I watched as a police car drove away from `Sound of Twilight' and saw a middle-aged couple with sorrowful faces, supporting each other as they walked out of the shop. The wife seemed unwilling to give up on something, trying to return to the store, but her husband dragged her away. In the end, they got into the car, looking downcast, and drove off in silence.

  Mu was a smart woman. The moment I first saw her, her eyes told me this fact.

  No one′s eyes had ever been so beautifully green, so captivating. Beneath long, dense eyeshes, they shimmered with not just the gaze of a living person but with a vibrant green that could only be born from the union of earth and sky. The longer I stared, the more it felt as if that gaze could seep seamlessly into my body and consciousness.

  Wisdom can′t be faked. Mu′s eyes gave form to wisdom in a way I′d never seen before.

  I didn′t even ask about the police car or the couple, but she was already smiling and pouring me a gss of juice, casually expining, “I heard there have been several disappearances recently, and they have been here a few times.”

  She spoke so naturally, as though reciting a weather report.

  I held the orange juice, swirling it like red wine, not intending to drink it. The color was beautiful, much like the shop′s decor—rich, uniform hues with dark green tones. It was elegant yet had a stubborn, grounded feel. The furnishings, from the tables and chairs to the mps, were all either round or square, simple and straightforward, with only the tassels on the tablecloth adding a touch of pyfulness. This pce cked any charm for children, yet it had its own quiet allure.

  The most striking thing was that the dessert counter, which should have been the highlight, only occupied a small, inconspicuous corner of the shop. A few sticks of red, yellow, blue, and green cotton candy swayed slightly in the occasional breeze, lonely and out of pce. Compared to my `Endless′, this pce felt too desote.

  To have lost business to such a competitor was hard to accept.

  “If it were anyone else, facing those people," I put down the orange juice and looked at her approvingly, "they would have panicked.”

  “The missing children did indeed visit my shop before they disappeared. But after buying something, they left. No matter how many people come, my answer remains the same,” Mu said calmly, then gnced at my untouched juice. “What, Miss Sha Luo, don′t you like the juice?”

  “I prefer tea,” I replied with a smile, setting the cup down. “But the color of your juice is lovely.”

  Yes, the color of the juice is beautiful, but nothing here is as beautiful as the view in front of me. I rarely admire the beauty of a same-sex person from the bottom of my heart, but apart from the Snow-Cd Fairy from years ago, Mu is the second. I appreciate women who, with the simplest accessories and the most casual style, exude the most captivating charm and elegance. This is far superior to the deliberate beauty produced by intricate craftsmanship, and it's much easier to remember and cherish in your heart.

  Mu's outfit is simply a light green knitted long dress, tied with a thin waist belt. On her white ft shoes, a small section of her snow-white ankle is slightly visible, with a red fine string tied around it, at the end of which hangs a small, inconspicuous green pendant, complementing her perfect skin and making it appear delicate and adorable. Mu's long hair is casually tied at the back of her head in a way that can't quite be described, like a half-open rose. A dried flower hairpin is pced in her hair in a charming way, and her every movement carries the pure and refreshing aura of the mountains and forests.

  Such a woman sitting in front of me with a smile that carries a hint of indifference is hard not to be attracted to.

  If I were a man, perhaps I would fall in love with her at first sight.

  I feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity with her, along with a desire to be close to her. This is a strange change for me, someone who is usually cold and indifferent to people I meet for the first time.

  This woman, however, is a competitor trying to take my business, yet I have no intention of cshing with her.

  We continued chatting casually. She said she was new to the area and had passed by my shop before; she even bought some desserts. She also heard there was a beautiful female owner at my shop, but unfortunately, when she came, I wasn't there. Only a skinny guy like a bamboo pole and a round, ball-like fat man were busy in the shop, both of them fighting to pack her desserts, and the skinny guy even shamelessly asked for her phone number.

  Is it different here?

  "Ah... my two assistants are always very enthusiastic with customers," I said with a smile, though inwardly, I was plotting how to dock the pay of Pang Zi and Shou Zi, using the excuse of damaging the store's image.

  "Especially with female customers, right?" She ughed softly, covering her mouth, looking charming and coquettish. "But your desserts really do taste great. That's why I thought about opening a dessert shop as well. Though there are still many desserts I don't know how to make, it seems my cotton candy is quite popur with the kids."

  "Heh, well, it seems your cotton candy has stolen all my customers." I jokingly remarked, letting my seemingly casual gaze wander around her shop.

  I, of course, knew that this couldn't be an ordinary cotton candy shop, and I also knew that the beautiful woman in front of me, named Mu, couldn't possibly be an ordinary person, even though she was making a conscious effort to appear so.

  I couldn't see through Mu. She shouldn't be a yaokai, as with my level of cultivation, I could instantly detect the unique scent they carry, no matter how old the creature was.

  The so-called "Yaokainic aura" is a mark that Yaokais can't shed throughout their lives. But I didn't detect any suspicious odor from Mu. Yet, instinctively, she didn't seem like an ordinary human being.

  As I continued chatting with her, I didn't find anything particurly unusual in the shop, except for a book titled On the Harm of Provincial Military Governors pced on the table next to us, which piqued my interest.

  "Do you like these rather dry historical research books?" I pointed at the well-worn paperback, "I thought you would prefer something by Eileen Chang or Zhang Xiaoxian."

  "So-called provincial kings are nothing but treacherous ministers, to be removed in order to prevent future troubles. Do you really think it's like that?"

  She actually asked me such a question.

  Although I am a yaokai who has lived for many, many years and have heard of the rise of the provincial military governors after the An-Shi Rebellion, at that time, I had no awareness of such national affairs. I couldn't answer Mu's question.

  "Why don't they say that the provincial kings were clearly defending the border for the emperor, solving problems and easing burdens? If a foolish emperor is in power, what′s wrong with the provincial king taking over?" Mu's tone became noticeably more urgent, as if she were arguing with someone.

  What a strange woman, in an instant, turning a casual conversation into a heavy debate on historical matters.

  Could it be that she's yet another bookish woman, someone who has read so much that she's transformed herself into a type of intellectual, artistic, and rebellious figure beyond normal thinking?

  "But that still doesn't matter. That′s all history from a thousand years ago," I said, not intending to discuss these old matters that had long been buried under the dust of time.

  She smiled; the warmth of her smile was very faint: "Not everything is in the past."

  I thought it was time for me to leave.

  It was clear that, during this first meeting, she was probing me, and I was probing her.

  Two sides preparing for battle, with time on our side.

  "You′re really beautiful," Mu suddenly said as I was about to stand up to leave, her eyes fixed seriously on my face.

  As our gazes met, my eyes drifted past her stunningly beautiful eyes, while hers moved from my face down to my wrist. After a long pause, she smiled coldly and said, "The 24k gold dragon-patterned peace bangle... I′ve heard that the owner of your shop treasures gold above all else. Seems like that′s true."

  My gaze shifted back to the small bangle of pure gold on my wrist, deliberately shaking it to make a soft jingling sound. "I also like cash," I replied.

  "Hehe, take care," Mu waved at me as I turned to leave.