After watching the back of her daughter leading the horse disappear around the corner of the corridor, Yigfei walked briskly along the bluestone paved walkway. Walking through the long verandah and a few small doors, he met two guards patrolling with kerosene lamps at the entrance of the courtyard where he and his wife lived.

The bright moonlight shone obliquely into the spacious rectangular courtyard, sprinkled on the canopy of the wooden hydrangea tree in the corner, and the clusters of wood hydrangeas in full bloom were at the end of their flowering, and the rich sweet fragrance had a subtle hint of rottenness.

Igfi bypassed the pool behind the house and pushed the door in.

In the middle of the room, four pot-bellied glass kerosene lamps above the large desk glowed red, and the wife under the lamp unfolded a scroll of paper in her hands and looked intently, and Igfi noticed that her brows were furrowed.

Seeing her husband walk in, the golden-leaved witch threw the scroll of paper in her hand on the large desk and complained with a little anger, "Look what this is!" Does Moren Gin really think that I should stay in the Contributor Hall in the Hot Spring Temple in this way?! ”

Igfi walked over to the table and flattened the scroll of paper to see that it was a portrait of his wife. Unlike most of the portraits in front of the shrine shrine in the Contributor Hall, the Golden Leaf Shrine is not in a solemn and noble sitting posture in the painting. She stepped forward with her left foot, her left leg slightly bent, her right leg stretched straight back, and her right hand with a huge purple power ring held a cold dagger horizontally, pointing diagonally forward, which was an attack posture. The golden-leafed witch's long black hair was draped over her shoulders and blended with the luxurious black spotted fur cloak on her body, and a long sword with gems hanging from her waist flipped the corner of the black cape, revealing the scarlet silk lining inside, echoing the bright red silk skirt she was wearing, and the murderous aura broke out of the paper. The shrine maiden's eyebrows were raised upward, her eyes exuding an aggressive momentum, and her thin red lips were pursed into a straight line and there was a strange upturn at the corners of her mouth, as if mocking the insignificance of her opponent. The artist's portrayal of the shrine maiden's facial expression conveys his opinion more unmistakably, and it is not so much that the current lord of the hot spring hall is the shrine maiden of the main shrine of the five islands of mercy, but that she is a majestic military commander who wants to become a hegemon.

In the lower right corner of the portrait, Igfi's finger swept over the signature of Molun Gin, the No. 1 painter in Goto, who had worked for decades in the temple and had also been a teacher of his wife's art class. However, since stepping down from his teaching position in the Golden Crow, he has retreated to his birthplace on Poseidon Island, and has not heard of any work coming out for many years. Why did he take the initiative to paint a niche portrait for his wife? Igfi pondered. Is it just because the tomb shrine of the former hot spring hall lord Wind Blade Chongzi Witch seems to have been painted by him? Judging from the painting he sent that does not match his temperament, it seems that it is not so simple.

"This is the second portrait he has sent." The golden-leafed witch stirred a lock of her hair irritably, "A painting sent half a year ago is even darker than this one, and the dagger in my hand even has blood dripping on it, and there are blood-colored battle flags and countless soldiers painted in the background!" I sent the painting back to the address he had written, thanked him, and informed him that I had no plans to build a shrine at this time. With the old fellow's shrewdness, he would immediately understand that I was rejecting him. Who knew that a new one was sent yesterday! ”

"Are you sure you made your rejection clear in your reply?" "Could it be that you were drinking and writing something that the gin painter misunderstood?" ”

The Golden Leaf Witch was slightly stunned, and then denied: "Why do I drink when I reply to the letter?" I do have a drink before bed, but that's about it. ”

Igfi looked at his wife and smiled slightly, and the golden-leaved shrine maiden also smiled a little embarrassedly. Neither of them said anything about it. They know each other too well. The husband knows that his wife is under a lot of pressure due to her busy schedule, so he just reminds her point-to-point. The wife feels her husband's concern, but she does not want to admit it, lest he worry about her.

"Although it is still too early to build a shrine, it is necessary to determine a portrait." Igfi said as he folded the portrait on the table, intending to burn it. "Before you, there were a number of hot spring hall lords who began to search for portraits of painters when they first entered the main shrine. After all, everyone hopes that when they climb the Tranquility Mountain in a hundred years, they will be left in the contributor hall with the appearance of their youth and beauty. I would write a letter to the gin painter and tell him that the Lord of the Hot Springs had instructed me to do both of these tasks. Although he is my senior, there is no one else on these five islands who knows better than me how to portray your best look. I'm sure he'll agree with that. ”

Jin Ye pulled her husband's arm and leaned on it, "What did you look like when you were young and beautiful?" At its best? She sighed softly, "Do you remember?" Even though I'm ...... now"

"You're already a high-ranking hot spring hall?" Igfi didn't wait for his wife to finish before taking over. "No matter when, you will always be that beautiful little witch in my heart!"

