The waiter returned not long after and escorted Jin and Yuri upstairs where specialty performers and prostitutes entertained patrons in private rooms. The floor plan was simple, a luxurious hall - decorated with expensive art and sculptures - ran the length of the building, leading to endless rooms where the cravings of man’s basest desires came into fruition.

They stopped at the third door to the right. As they entered their designated suite, strange music immediately attacked their senses. Knowing what to look for this time, Yuri could discern undulating waves of qi crashing into her harmlessly.

“Your music is very enchanting, Lady Bluebird,” declared Jin. “Or would you prefer we call you Miss Alchemist?”

Slender fingers stopped dancing on the lyre, and their owner looked up with evident shock. Despite her efforts, the boy and girl seemed impervious to the hypnosis charm.

“I am honored to meet you, elder alchemist,” said Yuri, bowing and cupping her hands as per Jin’s instructions downstairs. “My husband tells me you were the one disguised as the alchemist on the pond two days ago.”

“Very curious,” a voice rang from behind white drapes, followed by the emergence of a woman cloaked in garments matching the color of her navy blue hair. “I’m surprised by your capabilities, especially for cultivators so young. Perhaps this backwater kingdom is not without its surprises.”

Lady Bluebird stared at Jin with enough frost to freeze hell over, twice. A lesser man would have balked under her intense scrutiny but not Jin. As a former Divine Sovereign and a survivor of the PonPon Wars, he was not someone to easily buckle to the temperaments of mortals, or anyone other than a cosmic immortal for that matter.

The woman then turned and looked more gently at Yuri. Apparently, what she saw seemed to have pleased her because she gestured at the table where a hot kettle laid untouched. Jin sat directly across from Lady Bluebird, who gracefully began to pour out three cups of green tea. Yuri followed suit and occupied one of the two remaining open chairs.

“I despise needless formalities, so allow me to be the first to introduce myself. I am Jillian Bluebird, a third rank alchemist from the Vermillion Phoenix Sect,” she spoke. Neither Jin nor Yuri had heard the sect's name before, but the woman's credentials as an alchemist were impressive enough.

“It is an honor to meet you then, Alchemist Bluebird. I am Jin, and this is my wife, Fenghuang,” Jin introduced in return. “We believe we have something that belongs to you.”

“Yes, that’s correct. First, I realize my actions of late may have forced you into an unexpected, or perhaps an unwelcomed, situation, and for that I deeply apologize. However, you have my sincere gratitude for willingly coming to The Dragon Pavilion tonight. It saved me time that I otherwise would have to spend hunting you down. If you return the bracelet to me, I will compensate you accordingly.” Lady Bluebird stretched out her hand.

Jin considered the woman’s offer, which sounded like a win-win situation for them. For little to no work, Yuri and he could return the bracelet and receive a nice reward. Keeping the artifact was also an option, but that would require Jin to dispatch the alchemist. The choice, however, was Yuri’s to make. He nodded to Yuri to let her know that he would support whatever decision she made.

With Jin’s encouragement, Yuri slowly retrieved the object of interest from her spatial ring and placed it into Lady Bluebird’s open palm. She trusted Jin when he said that they could keep the diamond bracelet or not; it didn’t matter in his words. Since Yuri was not a particularly greedy person, as a result of her affluent upbringing, she felt it was only right to return something that wasn’t theirs to begin with. Too often greedy cultivators had met their ends biting off more than they could chew. Wiser men have warned not to treasure jade rings you couldn’t protect.

“This is the item you left with me, Miss Bluebird. I’m returning it to you untampered.”

“Thank you.” The alchemist hastily tucked the bracelet away. She then pulled out a red jade tablet and handed it to Yuri. “I give you this special pass for the Haptak Auction House. It can fetch you quite a handsome sum if you pawn it, but it can also grant you access to an exclusive auction event at the end of this month. Do with it what you will, but let it be known I have not attempted to shortchange you.”

The special pass was indeed quite valuable but nowhere close to the true value of the bracelet. Jin imagined if Lady Bluebird actually knew its real purpose, she would have not been so willing to part with it in the first place. Yuri attempted to pass the Haptak jade tablet to Jin, but he told her to keep it.

“And that should conclude our transaction for tonight. It has been delightful to meet you, and I hope you young lovers enjoy yourselves. It is The Dragon Pavilion after all,” Lady Bluebird declared, getting up to leave.

“One last thing, Alchemist Bluebird,” Jin started, causing the woman to stop at the doorway. He had his own curiosity that he wanted to scratch. “How much would you pay to learn more about that bracelet?”