Sauntering fifteen minutes late, Hong Nian Niang studied the awkward atmosphere in the room and laughed. Without any sense of urgency, she sat beside Yan Ping, chatted leisurely about trivial matters, and laughed at her own jokes even if she had no response or reaction from the three human statues in the room. It did not deter the owner of the Red Pavillion Hotel that her guests were wet blankets. If anything, the social butterfly was such a skilled conversationalist that some people claimed she could make a flower blush its petals off if she wanted to.
After five minutes of putting up with Hong Nian Niang's coquettish behaviour, Yan Ping decided to put her foot down and converge the meeting. Unlike them, she had urgent matters in her sect to attend to. She should have known better than to entrust Anji to them for a month.
"I'll cut to the chase because I have to leave immediately," she announced and even Hong Nian Niang dropped the ditzy act.
