Then she suddenly froze.

Ah Qing’s Sword Dance had changed. It was still carrying that seductive air, her figure was still revealed in every move, but in Wen Li’s eyes, Ah Qing’s dance had become "lighter," as if some shackle had been broken open, and in terms of her mental realm... she’d gone up another level.

Mm...

What happened?

——

At the same time, Zhu Pingniang was chatting with Li Zhibai. She suddenly saw Xu Chang’an walking toward them, and her smile bloomed. She crossed her legs and crooked her finger in his direction.

"Why aren’t you keeping your lovely wife company? What are you coming over here for?"

Right now, Zhu Pingniang was happily chatting with Li Zhibai. Although Ah Qing suddenly stopping mid-dance had left her a bit puzzled, she rarely got to lean on Li Zhibai’s shoulder, so she was in an extremely good mood and couldn’t be bothered to worry about Ah Qing.

Normally, Li Zhibai wouldn’t indulge Zhu Pingniang like this, but when she realized Ah Qing and the Sect Leader were staring at each other from across the distance, her thoughts went into chaos. She also couldn’t be bothered to deal with Zhu Pingniang for the moment, and simply let her fool around.

Li Zhibai’s gaze fell on Ah Qing down below the stage, who had regained her composure and started dancing again. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Just like Wen Li, she could vaguely feel that Ah Qing’s current state was somewhat different from before. Whether it was her eyes, her figure, or her posture, everything had become lighter, as if she had broken free from chains—though in truth, Ah Qing’s mental realm hadn’t improved at all. The only reason Li Zhibai and Wen Li had this misconception was purely because Ah Qing used to live in the Flower Moon Building and had always needed to worry about and avoid being discovered by Shi Qingjun...

But now, with no need to worry that one day a sword would descend from the heavens and lop off this body of hers, of course she would relax, and once the pressure was gone, she was naturally far more at ease and happy.

However, this joy, in Li Zhibai’s eyes, became happiness at "reuniting" with the benefactor who had once preached the Dao to her... Li Zhibai still believed that Ah Qing had once obtained an Opportunity under Shi Qingjun’s hand.

The two women were sitting pressed together, yet their thoughts were each in a different place.

So, in Miss Lu’s eyes off to the side, Zhu Pingniang and Li Zhibai’s current state was honestly a bit... strange.

Even though Zhu Pingniang was nestling up against Li Zhibai, her expression carrying a hint of bliss, no matter how Miss Lu looked, she felt Li Zhibai seemed distracted... As a result, the two of them together unexpectedly gave off a kind of "seemingly close but actually estranged" married-couple vibe.

At the same time, when Zhu Pingniang suddenly saw Xu Chang’an walking over to her, her smile grew even more dazzling. She hugged Li Zhibai’s arm, leaned on her shoulder, crossed her legs and crooked her finger in Xu Chang’an’s direction.

Xu Chang’an: "..."

She’s showing off, huh.

Senior Zhu really is easy to read.

One look and it was obvious she was showing off how close she was to his teacher...

"Alright, what kind of expression is that? You’re no fun at all." Not seeing the "jealous" expression she wanted, Zhu Pingniang pouted, then said, "The performance isn’t over yet. Why aren’t you staying with Yun Qian to watch the dance? What are you doing coming to us?"

Li Zhibai also came back to her senses at this time. She looked at Xu Chang’an, equally puzzled.

"Ms. Zhu." Xu Chang’an showed an apologetic look. "I... have something to discuss with Teacher."

He was very sorry to interrupt Zhu Pingniang and Li Zhibai’s little "public display of affection," but he really did have something important.

"...???" Zhu Pingniang froze when she heard this, question marks popping up over her head. For a moment she couldn’t keep snuggling against Li Zhibai. She let go of her arm, shot up from the chair, and stared fixedly at Xu Chang’an.

"Chang’an, what do you mean by that? What do you mean... you have something to tell Ah Bai?" Zhu Pingniang glared at him. "What business do you have that you can’t say in front of me? What, Ah Bai can know but I can’t?"

Li Zhibai was also a little surprised. "Chang’an, if there’s something you want to say, just say it."

Hearing Li Zhibai’s words, Zhu Pingniang’s expression finally looked a bit better.

Ah Bai was still sensible.

But Xu Chang’an was very helpless. The reason he wanted to avoid Zhu Pingniang when it came to that Senior was precisely because Li Zhibai had deliberately avoided Zhu Pingniang when she told him before—telling him that person was in the Flower Moon Building and that it had to be kept from Zhu Pingniang.

Clearly, Teacher had absolutely no idea what it was he actually wanted to talk to her about.

"Ahem... Teacher, I’m afraid... it’s not very appropriate to say here." Xu Chang’an sighed helplessly. In that moment, he felt the gaze coming from Zhu Pingniang grow even sharper, as if she wanted to peel a layer of skin off him.

"Not appropriate?" Li Zhibai blinked.

What could be important enough that Chang’an would deliberately come to her for it...

Suddenly, Li Zhibai paused.

They needed to avoid Tong Jun.

Could it be... he wanted to talk about the Sect Leader?

Hm?

Did Chang’an also notice that Ah Qing’s daze earlier had been because she was staring at the Sect Leader?

If that was the case, then they really did have to avoid Tong Jun. If she found out the Sect Leader was here listening to music, who knew what kind of ruckus she’d stir up.

"I understand. Let’s go outside and talk." Li Zhibai stood up and headed for the door first.

Zhu Pingniang: "...?"

She stared at Li Zhibai’s resolute departing back, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

So that was it—she wasn’t even going to bother explaining?

At least say something to her, like why she couldn’t listen, or what exactly it was she wasn’t allowed to hear.

Zhu Pingniang stared blankly at Li Zhibai’s receding figure, then reached out and touched the lingering warmth on the chair beside her. For a moment, she gnashed her teeth in anger.