One by one, the seats inside the Grand Hall were occupied as the monarchs from different clans arrived for the scheduled meeting. Most were having a chat with the person next to them while waiting for everyone's arrival. There were now only five seats left unoccupied.

Finally, Feng Jiu arrived with her uncle Bai Zhen and proceeded to their assigned spots. On their way, they received greetings from different leaders, which they politely returned.

After almost a three-minute walk, Feng Jiu and Bai Zhen sat comfortably in their seats. The former decided to scan around the area and find out who else was not yet here. She first noticed the vacant space across the hall, which was the usual seat of the female monarch of the Owl clan, then up the high level was Tianjun's, and finally Dong Hua's.

"It's most likely that he won't come again," Feng Jiu mumbled to herself while staring at the vacant seat meant for the former emperor.

"You were saying something, Xiao Jiu?" her uncle asked.

She immediately shook her head. "Nothing, uncle. I was just mumbling."

However, for some unknown reason, she felt restless while waiting. She pondered: What made today's meeting different from the previous ones she attended in the past years? Stressed with all the thinking, she let out a sigh.

"You've been sighing a lot today, Xiao Jiu. Tell me, what's stressing you?" Her uncle asked in a comforting tone.

Feng Jiu debated whether to tell the truth or to make up hogwash. But she decided that lying would only waste her brain energy.

She leaned in to whisper to her uncle. "He won't be here, right?" she asked.

Bai Zhen noticed the emphasis and immediately understood what his niece meant. He subtly looked around; he did not see any retainers who were usually in the venue before the arrival of the person Feng Jiu was talking about.

He leaned and whispered, "I think he won't be coming today. Zhong Lin, who usually comes early to make sure things are in order for his master, is not yet here."

A slight frown appeared on her face. "How'd you know that, Uncle?"

Bai Zhen was about to reply when an immortal announced the arrival of Tianjun and Dong Hua Dijun.

"Great," Feng Jiu muttered internally.

All the immortals immediately stood up from their seats to bow and give their greetings.

Feng Jiu did her best to calm herself by taking subtle, deep breaths. Her emotions were currently a bit erratic at the arrival of that unexpected person. But the past four years somehow trained her to appear nonchalant when circumstances required it. Now is that time.

They all then sat down afterward. The assembly started with the meeting agenda and was then followed by the different presentations of the topics by the involved monarchs. Feng Jiu willed herself not to glance at Dong Hua to avoid her composure being shattered. So she tried her best to focus her attention on the speakers, even when listening to them started to get boring.

The king of the Horse Clan was in the middle of his speech about the problems brought by drought in a particular region of their territory when one of Heavenly Clan's senior retainers went to Tianjun's side.

The said immortal tried to mask his worried state, but his eyes gave him away. He went to whisper something to Tianjun. After a few words, a frown appeared on the latter's face. The speech of the Horse Clan King abruptly ended when he noticed the interaction.

The two Bais, seated right next to each other, were also wondering what the growing commotion was about. Feng Jiu gave her uncle a questioning look, but Bai Zhen slightly shook his head to indicate that he also doesn't know what's going on.

Her eyes then wandered off in Dong Hua's direction to get an idea of what was happening. The former emperor remained stoic. For those who don't know him that well, it would appear that he seemed disinterested in the potential issue. But after years of knowing Dong Hua, she knows he can hear what the retainer said to Tianjun, and he is probably coming up with possible alternatives to address the problem.

After a few more moments, Tianjun finally stood up from his seat. All eyes were on him, anticipating the next announcement. "I apologize, but an urgent matter needs to be taken care of at the moment. This meeting will come to a recess and will be recontinued tomorrow. The guest courtyards are ready to accommodate everyone for this sudden change of plans. Thank you," he said.

The room buzzed with murmurs after hearing the statement.

"That was bizarre," Feng Jiu said.

Bai Zhen nodded. "I think we'll have to temporarily stay in Xu Yi Palace with Qian Qian and Xiao Jiu. Hopefully, by tomorrow, they'll be able to provide us with some explanation." Since there was no other choice, Feng Jiu agreed with her uncle.

Tianjun finally left in a clear mist, and this prompted Feng Jiu to look at Dong Hua's seat.

She was surprised to see that he was still there. But he finally stood up from his seat a few seconds later and was about to leave when his eyes met hers.

