"You think just because my lady stands alone yet commands wealth beyond kingdoms, she's someone you can marry to leap straight to glory? Have you even looked at yourself? You're not even worthy to carry her shoes!"
"And you—if you and Young Master Han had some engagement from the start, why come to my lady's home crying and making a scene? Take your so-called marriage contract straight to the magistrate and sue him for abandonment. Why drag my lady into your mess?"
The maid in a multicolored ruqun planted her hands on her hips, berating the pair so fiercely they couldn't get a word in.
"Acting like some pitiful white lotus—can't keep your own man and blame my lady? If he could toss you aside once for power, he'll do it again for wealth. What exactly do you like about that kind of man?
Matching eight characters? Pah! My lady's birth date and time are not something that can be casually matched with just any outsider!"
"Enough, Yingge," Jian Dan interjected, handing the maid a teacup. "Rest your voice."
The maid gulped the tea, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and rolled up her sleeves—ready to keep fighting.
But then—
Miss Xu on the opposite side—at some point—pulled out a dagger and stabbed it straight into Young Master Han's chest. Caught completely off guard, he collapsed to the floor, blood soaking his robes. The sound of terrified servants shrieking filled the air.
Miss Xu's expression twisted with madness as she yanked the blade free. Blood spattered across her face, but she didn't flinch—eyes wide, dagger in hand, she advanced toward Jian Dan like a specter of vengeance.
"Miss! Run! She's gone mad!" The maid cried out, throwing herself protectively in front of her mistress.
"…Why let it come to this?" Jian Dan asked softly.
"I couldn't accept it. I couldn't accept it!"
Miss Xu lunged with the dagger in wild, clumsy desperation.
Jian Dan merely shifted aside, letting the blow miss entirely, and in the same motion moved to the fallen Young Master Han. Without hesitation, she knelt beside him and slammed her fist into his head.
CRACK.
The world shattered like ink dissolving in water.
Jian Dan closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she stood inside an empty pavilion. Han Pengfei and Xu Meixia lay unconscious on the ground. Silence reigned, broken only by the faint swirling mists around a stone beast statue atop a raised platform.
"Where… is this?" Han Pengfei groaned, waking first.
Jian Dan regarded him silently as he rose to his feet, scanning the surroundings warily. She gently checked on Brother Parrot, still sleeping soundly in her arms, and then said coolly:
"Han Daoyou, some dreams are best left unrealized."
"What do you mean?"
"See that statue? It's a Dream Beast."
"...We were in a dream?"
"Your dream. I broke it by attacking you."
"How could you be sure it was mine and not Xu Meixia's? Or even yours?"
"I guessed. If I was wrong, I'd have tried the next one. Eventually, I'd find the true source."
Jian Dan's tone was serene, almost playful, but the meaning beneath it sent chills down his spine. Han Pengfei paled, eyeing the unconscious Xu Meixia. "How had they been pulled into my dream?"
With a soft gasp, Xu Meixia stirred awake. Her eyes flicked between Jian Dan's frosty expression and Han Pengfei's contemplative silence. Something unreadable passed through her gaze. Then she quickly scurrying to Han Pengfei's side.
Just then, the Dream Beast statue opened its maw and expelled two glowing orbs—one floated to Jian Dan, the other to Xu Meixia.
Jian Dan caught hers without pause. Opening her palm, she found a delicate jade bottle with a slender neck. Without hesitation, she slipped it into her storage space. Xu Meixia shot her a venomous glare, which Jian Dan ignored completely.
"Senior Brother Han, if we work together, we can seize that treasure from her!" Xu Meixia urged.
Jian Dan laughed—softly, but not kindly. Her expression turned serious as she asked Han Pengfei:
"Well, Han Daoyou? Want to try? Succeed, and this treasure—and everything I've gained in this realm—is yours."
Han Pengfei's eye twitched. He clasped his hands. "A jest, surely. I've yet to repay your earlier aid. I'd never—"
"Is that so…"
Jian Dan gave him a slightly disappointed glance before turning to Xu Meixia. "Oh 'Young Master Han's admirer,' if you truly cherish him, why not gift him your own prize instead of urging him to betray a benefactor? Or do you want him to develop a heart demon?"
Xu Meixia flinched at her words. Her expression soured briefly before she fell silent, tightening her grip around her prize.
Without another word, Jian Dan turned and ascended the staircase to the second floor that had silently materialized behind them.
"Senior Brother Han, why didn't you stop her?" Xu Meixia demanded.
Han Pengfei didn't let her draw near this time. He stepped away and followed Jian Dan's path up the stairs, leaving her behind with just one reply: "Because," he said flatly, "I can't stop her."
At the top of the stairs, the scene shifted again—
An endless starscape. Meteors streaked across constellations.
A voice echoed:
"Why do you cultivate?"
"To seek immortality."
"Why immortality?"
"To traverse the cosmos."
"Why go?"
"To witness the turn of seasons—the blossoms of spring, the frost of winter."
"What meaning is there?"
"To understand life's essence."
"Then what is it you truly seek?"