After finishing his far-from-satisfactory explanation to Zhi Ruo and Qing Lili, Xuan was led away by the servant named Jiapei—a woman who appeared to be in her thirties, but was in reality already over a hundred years old. She was a veteran worker here at the Tower of Flames; one of the first, in fact; so Xuan recognized her clearly, and vice versa.
"Immortal Fairy Huo Fei is waiting for you inside her private chambers," she said as the two stepped onto a special elevator that would take them to the 'real' topmost floor of the Tower—Huo Fei's home. "She has missed you dearly during the year you were gone, so she may act a bit spoiled."
At this, Xuan chuckled. "I don't mind. She's always been like that. But… I was only gone for a year?"
"Yes. Did you expect it to be longer…?"
"Hm… yes, quite so…"
