Tu Jin hadn’t spoken yet when Jiu Mo shrank into his arms, seemingly more afraid of the approaching Qingluan.

His lips curled slightly, rare for a smile: "I’ll take care of her."

"But..."

Tu Jin picked up Jiu Mo and strode out: "No buts."

Qingluan showed no sign of anger, only loudly reminding him from behind: "It’s too cold here, Xinfeng likes warm environments!"

Tu Jin paused, not turning his head, and asked: "Anything else?"

"She likes soft food, loves water, and needs a water bath every day."

Tu Jin waited for a while, and when he heard Qingluan say no more, he strode forward, passing by Changtian, respecting him with a bow, and quickly left.

Ning Xiaoxian rolled her eyes and asked Qingluan: "Water bath every day, really?" Other than waterfowl, she hadn’t heard of any young bird that naturally liked to dive into water.

Qingluan also laughed: "Of course it’s fake, newly born young phoenixes don’t like to be near water at all."

Thinking of the usually cold and unfeeling Tu Jin facing an embarrassing scene, the two women exchanged glances and chuckled secretly.

Changtian stood outside with his hands behind his back, and after a while, saw Ning Xiaoxian and the others walking out. She looked intently in the direction Tu Jin left and suddenly said with a snicker: "Looks like this residence will soon become as warm as spring."

Changtian saw her face full of excitement from uncovering gossip, and found it amusing, pointing out: "At this moment, are you really interested in minding others’ business?"

Sure enough, her face immediately fell.

That damn bet. Her opponent was an old, cunning Divine Beast, she’d really been too rash.

Knowing her time was precious, Changtian generously put his arm around her waist, and under Qingluan’s respectful gaze, used his Divine Skills to instantly return to the outside of the Foreign Affairs Hall.

It was now the hour of You, the winter days were particularly short, and the afterglow of sunset was about to quickly vanish from Bashe Forest.

He whispered in her ear, his voice becoming alluring and dangerous: "The sun has set. Remember, our bet concludes in one more hour." Just as there was no one around, he took the opportunity to plant a kiss on her earlobe.

Sure enough, her face turned red beyond her ears, and she said sternly: "You’d better go, don’t waste my time!"

He laughed heartily and indeed left as directed.

She held her face, hoping the heat would subside quickly, then turned her head back into the documents.

...

An hour later, it was already lamp-lighting time. Ning Xiaoxian, frustrated, tossed the document onto the desk.

She lost. Although in this last hour she had reached an unprecedented level of efficiency and found another shell Immortal Sect similar to Bountiful Gains Pawnshop, she knew it was only superficial—Chang Tian wanted her to name the powerful Immortal Sect behind the scenes.

This Immortal Sect dealt in such a wide range of goods, almost everything, no wonder Changtian said that if minerals were short on short notice, he could buy from them. At this thought, a flash of insight passed through her mind, seemingly grasping a key point. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t remember.

That night, she subconsciously lingered, not returning to Yixian Inn until a moment past Hai hour. To her surprise, the tall figure was not in the room.

Ruo Ping told her that the lord had been tied up with official duties tonight, he probably wouldn’t return.

Feeling the weight lift suddenly from her heart, Ning Xiaoxian immediately let out a long sigh of relief, yet the next second she began to grind her teeth. They were set to depart the next day, and as the soul figure of the Hidden Stream, he surely had to make preparations in advance, being busy until very late was expected!

Clearly unable to return, yet teasing her thus at dusk!

She felt both relieved and a little wistful.

Cough, wistful for what? She silently scorned herself, then lay on the soft pillow and quickly fell asleep.

...

The next morning, she was awakened by a sudden chill on her face.

She opened her eyes suddenly, only to see Changtian reaching out a slender finger to gently stroke her face. His body temperature was always on the low side, and at this moment he had obviously just returned from outside, carrying an outdoor chill, his body temperature was indeed freezing.

Yet this guy looked vigorous, seemingly more energetic than she, who had had a full night’s sleep: "Get up, we should be on our way."

She muddily said: "Ah, Yin hour (3 a.m. to 5 a.m.) isn’t over yet, even the chickens haven’t crowed!"

Ruo Ping just happened to walk to the door, stifling a laugh upon hearing this. Are there even chickens in Bashe Forest that can crow? They probably wouldn’t survive a night.

Chang Tian caressed Ning Xiaoxian’s smooth chin, softly saying: "True, it’s still early, how about I accompany you for a bit more sleep?"