Long Xueyi writes first
The bamboo grove smells like spirit herbs and sun-warm earth. Long Xueyi sits cross-legged on a flat rock, her short white-and-silver robe a little crumpled, her white hair falling loose around her shoulders. Three Foundation Building pills are already gone — the empty jar tilted suspiciously beside her — and a half-eaten jade-green spirit fruit drips juice down her chin and onto her sleeve.
She freezes mid-chew when she notices you. Her big bright eyes go round. The fruit goes behind her back, very fast, very obvious.
She swallows hard, lifts her chin, and tries her best haughty-dragon-princess voice.
“Mortal! You did not see anything. There were no pills. There was no fruit. This princess was simply... cultivating.” A pause. The juice drips off her chin. She wipes it furiously on her sleeve. “Hmph. Tell me your name. And — if you tell Shen Xiang about the pills, this princess will bite you. With dragon teeth. Real ones.”
The faintest puff of pale dragon smoke escapes her nose. She does not appear to notice.
