Outside the cave, Zong Sichen laughed lightly after listening to the whole thing. He transmitted to the other two using his divine sense, “This Yu Chong School little beauty is quite interesting. He knew that the cloak had to be sold, but he was unhappy about it. So he came up with this plan to make the male cultivator that brought it up unhappy too. Since he was humiliated using spirit stones, he let others raise the price sky high to return the humiliation. Seems like he’s a tough character.”

Song Weiyue didn't get it. He asked, “Is it really that deep?”

Zong Sichen explained, "The little beauty used the fact that he was good looking and attributed it to the cloak. Since others also feel that he’s good looking, they became interested and started fighting over the external factor that’s supposedly the cause.”

"Ohhh..." Song Weiyue said despite still not getting it.

Seemed like he’s still best off focusing on fighting after all.

Xi Huai listened without making any remarks.

Inside the cave, the cloak finally exchanged hands for twelve hundred spirit stones.

The male cultivator and Ming Shaoluo both had unsightly expressions on their faces.

At that moment, the atmosphere inside the cave suddenly shifted as someone strolled in.

Xi Huai casually bypassed the barrier they had set up. After glancing around, he sat down at a spot neither far or near Chi Muyao.

Naturally, Song Weiyue and Zong Sichen also tagged along. They went over to Xi Huai’s side.

Chi Muyao and Yi Shaoxi were from a minor sect so they didn’t fit in with everyone else.

So after entering the cave, they smartly chose the coldest spot near the entrance, leaving the warmer interior for everyone else.

This arrangement caused them to be physically separated from the Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples, with them on the outside.

After Xi Huai came, the Golden Core disciple whose cultivation was among the highest present asked, "What are you doing here?"

Xi Huai didn't mind his tone. He began taking out various spiritual artefacts from his Myriad Treasure Bell as he replied, “What, you think you’re king of this mountain? I heard the last ones to assume that were a group of monkeysPretty sure this is a reference to Sun Wukong, the monkey king who is a trickster god from Chinese mythology..”

The Golden Core stage disciple: "..."

After Xi Huai finished arranging the artefacts, an additional layer reinforced the barrier inside the cave. The temperature immediately rose until it was no longer cold.

His barrier had the effect of blocking out the cold.

Xi Huai looked at Chi Muyao, who was draped in a small quilt, out of the corner of his eye. Then he took out a furnace.

Every part of the silver-white furnace was extremely intricate. Its lid was adorned with cloisonné enamelCloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with coloured material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, glass and other materials were also used during older periods. (Image courtesy pschemp Royal Museum, Edinburgh). depicting auspicious cloud patterns. Carved fish swam below the opening, their tails in the midst of leisurely swings. At the bottom was a rim to place one’s feet adorned with carved fish scales, and the handle itself looked like a fish leaping out of the water.

A fragrance wafted out after it was activated. Warmth radiated outward, chasing away the arctic chill from before. The fragrance had calming properties that aided with meditation and energy circulation by increasing the rate at which spiritual energy could be absorbed.

It wasn’t that the Nuan Yan disciples didn’t have such artefacts. They were just not allowed to bring such luxurious things on the expedition on Sect orders.

That fact just made Xi Huai’s furnace appear all the more valuable.

Even as the cave warmed up, Chi Muyao didn’t take down his quilt immediately. He wanted to acclimate for a while before doing that, as sudden changes in body temperature could make you sick.

But Xi Huai misunderstood and thought he was still cold. As a result, he took out another warming artifact, making the cave instantly hot enough to cook bacon.

Fed up, Ming Shaoluo coldly spoke, “Don’t pull this kind of stunt, Xi Huai. No matter how good a person’s constitution is, they won’t be able to withstand you making it so hot all of a sudden.”

Xi Huai was taken aback after suddenly being spoken to—and by a woman he didn’t know at that... He decided to halve the size of his boundary so it only included the three of them, Chi Muyao and Yi Qianxi.

The rest of the group were suddenly plunged from the previous humid heat into an icy wasteland. Ming Shaoluo couldn’t help but shiver. She had to quickly circulate her cultivation to recover.

She fumingly glared at Xi Huai, only to find that he wasn’t even looking at her.

The other cultivators were uneasy as well, seemingly wary of Xi Huai and afraid he might attack at any moment.

Chi Muyao was scarcely able to cope with the heat. He asked in a small voice, "Can...you put away a furnace?"

Song Weiyue jumped in, "Yeah, put one away. My enchanted vestments are boiling hot.”

Only then did Xi Huai put one away, but not before quietly grumbling, “You’re so picky…”

Chi Muyao didn't speak again.

Yi Qianxi was still wide eyed, unable to understand how things came to be like this.

But at least it wasn’t cold inside Xi Huai’s boundary. It was actually very comfortably warm. In contrast, the sight of the Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples pretending to be calm as they meditated outside in the cold was quite satisfying.

Chi Muyao didn't leave either. After all, Yi Qianxi was better off here and they had just sold the cloak, her only way to stay warm.

