Li Banfeng returned to Green Water City. He had arranged to meet Zuo Anna at Xiaoyaowu the following day.
He Yuxiu had also returned to Green Water City, and chanced upon Li Banfeng on the street.
"Old Seventh, you're back?"
Li Banfeng looked around. "Xiu'er, there's no one else here. You should call me Seventh Brother!"
Her face reddened as she said, "Seventh Brother."
Li Banfeng assumed an elder brother's dignity and asked, "Xiu'er, you're a proper land local spirit now. Why aren't you tending to your domain instead of running back to Green Water City?"
He Yuxiu lowered her head and replied, "Old Fifth said something happened at Xiaoyaowu, so I rushed over to see."
Li Banfeng knew trouble had struck Xiaoyaowu, and it wasn't small. That He Yuxiu had rushed over so promptly made him very happy. "Ah, Xiu'er, our bond hasn't faded after all."
He Yuxiu looked up. "What kind of talk is that? Xiaoyaowu is your domain. Could I just stand by and do nothing? There's another matter I wanted to discuss with you. My territory wedged itself right next to Yesong Bridge and broke the railway line there. This needs to be negotiated with the Defense Bureau, but things have never been very smooth between them and me, so..."
Li Banfeng chuckled. "That's hardly an issue. I'll drop Liao Zihui a word and have him send people over to help you repair the railway line."
He Yuxiu thanked him, her face blushing a bit more. "There's one more big thing. For my territory, I was thinking of naming it Qixiu City. What do you think?"
Li Banfeng felt that wasn't quite right. "There's already a Qiqiu City. Now you want a Qixiu City on top of that?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" He Yuxiu dismissed. "Whatever bond we have between us is nobody else's business!"
"Our bond is one thing, but for your territory, my name shouldn't be placed in front."
He Yuxiu remained stubborn. "I think having you above me is just fine."
"No. A name like this requires serious discussion, not such careless haste."
The two made their way together to Xiaoyaowu. Ma the Fifth had already prepared a meeting room, where he recounted everything that had happened the previous day.
Li Banfeng was especially intrigued by two details: one was the Crying Cultivator, and the other was the Grand Totem.
"The Crying Cultivator you mentioned—the one sent from the Inner States—goes by Yuan Youshang?"
Ma the Fifth nodded. "That's what Lu Xiaolan called him. If she wasn't lying, his background is extraordinary. Yuan Youshang's real name should be Yuan Youshuang. Back when I had barely begun to form memories, Yuan Youshuang was already renowned throughout Puluo Province. Around the age of thirty, he had already reached the ninth layer in both Demon Cultivation and Crying Cultivation. It was precisely thanks to him that the Yuan family defeated the He family and the Chu family in succession, becoming the premier powerhouse of Green Water City. But barely two years later, Yuan Youshuang had a falling-out with his elders and stormed off in anger. From then on, the Yuan family suffered an irreversible collapse. The territory they had just acquired hadn't even grown warm before it was carved up by the other families."
Li Banfeng was very curious why the Yuan family would decline so rapidly despite possessing such a powerful figure. "What kind of falling-out did he have with his elders?"
Ma Junyang shook his head. "That, I don't know. Sister Xiu is of the same generation as Yuan Youshuang; she's probably heard about it."
He Yuxiu smiled. "More than merely heard of him. We've had a life-and-death friendship."
Ma Junyang was startled. "Were you that close?"
He Yuxiu shook her head. "Hardly close. I clashed with him many times, and every single time we fought to kill. Once, He Haiqin and I took him on two-on-one, and he beat us half to death. Later, I called in Lu Dongliang, Lu Dongjun, and Chu Shaoqiang—five of us against him alone—and we nearly beat him to death. Tell me, isn't that a profound friendship?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "A true life-and-death one!"
He Yuxiu lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said with a touch of emotion, "Back then, we rather looked down on the man. Yuan Youshuang was the pillar of the Yuan family, yet he carried no weight at all in his own household. The Yuan family's rules were strict, placing extreme importance on seniority and hierarchy. Yuan Youshuang lacked generational standing, so he had no say in family matters. What's more, he wasn't born of the primary wife, so he couldn't even sit at the main table when eating."
Li Banfeng was puzzled. "A man treated like that still earned such fame in Puluo Province?"
