Every Step Feels Like Walking on a Knife's Edge

Thinking of this, Grace said, "Steward Qin, here's the thing—I really do know a bit about divination, as you saw, right? I saw blood all around the General, and sure enough, he ran into disaster that day."

"Yeah, exactly!"

"But, you know, divination really drains my spiritual energy. Every time I do it, it takes a chunk out of me—sometimes it takes a month to recover, sometimes two or three." Grace put on a troubled look.

She didn't know Steward Qin at all before—didn't even know what he was about. What was she supposed to divine for him? That'd be total BS!

"Oh, I see..." Steward Qin looked disappointed.

Grace continued, "Plus, divination means peeking at the secrets of heaven. If I'm not careful, I could get hit with backlash, you know? So unless it's a life-or-death situation, I don't do fortune-telling for people."

"Then... then... forget it!" After all that fuss, Steward Qin finally let her off the hook. "Wait here, I'll go get your token!"

Grace let out a sigh of relief and waited there.

Soon enough, Steward Qin came back with the token and handed it to her.

Grace took it, thanked him, and headed outside.

But maybe it was karma for all the scheming she'd done against Evan Xiao—just as she stepped out of Steward Qin's area, she ran right into Evan Xiao.

He'd just come from somewhere, probably the back garden, and Grace bumped straight into him.

"He can't see me, he can't see me, he can't see me..."

"Lily Bai, come with me." Evan Xiao said flatly, heading back to Cold Moon Pavilion.

He saw me! Grace took a deep breath.

At that moment, Grace's mind raced—should she go with him? Run?

If she went with him, her survival odds were maybe twenty percent.

If she ran, she had the token in hand. If she was fast enough, maybe she could escape before Evan Xiao gave the order.

"Lily Bai!"

"Coming!" Evan Xiao called out to her, and she stepped right into that twenty percent chance of survival.

Every step felt like walking on the edge of a knife...

Back in the room, Evan Xiao sat there, expressionless, staring at her. "Speak," he said coldly.

"Speak about what?" Grace looked up at him.

"The incense—where did it come from?" Evan Xiao's face was eerily calm.

Right now, he wasn't angry or icy—just completely emotionless.

But Grace found him scarier than ever.

She decided to tell the truth.

She took out the scraped Mystic Incense from her space, handed it to him, and said, "General, before I came to the General's Manor, my family was dirt poor. Abbess Jing'an at Moonwater Abbey took pity on us and let me help out with cleaning."

"Moonwater Abbey?" Evan Xiao's eyes flickered.

"That incense—I found it in a guest room there. Just a leftover piece," Grace said. "I'd never seen anything like it, so I took it. It smelled amazing and I liked the scent, so I—ah!"

Evan Xiao suddenly grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up. "Lily Bai, tell the truth," he said, word by word.

Grace gasped for air, struggling to pry his hand away. "I'm telling the truth! That incense really did come from the guest wing at Moonwater Abbey! They say some masked lady from out of town left it behind!"

Evan Xiao's brow twitched. He loosened his grip slightly and asked, "Do you know what it is?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't know, but you dared to burn it in my study?"