In the guest room, Wu Xingxue's eyes snapped open.

He was a little surprised that he had actually fallen asleep just now.

Almost everyone in Magpie Capital had heard that he had a strange quirk when he slept at night—most people preferred it to be as quiet as possible, but not him. He couldn't sleep a wink in the quiet; he liked it noisy.

He once joked with the old steward of his manor, "I might as well hire a small opera troupe to sing and beat gongs and drums by my side. Then I'll surely be able to sleep until dawn."

The old steward's face turned ashen upon hearing this, saying "outsiders are not safe," and instead tied a crisscrossing net of Flower-Protecting Bells on the flowering trees outside his window and raised all sorts of birds that would ring the bells the moment they landed on a branch.

But here, there was neither an opera troupe nor any birds. There was also a "personal warden" standing silently in the room, yet he had actually fallen asleep.

"Xiao Fuxuan."

Wu Xingxue turned over and sat up, hearing the faint jingle of a bell. For a moment, he almost lost track of where he was, thinking he had returned to Magpie Capital.

But there were no sounds of chains in Magpie Capital.

Wu Xingxue looked down and saw an extremely thin silver thread tied around his wrist, with a silver bell of unknown origin attached to it.

The other end of the thread was looped around Xiao Fuxuan's finger.

Isn't this the same kind of Flower-Protecting Bell from his manor?

Is he being treated as a flower, or as a bird?

Wu Xingxue hooked the thread with his finger and looked up, about to question the person who had tied the bell to him, only to see him leaning against the wall with his head down, holding his sword, completely lifeless.

This is...

***

His Divine Sense had left his body.

After night fell, as soon as the person on the bed fell asleep, Xiao Fuxuan had sent out his Divine Sense.

The night at Peach Blossom Isle was deep, veiled in a mist unique to the waters.

The patrolling disciples of the Hua Family walked about carrying lanterns.

"How many junior brothers were left by Jianhua Hall?"

"Two. The Family Head gets upset if there are more."

"Mm, what about Master Yi Wusheng's place?"

"More over there, twelve."

"The Master won't come out of seclusion until noon tomorrow. Did you tell the new junior brothers? During this time, the Master will not come out no matter what happens. If he comes out, all his previous efforts will be wasted. Tell them not to disturb him under any circumstances."

"I've told them."

They spoke in low voices, brushing past Xiao Fuxuan's Divine Sense, but no one noticed.

Just like that, Xiao Fuxuan passed through the crowd and headed towards the depths of a bamboo forest.

He was not unfamiliar with Peach Blossom Isle; he still remembered what was located where.

Deep in the bamboo forest was the Book Pavilion, the one used personally by the family head, Hua Zhaoting. There were no guards in the Book Pavilion's courtyard, but there were a few disciples carrying lanterns and buckets, huffing and puffing as they busied themselves with cleaning.

Xiao Fuxuan swept his gaze over them, didn't linger, and turned to head in another direction.

As he passed through an empty, long corridor, a vague voice suddenly asked, "Are you looking for something?"

The night was deep and dark, the long corridor silent. To Xiao Fuxuan, this voice should have seemed abrupt. But he didn't even flinch, continuing to walk forward as if he were long accustomed to it.

"What good things could there be on this Peach Blossom Isle," the voice grumbled, still extremely vague.

Xiao Fuxuan still didn't answer, flitting past the covered bridge and flower path, and went straight into a deep courtyard.

On the gate of the deep courtyard were written the three characters "Jianhua Hall," the residence of the Hua Family head, Hua Zhaoting.

There wasn't a single disciple in the courtyard; it was quiet. But the lights were on inside the house. Hua Zhaoting was still awake, holding a thin-spouted copper kettle and watering the row of flower pots in the corner.

He was much more sensitive than the young disciples.

When Xiao Fuxuan's Divine Sense entered, he suddenly straightened up, walked to the window and looked out. After a long while, he hesitantly withdrew his gaze, then shook his head and said self-mockingly, "I'm being paranoid."

Meanwhile, Xiao Fuxuan had already swept past his entire courtyard and was about to leave.

"Looks like it's not here," the voice sounded again.

The usually sensitive Hua Zhaoting, however, was completely unaware this time, as if only Xiao Fuxuan himself could hear it.

His steps didn't pause as he headed towards the third location.

The voice asked, perplexed, "What exactly are you looking for?"

It didn't seem to care whether Xiao Fuxuan would answer, just continuing on its own, "Oh—I know."

"I know what you're looking for now."

"But so what if you find it?"

Xiao Fuxuan, who hadn't answered all this time, finally stopped.

He lowered his gaze to his waist, where a small Silver-Thread Brocade Pouch hung. He pushed aside the pouch's opening with his finger, revealing a corner of the White Jade God Statue.

It was the very one from his coffin.

The brocade pouch was clearly very small, yet it could hold the palm-sized god statue.

Xiao Fuxuan looked at it for a moment, then sealed the pouch's opening completely. After that, the vague, indistinct voice did not appear again.

He stood in silence for a while before walking again.

This time he went to the Forbidden Land, the Peach Blossom Forest. The yin qi there was thick, and the miasma heavy. A circle of dedicated guards stood along the perimeter of the forest, guarding it heavily.

But for his wisp of Divine Sense, this posed no obstacle whatsoever.

***

Xiao Fuxuan searched the area but found nothing.

As he was leaving the forest, he suddenly felt his ring finger twitch, as if it had been lightly tugged a few times from afar, accompanied by the faint jingle of a bell.

This was the thread he had tied before leaving the room, with the other end attached to Wu Xingxue.

This way, if anything happened, he could return in time.

But the thread was being pulled intermittently, not as if there was an emergency, but more like someone was playing around.

Xiao Fuxuan looked down at his ring finger, just about to head back.

Suddenly, he heard a stir of a hundred insects behind him, and the entire Peach Blossom Forest erupted like a boiling pot. The Evil Demons buried underground, along with the Hua Family disciples who were rushing over, all converged toward the same location as if on a pilgrimage.

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

He let out a very light sigh, and in the next instant, his Divine Sense returned to his body.

***

The lights in the room were flickering, and the guards outside had disappeared.