"B-but..."
Huo Huo shrank her neck after being scolded, yet she was still terribly frightened, tears welling up in her eyes.
The laughter was too real, and the object had truly appeared... If it wasn't a ghost, what was it? Something even scarier?
"But my ass! Get up! Go look at what that thing is!"
Lord Tail urged her on, his tone brooking no argument.
Driven by Lord Tail's "tyranny," Huo Huo trembled and reluctantly climbed to her feet.
She first scanned the entire room inch by inch—the doors and windows were tightly shut, with no signs of intrusion, and the laughter from before had not reappeared, as if it truly had been just her hallucination.
But the brocade pouch on the table was definitely real.
Cautiously, as if defusing a bomb, she slowly moved to the table, stretching out a trembling finger to touch the brocade pouch.
It was cool and soft, nothing unusual.
The moment her fingertip touched the velvet surface of the pouch—
A clear piece of information surfaced directly in her consciousness:
[Product Name: Aphrodisiac]
[Description: Not for oral consumption. Keep it close. It might give you an extra measure of courage to face your true feelings when making necessary choices. Expiration Date: Depends on the user's psychological state.]
[Source: An enthusiastic individual who wishes to remain anonymous.]
Huo Huo: "...?"
Huo Huo clutched the dark red brocade pouch, her pale blue fox ears twitching in confusion.
The name that popped into her mind was simply too... unexpected.
(Aph-Aphrodisiac?! Th-this isn't right?! W-why would someone give this to me?!)
She shook her head frantically, trying to dismiss the ridiculous name, but the information was clear, like a brand.
After much hesitation, she still used trembling fingers to carefully untie the delicate silken seal of the brocade pouch.
There was no further explanation inside, only a pitch-black pill the size of a longan.
The pill emitted no scent, felt slightly cool between her fingers, and was hard in texture.
"What the hell is this thing?"
A ball of greenish-blue, seemingly sentient flame burst forth from the tip of Huo Huo's bristling big Tail with a whoosh, condensing into a face with an impatient expression—it was Lord Tail.
It flew half a circle around Huo Huo's hand, its eyes peering closely at the black pill.
"I-it seems to be... an Aphrodisiac."
Huo Huo answered quietly, her cheeks slightly flushed; the name was simply too awkward to say aloud.
"Huh?!"
Lord Tail's flame suddenly shot up, his voice full of disbelief, "An Aphrodisiac?! Where does it say that? Where's the packaging? The instructions? What dusty corner did you pull that name out of your imagination from?!"
"N-not the packaging..."
Huo Huo quickly explained, her voice even softer, "It... it's the name that popped up in my head... when I touched it. Really!"
The fiery phantom of Lord Tail paused for a moment, seemingly scrutinizing Huo Huo's expression.
Her small face was filled with seriousness and embarrassment; she didn't seem to be talking nonsense or half-asleep.
"Heh—?"
Lord Tail drew out the sound, his flame flickering with intense interest, "Now this is truly strange. Shoving a name straight into someone's brain?"
He leaned closer to the black pill, the greenish-blue flame almost licking its surface. "This thing... is interesting. But the name is awful, 'Aphrodisiac'? Hmph, what quack or bastard came up with that?"
Huo Huo held the pill, completely at a loss.
Eat it? Definitely not.
Throw it away? But the instruction in her mind—"Keep it close. It might give you an extra measure of courage to face your true feelings when making necessary choices"—made her hesitate.
Perhaps... the name was just a bit weird?
"Just keep it for now, you Little Coward."
Lord Tail finally snorted. "Don't eat it, and don't throw it away. Keep it right under your nose, and I, your lord, will see what tricks this damn 'Aphrodisiac' can pull. If it dares to cause trouble, I'll burn it down!"
After speaking, it zipped back into Huo Huo's Tail with a whoosh, leaving behind an impatient grumble, "Hurry up and deal with that Resignation Letter of yours, stop dilly-dallying..."
Huo Huo looked at the black pill in her palm, then at the Resignation Application. Finally, she carefully placed the pill back into the brocade pouch, tightened the drawstring, and put it in a corner of her desk—a place she could see when she looked up, but wouldn't easily touch.
