The "famous spot in Xufang" that Qi Yu spoke of was the renowned Flower and Willow Lane within the city.

Flower and Willow Lane was a long, narrow, and deep alley that meandered through the central part of Xufang City. True to its name, it was a street of flowers and willows, filled with brothels and courtesan houses, bustling with orioles and swallows, and crowded with travelers seeking pleasure.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, one could smell the scent of rouge and powder. When the wind blew, it would cover one head to toe in the dust of the mortal world.

Shen Mengzhi stood extremely far away, his resistance plain to see. He said resentfully, "...Qi. Yu."

It was truly a rare feat to make him grind his teeth like this. Everyone turned to look at the culprit, Qi Yu, and couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.

Qi Yu said, "Why are you all looking at me like that? Aiyah, Jiang Zhen, you can distrust anyone, but how can you not trust me? Would I really lead you to that kind of wretched place?"

"..." Shen Mengzhi said, "You already have."

"You... Ah! You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. Just watch me."

Qi Yu waved his hand, walked to the alley entrance by himself, and his voice drifted from afar, "Inside this Flower and Willow Lane, there is a whole different world."

Seeing him approach, a courtesan standing by the door to attract customers naturally sidled up to him. With arched brows, she adopted a seductive posture, her voice alluring, "Young Master, have you come to Flower and Willow Lane to seek pleasure?"

Her gaze went past Qi Yu's shoulder and saw the group behind him. She covered her lips and chuckled, "Oh, my, so many people."

Everyone: "..."

Qi Yu gently blocked her, creating a gap between them, and lowered his voice, "Miss, is the Heaven Tier room still available?"

Hearing this, the smile in the woman's eyes deepened. She released her slender jade-like hand from Qi Yu's shoulder, and her entire demeanor changed abruptly. Not a single trace of a courtesan's air remained about her.

She nodded slightly. When she spoke again, the previous affected sweetness was gone, replaced by a melodious tone like a secluded orchid in a valley, "A new Heaven Tier has opened today, awaiting those with fate. Young Masters, this way, please."

Under her smiling gaze, Qi Yu took the lead, guiding the group into the alley in single file.

Inside Flower and Willow Lane, it was indeed extraordinarily lively. Both sides were lined with flower pavilions and small buildings with carved beams and painted rafters, and the sound of pipes and songs was incessant. The scent of incense filled the air, with smoke and mist drifting about. The ornate flowers on the women's temples were dazzling, and all that met the eye was a scene of extravagant indulgence. The group walked with great restraint, a band of young men who lived simple lives and were unfamiliar with such ways. Their hearts itched with curiosity, and if Shen Mengzhi hadn't been watching from behind, they would have long started looking left and right.

The woman walked at the very front, her steps light and slow, her gait graceful. Qi Yu gave a light cough and said, "May I ask for the lady's name?"

"This servant is called Yin Yu."

Yin Yu smiled and swept her gaze over the group, saying, "Except for this Young Master, this must be everyone's first time visiting the Heaven Tier of Flower and Willow Lane."

Song Sifan said, "That's right. I wonder, what exactly is this Heaven Tier?"

He wasn't the only one who wanted to ask. Everyone was filled with confusion and turned their gazes toward her.

But they heard Yin Yu part her vermilion lips and say, "The Heaven Tier is a place for true pleasure-seeking."

"What do you mean?"

"Human joys, pleasures, and material desires are divided into various grades. The worldly, ordinary pleasures outside the alley are the Human Tier. The pleasures of the crimson powder and green houses, the pleasures of desire within the alley, are the Earth Tier."

"As for the Heaven Tier, it pursues a kind of pleasure that cannot be experienced in either of those two. It cannot be sought, cannot be bought, and naturally, cannot be measured by worldly things."

Her words were obscure and difficult to understand, leaving everyone a bit baffled. Song Sifan asked again, "Then what does it mean to 'open a Heaven Tier'?"

Qi Yu chimed in, "I know that too, you can ask me."

Song Sifan shot him a glance, "Then you tell us."

Seizing the opportunity, Qi Yu immediately put on a serious expression and said, "The pleasure-seeking of the Heaven Tier is not set in stone; there are different ways to play. 'Opening a Heaven Tier' means a new game has been introduced."

