"Where did Jinglin go?" Ren Yaoqi asked softly.
"Silly Girl suddenly ran downstairs just now, and Jinglin went after her, afraid she might cause trouble," Xiao Jingxi replied in a low voice.
Ren Yaoqi wanted to ask why he hadn’t told her, but she swallowed the words before they left her lips.
Ren Yaoqi fell silent, and Xiao Jingxi did the same, simply standing there watching her.
Although the eighth floor of the pagoda was brighter due to the windows, the space felt far from spacious with shelves lining the walls.
Xiao Jingxi stood only half an arm’s length away from Ren Yaoqi, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. After a moment, she averted her gaze to examine the surrounding shelves. "I didn’t look closely earlier. What kind of books are stored here?"
Seizing the opportunity, Ren Yaoqi took two steps to the side, widening the distance between them.
"The eighth floor is all Buddhist scriptures," Xiao Jingxi said quietly, casually pulling a book from the nearest shelf and handing it to Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi took it, opened it, and found it filled with Sanskrit text.
She shook her head, smiling as she returned the book to its place. "I don’t recognize Sanskrit. What about the floors below? Are they also Buddhist scriptures?"
A faint smile touched Xiao Jingxi’s lips. "No, they have all kinds of books. Only this floor is dedicated to Buddhist scriptures."
"Oh."
After these few words, silence settled between them again. Ren Yaoqi felt the air growing stifling. Although their voices echoed slightly in the space, making it seem noisy when they spoke, she instinctively felt it was better not to let the silence linger. So she searched for something to say and continued, "What books are on the ninth floor?"
Xiao Jingxi didn’t answer. Just as Ren Yaoqi was about to look up at him, she heard him say softly, "Let’s go up and see."
Ren Yaoqi thought it would be better to go upstairs and look around rather than waiting here for Xiao Jinglin. Being in the same room with Xiao Jingxi felt awkward—talking was strange, and not talking was equally strange.
"Alright."
Hearing Ren Yaoqi’s reply, Xiao Jingxi led the way toward the stairs. Following behind him, Ren Yaoqi glanced upward and noticed that the ninth floor seemed narrower than the eighth, with steeper and more challenging stairs.
As Xiao Jingxi ascended, he kept an eye on Ren Yaoqi behind him, reminding her to be careful. When she reached the final step, Xiao Jingxi suddenly took her hand and pulled her up.
Ren Yaoqi froze, feeling the warmth of his touch in her palm. A tingling sensation spread from her left hand, as if she had been scalded by something.
Coming back to her senses, Ren Yaoqi immediately tried to pull her hand away, but this time Xiao Jingxi held it firmly, making it impossible for her to free herself. "You..."
Xiao Jingxi seemed not to hear her. He calmly led Ren Yaoqi to the top floor of the pagoda, then turned back to her with a gentle smile. "The top floor is locked."
When Xiao Jingxi smiled, he exuded a unique charm that was impossible to resist. Ren Yaoqi felt her limbs grow weak, forgetting even to struggle. Subconsciously, she glanced at the locked moon gate ahead.Xiao Jingxi held Ren Yaoqi's hand with one hand, while in the palm of his other hand appeared a very ordinary copper key. He inserted the key into the lock on the door with one hand, then paused.
Ren Yaoqi felt a bit dazed. "Can't you open it?"
Xiao Jingxi turned to her and smiled again, continuing in a gentle tone, "Why don't you try opening it?"
If Xiao Jinglin were here at this moment, she would surely have harshly accused Second Young Master Xiao of coaxing—or rather, seducing!
Thinking he couldn’t open it, Ren Yaoqi nodded, then realized her left hand was still held by Xiao Jingxi. She whispered with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, "Let go of me first!"
But Xiao Jingxi remained unmoved, speaking softly, "Use your right hand to open it."
Ren Yaoqi: "..."
Ren Yaoqi felt that Xiao Jingxi must have been possessed by something today—his face was as thick as a city wall. Yet, with Xiao Jingxi stubbornly holding her hand, she couldn’t break free no matter how hard she tried. Making too much of a fuss wasn’t an option either, so she could only blush and use her right hand to unlock it.
Without giving it much thought, if it had been any other man holding her hand so firmly, Ren Yaoqi would rather have fallen down the stairs than allow herself to be held like this. She had never been the type to submit meekly to others’ whims.
Ren Yaoqi could feel the lingering warmth from Xiao Jingxi’s palm on the copper key, making her hand tremble slightly.
Xiao Jingxi stood close enough for Ren Yaoqi to hear his breathing, holding her hand while looking down at her with an unwavering, gentle gaze. For the first time, he silently and unmistakably revealed the feelings in his heart to Ren Yaoqi, leaving her completely unprepared.
Ren Yaoqi’s heart was in turmoil. With a flick of her finger, a soft "click" sounded, and the lock opened.
She glanced at Xiao Jingxi, wondering why he couldn’t open such an easy lock.
