I heard you had a white moonlight who died young.

Seeing his slightly proud demeanor, Fan Zhiyi began to flatter him: "It's not just good, it's absolutely delicious!"

"How does it compare to the pastries from Jiuwanli?" Bing Nandong asked immediately, almost as soon as Fan Zhiyi finished speaking.

Fan Zhiyi paused for a second, his mind racing. He'd almost forgotten how to describe the taste of that Jiuwanli pastry; mentioning it only brought to mind its ethereal, sweet beauty. And right now, Bingnan Dong's was delicious too.

Fan Zhiyi hesitated for a moment, then decided that he couldn't betray his conscience when it came to food: "To be honest..."

He glanced at Bing Nandong and saw that Bing Nandong was staring at him with unusual stubbornness. Because of the tension, he unconsciously leaned forward, showing a kind of fighting spirit.

Even in something like this, they have to compete with Jiu Wanli. Fan Zhiyi was a little amused and exasperated: "They're all delicious, I can't tell the difference."

"……Ah."

The boy's sneer conveyed his dissatisfaction. He crossed his arms and, seeing that Fan Zhiyi had no intention of saying anything more, was about to speak when Fan Zhiyi smiled and said, "But, this pastry was made for me by my senior brother. This small token of my appreciation is far beyond what Jiuwanli can offer."

Bing Nandong opened his mouth in surprise, the words almost slipping out, but he swallowed them back: "There's nothing special about it, I just happened to want to practice and let you try it out."

"Yes, yes, yes." Fan Zhiyi didn't argue with him.

But seeing Fan Zhiyi like this, Bing Nandong was unwilling to give up, but she didn't know what to say, so she turned her head to the side and sulked to herself: "Let's eat first."

"Why don't we start by assembling the vase?"

"Eat first." Bing Nandong repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument, and took a few steps forward to lift the lid off the food that Fan Zhiyi had cooked.

A strong smell of chili oil wafted out, and Bing Nandong frowned slightly. His eyes and nose instantly turned red from the smell. He took a few steps back and coughed lightly.

Fan Zhiyi hadn't expected his extra spicy version of the simple claypot rice to be so potent. He immediately stopped Bing Nandong from rubbing his eyes, saying, "Don't touch them. You're just a little irritated by the smell. I'll go find a handkerchief to wipe them for you."

As he spoke, because Bing Nandong was currently unable to see, Fan Zhiyi helped him walk outside. He saw Bing Nandong obediently closing his eyes, his thick and curled eyelashes fluttering slightly like the wings of a butterfly.

Fan Zhiyi pursed his lips, then quickly looked away, somewhat flustered: "You, you wait here for a moment, I, I..."

As they were talking, Bing Nandong grabbed Fan Zhiyi's wrist, stopping him from leaving: "I'm all better now."

Bing Nandong opened her eyes, blinked, and tears welled up from the stimulation. She wiped them away and said, "I feel much better. I don't need to find a handkerchief anymore. By the way, how much chili did you put in your food?"

"A lot, a lot." The more Fan Zhiyi spoke, the more guilty he felt, and the softer his voice became.

When he was adding seasonings, he suddenly had a thought. He hadn't eaten anything particularly spicy in a long time, and cooking meant taking everyone's tastes into account. Bing Nandong couldn't handle spicy food very well, so the dishes he usually made were quite bland.

This time, I thought I'd finally get to try making a dish I'd eaten before, so I decided to make it spicy. But I accidentally choked on the chili peppers, and my hand trembled, so I put it all down.

Fan Zhiyi's mind went blank for a moment, but then, adopting a "what's done is done" attitude, he indifferently let the rice continue to cook in the clay pot.

He hadn't expected things to turn out this way, so he put on a smiling face at Bing Nandong, trying to get away with it, only to be retaliated against by Bing Nandong who grabbed his face and pulled it.

However, the other party didn't use too much force, which made Fan Zhiyi feel a little embarrassed.

He looked up, and Bing Nandong's eyes were still red, as if they had been stained with the sap of plum blossoms.

Fan Zhiyi was so flustered by his own thoughts that he immediately lowered his eyes again.

In the end, Bing Nandong refused to try any of the claypot rice, leaving Fan Zhiyi to enjoy it all. However, although it was delicious, he couldn't take more than a few bites and had to waste the rest with a heavy heart.

After finishing his meal, Fan Zhiyi watched as Bing Nandong picked out the fragments of the vase with writing on them, compared them, and pieced them together. Some of the writing was deliberately misleading and was completely useless. The final message he pieced together was: "The hidden story of the Ghost Gate incident. Contact me in two days."

Fan Zhiyi asked, "Does he really know?" It's not that Fan Zhiyi is suspicious, mainly because even the senior disciple of Tianyun Sect, Bing Nandong, and a key figure in the Ghost Gate, don't know this, so how much could someone like Lin Taiyin, who seems to have been imprisoned all along, possibly know?

"But who knows? After all, there must be a reason why he was asked to take care of him like that," Fan Zhiyi analyzed.

Bing Nandong replied, "I'm going." He looked at Fan Zhiyi, "Lin Taiyin knows that we will leave Tianyun Sect for a mission in two days. He said these words, so it must be a guarantee."

Didn't you say he was unapproachable?

"Because you can't handle it."

Well, that means he's not good enough, but Bing Nandong is.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Despite his reluctance, Fan Zhiyi went out with Bing Nandong. The moment he closed the door to the courtyard, Fan Zhiyi couldn't help but worry again: "Is it really okay for Xiao Hei to stay here all by itself?"

Fan Zhiyi had asked this question many times, especially the day before his departure. Bing Nandong had also answered it many times, and this time he was unusually patient as he said, "Don't worry, it's much smarter than you."

Fan Zhiyi glanced at Bing Nandong with a resentful look, but finally calmed himself down and walked forward.

He and Bing Nandong were at different meeting points, so when Fan Zhiyi saw that Bing Nandong had chosen the same fork in the road as him, he was extremely shocked: "Aren't you going to the meeting point?"

"You don't know the way, so I'll take you there first."

Fan Zhiyi disagreed: "I know the way!"

Bing Nandong glanced at him but didn't refute: "The moves we've been practicing these past few days... never mind, you won't remember them anyway. Whenever you encounter danger, hide and don't be reckless. Run if you can. Make sure you take the talisman I gave you this morning, and that dagger too. Also..."

"Okay, okay, I understand." Although he knew Bing Nandong meant well, Fan Zhiyi was tired of hearing it so many times.

"One last thing," Bing Nandong said, "Be careful and pay close attention. I've already spoken to Changfu and my junior sister, asking them to look after you."