Qiu'er finally stopped causing trouble, and Dai Chengfeng finally left the room.
At this moment, the second-floor corridor of the inn was eerily quiet.
Dai Chengfeng didn't head downstairs immediately but first approached Zhu Zhuqing's door. He leaned in to listen—there was no sound from inside.
After hesitating for a moment, he gently knocked on the door: "Zhuqing? Are you awake? It's time for breakfast."
No response.
He knocked again, slightly increasing the force: "Zhuqing?"
Still, silence reigned.
Dai Chengfeng felt a jolt in his heart, an ominous premonition rising within him.
Was Zhu Zhuqing still angry and deliberately ignoring him? Or… had she already gone downstairs?
If it was the latter, that meant she might have already met Hu Liena—and even Ning Rongrong.
The mere thought of that scenario made Dai Chengfeng's head start throbbing faintly.
With a sliver of hope, he hurried to Hu Liena's door and lightly knocked, this time with a softer, more tentative knock:
"Nana? It's time to go."
Inside, there was still no sound.
"They're… both really downstairs already?"
Standing in front of Hu Liena's door, Dai Chengfeng felt like he was teetering on the edge of an erupting volcano, unsure whether to advance or retreat.
Go in? No one was there.
Go downstairs? That would be like jumping straight into molten lava.
He could already imagine the tense atmosphere in the dining hall.
Zhu Zhuqing's face would be as cold as frost, exuding an aura that warned others to keep their distance;
Hu Liena might smile charmingly, but every word she spoke would carry hidden barbs;
And Ning Rongrong, that little troublemaker, would surely be watching the spectacle unfold, occasionally fanning the flames…
Just as sweat was about to bead on Dai Chengfeng's forehead, a gentle voice sounded behind him, as if fully aware of his predicament:
"Chengfeng, no need to knock anymore."
Dai Chengfeng turned around to see the High Priest standing quietly at the end of the corridor, slowly walking toward him.
"Good morning, High Priest."
Zhu Hongye walked up to him, her gaze casually sweeping over the closed doors of Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena's rooms. Her tone was as calm as if discussing the weather:
"Zhuqing and Miss Hu Liena went downstairs fifteen minutes ago."
"I happened to run into them—they seemed… troubled, walking rather quickly."
Dai Chengfeng's lips twitched slightly, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
Sure enough! The worst-case scenario had occurred!
Not only had Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena gone downstairs ahead of him, but judging by the High Priest's tone, the atmosphere between them was likely quite tense!
This was starting off like hell itself!
The High Priest seemed oblivious to Dai Chengfeng's suddenly stiff expression and continued in her calm tone: "Right now, they are probably having breakfast in the dining hall with Miss Ning from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."
These words were like the final verdict.
Dai Chengfeng gritted his teeth, forcing himself to remain composed: "Th-thank you very much for letting me know, High Priest. I'll head downstairs now."
Zhu Hongye gave him a meaningful look, as if silently saying, "Young man, your romantic debts are still debts—good luck." She then said nothing more, turning and gesturing for Dai Chengfeng to follow:
"Let's go. Breakfast will lose its flavor if it gets cold."
Dai Chengfeng followed behind the High Priest. The spiral staircase creaked softly underfoot, the wooden steps groaning faintly in the quiet morning air, each sound piercingly clear.
As he descended, the faint hum of conversation and clinking of utensils from the dining hall grew louder.
He could even distinguish Ning Rongrong's distinctive, slightly coquettish laughter. Right now, that laughter sounded to him like a death knell.
He took a deep breath, rapidly calculating strategies in his mind.
Finally, Dai Chengfeng decided to bite the bullet, facing whatever came his way while figuring out how to rein in Ning Rongrong—the "unstable factor."
Finally, he stepped through the threshold of the dining hall.
In the sunlit dining room, several people were already seated at the long table. For a moment, the scene seemed frozen.
Zhu Zhuqing sat near the window. The morning light bathed her cold profile in a soft glow, yet it couldn't dispel the chill in her brows.
In front of her was only a glass of water and a few slices of fruit. She sat upright, her posture rigid, chewing slowly and deliberately avoiding eye contact. An aura of icy detachment surrounded her, as if she carried her own absolute-zero field.
When Dai Chengfeng entered, she didn't even bat an eyelid, completely ignoring him as if he were invisible.
But the slight tension in her jawline betrayed that she was not entirely unaware.
Hu Liena sat diagonally across from Zhu Zhuqing, in a position where she could observe the entire room without directly facing Zhu Zhuqing.
She lazily stirred her warm milk with a small silver spoon. Today, she had changed into warm-toned casual attire, which accentuated her snow-white skin. Her naturally bewitching gaze danced with mischief.
When she saw Dai Chengfeng, she raised her eyes slightly, her lips curving into an ambiguous smile. Her gaze was complex—part teasing, part probing.
She didn't speak either, merely watching Dai Chengfeng calmly, waiting for his next move.
And Ning Rongrong, who thrived on chaos, sat next to Hu Liena, leaning close and whispering something conspiratorially. As she spoke, she glanced slyly at Dai Chengfeng, her face brimming with the smug satisfaction of someone watching a well-executed plan unfold.
When she noticed Dai Chengfeng looking at her, she even blinked her large, innocent eyes before quickly turning back to Hu Liena, continuing their "secret" conversation…
This, undoubtedly, was pouring oil on the fire.
Seeing this, Dai Chengfeng cleared his throat awkwardly: "G-good morning, everyone."
The response he received was an even more suffocating silence.
Only the faint clinking of silverware against porcelain plates broke the eerie quiet, making the silence feel all the more unnatural.
Zhu Zhuqing still didn't look at him, treating him as if he were air.
Hu Liena let out a barely audible hum through her nose, continuing to stir her milk with elegant movements.
Ning Rongrong, however, acted as if she had just noticed him. In a voice sweet enough to make one gag, she shattered the silence:
"Good morning, Brother Dai~"
She deliberately elongated the last syllable, then added seemingly offhandedly: "Did you sleep well last night? We were so worried about you!"
Instantly, Dai Chengfeng felt the temperature drop sharply around Zhu Zhuqing, as if frost were forming on the windows. Her fingers tightened slightly around her water glass.
Hu Liena's stirring motion also paused imperceptibly for half a second, the ambiguous curve of her lips deepening.
In his mind, Dai Chengfeng had already beaten Ning Rongrong a hundred times. But outwardly, he could only maintain an awkward yet polite smile, his facial muscles stiff:
"It… it was fine, Rongrong. What about you?"
He tried to shift the focus.
"What about me?"
Ning Rongrong tilted her head, feigning complete innocence: "I slept like a baby!"
"At first, though, I heard some noise coming from your room—I thought there might be a thief! I was so scared I couldn't sleep at all."
As she spoke, she patted her chest dramatically, pretending to be frightened, but the mischievous glint in her eyes was impossible to miss.
"Later, I thought maybe it was just the wind moving something? Right, Brother Dai?"
Dai Chengfeng: "…."
He now deeply regretted not gagging this little troublemaker last night.
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