Night.
Yesterday, sleeping in the Four Directions Hall was anything but restful. Li Nuo felt a great sense of peace today as he lay in his familiar bed, his wife beside him, inhaling the sweet fragrance of her body.
Just as she lay down, not yet asleep, Li Nuo remembered something and asked, "Wife, how many cultivation techniques have you practiced?"
He had grown accustomed to talking with his wife for a bit before falling asleep each night.
It seemed like a trivial routine but it subtly increased the familiarity between them.
Song Jiaren, with her eyes closed and hands stacked outside the quilt, faintly responded, "One."
After a pause, she inquired, "Why do you suddenly ask?"
Li Nuo explained, "Yesterday, a major crime occurred at the Four Directions Hall. An envoy from Chu Country was killed... The murderer had secretly mastered an additional cultivation technique and nearly deceived everyone."