The next morning, Han Feng tiptoed out of bed and glanced back at the two girls who were still fast asleep. Su Wanwan was curled up in the blankets like a kitten, while Liu Mengran maintained an elegant sleeping posture with her long hair cascading down her pillow.
He bent down and kissed each person's forehead, then carefully tucked the blankets in. The traces of last night's absurdity were still faintly visible: clothes scattered on the floor, a water glass overturned on the bedside table, and a clear hickey on Su Wanwan's neck.
In front of the bathroom mirror, Han Feng splashed cold water on his face. The man's gaze in the mirror gradually shifted from gentle to sharp, as if he had switched personalities.
He touched the jade slip in his arms; it was warm to the touch. Han Feng tried to infuse it with a trace of starlight, and the patterns immediately glowed faintly, but quickly returned to normal.
"The Dongfang family..." Han Feng murmured to himself.
An hour later, Han Feng stood in front of the antique-style gate of Xishan Residence.
This garden-style clubhouse, hidden in the western suburbs of Kyoto, looks like an ordinary teahouse from the outside. The morning mist shrouds the blue tiles and white walls, adding a touch of mystery to the entire building.
"How many are in your party, sir?" the hostess in a cheongsam asked with a smile.
Han Feng produced a jade slip: "An agreement."
The woman's pupils contracted slightly, and her attitude immediately became respectful: "Please follow me."
After passing through a winding corridor, Han Feng was led into a tea room by the water. Ancient paintings hung on the four walls, and a rosewood tea table was placed in the center. Outside the window was an artificial lake, and the environment was so quiet and secluded that it seemed otherworldly.
"Please wait a moment, the person in charge of receiving you will be here shortly." The woman served a cup of Biluochun tea and then quietly withdrew.
Not long after.
"Mr. Han, you've been waiting a long time."
A familiar voice came from behind the screen, and Dongfang Xun appeared, dressed in a moon-white robe, the jade pendant at his waist swaying gently with his steps. The fact that this key figure of the Dongfang family had personally come to greet him was truly unexpected for Han Feng.
"It's you?" Han Feng put down his teacup. "Didn't you say there was someone specifically in charge of receiving you?"
Dongfang Xun sat down opposite him and poured himself a cup of tea. "Originally, we arranged for someone to pick him up, but considering Mr. Han's special status..." He smiled meaningfully, "The patriarch specifically instructed me to accompany him personally."
"It's an honor." Han Feng raised his teacup in a gesture of respect. "I'm just curious, why does the Dongfang family treat me, an outsider, with such great respect?"
Dongfang Xun took a sip of tea, his gaze sweeping over the rim of the cup: "Three days have passed, and Brother Han has already broken through to the Innate Realm." He set down the teacup, his voice lowered, "Such talent is something even we descendants of aristocratic families can only dream of."
Suddenly, ripples appeared on the lake outside the window, and a koi carp leaped out of the water and quickly disappeared. Han Feng remained expressionless, but his back tensed slightly—the Dongfang family's intelligence network was more sophisticated than he had imagined.
"We can talk about that later." Dongfang Xun stood up and straightened his clothes. "The patriarch is waiting for us. Please follow me."
The two passed through numerous courtyards, heading deeper into the clubhouse. The artificial hills along the way subtly incorporated elements of Qimen Dunjia (a form of divination), and the figures that occasionally flashed by at the corners of the corridors exuded restrained auras, clearly skilled in martial arts. This was no ordinary teahouse; it was clearly an important stronghold of the Dongfang family.
"Xishanju was built by our ancestors during the Republic of China era," Dongfang Xun explained, seemingly noticing Han Feng's confusion. "On the surface, it's a tea business, but in reality, it's one of the family's channels for communication with the outside world."
"One of them?" Han Feng raised an eyebrow.
Dongfang Xun smiled but did not answer, instead changing the subject to another matter: "Mr. Han, do you know why reclusive families can survive for hundreds of years without being known?"
"I would like to hear the details."
"Because we have our own 'boundaries'." Dongfang Xun stopped in front of a white wall, his fingers lightly tracing the seemingly random patterns on it. "Like this Xishan Residence, outsiders only see it as a high-end club, but they don't know..."
His hand suddenly pressed down hard on a certain spot, and the wall silently slid open, revealing a staircase leading downwards. A strange fragrance mingled with the damp air, like the scent of some ancient medicinal herb.
"Things haven't been peaceful lately." Dongfang Xun took out an ancient bronze lamp; its wick ignited spontaneously without a flame, emitting a bluish-white light. "Several reclusive families have encountered misfortune one after another, so the passageway is more heavily guarded than usual."
Han Feng followed him into the secret passage, and the wall behind them quietly closed. The murals on both sides of the stairs were faintly visible under the light—they were scenes recording ancient rituals, one of which depicted a falling star.
"Something happened?" Han Feng asked casually.
Dongfang Xun pointed at Han Feng, and Han Feng instantly understood what he meant: Mu Xiaoxiao had already come into contact with several powerful families.
At the end of the secret passage stood a large bronze door, its surface engraved with intricate star charts. Dongfang Xun took out a jade tablet from his robes and inserted it into a groove. As the door slowly opened, a blinding white light poured out—
"Welcome to the Dongfang family's 'little paradise'."
Han Feng squinted, and after his vision adjusted, the sight before him made him gasp. Behind the door lay a classical garden spanning several acres, with pavilions and towers scattered in a harmonious arrangement, and in the distance, the outline of undulating mountains could even be seen. This was definitely not the kind of terrain one would expect in the western suburbs of Kyoto!
"Is this a separate space?" Han Feng asked subconsciously.
Dongfang Xun's lips curled into a slight smile: "Even more ancient than that. This is a realm opened up by our ancestors using the 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array,' overlapping with the present world yet existing independently." He pointed to the highest mountain peak in the distance, "The Star Observation Platform is there."
The moment Han Feng stepped into the garden, he felt a slight pulse beneath his feet, like the heartbeat of some enormous living being. Plants emitting a faint glow grew on both sides of the stone path, and occasionally strangely shaped insects would flit by, their wings creating tiny specks of light.
"These are..."
"Spiritual plants and star worms." Dongfang Xun casually plucked a glowing leaf. "They survive by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; they've been extinct in the outside world for thousands of years."
As Han Feng delved deeper, he noticed that the garden's layout subtly corresponded to celestial phenomena—seven pavilions corresponded to the Big Dipper, winding streams and corridors outlined the Milky Way, and even the placement of the artificial hills implied a certain pattern. This method of transforming the entire world into a formation far exceeded his imagination of ancient martial arts families.
During the climb, Dongfang Xun suddenly spoke up: "Has Mr. Han's internal energy been fluctuating abnormally lately?"
Han Feng paused slightly: "Mr. Dongfang, you noticed?"
"This place is exceptionally sensitive to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth," Dongfang Xun said, pointing to the glowing plants around him. "From the moment you stepped in, their brightness increased by thirty percent."
Halfway up the mountain, a simple stone pavilion came into view. There were no carved beams or painted rafters, only a few gray-white stone pillars supporting the dome-like roof. Inside sat an elderly man with white hair, leisurely sipping tea. The air above the stone table seemed to distort slightly, as if an unseen force was flowing within it.
"Grandpa, Brother Han has arrived." Dongfang Xun stopped three steps outside the pavilion and bowed respectfully.
The old man put down his teacup and turned to look. In that instant, Han Feng felt as if he were being stared at by some kind of primordial beast—the old man's eyes seemed to hold a swirling galaxy, so deep that it was dizzying.
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