Chi Muyao wondered if he should return the favour he had been shown.

So he took out a tea set from his Qiankun bag and made tea on the spot. Then he asked Xi Huai’s group, “Do you want some tea?”

Xi Huai didn’t refuse. He stretched a hand in Chi Muyao’s direction.

It was only after Chi Muyao handed over the teacup that he realised how massive Xi Huai’s hands were. The normal sized tea cup in his hand was like a marble in Xi Huai’s.

Song Weiyue and Zong Sichen also politely accepted some tea and sipped at it.

Yi Qianxi usually didn’t like tea, but she felt like this was a very suitable time for having some, so she joined in.

On one side, the Nuan Yan cultivators could only meditate in the midst of chilling winds to prevent their bodies from freezing stiff.

On the other side, the five people within the boundary leisurely enjoyed balmy temperatures and tea.

Chi Muyao obediently holed up in a corner with his teacup.

Xi Huai wasn’t looking at him, but he was monitoring him using his divine sense. A sudden thought occurred to him. If Chi Muyao was A-Jiu, then was this what A-Jiu looked like holed up in the corner back then?

A-Jiu had a very calm and steady personality. He could sit for days in the dark without protest.

Was he like Chi Muyao was right now?

A thin body huddled into a tight little ball, his sleeves spread like a blooming flower, looking very cute and obedient?

Zong Sichen observed with a smile. He transmitted a divine sense message to Song Weiyue only, “Looks like the Young Sect Master chose the prettiest among the potential suspects to observe.”

Song Weiyue held his teacup with both hands, feeling very comfortable. “Yep. It was like he went crazy these past two years, but now it seems like he’s still the Young Sect Master I know.”

At this point, these two suddenly felt Xi Huai's mood take a turn for the worse.

Since their divine senses have been connected before, they could sense Xi Huai’s emotions to a limited degree. Naturally, they noticed his displeasure.

Following Xi Huai's gaze, they saw Chi Muyao use the Object Movement Technique to hand Yu Yanshu a cup of warm tea, which he accepted and took a sip from.

They instantly understood why.

This sort of tacit and silent cooperation meant that Chi Muyao and Yu Yanshu’s divine senses had connected before and they could send messages that way.

In the cultivation world, only cultivators that were close to each other would allow their divine senses to connect and send messages. Because there were privacy concerns around allowing the other party to sense your emotions, this wasn’t something anyone did easily…

But Chi Muyao and Yu Yanshu had connected their divine senses.

Actually, the two of them only connected divine senses for the purpose of this excursion. Yu Yanshu didn’t want to openly single out Chi Muyao every time, and it was inappropriate for him to connect divine senses with a girl like Yi Qianxi. That was why he ended up connecting with Chi Muyao.

Chi Muyao was only thinking of how much Yu Yanshu had taken care of him recently when he transmitted the offer for tea. Yu Yanshu also didn’t think much of it when he accepted.

Xi Huai frowned at the teacup that Yu Yanshu was holding. A wave of displeasure washed over him.

This was when he wasn’t sure Chi Muyao was A-Jiu. If he knew for sure, he would go on a killing spree.

But Chi Muyao didn't notice any of this. The sudden warmth surrounding him made him feel sleepy.

He pulled the little quilt over his body again and curled up in his corner, planning to take a quick nap.

Yi Qianxi had long since grown used to Chi Muyao’s habit of dropping what he was doing to take a nap once in a while. She simply laid down beside him with her own little quilt and went to sleep too.

The Yu Chong School were anomalies in the cultivation world in more ways than one.

Rumour had it they didn’t practice inedia and ate normal food. They also went to bed every night and lived their days like mortals with long lifespans. Due to that, no one saw anything wrong with their actions.

This included Xi Huai’s group.

Chi Muyao slept soundly at first, but at some point he started leaning towards the comfortable, familiar heat source nearby.

Xi Huai was originally busy glaring at Yu Yanshu, frustrated that the guy hasn’t returned the teacup yet. What was he doing, holding on to it like it was some sort of treasure?

Yet at some point, he noticed Chi Muyao leaning towards him.

At first he paid Chi Muyao no mind and didn’t drive him away.

That was, until a sleepy Chi Muyao mistook Xi Huai’s sleeve for his blanket and started using it like one. What’s more, when he thought the position wasn’t right, he tugged on the sleeve several times, shaking Xi Huai’s arm as a result.

Xi Huai wasn’t sure Chi Muyao was A-Jiu yet so he didn’t want to get too close. Thus, he took out his sword and used the sheath to push Chi Muyao’s hand off his sleeve.

Chi Muyao frowned slightly as he was pushed away, which made Xi Huai hesitate. In the end, he used the sheath to get Chi Muyao’s blanket over and tucked Chi Muyao in.

Feeling warmer, Chi Muyao settled down for a while.

Xi Huai closed his eyes to continue meditating, but then he felt Chi Muyao’s toes push their way under his leg, using them as a cover and heater.

Isn’t this one of A-Jiu's sleeping habits…?

Xi Huai’s eyes snapped open.