INE Chapter 104: Climbing Through the Window

Ji An arranged lodgings for Jiang Fei and her companions, inviting them to stay in Xuanji City for a few days. Naturally, they accepted the kind offer with gratitude, raising their cups in thanks.

After the banquet, the guests exchanged a few polite words before returning to their respective quarters.

Soon, the grand Taiping Hall was left with only two people: Ji An and Ji Rong.

Ji Rong watched as Gu Baiyi walked away with Madam Mo, a feeling of melancholy creeping into her heart.

All her teammates were gone, leaving only herself to face the storm alone.

She was still staring wistfully at Gu Baiyi’s retreating figure when the latter, as if sensing her gaze, turned back to look at her.

Moonlight reflected off the silver mask, casting a soft, cool glow.

Even from a distance, with Gu Baiyi’s figure blurred among the lotus leaves like jade, Ji Rong had the distinct impression that the heroine was smiling at her.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Ji Rong instinctively looked away.

In her hand was a small slip of paper Gu Baiyi had slipped her just moments earlier when they brushed past one another.

At the time, Ji Rong had only noticed Gu Baiyi lightly curling her fingers against hers. She thought the heroine was simply taking advantage of a moment when her father wasn’t looking to secretly hold her hand.

With a calm expression, Ji Rong had quietly returned the gesture.

As their fingers touched, she had even found herself thinking: Though Gu Baiyi’s hand was a bit cold, in the early summer heat, the coolness actually felt quite pleasant.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, a folded note was pushed into her palm.

She looked down at the slip, then up again at the heroine’s smiling face, her heart filled with surprise. She had been keeping an eye on Gu Baiyi the entire time, when had she written this?

By the time Ji Rong snapped out of her daze, Gu Baiyi had already disappeared into the distance with Madam Mo.

Turning her back to Ji An, Ji Rong unfolded the note.

There was only one line, 

"Senior Sister, leave your window open tonight."

Expressionless, she tucked the note into her sleeve. But inside, her thoughts were a whirl: Why leave the window open? The night wind’s strong, 

Then a possibility struck her.

Could she mean… the heroine’s planning to climb in through my window tonight?

Ji Rong froze, still holding the note.

Across the room, Ji An noticed his daughter spacing out and asked, “Something on your mind, my child?”

“No.”

Ji An gave her a knowing smile. “You answered too quickly. That’s how I know you do have something on your mind.”

“…”

She suspected that if she’d answered too slowly, he’d have said the same thing.

Ji An looked at Ji Rong with unusual gentleness. He raised a hand, intending to pat her head. But when the lamplight revealed her ethereal, peerless features, his expression shifted. He lowered his hand slowly.

Watching his gesture, Ji Rong had already psyched herself up, trying to overcome her social anxiety: He’s your dad now, and your financial backer too. Let him pat your head, it’s fine.

But unexpectedly, Ji An withdrew his hand halfway, as if covering something up, and said with a faint smile, “My daughter is growing up. It’s only natural to have secrets.”

Since when were age and secrets proportionate?

When I first arrived in this world, I was constantly on edge. Didn’t I have even more secrets back then?

Ji Rong suppressed the urge to retort and was about to agree with a polite “Father is right." when Ji An continued, “You must be tired after your journey. Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, you can visit your mother at the Artisan Pavilion.”

“The Artisan Pavilion?”

Ji Rong was surprised. That was just where Madam Mo crafted her puppets and forged tools. Since when could it treat illnesses?

“Something wrong with that?” Ji An actually looked more puzzled than she did. Then, as if remembering something, he nodded. “Ah, I nearly forgot. Young Master Jiang and the prince will be visiting the Artisan Pavilion as well. You should go with them.”

Ji Rong nodded.

She still didn’t quite understand how a puppet master could heal the sick, but since her father said so, she had no choice but to accept it.

A moment later, Ji An summoned Guan Yue and instructed her to accompany Ji Rong to her quarters.

For some reason, Ji Rong had the vague feeling that her father was in a rather somber mood.

As she stepped over the threshold, Ji Rong paused and looked back at Ji An.

The room was aglow with lantern light, warm and brilliant.

The man sat sunken into a carved wooden armchair, fingers slowly tracing the armrest. Though he was a cultivator, streaks of silver had already crept into his hair.

In the shifting candlelight, Ji Rong saw a trace of sorrow on the face of Xuanji City’s lord.

Then she turned back and walked out of the Taiping Hall.

…

To Ji Rong’s surprise, her room wasn’t lavish like the Taiping Hall. It was elegantly simple, decorated with restraint.

A few plum branches sat in a white porcelain vase. She plucked one at random and brought it to her nose.

The fragrance was cool and faint, but had a synthetic sharpness, clearly sprayed on.

Holding the branch, she examined the multi-petaled bloom more closely.

Her brow furrowed.

This flower is fake.

All the flowers in the room were folded from paper.

Each petal is bright and unfading, untouched by time.

Ji Rong stared at them, puzzled. Why had the original owner filled her vase with fake flowers?

She pondered for a while, unable to guess what the original Ji Rong had been thinking.

If it were me, she thought, the only reason I’d use paper flowers is because I’m too lazy to care for real ones.

Since there was no figuring it out, she did what she did best, let it go. She returned the flower to the vase.

Then she walked over to the window and stared at the vermillion-painted frame.

She’d been planning to open it, but the painful lesson from the inn yesterday made her hesitate. Should she really open it and let the heroine in?

At that moment, she recalled the fleeting brush of fingers when Gu Baiyi had passed by her side.

