After pressing an acupoint to put the maidservant on night watch in the outer room to sleep, Li Yong withdrew.
Just as he had on the two previous nights, he waited in the shadows.
He had no idea what his master was doing inside.
But tonight seemed to stretch on for an especially long time.
Li Yong's bowed neck was starting to ache. Just as he glanced toward the door for a third time, it slowly swung open.
A tall, slender figure dressed in dark black emerged.
Li Yong hurried forward. He took something from his sleeve and, without needing to be told, restored the inner bolt.
He made it look as though no one had ever entered.
When he finished and turned back, he found that his master hadn't left.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back in the somewhat desolate courtyard, his head raised to gaze at the bright moon.
An air of solitude radiated from him.
For a man who was always so powerful and dominant, to suddenly see him like this was a truly heart-wrenching sight.
