Yuxin Island was already in the late spring season.
In this season, if it were the Central Plains, it would be a time of lush green and sparse red, with a hundred flowers withering and green leaves growing anew.
Yet on Yuxin Island, far away in the South Sea, it was a different scene entirely.
The trees on the island had already grown lush and verdant, their colors thick and impossible to separate. Some fruit trees had even begun to bear tiny, budding fruits.
Spring rain here also fell fiercely and quickly, and it departed just as fast.
Just yesterday afternoon, a violent thunderstorm had swept through, but this morning the sky was clear and cloudless.
Under the utterly spotless firmament, the plaque of the Hehuan Building had been washed clean by the rain, standing out especially vividly.
“Holy Maiden, since the Flower Appreciation Convention, after the major Righteous Path sects jointly announced the news of the secret realm on the island, rogue cultivators have been pouring in. Our revenue last month has also been steadily increasing.”
At the counter on the first floor, a maidservant respectfully placed a bowl of snowflake cheese before the fox-eared girl who was sprawled on the counter, then handed over a jade slip.
“Here is the detailed business report for last month. Please take a look.”
“Mm, just leave it there. I’ll look at it.”
Su Feiyao took the snowflake cheese, pinched her fingertips together, scooped up a spoonful, and brought it to her mouth.
She also picked up the jade slip and gave it a casual glance, then tossed it aside with little interest.
Sigh… How boring. Why isn’t there anything interesting happening?
The fluffy big tail behind her drooped weakly, swaying lightly and lazily. With so many cultivators gathered here, why was there no fun to be had?
The fox-eared girl looked listlessly at the maidservant beside her.
“Hey, Ajuan, among the Dao companion emotional counseling commissions these past few days, are there any interesting ones? Tell me about them.”
“Yes, Holy Maiden.”
The maidservant, well-acquainted with her Holy Maiden’s temperament, immediately replied.
“Today’s pending commissions are as follows: five pairs of Dao companions who traveled to the South Sea together gradually discovered incompatible personalities and constant disputes, seeking advice on whether to break up; two pairs of Dao companions accidentally encountered each other’s undisclosed ex-partners and developed resentment; and one client claims their Dao companion suddenly became very strange, turning cold, and wants to know how to win them back.”
“Ah, all just trivial, ordinary commissions.”
Su Feiyao sighed helplessly.
“Only that last one sounds a bit interesting. Leave it for me to handle.”
“Yes, Holy Maiden.”
The maidservant complied readily.
“The client for this commission is—”
“Wait.”
Before she could finish, Su Feiyao’s gaze lifted as she spotted a white-clad figure carrying a sword entering through the door. She immediately raised her hand to stop her.
“Set that aside for now. I’m about to take on a much more interesting commission.”
In an instant, she straightened up, her face blooming with her usual charming smile, completely different from her earlier lazy and dejected demeanor—like a completely different fox.
She called out to Yun Xuechang, who had just walked in, with a beaming smile.
“Good morning, Fairy Yun. What brings you to my Hehuan Building today? Do you have something on your mind you’d like to discuss with me?”
A moment later, in an elegant private room on the second floor.
“Here, Fairy Yun, this is my Hehuan Sect’s specialty sakura-flavored snowflake cheese. Please, have a taste.”
Once Yun Xuechang was seated on a cushion, Su Feiyao gracefully served her a bowl of snowflake cheese.
“Thank you, Daoist Su.”
Yun Xuechang nodded in thanks but didn’t touch the bowl of snowflake cheese—just as she never touched the tea here.
This naturally earned her a resentful, aggrieved glare from Su Feiyao.
“Daoist Su, these are the storybook samples you entrusted to me, along with the reading notes I wrote.”
As if oblivious, Yun Xuechang took out a stack of novellas and a jade slip filled with notes from her storage pouch and gently placed them on the low table.
“After reading them, I indeed found that these books contain many errors in their descriptions of various techniques, which need correction.”
She paused, then added with a hint of regret.
“Unfortunately, I only have a superficial understanding of most techniques outside of sword arts. If Daoist Su is willing to let Yan’er also review these books, with her knowledge, she would surely be able to provide more precise insights.”
“…?”
Su Feiyao took the jade slip and looked at its contents—full of corrections for combat power, techniques, and moves that were wrong or missing.
The smile on her face nearly cracked.
Seriously… I gave you these books to enlighten you, so you could completely win Hua Yan over, body and soul!
I wanted you to learn all the ins and outs in them, not to correct techniques and moves!
This Yun Xuechang—didn’t I already teach her what childbirth was all about? Why is she still so dense?
“Fairy Yun, besides these things, didn’t the way the two female leads interacted in the storybooks give you any other insights?”
She hinted gently.
“I… do have some other insights.”
To Su Feiyao’s surprise, the ethereal white-haired fairy’s cold cheeks actually flushed slightly, as if she were a bit embarrassed.
“I told Yan’er that I was reading some storybooks about female-female romance. She told me to study them well—I think she meant for me to learn how to be the dominant role, so I can serve her well in the future.”
“I’ve already recorded quite a bit, but I’m still afraid I won’t do well in front of her.”
She blinked her somewhat shy crimson eyes and directly asked.
“May I ask, Daoist Su, regarding the matter of serving another person, how should I practice? And when should I do such things for Yan’er?”
“Oh my, that’s simple.”
Hearing this, Su Feiyao’s fox eyes immediately curved into slits, and her tail wagged happily.
“To be honest with you, Fairy Yun, many fairies who are not good at taking the dominant role in relationships have come to ask my Hehuan Sect how to perform better in daily life and satisfy their beloved.”
“Of course, I have so-called practice methods here. I can give you several sets of molds and detailed finger technique instructions. If you want, the matching dual-cultivation technique and the little gadgets you saw before can all be sold to you together.”
Her tone was full of temptation.
“I suggest you buy them all together. You’ll need them sooner or later. If you buy them together, I can even give you a discount now.”
She then named a modest but not insignificant price.
Yun Xuechang hesitated for a moment.
The spirit stones Su Feiyao asked for were quite a bit more than what she had earned from writing those reading notes.
If she bought them, she would actually have to subsidize them herself.
But she had made a profit from the betting scheme that Su Feiyao and Yue Jue had set up earlier.
Now she was quite well-off, no longer the poor Yun Xuechang who only had an Autumn Water Sword and had to send IOUs to her sect.
So she quickly made her decision.
“Alright, I’ll buy all of these.”
“Thank you for your patronage!”
Su Feiyao’s face immediately lit up with joy. She handed over a storage pouch with both hands.
“As for your question, Fairy Yun—when should you do that kind of thing with your beloved…”
She smiled mysteriously, her tone ambiguous.
“Just wait until the atmosphere is right, and then do it with her directly.”
After sending Yun Xuechang off in front of the building, the maidservant named Ajuan approached Su Feiyao again.
“Holy Maiden, regarding the commission you asked about just now—”
“Oh, no rush. Set it aside for now.”
Su Feiyao was leaning by the window, responding absentmindedly, when suddenly her gaze sharpened.
At the street corner, a figure with red hair was hesitatingly pacing, occasionally glancing toward the sign of the Hehuan Building, biting her lips, torn between advancing and retreating.
Her fox eyes immediately curved, and she muttered to herself with great interest.
“What auspicious day is today? That interesting Dao companion pair is coming to me one after the other?”
With that, she raised her hand and pushed open the window in front of her, calling out in a coquettish voice to the hesitant red-haired girl on the street.
“Good morning, Fairy Hua! Might you be coming to my Hehuan Building to discuss something important?”