The smell of rain

Upon hearing this, the waiter praised, "This customer has a keen eye! I wonder whose name is engraved on it?"

Lin Yun nodded calmly, showing no change in expression. On the contrary, Zhou Hengyan, who was beside her, suddenly stopped and stared blankly at the scattered sparks.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked softly.

"It's nothing." Zhou Hengyan slowly shook his head, his voice somewhat heavy.

He didn't find the two names etched in his heart amidst the dazzling flames. He wanted to leave, but a voice deep inside cried out, "Look again! What if I see their names? What if it's proof they ever existed?"

This brief pause caused the two to fall behind.

Sang Zhao had already climbed several floors high. When he turned around, he saw the waiter beside him, while his junior sister and junior brother Zhou were already far behind in the shadows below.

"Excuse me, you don't need to show us the way anymore."

He waited for a while, but the two still didn't follow, so he had to tell the waiter and turn back downstairs.

Sang Zhao parted his lips and softly called out, "Junior Sister? Junior Brother Zhou?"

Hearing the sound, Lin Yunwan turned her head, quickly putting her slender finger to her lips in a shushing gesture: "Shh—"

Zhou Hengyan remained in that pose, like a statue. All his attention was focused on the Mars just inches away.

Tiny Mars carries names as numerous as mountains.

His eyes were sore, but he stared intently without blinking.

As the firelight flickered, the names of countless old friends and sages flashed by, further confirming his conjecture.

This brazier, which embodies the pinnacle of magical techniques, should rightfully bear the names of all its creators.

Sang Zhao walked to the two of them and slowed his pace.

He had never seen Junior Brother Zhou display such intense emotions before, and was momentarily stunned. He silently pulled Lin Yun a few steps away and asked, quite puzzled, "Junior Brother Zhou, what's wrong...?"

"I don't know either." Lin Yunwang's voice was so soft it was almost a whisper, his gaze fixed on Zhou Hengyan with concern.

Upon hearing the waiter's words, "Whose name is engraved on it?", Zhou Hengyan froze on the spot.

He gazed for a long time at the curtain of sparks before him, which was only a step away yet seemed to be separated by a chasm of life and death. More precisely, he searched in vain among those thousands of sparks for the name that had been engraved in his heart for so long.

Intuition told Lin Yunwang that the name of the person who was incredibly important to him was on Mars right in front of him. She wanted to suggest that they search together, but when she saw the almost obsessive focus and unfathomable sorrow in his eyes, all her words choked in her throat.

In the end, she simply stood quietly beside him, choosing silence.

Sang Zhao and Lin Yunwang, being fellow disciples, have now made the same choice.

After an unknown amount of time, the last rays of sunlight outside the inn sank below the horizon. Inside, lights gradually illuminated the huge brazier in the center.

In fact, the light it emits is enough to illuminate the entire hall.

The two leaned against the stair railing, surrounded by people coming and going.

A petite girl brushed past Lin Yunwang, and a slightly cool, damp scent suddenly entered her nose.

"It smells like rainwater," she thought to herself.

Since leaving the Cloud Mountain, which is perpetually shrouded in the chill of snow, her sense of smell seems to have become exceptionally keen, especially for scents similar to the mountain's crisp, cold atmosphere.

Just as Lin Yun was deep in thought, Sang Zhao gently patted her shoulder and whispered, "I'll book a room first. We'll rest here today and go back tomorrow morning."

Lin Yun nodded in agreement.

Inside a room on the top floor of the Wangu Inn.

The girl who had deliberately brushed past Lin Yunwang earlier was now excitedly circling around one of the people in the room. "Isn't she the recently famous Lin Yunwang? She does indeed look just as the Immortal Venerable described, 'pure in spirit and full of vitality'."

Judging from the other person's state, the girl must have been talking for a long time, but he didn't respond, only indifferently wiping the sword in his hand.

The wind that rushed in as the door opened interrupted her words.

The two people in the room looked towards the door at the same time, where a man in black wearing a cloak stood.

"Gu Lan, don't judge others so casually."

Upon hearing this, the two relaxed, and the girl put away the frost flowers in her palm.

Liu Xubai took off her cloak, which was damp with night dew. She had something to attend to and arrived at the inn later than the two of them, just as she missed Lin Yunwang.

Gu Lan curled her lip upon hearing this, not only not restraining herself, but becoming even more enthusiastic: "Hmph, although she is indeed talented and the rumors are rampant, she's not so monstrous as to require the Immortal Venerable to worry about her so much, is she?"

Her gaze swept over the silent group. Chang Wunan lowered his sword and began wiping its scabbard, while another person closed his eyes to rest. Seeing that no one responded, she jumped directly in front of Chang Wunan: "Chang Wunan, what is the 'secret' mission that the Immortal Venerable has entrusted to you this time?"

"Don't you know the word 'secret'?" Liu Xubai replied first.

"What's it to you!"

The discord between the two can be traced back to Qiming Immortal Venerable, whom Gu Lan mentioned almost constantly, but this was not due to his own fault.

Liu Xubai was the first child raised by the Immortal Venerable, so naturally they were closer than the others. This displeased Gu Lan. She had only arrived a little later, so why was there no place for her among the Immortal Venerable's entourage?

But Liu Xubai was not someone to be easily manipulated, so naturally he was not friendly towards Gu Lan either.

"Gu Lan, Liu Xubai, the Immortal Venerable has appointed me as the supreme commander of this mission. Stop arguing. Especially you, Gu Lan."

After being repeatedly rebuffed, Gu Lan sullenly walked to the window and muttered to himself, "Why did the Immortal Venerable go to Jizhou alone? Why leave us to wait here in Mengzhou... How utterly boring..."

How could the Venerable Qiming, far away in Jeju, know of her current boredom? He was catching up with an old friend and learned that the plan was progressing smoothly, a time when his mind was at peace.