Out of the Blue

Early morning. The sun had just crawled over the mountain ridge, and the earth was still shrouded in a hazy, waking state. Deep within the antique street, the doors of Guyue Residence were already wide open.

Lin Shao sat by the entrance, enjoying one of the few cool moments of the day. He wasn’t naturally an early riser; if it hadn’t been for a bizarre dream that chased away all sleepiness, he would certainly still be tangled in a passionate embrace with his bed.

“How strange… why did I dream of swords and a coffin?”

He shook out a large sheet of white paper. On it was a sketch drawn with a lead pencil. It was said that pencils were invented by the Yuanshi Immortal Venerable—the senior transmigrator—which made things much more comfortable for Lin Shao, who wasn’t used to calligraphy brushes.

The paper depicted three strangely shaped long swords arranged in a triangular formation. In the center of the swords sat a square, formal coffin. Both the swords and the coffin were drawn with incredible detail; this was partly due to his decent drawing skills and partly because the images from the dream were inexplicably vivid in his mind.

‘Maybe I should find a master to interpret this dream. Wait, isn’t Mu Li a wandering fortune-telling master? I wonder if she does dreams. But she can’t see… I’ll wait until her eyes are cured.’

Lin Shao planned to take Mu Li to find the best doctor in the capital today. Although she had calculated that her eyes couldn’t be cured, he insisted on trying. What if she had just calculated incorrectly?

Returning inside, he placed the sketch on the desk, accidentally bumping into the fat parrot sleeping at the edge of the table, which earned him a couple of annoyed grunts.

Lin Shao tickled the bird’s belly until it woke up in a huff and flapped its wings to fly elsewhere. He let out a hearty laugh.

“That’s your punishment for breaking the vases. If you break more furniture, I’ll tie you up and hang you upside down for a whole day!” Lin Shao threatened the fat parrot, which had retreated under the table.

He walked over to the display stand. The ceramic shards from the night before had been cleared away. Unfortunately, for those beautiful, rare plants from the Western Regions, he’d had to scavenge some bowls and pans from the kitchen to act as temporary pots.

It looked a bit tacky, but he planned to buy some proper vases when he had time.

“Speaking of which, does this jade pendant actually glow?” He picked up the red jade pendant from its prominent spot and examined it. It might have been a delusion, but after he put the plants back in their original spots, the pendant seemed to flash briefly.

After watching it for a while and seeing no more light, he shook his head and placed it back.

A beautiful day was about to begin. He needed to buy breakfast—the capital had so much good food. Thinking of the steamed buns and millet porridge he’d had the other day made his mouth water. Just as he was reaching for his money to head out for the fresh, steaming buns, a greeting came from behind him.

“Ahem.”

He turned around. A woman stood at the entrance. She was tall, wearing a dress so ornate and magnificent it looked obscenely expensive. Her long hair was pinned up with a golden hairpiece, and her beauty was breathtaking—she exuded an aura of pride and immense value.

Lin Shao was slightly startled, not just by her stunning looks, but by the suddenness of her appearance. It was early, the street was so silent you could hear a pin drop, yet this woman had appeared soundlessly, like a ghost.

He studied her carefully. He was sure they hadn’t met, yet she looked familiar. Looking closer at her pearl-like eyes, he noticed a ring of golden light around the iris and it clicked.

The girl from Liuli Hall yesterday. This woman’s features were strikingly similar to that girl’s—she looked exactly like a grown-up version of her. Especially that “surging tide” of a figure; it perfectly matched his earlier assessment that the girl would be a “force to be reckoned with” when she grew up.

‘So, is this the older sister?’

‘What is she doing here?’

Lin Shao glanced toward the fat parrot and saw that it had woken up at some point. It was curled into a ball, trembling violently with fear in its eyes, looking as if it might bolt at any second.

Seeing this, Lin Shao felt a pang of unease. This parrot was a keen judge of character; it was incredibly arrogant toward those it could bully, often cursing them or shitting on their heads, but it shrank away and played “helpless” when it encountered someone dangerous.

Seeing it this terrified, it was clear the woman at the door was not only dangerous but was here with aggressive intent.

While Lin Shao was analyzing the situation via the parrot, Di Yao—who hadn’t slept all night and had arrived early—had already activated her Emperor’s Pupil to scan for an ambush.

The first thing she saw was the red jade pendant, originally hers, placed prominently on the shelf. Using the pendant as a starting point and the various decorations as nodes, a coiled red dragon was linked together.

‘He actually activated the true dragon aura within the pendant… is he not afraid of backlash?’ No—looking at the submissive state of the red dragon, it showed no sign of resistance. It was fiercely loyal to its master. Given the arrogance of dragons, this was truly rare.

Slightly surprised by the dragon’s obedience, she shifted her gaze to the trembling fat parrot under the table.

‘Its strength fluctuates wildly… it’s at the peak of Level 6, nearly touching Level 7. Is it a demonic beast with phoenix blood? No, it’s just a common wild bird?’

Di Yao froze. A common bird raised to the peak of Level 6? If released, it could dominate an entire forest. Furthermore, its spirituality was high. Even if it were her Sixth Junior Sister, the “Alchemy Saint,” feeding it spirit pills every day, could she raise a common bird to this level?

In just two glances, Di Yao already found the situation incomprehensible. After scanning the first floor, she looked toward the second, confirming another girl was inside, seemingly asleep. Her strength was only Level 3—weaker than the parrot downstairs.

‘True dragon aura, a Level 6 parrot, and a Level 3 girl… none of these can affect me. In the end, I must focus all my attention on Lin Shao.’

The Emperor’s Pupil swept over Lin Shao briefly. As expected, it had no effect. Di Yao stopped wasting her true qi and deactivated the pupil. She sensed the Immortal-grade artifacts hidden within her sleeves, ready to be summoned at any moment, took a light breath, and stepped into the shop.

‘Charlatan, accomplice of the System, or Master’s reincarnation.’ The submission of the dragon aura and the strength of the parrot proved he wasn’t a charlatan. That left the accomplice or the reincarnation.

If he was an accomplice, she would kill him on the spot, regardless of the cost.

If he was Master’s reincarnation…

Seeing the woman cautiously approaching him step by step, Lin Shao felt things were going south. He was convinced this woman had found out her younger sister spent a fortune buying poems and intel from him and had come to demand the money back.

‘No way. I have to find a way to de-escalate this. Stay calm.’

As Lin Shao raised his hand, Di Yao instinctively lowered her center of gravity and slightly spread her arms in a combat stance.

‘Why is this woman so twitchy?’ Lin Shao complained inwardly. He maintained a polite smile and pointed to the chair beside him.

“Please, have a seat.”