The entire lobby was silent. Even the birds ceased their song.

The white-robed elder’s mind buzzed. He felt as if someone had whacked him over the head.

How could someone as venerable as Elder Shui treat some foreign yao woman with such respect?

The other prominent figures in attendance were all wondering the same thing. All of them subconsciously looked at Bai Wenqing. Each felt differently, but all of them were trying to guess just who this elegant beauty was.

Bai Wenqing felt bewildered too. She instinctively asked, “Senior, have you perhaps mistaken me for someone else?”

The gray-robed, black-hatted Elder Shui smiled benevolently in response. “Miss Bai, are you the one who brought that jade pendant?”

“That’s right.” Bai Wenqing nodded. “But it’s my master who entrusted it to me….”

Elder Shui laughed and cut her off here. “There are too many eyes here. Miss Bai, would you be so kind as to follow me for a chat on the top floor’s Cloudmarsh Terrace?”

Bai Wenqing nodded.

The man in ornate robes finally let his confusion get the best of him. He approached, lowered his head, and bowed. “Elder Shui, to the best of my knowledge, this is that woman’s first day in Nine Tripod City. Before this, she didn’t even know the...