Dong Hua was now looking in her direction. She can't explain the emotions she saw in those beautiful eyes. She wanted to know more, but he suddenly vanished into thin air.

"What the hell was that about?" She asked herself as that brief, unexpected interaction with Dong Hua left her very confused.

She expected him to be indifferent toward her when they met. But the emotions in his eyes a while ago told her otherwise. What prompted him to have those emotions? Wasn't he stoic just moments before?

She was so lost in her inner ramblings when she finally felt the tap on her shoulder. She turned to look at her uncle. "Yes, Uncle?"

Bai Zhen had a worried look on his face. "I called your name earlier, but you were so lost somewhere. Then I followed your gaze and noticed that you were staring at Dong Hua Dijun." He paused for a while. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Sorry, Uncle. That was nothing." She tried to move away from the topic. She looked around, and everyone was already preparing to leave.

But Bai Zhen was intent on knowing what had been troubling his niece since she seemed so disoriented today. "That was definitely not nothing. Dijun's eyes said otherwise."

"You also saw that?" So she didn't imagine things earlier.

"I did, which was strange since I believe this is the first time you've seen each other face-to-face after a long time," he replied, still in a quiet voice that was only enough for both their ears to hear.

They began to slowly walk out of the grand hall.

"It was, Uncle. But I think it has something to do with the urgent matter that Tianjun talked about earlier." She tried to dismiss the unnecessary thoughts that clouded her mind.

"Maybe, or maybe not," he silently replied, sensing that she didn't want to go on with the conversation anymore.

But inside Feng Jiu's head, curious questions started to loom.

What the hell was that?

---

It was already nighttime. The Bais just finished their dinner and were currently in the sitting area to pass the time before they went to sleep for the night. Feng Jiu was the first one to break the silence.

"Gugu, do you have an idea about the trouble that required Tianjun's attention today? His sudden departure was peculiar. Even Uncle said that he never saw it happen again until today." She asked and looked at her aunt with inquiring eyes.

Bai Qian, who was sipping her tea, paused before she glanced her niece's way. "I haven't heard anything from Ye Hua yet. I'm also uncertain how big the problem is, but I heard that even Shifu had to come today."

"Mo Yuan came all the way here for that problem?" Bai Zhen asked.

Bai Qian finished her cup before she replied to her brother. "I'm not sure how accurate that is since Nai Nai only heard this from another servant."

Then it must be a big problem, because why would High God Mo Yuan bother to come to Jiuchongtian if it wasn't worthy of his presence? Feng Jiu remarked before turning her attention to her uncle. "Did High God Zheyan tell you anything, Uncle? Or probably grandfather did?" She asked.

However, Bai Zhen shook his head. "No, I haven't received any word from them either. But I think it's ideal that we stop worrying and patiently wait for tomorrow to come to hear the answers we all wanted."

Bai Qian agreed with him. But Feng Jiu's mind just can't easily let the topic go. So, she decided to take a walk out to breathe some fresh air and calm her thoughts. She said goodbye and good night to her aunt and uncle before she left.

She was already pretty far away from the Xu Yi Palace, and she had only encountered three immortals so far, which made her happy. "Walking in silence really does calm one's mind," Feng Jiu said as her eyes wandered around her surroundings. The growing joy inside her heart made her lightly squeeze the cloud-stuffed trinket her aunt gave her this evening.

It was already pretty dark outside, but considering that she's in Jiuchongtian, security shouldn't be an issue since there are guards at every main entrance. She continued to quietly walk until she reached the only public garden on the 34th level.

She sat down on the flat stone, which looked pretty decent for a seat. While enjoying the silence, she noticed the few Tan Hua flowers that surrounded the garden. They were magnificent to look at, as the night emphasized their beauty.

Feng Jiu was finally at peace.

However, her momentary solitude was interrupted when a sudden light on her right side appeared. She instantly stood up and was alarmed at the unexpected appearance of intense light from the pond.

"What is this?" She slightly panicked as trouble seemed to have found her once more.

As the seconds went by, her feet drew her closer to the pond, as if hypnotized by the light. Feng Jiu even unconsciously dropped her trinket on the ground. Then, silence reigned once more as the sole visitor to the garden disappeared in the bright gleam.