bright eyes were like lakewater, the emotion hidden within unreadable as mockery or goodwill.

At her faint question, soft scoffs immediately rose around the banquet.

"A Disciple of the Taixuan Nine Classics, what an exalted background indeed; no matter how you boast to the heavens, at the end of the day you’re nothing but a trifling vulgar mortal.

Relying on a scrap of fortuitous encounter, you were lucky enough to obtain a Red Fish Jade Pendant from City Lord Fang’s own hand and become Third Miss Fang’s guest behind the curtain—already the greatest blessing and stroke of fate you’ll ever see.

I truly don’t know where you found such gall, daring to break your appointment and arrive late, even troubling Third Miss Fang to personally dispatch a clan disciple to bring you here."

The speaker was a young man in a blue brocade robe, Immortal Energy glimmering about him that did not belong to the Mortal World’s Spiritual Power at all; he was clearly no mortal.

A band of brocade in the same blue, inlaid with a pearl, circled his brow; that tiny bead had no small origin—it was the eye of the Ancient Ferocious Beast Qiongqi.

Baili An had pored over the Immortal Records and chronicles, and remembered that the Ancient Ferocious Beast Qiongqi perished by the hand of the Nanyin Immortal Sea’s Sea Lord.

Judging by this youth’s bone age, it was impossible for him to be that Golden Immortal Sea Lord; however, since he could take that Qiongqi’s eye as a trophy and flaunt it upon his brow as an ornament—

He could only be of the direct bloodline of that Golden Immortal Sea Lord, of the younger generation.

Yet what weighed even more on Baili An, listening to his words, was that he said it was a Disciple of the Taixuan Nine Classics who had won this ninth Red Fish Jade Pendant...

Which meant that before Baili An ever entered the city, Jiushijiu had already begun to lay out her pieces, finding someone to assume his identity, to seize the Jade Pendant in his stead and win the qualification to enter the inner curtain.

She had actually begun planning everything from so early on.

A chill crept up Baili An’s spine; this woman’s mind and depth of city were truly terrifying.

"Master Situ, why such a great temper? Third Miss Fang, as the hostess of this banquet, has not taken offense, and has even deigned to lower herself and send someone to escort him.

That signifies that Third Miss, as the host, has no wish to haggle over the matter. Why then must Master Situ press so hard the instant you open your mouth?"

The second person to speak had a clear, carrying voice, yet the cadence of it struck one as somewhat familiar.

Baili An turned at the sound, and saw a stranger in a jujube-colored archer’s jacket, smiling lazily at him, teeth white as jade.

That face, Baili An had never seen before, but those playful, sly, glimmering apricot eyes—Baili An could not have been more familiar with them.

Baili An’s eyes flew wide; under the weight of that playful, gleaming gaze, he suddenly felt the chill along his back deepen all the more.