He turned to look at Yin Yu and asked curiously, "I wonder what the new Heaven Tier game is for today?"

Yin Yu smiled without answering, pushed open a door in front of her, and said, "You will know in a moment, Young Master."

Following her movement, the vermilion-lacquered doors moved lightly, revealing the furnishings inside. This Heaven Tier room spanned the flower pavilions on both sides of Flower and Willow Lane, situated on the top floor and connected by a covered bridge. The interior was spacious and bright, with ornate windows, brocade curtains, bamboo blinds, and a zither table—it could be described as elegant and transcendent.

If someone were to say that such an elegant residence was hidden within Flower and Willow Lane, no one would believe it unless they saw it with their own eyes.

Qi Yu turned and walked over to Shen Mengzhi, saying smugly, "How about it? I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Shen Mengzhi's expression softened slightly, but he asked, "Where did you learn of these places?"

"Is there any place under the heavens that I, Qi Yu, am not familiar with?" Qi Yu was immensely proud. He then turned to Chu Jin, who was looking around with his head lowered, and said, "Brother Chu, does Old Qin have such fine places?"

Hearing this, Chu Jin raised his head slightly and let out a light laugh, "The pleasure houses in Old Qin are all ordinary; naturally, none are as ingenious as this Heaven Tier."

When Qi Yu heard this, he teased, "Well now, Brother Chu, from the sound of it, you've also seen countless brothels."

Chu Jin gave a light sneer, "Not as many as Brother Qi."

Rarely meeting a kindred spirit, Qi Yu's interest was immediately piqued. Just as he was about to discuss it further with him, Shen Mengzhi, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, interrupting them, "Miss Yin Yu, what is today's Heaven Tier game?"

His words were directed at Yin Yu, but his face was turned toward Qi Yu and Chu Jin. A chill ran down Qi Yu's spine. Before he could react, Shen Mengzhi had already turned his head away as if nothing had happened, looking at Yin Yu in the distance.

Yin Yu held a piece of white paper in her hand and said with a smile, "Everyone, please look."

Everyone looked over. They saw her gently place the white paper into a water jar in front of her. The paper was instantly soaked, and then, a few lines of blurry text gradually appeared—

Dare not forget the old friend of three recognitions, a truth engraved to the bone and imprinted on the heart.

Everyone was thoroughly confused. "Isn't this just a line of poetry? What does it have to do with the Heaven Tier game?"

Yin Yu smiled but said nothing.

Song Sifan recited it in a low voice and frowned, "The focus of this poem should be on the first half. 'Three recognitions of an old friend'—what are the three recognitions? And who is the old friend?"

He looked up at Qi Yu and said, "Haven't you played this before? What are you standing there like a wooden block for? Hurry up and tell us."

Qi Yu looked bewildered. "To be honest, it wasn't like this the last time I came. Everyone, the situation is different, I can't help you with this."

"..."

As they were at a loss, Shen Mengzhi turned his head slightly, his gaze meeting Yin Yu's eyes, and said slowly, "If I recall correctly, this 'old friend' should be referring to a famous craftsman of Xufang's generation, Mu Lian."

Everyone was stunned.

Yin Yu nodded. "Correct, it is indeed Mu Lian."

Qi Yu whispered, "Famous general? Since when did Xufang have such a general?"

"Not 'jiang' as in general, but 'jiang' as in craftsman."

Yin Yu slowly explained, "As you all know, Xufang is famous for its masks, and it was precisely Mu Lian who brought Xufang's masks to their zenith."

This was the first time any of them had heard of such historical origins, and they couldn't help but be curious.

Someone asked, "Then the three recognitions are...?"

The words had barely left his mouth when they heard Shen Mengzhi say in a low voice, "Lady Zhao's three recognitions of Mu Lian."

Yin Yu smiled slightly. "Lady Zhao was Mu Lian's wife. This is a little-known story."

"Mu Lian was once the most skilled mask craftsman in Xufang. He and Lady Zhao were deeply in love for many years, treating each other with great respect, a story worthy of praise. Unfortunately, those were times of continuous warfare and turmoil. Mu Lian was conscripted into the army, and the couple was separated for over ten years."