Her husband's love made the irritability in the heart of the Golden Leaf Shrine Maiden disappear, and he could always do it easily.

"Afei, are you going to leave early tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, aboard the Deer Leap, which set sail first. The project of the Thousand Gods Temple can't be delayed any longer, and I'm squeezing the time to come back this time. ”

The Golden Leaf Shrine Maiden nodded, she understood the urgency and irreplaceability of her husband's work.

"Then I'll see you off at the port tomorrow morning."

Igofi leaned over to stare at his wife, who was leaning on her arm, her eyes closed, a slight smile on her lips, but the momentary relaxation could not hide the deep tiredness on her face, and there were heavy dark circles under her eyelashes, and Igofi could see the veins in her temples beating suddenly.

Yesterday's prayer for rain must have exhausted her strength, she was too tired.

"Don't send me, that's too early. Get a good night's sleep. Cheng Jiao said that Poria will arrive tomorrow morning, and it will not be too late for you to get up at that time. ”

The wife did not answer, her breathing became heavy, and she was already asleep.

Igfi had planned to tell his wife more about her daughter. Although he is not at the center of the power vortex like Jin Ye, he can clearly feel that after the "Night of the Bloody Eyes", the open and secret battles between the various forces have become more intense. He was particularly worried about Shuran Blade, an old man who held two important positions as the head of the Kinwu Temple and the head of the head temple of Goto Wanyi Temple, and was the descendant of the "Face God Four" center Dysprosy Purple Dye. He was of noble birth and held great power. When his wife was still a student in the Golden Crow Academy, he was already serving as the head of the academy there. Igofi had heard many rumors about his relationship with his predecessor, Wind Blade Chongzi, the Lord of the Hot Spring Palace, and there was even a theory that the dead beloved son of Wind Blade Chongzi was actually the son of the head of the Dyeing Academy. The credibility of the gossip is low, and of course Igofi knows this, but it is true that the relationship between the head of the Dyeing Institute and the new hot spring hall from a humble background has been delicate and tense since the previous hot spring hall retired to the Eternal Forest. It was impossible for the head of the courtyard not to know that the only daughter of the Golden Leaf Shrine Maiden was about to go to the Golden Crow, but he never said anything. Igfi was apprehensive about the disguised peace, and he decided that it was not the right choice for his daughter to go incognito to the Golden Crow Temple under such circumstances. However, his wife said "The identity of an ordinary student of Jinwu Academy is the safest for Cheng Jiao", and passed by lightly.

Taking a step back, even if the battle between the various forces does not involve the students of the highest academic institution in the Goto Islands for the time being, Igfi has another concern, the daughter of Lord Tsunakuden, Hades King Hikari Saraka. The child's tragic experience was distressing, but it was not a tragedy for her alone or her parents' family, but a great event that shocked the entire Shenlu, and the gods had responded on the night of the Bloody Eye. But as far as Igofi knew, she had been haunted by the death of her father and brother. Ah Hunt is Cheng Jiao's best friend, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are like sisters, from childhood to adulthood, no matter what happens, the two have always advanced and retreated together. Ige Fei feared that the girl's paranoia would have a bad effect on Cheng Jiao. As for his worries, his wife thinks that it is too much protection, "She has grown up, she is no longer a little girl who has to consult us for everything, let her make her own decisions." She even teasingly asked, "What would it be like if we all grew up according to our parents' wishes?" Have you thought about it? He understood what his wife meant, but he couldn't let go.

How can it be true for daughters, but not for wives? Bidding farewell to his father at Wanji Temple today made him more deeply aware of the inseparable bond between his family and blood relatives.

He carefully picked up his wife and carried her to the back bedroom. After gently helping his wife take off his shoes and socks, he fumbled at the foot of the bed and found wine bottles on the left and right sides of the bed. As the daughter said, a large bottle of Golden Bead Storm Spirits has bottomed out, and the other bottle is still full. Igfi thought about it for a long time, but still put the two bottles back in their place. The Thousand Eyes Temple of the Isle of Mars is my last work, and after it is finished, I will return to my wife and daughter anyway and never leave. He swore in his heart.

Covering his wife with a thin silk quilt, he returned to the antechamber and sat down at his desk to begin writing letters to Muron Gin.