The interior of the private chamber was quiet, perfud with sandalwood and adorned with faintly glowing wall murals that shimred with moving illusions of starlit gardens and hidden moonlit pools.
Silk drapes flowed gently like liquid moonlight, and sitting atop a throne-like chaise of dark wood and crimson cushions was a woman who seed to command the very atmosphere with a re glance.
Lady Qin.
The madam of the Ember Veils Pavilion.
A woman whose age was veiled not by illusion, but by tiless grace. Her features were refined—like a painting rendered with delicate care. Long black hair, threaded with silver strands like moonlight through midnight silk, frad a mature face with dreamlike beauty. Her skin was fair, her lips subtly tinted, and her eyes... they held a hazy, hypnotic depth, as if she looked at the world through a veil of sweet dreams.
The mont ng Bai saw her, he felt a weight in his chest.
His breath slowed.
His mind wandered, drawn toward that gaze. Sothing in her presence made the world blur, the sounds dull, and ti... waver.
Then, a firm grip landed on his shoulder.
Daoist Chu’s hand.
The surge of clear qi broke the haze instantly. ng Bai’s eyes widened, and he gasped sharply, shaking his head as if rousing from sleep. "What... was that...?"
Lady Qin smiled lazily, her voice a lodic purr. "My, my. Just as I expected from a young man with potential. You have quite the vivid spirit, little one."
Daoist Chu didn’t return the pleasantry. His eyes narrowed just slightly, and though his tone was calm, there was an undercurrent of sharpness. "That was risky, Lady Qin. You might have gotten away with teasing a normal boy, but this one isn’t just any disciple. His master would not take kindly to such a transgression."
The dreamy air around Lady Qin shifted for the first ti. A shadow of apology passed across her face. "Forgive . I admit... it’s hard to restrain myself when one so vibrant walks into my halls. I let my instincts get ahead of ."
Daoist Chu gave a slow nod. "Then I suggest you start learning to resist. Or death will find you faster than you can blink."
That made the madam blink.
For a mont, the casual charm faded, and she leaned forward with a grin that bore fangs beneath silk. "Will you be the one to deliver it, Daoist Chu?" she asked with a teasing laugh, the challenge clear.
But Daoist Chu rely smiled—calm and cool. "No."
Lady Qin tilted her head, confused. "Then who—?"
The answer ca before he spoke.
She felt it.
Her body stiffened.
The air in the chamber shifted sharply, becoming unbearably cold around her neck. The hair on the back of her neck rose, and her heartbeat stuttered.
Two slitted pupils glead from the darkness of ng Bai’s wide sleeves.
Hissssss.
Two soft, dreadful hisses echoed like the whisper of death.
From within the folds of cloth, two serpentine figures slithered out—one silver as moonlight, the other dark as midnight. Xiao Yin and Xiao Yang had awoken, and their eyes had locked on Lady Qin with unmistakable intent.
Predator.
That’s what she felt.
Not just strength, but a soul-deep sensation of being prey.
She couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
The gaze of the twin beasts held her like invisible chains, coiling tightly around her very spirit. She tried to assess them instinctively, sending out a probing pulse of immortal sense... but it was like throwing a pebble into an abyss.
No bottom.
No end.
No answer.
The pressure was suffocating.
Daoist Chu’s voice cut through the silence. "They’re only watching. Not attacking. Yet."
Lady Qin slowly, carefully, forced a breath through her lips. She tried to calm the goosebumps that rose across her arms. "I... see. So the little one carries monsters in his sleeves."
ng Bai, still catching his breath from earlier, glanced down at Xiao Yin and Xiao Yang with wide eyes. "Hey, it’s okay... I’m fine now," he whispered.
The twin snakes looked at him once, then slithered back into his sleeves, their presence withdrawing like the tide.
Lady Qin exhaled heavily, finally able to relax her shoulders. Her gaze lingered on ng Bai, no longer dreamy or teasing—now thoughtful.
"You... are far more dangerous than you appear," she said softly, lips curling upward. "My apologies. I see now why Daoist Chu was so firm in his warning."
Daoist Chu nodded once. "Then we understand each other."
"Yes," Lady Qin said with a smile that now carried respect. "Please. Let us proceed to business."
She clapped once, and a servant arrived with a silver scroll. "This contains the information you seek about your two missing elders. It’s what little we have on them... but I may have sothing better."
"Oh?" Daoist Chu raised a brow.
Lady Qin nodded. "Rumors. Whispers. The kind that drift in the perfu-slicked air of brothels and wine dens. A pair matching your elders’ description—though greatly disguised—was last seen entering the Eastern Ash Pits nearly a year ago. No one has seen them since."
Daoist Chu took the scroll and opened it with deft fingers. His eyes scanned the content quickly. He nodded. "Very well. This confirms what we’d heard before."
Lady Qin tilted her head. "So you already knew. Then why co here?"
"To confirm the source," Daoist Chu replied. "And to know who’s spreading the whispers. When hunting ghosts, one must first chase their echoes."
Lady Qin smiled again. This ti, it was genuine. "You’re as sharp as they say, Daoist Chu."
He rose from his seat. "Let’s hope your information proves useful."
"And if it does?" she asked.
"Then perhaps next ti, we’ll co for leisure instead of work," Daoist Chu replied as he continued to hold her gaze.
It was unknown what he was trying to ascertain, but ng Bai had a hunch Daoist Chu was thinking about sothing.
ng Bai kept silent, letting Daoist Chu do his work.
"You know sothing more, don’t you?" Daoist Chu asked.
"And if I might?" Lady Qin questioned with a smirk.
"Then you might have the chance to gain a little fortune." Daoist Chu replied.
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