Her pale blue fox ears twitched slightly. She secretly glanced at the brocade pouch, unable to articulate the feeling in her heart.
The fear hadn't vanished, and the confusion remained, but it seemed... that a tiny, inexplicable sense of calm quietly settled in her heart the moment the pouch was put down.
Almost at the exact moment Cipher flipped the golden coin and vanished from Baiheng's courtyard, Jingliu stepped onto the last short flight of stone steps leading to the courtyard gate.
Her footsteps were extremely light.
Just as she was about to step onto the final riser, her gaze level with the tightly shut courtyard gate—
"BANG!!!"
The wooden door of the small courtyard was suddenly yanked open from the inside without warning!
Simultaneously, a brief but clear sound of rushing wind, like the snapping of the finest lute string, whizzed past Jingliu's ear and side!
Jingliu's pupils, covered by the black veil, abruptly contracted!
Her perception was heightened to the extreme within a millisecond.
That was not wind!
It was an object, a humanoid object, rushing out from the door at a terrifying speed she had never witnessed before, brushing past her.
She couldn't even see it clearly, only catching a vague, humanoid silhouette wrapped in a golden shimmer within her heightened perception!
(What was that?!)
Jingliu's heart skipped a beat, not from fear, but from astonishment.
That speed surpassed the scope of conventional movement techniques; it was definitely not any Sorcery known on the Xianzhou.
She abruptly turned her head, looking toward the alley where the golden afterimage had vanished.
It was completely empty.
Jingliu frowned deeply, the fingers gripping the body of the Erhu tightening slightly.
Sure enough, extraordinary secrets were hidden within this "Bai Xing's" courtyard!
This speed, this aura... friend or foe?
What was its relationship with "Bai Xing"?
She suppressed the urge to immediately give chase, deciding to first complete her original objective—investigate the courtyard and find "Bai Xing" herself.
She turned again, facing the slightly swaying courtyard door, ready to step inside.
However, just as she lifted her foot—
That familiar sound of rushing wind returned, moving from far to near!
The speed was no slower than before, and because it was returning from behind, it carried an even stronger sense of purpose!
(It's back?!)
An alarm blared in Jingliu's mind!
This time, she didn't hesitate in the slightest!
In the flash of lightning before the golden figure could rush past her again and into the courtyard gate, Jingliu's free left hand formed a sword shape with her fingers, lightly pointing toward the empty space beside her!
An extremely condensed, chilling Sword Intent mixed with low temperature instantly unfolded around her like an invisible, icy domain!
The range was small, covering only the area three feet around her and the courtyard entrance, but the effect was overwhelmingly potent!
"Crack... crunch..."
The moisture in the air was instantly stripped and frozen!
The ground, the walls, the door frame, and even the sparse vegetation beside the courtyard wall were instantly covered in a layer of crystal-clear white frost that radiated bone-chilling cold!
The temperature plummeted; even the light seemed to be frozen by the extreme cold!
This move was not a killing blow, but a lockdown.
Jingliu's goal was clear: regardless of who the newcomer was, that speed was too dangerous; they had to be forced to stop or at least reveal themselves!
"Ouch!"
A crisp cry of surprise, clearly indicating pain, rang out at the edge of the frost domain!
It worked!
But Jingliu immediately sensed that the golden figure, momentarily hindered by the cold and noticeably slowing down, used an unbelievable flexibility to forcibly twist and change direction, darting into the still-swaying courtyard door with an impossibly small arc, barely grazing the densest area of frost, like a fish slipping through a crack in the ice!
Only a short gasp remained, echoing in the icy air.
Jingliu slowly retracted her fingers, and the surrounding cold air gradually dissipated.
She looked at the streaks of rapidly melting frost on the door frame, and the faint "ouch" sound emanating from inside the courtyard, followed by someone seemingly gasping and shouting "Cold, cold, cold." Her black eye patch shifted slightly, locking onto the courtyard interior.
The speed was disrupted, the person got inside, and... it seemed they suffered a slight loss from the residual cold energy?
She hesitated no longer, stepped past the melting white frost on the door frame, and walked straight into Baiheng's small courtyard.
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