When the courtyard gate was gently pushed open, the hanging wind chimes let out a short, crisp ding-dong sound.
Baiheng tiptoed and held her breath as she stepped into the courtyard—on her left was Bailu, carrying a snack bag and brimming with excited curiosity, and on her right was the'stingy landlord,' System.
As soon as the three of them crossed the threshold, Baiheng's gaze immediately darted toward the living room.
Warm white smart lighting shone through the living room window, spreading a patch of regular light spots on the bluestone floor.
She could see the silhouette of the figure sitting on the chair by the window: straight and quiet.
(Thank goodness.)
Baiheng first let out a sigh of relief, then immediately tensed up again—because there was a little ancestor beside her!
She quickly crossed the small courtyard, adjusted her breathing at the living room entrance, and tried to make her voice sound natural and slightly apologetic: "Guest! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! We bought some late-night snacks..."
She walked into the living room as she spoke.
The moment she spoke, Jingliu had already turned her head slightly, her black eye patch 'looking' toward the doorway.
She did not get up, only nodded in acknowledgment: "It's fine."
Her voice was still cold and indifferent, betraying no emotion, but Baiheng felt that some kind of scrutiny was taking place beneath that eye patch.
Especially when Jingliu's gaze fell upon Bailu behind her.
Bailu also poked her head in at this moment.
She first curiously sized up the cold-tempered woman sitting in the shadows, her eyes naturally landing on the black silk eye patch covering the other's face.
The Little Dragon Girl blinked, and her instincts as a doctor made her subconsciously assess:
(Does this older sister have an eye ailment? Wearing an eye patch... Is it serious?)
Just as she was about to ask, Jingliu withdrew her gaze first, her brow furrowing slightly.
The frown was extremely fast, almost like an illusion.
But Baiheng caught it—the direction of the frown seemed to look at her first, then turned to Bailu, and finally returned to herself, carrying a hint of rare... hesitation?
(What's going on?)
Baiheng's heart was pounding.
Jingliu was indeed hesitating.
Before Bailu appeared, all her attention had been focused on this traveling merchant woman who called herself "Bai Heng" but whose appearance and aura resembled her old friend, Baiheng.
She could sense a concealment around the other person, like looking at someone through frosted glass—the outline was similar, but the details were vague.
But when Bailu stepped into the room... that was a subtler sense of familiarity.
This feeling, compared to the deliberately concealed "Bai Heng" beside her, was more like the old friend who perished during the Shuhu Calamity in her Remembrance.
What made Jingliu's heart sink slightly further was that she naturally knew who Bailu was.
After the Imbibitor Lunae Calamity, the succession of the Vidyadhara Dragon Lord changed, and the existence of this Medicine-Carrying Dragon Girl was no secret.
She had never delved deep into it before, but now, with "Bai Heng" and Bailu standing before her simultaneously, that uncanny sense of familiarity layered upon itself, causing a faint ripple in her mind, which had been as steady as a rock after millennia of sword practice.
(One is disguised to look like her, the other is essentially like her... Interesting.)
This thought only lingered in Jingliu's mind for an instant before sinking into the abyss.
Her expression remained placid, but the slightly furrowed brow had quietly smoothed out.
"And this is?"
Jingliu spoke proactively, her voice calm, betraying nothing unusual, as if she truly had just met a stranger.
"Ah! This is Miss Bailu!"
Baiheng quickly took over the conversation, stepping aside to make room as she introduced, "The Medicine-Carrying Dragon Girl, currently... studying at the Alchemy Commission."
She chose a relatively neutral term. "We ran into her by chance on the street earlier."
Bailu, however, was poised and generous, taking a step forward and cupping her hands like an adult—the movement was a bit clumsy, but she tried to do it earnestly: "Hello! I am Bailu! Are you Bai Heng's friend?"
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