They spent the next two hours in comfortable, easy camaraderie. They didn’t talk about cultivation manuals, his assassination, or the upcoming days in the Song Clan. None of them was really important for now.
They talked about recipes, about Old Lan’s cantankerous tantrums in the kitchens, and about the sheer absurdity of lowlander culture. For Ye Jun, it was a rare, precious sanctuary of absolute peace, a reminder of why he fought so hard to survive.
He was no longer just assassin Weaver or trash Ye Jun.
By the ti the moon reached its zenith, casting a pale, silver sheen over the White Gale Pavilion, Ye Jun quietly bid farewell to the giant.
While the rest of the sect Cultivated or slept, the pavilion remained dimly illuminated by eternal spiritual lanterns.
Ye Jun slipped past the outer shelves of first floor, his Soul Sense effortlessly mapping the empty parts until he located a secluded alcove in the deep research wings.
There, tucked away behind a mountain of ancient, leather-bound alchemical logs and botanical manuals, sat a thin, plain-looking girl. A rare pair of silver-rimd spectacles sat perched on her nose, reflecting the flickering green fla of a small spiritual lamp.
He Wenxin was completely absorbed. Her fingers traced the elegant glyphs of a Tier 3 pill formula, her lips moving silently as her incredible reading comprehension talent processed information at a speed that would make standard geniuses weep.
Ye Jun paused, noticing that she looked distinctly different from their early days. The sallow, neglected complexion was gone, her skin held a healthy, soft glow, and her robes, while still simple and unpretentious, were clean and neatly arranged.
’She is finally taking care of herself.’ he smiled in relief.
"If you stare any longer, the ink will fade from the page," He Wenxin said, her voice entirely flat. She didn’t look up from her manual, but her slender hand reached over to adjust her spectacles. "And your Soul Sense is far too dense now, Ye Jun. It feels like a heavy blanket just dropped into my alcove. Even I can feel it."
Ye Jun smiled, stepping out from the shadows and leaning against the wooden bookshelf, "Still as sharp as ever, Wenxin. I see you’ve been upgraded to the restricted archive rooms."
"The Hall Master gave special privileges after the last batch of Tier 3 spirit-cleansing pills," she replied calmly, finally closing the massive to with a soft thud.
She turned her gaze toward him, her plain features entirely composed, but the typical cold indifference she held for the rest of the world softened, "I heard the carriages are arriving at dawn."
"Word travels fast, aye," Ye Jun chuckled, pulling up a small wooden stool and sitting across from her. "The entire sect, heck the whole world, is talking about the nineteen-year-old Soul Tempering monster who managed to ensnare the King in the North’s pearl."
She smirked at his words as it was indeed true, "They think you used so hypnotic demonic art but they’re clearly idiots. You’re simply too stubborn to let damaged ridians stop you."
Ye Jun burst into a soft, genuine laugh, "I’ll take that as a complint. Honestly, if it wasn’t for your research and that Tier 4 Nine Revolutions Spirit Pill, my ascension probably would have blown up half my courtyard."
"It was a transactional repaynt for the ’bitch and her two trucks and other stuff,’" she said, using his exact, bizarre phrasing from the day he had saved her from the extortionist disciples.
Though her tone remained deadpan, her eyes sparkled with a quiet amusent that she only ever showed around him. "I don’t like being in debt. Especially to soone who treats with such total, comforting indifference."
"I’m not indifferent anymore, Wenxin," Ye Jun said, his voice turning gentle as he looked at the scrawny genius who had spent months of grueling, uninterrupted effort in the dark archives just to ensure he survived his breakthrough. "You’re my friend. One of the few real ones I have in this world."
He Wenxin went silent for a mont. She reached out, her fingers absentmindedly tracking the edge of her spectacles, a nervous habit she hadn’t quite shaken.
She didn’t offer a dramatic display of emotion, nor did she flush into a flustered ss like ihui. She simply looked at him, her gaze clear and profoundly steady.
"The Heavenly Frost Palace is a nest of vipers, Ye Jun," she whispered softly. "The highborn disciples there won’t look at your talent; they will look at your background. They will try to find flaws in your foundation and you being Song Liangxue’s husband makes them jealous too."
She reached into her sleeve, pulling out a small, ticulously bound notebook filled with her own neat, cramped handwriting. "These are my personal notes on the energetic fluctuations of the upper northern regions and the structural composition of Tier 4 frost-attribute herbs. It will help you identify poisons and environntal traps."
Ye Jun accepted the notebook, his heart swelling with a deep, quiet gratitude, "You really think of everything, don’t you?"
"Soone has to keep a certain reckless idiot from blowing himself up," she countered, a faint smile finally breaking across her face. It completely transford her plain features, radiating a brilliant, quiet confidence. "Go to the Song Clan, Ye Jun. Show them exactly what a trash young master from a small city can do when he refuses to follow the heavens’ rules."
Ye Jun stood up, pocketing the manual, and looked back at her one last ti. "Take care of yourself, Wenxin. Don’t spend every night in the dark."
"Only the ones ending in days," she replied deadpan, already pulling another heavy alchemical log toward her.
As Ye Jun walked out of the Scriptures Pavilion into the cool morning twilight, he felt completely refreshed. Many things awaited him, like the Song Clan, politics maybe, the danger of Lord and even the end of the world.
But none of them scared him. He felt more confident than ever now that he had people watching his back, supporting him and wishing for his happiness.
He raised his head towards the distant morning sun and grinned.
"Be aware, North. Your Son-in-law is coming for you!"
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