She didn’t know whether it was the late hour making her sentimental or her brain short-circuiting from exhaustion, 

But for just a moment, it felt like those cold fingertips were the only warmth in this unfamiliar world that she could reach out and touch.

Ji Rong unconsciously smiled and raised her hand to push open the window.

But before her fingers could even press against the frame, the window creaked open on its own.

The summer night air still carried a slight chill. The scent of lotus blossoms drifted in, mingled with the faint fragrance of night-blooming jasmine.

The room’s lingering coolness was swept away, replaced by a breeze that made the air fresh and clean.

But the first thing Ji Rong noticed wasn’t the scent of lotus or jasmine.

It was the delicate, familiar fragrance of phoenix flowers that clung only to Gu Baiyi.

Ji Rong stood before the window and saw Gu Baiyi wearing her silver mask, both hands gripping the windowsill as she stepped on the wooden beam just below.

Upon seeing her, Gu Baiyi lifted the mask and smiled, eyes curved with amusement. “Senior Sister has shut her doors and windows so tightly, surely it must be because she doesn't want me to come in. How heartbreaking.”

Ji Rong returned to herself and said, half-distracted, “With how sweetly you’re smiling, I doubt you're that heartbroken.”

“You think I’m sweet-looking, Senior Sister?”

Gu Baiyi smiled slightly, asking such a self-indulgent question for the first time.

Ji Rong was momentarily speechless. Wasn’t the point that you were hurt? How did we end up talking about your looks?

But when she looked into Gu Baiyi’s dark, gleaming eyes, the teasing words on her tongue softened. Instead, she said, “No matter what angle I look from, you’re very beautiful.”

[Ding! Gu Baiyi’s affection +300]

Ji Rong felt like she’d just pulled off a masterstroke. Just one line, and it was the perfect answer.

After all, what beautiful woman doesn’t like being told she’s beautiful?

Gu Baiyi seemed momentarily stunned, as if she hadn’t expected Ji Rong to compliment her so seriously.

Then her eyes curved like a crescent moon. “No, Senior Sister is the beautiful one. You’re the most beautiful.”

“Mm, I think I’m the most beautiful too.”

“…”

Well, it was the truth, but it really killed the mood.

The moment froze awkwardly in place.

Ji Rong looked at Gu Baiyi, framed like a picture in the window, and couldn’t help finding the whole scene a bit absurd. She asked with concern, “Aren’t you cold, standing there like that? If you’re just trying to block the wind, the window alone would do. You don’t need to be so thoughtful.”

For a long, long while, Gu Baiyi couldn’t say a word.

Any other pair of love-struck cultivators would see one sneak in through the window for a midnight tryst, and the other would never say something like, You look like you’re trying to block the wind.

Little did she know, Ji Rong already had a matching story in mind.

Climbing in at night? This heroine must think she’s in Romeo and Juliet.

Everyone else is acting like they’re in a proper xianxia drama, and here she comes with her Western flair.

Under Ji Rong’s unruffled gaze, Gu Baiyi awkwardly pushed the window fully open and leapt into the room.

She moved with graceful ease, light and fluid, every motion seamless.

Yet in Ji Rong’s eyes, the entire sequence resembled… a moving glass wind-blocker.

Yes. A Western-style wind-blocker.

Gu Baiyi noticed the slight smirk on Ji Rong’s lips. She couldn’t tell exactly what Senior Sister was thinking, but she had a gut feeling it wasn’t anything good.

After sparring with Gu Baiyi the night before, Ji Rong was indeed starting to feel tired.

So under her gaze, she took off her outer robe and said simply, “Time to sleep.”

Gu Baiyi looked at her and asked a question, her tone curious and layered: “Senior Sister, how are we sleeping?”

“Lying down, of course.” Ji Rong raised an eyebrow. “Or did you plan to sleep standing up?”

That gave Gu Baiyi a new idea. She chuckled softly. “Standing isn’t out of the question.”

“…”

In the end, the two lay down on the same bed, fully clothed.

Ji Rong was a restless sleeper. Midway through the night, she’d roll over without even realizing it. Once she did, the thin blanket on the bed ended up entirely in her possession.

Fortunately, Gu Baiyi hadn’t fallen asleep. She lay on her side at the edge of the bed, eyes open, quietly watching Ji Rong’s face.

She watched as Ji Rong furrowed her brows one moment and rolled over the next, her long dark hair tousled and scattered.

In the darkness, Gu Baiyi pressed her lips together, a smile flickering across her face.

Then she reached out and gently ran her fingers through that smooth, silky hair, brushing it strand by strand.

In the past, she had always found hair care to be tedious and dull.

But now, touching Ji Rong’s soft black hair felt like painting a landscape with an ink brush, slow, careful strokes across a perfect canvas.

Her movements grew instinctively gentle, as if she were completing a sacred act.

Her fingertips slowly shifted from the hair to Ji Rong’s lips, brushing them lightly, like touching the petals of a phoenix flower.

Even though she was touching her, the moment still felt surreal.

Gu Baiyi had waited too long for this. So long that now, in the middle of her dream-come-true, all she could feel was fear, fear that it would vanish in the next breath.

She wasn’t afraid of longing that went unanswered. She was afraid that the flower she once held in her hands would someday wither and be lost to the wind.

If she had many flowers, maybe she wouldn't be so afraid.

But she only had this one. And this one was all she wanted.

At that thought, Gu Baiyi slowly withdrew her hand.

In the pitch-black room, her lashes trembled faintly. She wanted so badly to press her lips to those cool, delicate ones.

She leaned in.

Just as her lips were about to touch, 

Ji Rong opened her eyes.