He Yuxiu pondered. "He was a very famous thug. The Yuan family basically treated him as hired muscle. I remember Yuan Youshuang wanted to open a small tavern, but his father refused to let him. Later, Yuan Youshuang saved up his own money and opened it anyway, and his father smashed the tavern to pieces right in front of him. The Yuan family even set a rule for Yuan Youshuang: unless he nurtured another ninth-layer cultivator for the family, he was forbidden from advancing to the tenth layer. All sorts of grievances piled up, and Yuan Youshuang stormed off in anger. Yet after two days away, Yuan Youshuang regretted it and wanted to return. His grandfather, the head of the Yuan family, decreed that he had to kowtow with every step, performing a hundred resounding kowtows all the way back into the house, before he would be forgiven."
"Did he actually kowtow?" What Li Banfeng despised most was kneeling and kowtowing.
"He did! Well over a hundred," He Yuxiu nodded. "I saw it with my own eyes."
Li Banfeng frowned. "Yuan Youshuang knocked his head over a hundred times just to re-enter his family's door?" If that were true, the man truly deserved contempt.
He Yuxiu shook her head. "Not him—his grandfather did. Yuan Youshuang refused to kowtow, so his grandfather laid down a harsh threat, saying having him made no difference and losing him cost nothing, forbidding him from ever returning home."
Li Banfeng marveled, "His grandfather was that unyielding?"
He Yuxiu nodded. "The old man was stubborn as iron. Back then, he told anyone who would listen that the Yuan family's rules must never be disrupted, and that a beast like Yuan Youshuang was better off discarded."
Li Banfeng still didn't understand. "Why would a man with so much backbone end up kowtowing?"
He Yuxiu explained, "I had people inquire all around whether Yuan Youshuang had truly left. Later, word came back that he seemed to have advanced to the tenth layer and was no longer in Puluo Province. Seeing he was genuinely gone, I couldn't very well hold back. The Yuan family had seized plenty of our He family's territory, and we needed to have a word with them about that. The moment I walked through the door, I pinned his grandfather to the floor and slapped him across the face a few times. The old man immediately began kowtowing. Then I pinned his father to the floor and slapped him a few times as well, and his father started kowtowing right along. I found the whole family rather amusing, so I hauled them out one by one and slapped each of them in turn, and they all kowtowed together. He Haiqin specialized in slapping the old man. As luck would have it, his hand was heavy, and he slapped the old man to death. Right up until his dying breath, the old man kept kowtowing, putting his heart and soul into every knock."
So that was how Yuan Youshuang had ended up in the Inner States.
Ma Junyang said, "Every few years, a batch of heroes springs up in Puluo Province. Flash-in-the-pan luminaries like the Yuan family aren't rare at all. As for the so-called Four Great Families, if you ask, they all have family pedigrees spanning over a century, yet the years they could truly be hailed as heroes were never very long..."
Having finished asking about Yuan Youshang, Li Banfeng asked again, "What is the origin of the Grand Totem?"
Ma the Fifth shook his head. "I'm curious about that as well. He said the circular ring on the local spirit seal is the Grand Totem."
He Yuxiu thought for a moment. "Some elders in my family did mention it, but I can't recall clearly. I'll go ask them when I get a chance."
Ma the Fifth brought out a magic treasure and handed it to Li Banfeng. "This was the magic treasure Lu Xiaolan used against Yuan Youshang. This vase can scare away deceased spirits."
When the vase was set before Li Banfeng, to say nothing of deceased spirits, even the scythe at Li Banfeng's side trembled. "Ah Qi, this thing is terrifying."
The scythe was a naturally generated spirit, with the shallowest foundation and the least experience, so it was the first to be terrified by the flower vase.
The Tang dao had weathered countless battles; while it wasn't afraid of the vase, it bristled with hostility.
The projector was frightened too, but after sneaking a glance, it couldn't help admiring, "Her craft is exquisite, a paragon of art."
The glove scoffed, "The craftsmanship is indeed good, quite a valuable piece. When the timing is right later, I'll take her in."
The Judge's Brush found them tedious, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
Ma the Fifth tried to give the flower vase to Li Qi: "Old Seventh, you're always out traveling. Keep this vase with you for self-defense."
