The older maid stationed not far from the hot spring pool lifted the communicator on her wrist, murmured a few responses in a low voice, and her expression shifted slightly.
She quickly walked to the edge of the pool, bent down respectfully, and spoke with a hint of uncertainty in her voice: “Miss Xi, someone… someone has arrived downstairs. You’ll need to go see them.”
Mu Xi slowly opened her eyes, droplets of water rolling down her long lashes.
Someone’s here?
Is Ye Lan back?
No, if it were Ye Lan, these two maids wouldn’t react like this. They’d be more tense, or excited.
“Who is it?” she asked softly, her voice carrying the lazy, misty quality of someone just emerging from the water.
“I… I don’t know,” the maid hesitated, as if weighing her words, “but the visitor is a very elegant lady. She said… she’s an old acquaintance of yours.”
An old acquaintance?
In this Stone City?
A flicker of doubt passed through Mu Xi’s mind.
Most of the people she knew had either disappeared or died. How could someone show up here?
And more than that, someone Ye Lan would allow into the Silent Language Building…
“I understand.” Mu Xi didn’t ask further, rising from the water.
Fine droplets traced along her fair, smooth skin, catching the afternoon sunlight and refracting into faint halos of light.
The younger maid hurried forward, wrapping her supple figure in a soft, clean bath towel.
After changing into a comfortable set of loungewear, Mu Xi briefly dried her damp long hair and let it cascade loose over her shoulders.
She didn’t bother with much grooming, simply keeping her strikingly beautiful face bare and natural as she followed the maid downstairs.
The metal staircase echoed softly beneath each step, each one carrying a hint of uncertainty. She truly couldn’t imagine who would come to this place at this time.
When she reached the living room on the first floor, Mu Xi’s footsteps halted.
In the spacious living room, besides the two maids standing respectfully at attention, there stood a figure who was both familiar and somewhat strange.
The person had her back to the staircase, her head slightly tilted as if studying the room’s furnishings.
Her posture was straight and elegant. Even in a sharply tailored pair of dark trousers and a matching fitted jacket, the graceful curves beneath were impossible to hide.
Her lustrous black hair was swept up meticulously, revealing a graceful neck as smooth and fair as polished jade.
Even just a glimpse of her back exuded an indescribable air of coolness and nobility.
Hearing the footsteps, the figure slowly turned around.
“Teacher Ling Yue?” Mu Xi’s eyes widened slightly, her clear pupils filled with surprise.
The woman before her was none other than Ling Yue.
Her beauty remained breathtaking—brows like distant mountains, eyes like autumn waters, a delicate nose and rosy lips, skin fairer than snow. Her features were as exquisite as a painting, yet carried an innate sharp, heroic aura that made others hesitant to approach.
However, her style of dress today was completely different from the classical beauty in Mu Xi’s memory who loved wearing all sorts of qipaos, accentuating the ultimate oriental charm.
Now, she looked more like a capable, cold-eyed professional—less soft and alluring, more distant and commanding.
But no matter how she changed, that unique temperament, that icy aloofness that seemed to keep everyone at arm’s length—that was still Ling Yue.
What surprised Mu Xi even more was that in the corner of the living room, there was actually a brand new black grand piano!
Several large crates were stacked nearby, their shapes suggesting musical instruments and music sheets.
A world-class vocal teacher, indeed—no matter where she went, she could never be separated from her treasures.
“Mu Xi.”
Ling Yue looked at her, her gaze still calm and unruffled, but the corner of her lips curved upward almost imperceptibly, and the icy, snowy aura around her seemed to melt just a little. “Seems like you’ve been living well here.”
Mu Xi froze for a moment, then quickly stepped forward. Without caring about anything else, she opened her arms and hugged Ling Yue directly.
“Teacher Ling Yue! It really is you! I’ve missed you so much!” Her voice carried a faint hint of choking emotion.
In this cold, unfamiliar place, being able to see someone who had genuinely been kind to her—even if only for a brief time—was enough to move her deeply.
Back when she was under Ye Lan’s imprisonment, it was Teacher Ling Yue who had quietly taught her music, trying to soothe her pain through song, and had even considered taking her away.
Though things had gone awry in the end, Mu Xi had always kept that kindness in her heart.
Ling Yue’s body seemed to stiffen for a brief moment, then she gently raised a hand and patted Mu Xi’s back.
Her movements were a little awkward, carrying a restraint born of unfamiliarity, but the warmth radiating from her palm was real.
“Mm. I… missed you too.” Ling Yue’s voice was soft, carrying a unique rhythmic quality, like she was humming a melody. “Seeing that you’re safe, I can rest easy now.”
Mu Xi pulled back and studied Ling Yue carefully.
She noticed that Ling Yue had grown thinner, and her gaze was deeper and harder to read than before.
“Teacher, why are you here? Did Ye Lan send for you?” Mu Xi asked with some hesitation.
Ling Yue nodded slightly, her gaze sweeping across the living room before finally settling on Mu Xi’s delicate face. “I plan to settle down in Stone City. There are some matters here that need handling.”
Settle down? In Stone City? Mu Xi was even more surprised. Someone like Teacher Ling Yue—why would she choose to come to a place like this?
“And then?” Mu Xi pressed.
“And then, I heard you were here,” Ling Yue said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, as if discussing the most ordinary thing in the world. “So I mentioned it to Ye Lan, saying I wanted to come see you. She said that since I’d be staying in Stone City for a while, I might as well live here—that way, I could also look after you.”
When she said the words “look after you,” Ling Yue’s gaze seemed to linger on Mu Xi’s fair, slender fingers for just a moment—so brief it was nearly impossible to catch.
Mu Xi was completely stunned.
Ye Lan… actually agreed?
Agreed to let Teacher Ling Yue stay in the Silent Language Building?
In Mu Xi’s understanding, Ye Lan’s possessiveness over her bordered on pathological.
This Silent Language Building, though named for silence, was in reality more like a closed, utterly private space that Ye Lan had created for the two of them.
Aside from Ye Lan’s trusted personal guards and these two rigorously selected maids, she allowed no one else to set foot here—let alone stay overnight.
She had thought that, in Ye Lan’s heart, this place was their “little home,” somewhere no outsider was permitted to disturb.
But now, not only had Ye Lan allowed Ling Yue inside, she’d even invited her to live here?
All for the convenience of looking after her?
What exactly was Ye Lan thinking?
Could she truly be comfortable with Ling Yue and her being together day in and day out?
Wasn’t she afraid… afraid that Teacher Ling Yue might harbor some ulterior motive? Or did Ye Lan have absolute trust in Ling Yue?
Mu Xi recalled that Ye Lan and Nan Qiao had once been close friends and allies. Could it be that between Ling Yue and Ye Lan, there was also a deep relationship that outsiders knew nothing about?
Or was this yet another one of Ye Lan’s new games?
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Mu Xi’s mind, layering the joy of reuniting with an old friend under a complicated, hard-to-articulate emotion.
She looked at the music teacher before her, whose cold, refined temperament remained unchanged yet somehow seemed to carry something new, and suddenly felt that things weren’t quite so simple.
“So… Teacher will be living here from now on?” Mu Xi confirmed softly, her heart a tangled mix of emotions.
Ling Yue nodded, her gaze shifting to the piano. “Mm. Ye Lan had someone move all my things over. In the future, if you ever feel bored, I can continue teaching you piano, or we can do other things.”
Her tone was perfectly calm, but that final phrase—”other things”—made Mu Xi’s heart skip an inexplicable beat.