Xiao Jingxi reached out to push the door open and led her into the top floor of the Echo Tower.
Once inside, Ren Yaoqi was momentarily stunned.
As the top floor of the tower, the interior formed a conical shape, and this level was taller than any of the floors below. Moreover, the ninth floor had no bookshelves—it was completely empty.
There were small, round holes in the tower’s ceiling. The weather was clear today, and light streamed through these tiny openings, casting countless small circles of light inside the tower, scattered like a room full of starlight.
Xiao Jingxi led Ren Yaoqi to the center of the room and stood still, turning to her and saying, "People outside call this the Star-Gazing Tower, which is quite fitting."
Ren Yaoqi snapped out of her awe and carefully examined the ninth floor. She soon noticed that although there were no bookshelves, the walls were covered in intricate patterns.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi’s curiosity, Xiao Jingxi led her to the wall for a closer look. As she approached, Ren Yaoqi realized that the densely packed patterns on the wall were not designs but words.
Each character was only the size of printed text in a book, yet they covered all four walls and even extended to the conical ceiling, which was three or four people high. However, Ren Yaoqi didn’t recognize a single one of these characters—she only knew they were Sanskrit.
"Is this Buddhist scripture? How was this carved?" Ren Yaoqi asked in surprise.First, let's not even mention how much time it would take to carve so many tiny characters all over the tower. The top of the tower is so high off the ground that even using a ladder to climb up and carve them would be quite difficult.
Xiao Jingxi ran his fingers over the characters on the wall, then turned to smile at Ren Yaoqi and softly began to recite them. Ren Yaoqi, however, found that she couldn’t understand a single word.
Yet Xiao Jingxi’s voice, like the man himself, possessed a mesmerizing allure. Especially now, as he recited each word gently and in a low tone, Ren Yaoqi found herself captivated, even though she couldn’t understand any of it.
Holding her hand, Xiao Jingxi looked at her and softly recited sentences Ren Yaoqi couldn’t comprehend. Ren Yaoqi stood quietly, not withdrawing her hand from his grasp, even though his grip wasn’t tight—she could have easily pulled away if she had struggled.
Though Ren Yaoqi didn’t understand what Xiao Jingxi was saying, she felt she vaguely grasped the meaning behind his words.
She didn’t know how long she stood there listening to Xiao Jingxi recite—one hour or two. Though the place wasn’t dark, it felt like a world apart from the outside, a world that belonged only to Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi.
It took Ren Yaoqi a long time to snap back to reality after Xiao Jingxi stopped. Meeting his gentle, smiling gaze, she couldn’t find any words to say, but her eyes began to sting.
Xiao Jingxi stepped in front of Ren Yaoqi and carefully wrapped his arms around her.
Resting her forehead against Xiao Jingxi’s chest, Ren Yaoqi listened to the steady thumping of his heartbeat. It was only later that she recalled something odd about the rhythm of his heartbeat at that moment, even though Second Young Master Xiao showed no signs of nervousness, unease, or shyness on the surface.
The two of them only thought about leaving when Ren Yaoqi felt hungry. Even though she had eaten quite a few snacks in Xiao Jinglin’s carriage on the way here, she still felt hungry.
She pulled away from Xiao Jingxi’s embrace and softly asked, “Shall we go down?”
This time, Xiao Jingxi didn’t try to hold her back. A pleased smile played on his lips as he replied, “Alright.”
As they left the ninth floor of the tower, Ren Yaoqi wanted to ask Xiao Jingxi what this place really was, what was written on the walls, and who had left it there. But in the end, she didn’t voice her questions.
Xiao Jingxi locked the door again, glanced at Ren Yaoqi, and handed her the key. Ren Yaoqi took it in a daze, waiting for him to explain why he was giving it to her, but Xiao Jingxi said nothing and simply gestured for her to follow him downstairs.
Neither of them spoke as they descended the Echo Tower, as if no words were needed. Some things had been made clear today, and neither could pretend ignorance any longer.
Once outside the Echo Tower, Ren Yaoqi asked, “Where’s Jinglin?” She glanced at the sky—she and Xiao Jingxi had been inside the tower for at least an hour, yet Xiao Jinglin had never shown up.
Xiao Jingxi paused before replying, “Don’t blame her. According to the Xiao Family rules, she’s not allowed to go up there.”
Ren Yaoqi wanted to ask why Xiao Jinglin couldn’t go up, but she could.But the words that came out were: "Where did you just say 'it's just an empty building, the reason no one is allowed in is simply because the tower is too high, and it would be dangerous to go up'?"
Xiao Jingxi: "..."
Ren Yaoqi glared at Xiao Jingxi and went to find Xiao Jinglin.
Xiao Jingxi followed behind Ren Yaoqi, feeling helpless yet secretly pleased.
Vote for the shy, reserved, and brave Second Young Master Xiao~
If you love him, cast him a vote~ (^o^).
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