Li Qi refused to take it. "This is an item you won in battle. You should keep it."
Ma the Fifth shook his head. "Xiaoyaowu belongs to both of us. Anything acquired in Xiaoyaowu must be split fifty-fifty. As for my half, I'm gifting it to you."
Li Banfeng insisted on leaving the vase with Ma the Fifth. "When I'm away from home, carrying this around is inconvenient. Keeping it by your side suits it best. I suspect this item doesn't just defend against Demon Cultivators. You should study it closely."
"There's a ghost! There's a ghost—"
Who was speaking?
Li Banfeng looked toward the flower vase and dialed up the intensity of Discerning Spiritual Sound.
It was a woman's voice. Her age was impossible to tell; every word sounded squeezed from her throat, as though she were frightened out of her wits.
Just as Li Banfeng was listening intently, the woman suddenly wailed, sending a ringing through Li Banfeng's ears: "The ghosts are coming! They're coming right now!"
Did this vase drive away ghosts only because it was terrified of them?
Ma the Fifth picked up the vase and held it to his ear. "Old Seventh, why do I feel like this vase is a woman, and sounds like she's crying?"
As he listened, his hand gently caressed the vase's rim.
He Yuxiu turned her head away in sheer disgust. "Old Fifth, at the very least you ought to find something living."
Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling and went to the thirteenth room to see his wife.
The gramophone slumbered all day long, showing no visible change, but the companion dwelling harbored some worry: "The signs of her revival are growing increasingly apparent, yet her physical form has still shown no transformation. If she only transforms on the day of her awakening, she will suffer quite an ordeal."
Li Banfeng asked, "Is there any suitable medicine to spare my wife from suffering?"
The companion dwelling considered for a moment. "There are medicines, but whether they will be of use to her remains unknown. Ah Qi, if Zhao Xiaowan is completely revived, she will no longer be able to serve as your dwelling spirit. As for how you two will interact in the future, you should plan ahead."
"What is there to plan?" Li Banfeng gently wiped down the gramophone's body. "Dwelling spirit or not, she is my wife."
After checking on his wife, Li Banfeng resumed reading The Beauties Scroll and Floating Clouds Inquiring at Post Stations.
The artistic caliber of The Beauties Scroll was extraordinarily high. After reading through it several times, Li Banfeng could already outline the forms of the three beauties in his mind. However, Li Banfeng had never actually seen these three women, and the beauties summoned through Golden House Concealing Beauty possessed virtually no combat strength.
"I'd better write my own in the future." Li Banfeng had intended to set The Beauties Scroll back on the shelf, but was stopped by the Judge's Brush.
"First learn to read, then learn to write."
Li Banfeng said, "I've already read it."
"You haven't read it through to the bone."
"Then I'll read it again tomorrow."
Setting aside The Beauties Scroll, he picked up Floating Clouds Inquiring at Post Stations. Though written in seemingly plain vernacular, this book proved even harder to grasp than The Beauties Scroll.
"Whenever I arrived in a place, I wanted to look at the pretty girls there. One glance didn't feel satisfying, so I'd take another. Two glances still didn't satisfy, so I just kept staring. After staring for more than two minutes, I was beaten by the girl. Once she walked off, I forgot what she looked like again. That girl was truly handsome—wouldn't forgetting be too much of a shame? So I thought and thought about it in my head, but no matter how I tried, I couldn't recall. I waited and waited by the roadside, until finally I waited until that girl came along. But then I found she looked different. I didn't know whether she had always looked like that, or if I had mistaken her for someone else. I felt sure I hadn't mistaken her, but why was she different from what I imagined? If only she had been the same..."
A whole long-winded ramble just about looking at a girl, filling page after page. Li Banfeng flipped through a few pages of sprawling, mundane trivia until it made him drowsy.
Floating Clouds Inquiring at Post Stations was an immensely useful book, but the only trouble was that whatever was useful had to be ferreted out by oneself.
The next morning, Li Banfeng met Zuo Anna at Xiaoyaowu.
Seeing Zuo Anna's somber expression, Li Banfeng knew things hadn't gone smoothly.
"You didn't find the Bandit-Subduing Battalion's encampment?"
Zuo Anna said, "We found it. Seventh Master's information was very accurate; the encampment of the Bandit-Subduing Battalion is indeed in Dingye City."
