Ning Chen shook his head, still puzzling over what had just happened to him.

Had he worn himself out working too hard last night?

Or was this some aftereffect the Yin-Yang Gu had left behind?

Ning Chen looked at Feng Qizheng. "What were you saying just now?"

Feng Qizheng pointed behind him. "The High Priestess is here!"

Ning Chen looked back. The High Priestess was standing behind him, pretty as a picture in her hundred-families robe.

He'd heard from Prince Qing that what the High Priestess wore was called a vow-robe. It was a Yuliu clan tradition: every unmarried girl wore one.

The meaning behind it was actually pretty nice.

First, it was to teach a girl to respect herself and be virtuous in both character and conduct.

Second, it was the clan's blessing on her—a wish for good health and a good husband someday.

In plain words, it was a hundred-families robe.

An ordinary Yuliu girl's had nowhere near a hundred families in it. A dozen or so was enough.

But the High Priestess was different. Every married woman in the whole Yuliu clan had added a stitch to her vow-robe.

A Yuliu girl only took off her vow-robe once she'd found the man of her dreams, just before the wedding.

Ning Chen nodded to the High Priestess in greeting.

He didn't know who the High Priestess had come to see, so he didn't go over to make small talk. Besides, the two of them weren't exactly close... The only things about her that had stuck with him were her sizable figure and the fact that she'd given him his first taste of what deep throat felt like.

The High Priestess hadn't brought her tiger-headed staff today. She walked lightly up to Ning Chen, felt around in her cloth bag, took out a small sandalwood box and handed it to him.

Ning Chen asked curiously, "What's this?"

"Ice-chill grass, for the yin gu... Don't feed it too much. Once every three days, about half a fingernail's worth each time."

Ning Chen gave a slight nod and took the little…