"Then why the long face? It's time for us to discuss making our move." Li Banfeng had cautioned Zuo Anna that once she verified the intel on the Bandit-Subduing Battalion, she must under no circumstances act on her own; they had to plan the ambush together.
"Seventh Master, we haven't acted on our own because we lack the ability." Zuo Anna produced a diagram depicting the layout of Dingye City.
Li Banfeng looked carefully at the diagram. "Is this a map you drew?"
"It isn't a map; it's a conceptual blueprint."
"A conceptual blueprint?" Li Banfeng frowned. "You already know the place, so why make a conceptual blueprint?"
"Because we cannot get close to Dingye City at all. Upon receiving your clue, I immediately led a team to scout it. At a distance of ten li from Dingye City, we were completely unable to approach any closer."
Zuo Anna made marks on the drawing. "Surrounding Dingye City are dense defensive armaments along with numerous patrol boats. They only permit specific vessels to enter Dingye City—namely, the royal passenger ships you spotted."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "That makes no sense. Dingye City produces massive amounts of grain, which must be shipped to many cities. There must be cargo ships coming and going."
"We found no cargo ships."
"Even though the people of Shang rely on coal to replenish energy, they still require food for nutrition. They wouldn't abandon such a vital grain production base."
"Seventh Master, please trust our professionalism. Throughout our reconnaissance, I can say with certainty that no other ships have entered or exited Dingye City. Aside from the royal passenger ships, any other craft nearing Dingye City is liable to be sunk at any moment. We deployed numerous reconnaissance devices—whether deep-submersible or stealth—and all of them failed near Dingye. This schematic was derived from long-range observation combined with historical records of Dingye City, through calculation and inference."
How much value could long-range observation from ten li away possess? Historical records were even less relevant; present-day Dingye City had certainly undergone massive changes.
Li Banfeng had no desire to look further at the schematic. Zuo Anna then brought out another plan: "Even if reconnaissance yielded detailed intelligence on Dingye City, we still lack the capability to strike it. Even if we infiltrated the city, its airtight defenses and deployments would leave us no opportunity to inflict wide-scale casualties."
"That's not necessarily true." Li Banfeng possessed plenty of confidence when it came to ambushes.
"Seventh Master, I understand your thinking. To give an example: suppose you managed to bring Critic into the camp; perhaps an epidemic could wipe out enemies across a broad area. But Dingye City's structure is exceptionally convoluted. According to historical records, the city houses vast numbers of bondservants. To prevent them from rebelling, the city was divided into over a hundred independent sectors. If an epidemic strikes one sector, the surrounding sectors immediately seal their entrances. With our current reconnaissance capabilities, locating the sector housing the Bandit-Subduing Battalion is virtually impossible. A miss would mean throwing our lives away for nothing."
Li Banfeng looked at Zuo Anna. "I never said I'd take Critic."
"That's for the best!" Zuo Anna made no attempt to hide her concern for Critic. "Aside from spreading pestilence, Puluo Province possesses many other means of dealing wide-scale destruction. Yet Dingye City is prepared against all of them. Whether through fire, water, or other methods, any damage dealt will be contained within a single sector and can hardly spread elsewhere. If any sector comes under attack, Dingye City's defenses will activate, allowing not a single assailant to escape. In the White Falcon League, there are combat records of this, and Tufang State has corresponding accounts as well. Every sneak attack launched against Dingye City has ended in failure, and every faction that attempted it paid a terrible price. The people of Shang have never slackened for a moment when guarding their granary. Now that they have the Bandit-Subduing Battalion, they will only pour more into defense, perhaps even abandoning Dingye City's function as a granary altogether. Therefore, we do not have the capability to raid Dingye City—at least, not right now."
Zuo Anna laid it out crystal clear. This aligned with Qiao Yi's habitual strategy: even if you discovered what he was doing, you were left utterly helpless to stop it.
Li Banfeng picked up the schematic of Dingye City. This city, covered in dense grids and resembling a honeycomb, was actually this fortified.
No matter how fortified, it had to be struck; the Bandit-Subduing Battalion must not be allowed to form.
Li Banfeng put away the drawing and asked Zuo Anna, "Do you know about the Grand Totem?"
Zuo Anna pondered seriously for a good while. "I know some concepts. The Grand Totem is an instrument used by Shang Country for collection and transformation."
"An instrument? Is the Grand Totem not an actual physical totem?"
Zuo Anna nodded. "That's also said. As to whether the Grand Totem physically exists, there are conflicting interpretations within the White Falcon League. Some personnel have investigated the Grand Totem for years, but their findings are never made public. I only know a few fundamental concepts: the Grand Totem's most critical function is to achieve controllable transformation of dark energy. As for the exact forms and results of that transformation—if you urgently wish to know more about the Grand Totem, I can conduct some inquiries."
"'Urgently wish to know'?" Li Banfeng looked at Zuo Anna. "You think I'm just curious? You think this is trivial?"
Zuo Anna did not deny it. "The White Falcon League's investigation into the Grand Totem has lasted many years. Although it is kept deeply classified, I suspect they haven't achieved substantive results, or they wouldn't keep such a low profile. Furthermore, in both the White Falcon League and Huan Country, a common belief holds that the so-called Grand Totem is merely a Shang legend—or even a ploy of False Bluster."
Bluster? Could that be Yuan Youshang's purpose on this trip?
Staging such an elaborate show and sacrificing Lu Xiaolan along with it, just to spread a rumor?
Qiao Yi would never do something so inefficient.
Li Banfeng instructed Zuo Anna, "I want to know about the Grand Totem. If you discover anything, be sure to inform me."
Having seen Zuo Anna off, Li Banfeng went to the Western-style house in Yuanzhu Ward, entered the dark-dimension space, and retrieved Green Water City's local spirit seal.
The box containing the seal was painted with a white ring, and the face of the seal was also engraved with a white ring. Yuan Youshang had claimed that this was the Grand Totem.
What was so special about this totem?
How could this totem allow Lu Xiaolan's cultivation to advance so rapidly?
The White Falcon League viewed the Grand Totem as an instrument for collection and transformation; how was one to understand such a concept?
Zuo Anna couldn't explain it clearly, so who could?
Li Banfeng sat in silence in the dark-dimension space for a long while before pulling out the schematic Zuo Anna had left behind.
The Grand Totem had to be investigated, but the matter of the Bandit-Subduing Battalion was obviously far more urgent. The White Falcon League lacked the ability to reconnoiter Dingye City; who might possess such capability?
Li Banfeng left Yuanzhu Ward and gripped the jade pendant A'yi had given him.
A'long was the one who received Li Banfeng into the village: "You must be careful seeing the village chief today. Her temper hasn't been great these past two days."
"What's wrong? Did her wife run away?"
A'long looked at Li Banfeng in shock. "How did you know? Three days ago, Qiu Luoye left the village together with the village chief and dragged back an old man. The village chief said the old man was the renowned Eighteenth Wheel. Qiu Luoye claimed he had an agreement with the village chief: once Eighteenth Wheel was caught, he would be allowed to go. True to her word, the village chief let Qiu Luoye leave. Who would have thought that just yesterday, Eighteenth Wheel escaped too! Our village chief thought about it for a whole day, and finally figured it out."
A'long stopped abruptly.
Li Banfeng turned back to look at A'long. "Figured out what?"
"Eighteenth Wheel and Qiu Luoye colluded together to take advantage of her. 'Not a single man is any good'—that's what she said." A'long pointed toward the distant sorghum field. "The village chief is over there. Watch yourself."
Li Banfeng entered the sorghum field alone. A breeze brushed past, sending a shiver through him. Following the sense of peril, Li Banfeng found A'yi.
A'yi sat in the sorghum field, staring blankly at Li Banfeng.
"Are you a man?"
"Yes."
"You say you are, so you are?"
"I have proof. I have a wife."
Whoosh—
A wild gale swept past, and a bitter chill crept from the tips of his toes to the crown of his head.
Her face dark and her eyes rimmed in red, A'yi snapped, "Say what you have to say."
Li Banfeng drew Zuo Anna's schematic from his bosom and handed it to A'yi.
There were no words on the drawing, but A'yi recognized it with a single glance. "This is Dingye City."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Can you open a path for me?"
"You want to go to Dingye City? What for?"
"I need to find the Bandit-Subduing Battalion."
"The Bandit-Subduing Battalion is in Dingye City?" A'yi considered carefully. "Going is pointless. That place is full of grids; you won't find them."
"Even if I can't find them, I still have to look."
A'yi returned the drawing to Li Banfeng. "It's too dangerous. Shang Country prizes its granary and watches it very closely."
Li Banfeng sat down beside A'yi. "I won't have you work for nothing. Name your price."
A'yi looked affectionately at Li Banfeng. "How about you be my wife?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm your brother, and you're my sister. Doing that isn't right."
"Fair point." A'yi pondered for a long while before coming up with another price: "I want to watch television. The Dark Star Bureau has a TV set that I'm especially fond of. Can you bring it back for me?"
"What kind of television?"
"A floor-standing black-and-white TV, kept in a very peculiar place. I don't know if you can get your hands on it."
"I can try." Li Banfeng had seen that television before.
"You try, and I'll try too." A'yi stood up. "Hulu Village was damaged by Eighteenth Wheel; for now it can only move within Puluo Province. I need three days to fix it. I once opened a path into Dingye City, unused for many years, and that path must be repaired, which will take seven days. Ten days in total. After ten days, come find me with the television."
Li Banfeng asked, "You have to tell me: what do you need this television for?"
"I already said, I just want to watch TV." A'yi gazed mournfully at Li Banfeng. "After ten days, if you go back on your word, I won't hate you either. Men are no good, none of them; I'll just accept that my life is bitter."
A'yi waved toward the edge of the sorghum field, signaling A'long to escort Li Banfeng out of Hulu Village.
The television she wanted was in the stairwell of the Dark Star Bureau, inside the room where Old Train was detained. Could he give that thing to her? Li Banfeng was also hesitating.
The companion dwelling murmured by his ear, "Ah Qi, be prudent. That television may be connected to Lai Wuju."
Li Banfeng had thought of that as well. Yet the matter of the Bandit-Subduing Battalion had to be dealt with; it was a knife pressed against Puluo Province's throat.
"Let's visit the Outer States first." Li Banfeng looked up toward the clouds on the horizon. As long as he went to the peddler's house, he could reach the Dark Star Bureau's stairwell directly.
The companion dwelling cautioned, "Ah Qi, do not be impetuous."
Indeed, he could not rush. To this day, Li Banfeng still didn't know who the woman inside that house actually was.
He couldn't reach the Dark Star Bureau through her. He had to find the most discreet route possible—one kept secret from the woman above the clouds, secret from A'yi, and secret from the Dark Star Bureau as well.
Li Banfeng had Ma the Fifth procure a travel pass under an alias. That very afternoon, he boarded a train bound for the Outer States.
No special train, no disclosed identity, buying only a single-compartment ticket—with Li Banfeng's present cultivation, no one could recognize him.
Sitting in the compartment, Li Banfeng held the schematic of Dingye City, trying to find clues.
Click!
The compartment door was unlocked and turned open. A conductor entered the compartment: "Sir, please present your ticket."
Ticket checks after departure were something Li Banfeng had grown used to. But before the conductor opened the door, Li Banfeng hadn't sensed a thing, nearly exposing the drawing—and that, Li Banfeng could not accept lightly.
He tucked away the schematic and produced the ticket.
With a frozen countenance, the conductor took the ticket and checked it three times over, front and back.
Li Banfeng activated Golden Eyes Autumn Hair and Discerning Spiritual Sound, wanting to see if the conductor was carrying any magic treasures.
Having inspected the ticket, the conductor turned and left.
Li Banfeng saw no magic treasure, but caught sight of markings on the conductor's back.
The markings were densely packed, difficult to make out clearly.
Seeing the conductor stepping out of the compartment, Li Banfeng pushed Golden Eyes Autumn Hair to its utmost limit.
Threads of blood crept into the whites of his eyes, and Li Banfeng managed to discern something faintly.
These were not markings; they were words.
There is a conductor, named Tie Lvsheng.
Face like cold iron gathering frost, brows like the slant of a broken blade.
Steps measuring the ground like a rule, voice striking like watch-clappers and ringing bells.
Tickets inspected must be checked thrice, car patrols lasting until the fifth watch.
Drunkards startle and sit up straight, wild children draw in their necks and stifle their cries.
P.S.: This conductor is so delicate and charming.
Chapter 765