"When the wars subsided and he returned from the army, Mu Lian's face was completely disfigured and his legs were crippled. He could only show himself to others with a mask on. Unwilling to return to Lady Zhao in such a state, he had someone lie and claim he had died, urging his wife to remarry. But Lady Zhao would rather be a widow, waiting bitterly for many years."

"Until one day, when Lady Zhao went to the street to buy medicine, she heard her late husband's voice in the crowd. When she followed the sound, what appeared before her was a short man with crippled and atrophied legs, wearing a mask, completely different from how Mu Lian looked. But Lady Zhao did not give up and wanted the man to take off his mask. The man's face was ruined and unrecognizable, so Lady Zhao traced the bones of his face with her hands, and it matched Mu Lian's contours perfectly."

"Lady Zhao recognized that this was Mu Lian, but the man vehemently denied it, unwilling to be entangled with her."

...

Lady Zhao refused to give up. With trembling hands, she took out a piece of paper and softly pleaded, "This servant recognizes my husband's handwriting. Here is the first half of a couplet, for which this servant has never been able to find a matching line. I hope you will compose a line for this servant, so that I may recognize the script."

The man hesitated for a moment before agreeing. He deliberately wrote the characters crookedly and sloppily so that Lady Zhao could not recognize them. Unexpectedly, upon seeing the sloppily written second line of the couplet, Lady Zhao stared blankly and tears began to fall. She said with conviction, "You are Mu Lian."

Onlookers asked in surprise, "This person's handwriting is so ugly, it can't compare to Mu Lian's at all. Why are you so certain?"

Lady Zhao wiped her tears, gazed into the man's eyes with a smile, and gently explained, "My husband and I have known and stayed with each other for decades. We are soulmates. What you see is sloppy handwriting, but what I see is my husband's unchanged heart. This matching line, only he could have composed it and written such a sentence."

Hearing this, Mu Lian's tears flowed ceaselessly. Overcome with regret, he confessed his feelings to Lady Zhao, and the couple was finally reunited.

"This is the story of 'Lady Zhao's three recognitions of Mu Lian'," Yin Yu said slowly. "The world was moved by Lady Zhao's sincerity and turned this event into a celebrated tale. And the masks of Xufang City, because of Mu Lian and Lady Zhao's true love, gradually became popular and have been passed down to this day."

The group listened with great interest. Even as the story ended, they were still savoring it, nodding and saying, "So that's how it is. It seems this is the background for today's Heaven Tier game."

"Dare not forget the old friend of three recognitions, a truth engraved to the bone and imprinted on the heart." Chu Jin recited it softly, a faint smile touching his eyes. "This Heaven Tier game is about spiritual connection."

"What is a spiritual connection?"

Shen Mengzhi said, "To know each other so well that your hearts and minds are connected, that is a spiritual connection."

"Precisely." A hint of interest appeared in Chu Jin's eyes. "In other words, it's about the tacit understanding between two people."

"You two Young Masters are correct," Yin Yu said with a smile. "This Heaven Tier game tests the tacit understanding among you all."

Qi Yu asked, "Then how do we play?"

If it were simply a test of two people's tacit understanding, there would be no need to bring up the story of Lady Zhao and Mu Lian. Everyone understood that the final key to this Heaven Tier game lay in those "Three Recognitions."

Seeing that everyone had gotten to the point, Yin Yu stopped beating around the bush and said seriously, "Young Masters, please form groups of two. To solve the Heaven Tier puzzle, you will need to emulate Lady Zhao: Recognize the Sound, Recognize the Bone, and Recognize the Heart. These are the Three Recognitions. If you can pass these three trials and identify your partner, you will have solved the Heaven Tier."

Hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, each with a tacit understanding.

Qi Yu flicked his hair, striking a confident pose. "In that case, I'll..."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a flurry of sleeves before his eyes. Everyone had found a partner with the speed of lightning, and in a blink, only he, Song Sifan, Shen Mengzhi, and Chu Jin were left staring at each other.

"..."

How was this different from what he'd expected?

Qi Yu said, bewildered, "I'm an experienced veteran at solving Heaven Tier puzzles. Are you all just going to give up such a capable general?"

Song Sifan's face screamed 'speechless'. He held back for a moment, but finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Can you tone down your thick skin a bit? I'll be in a group with you."

"Absolutely not." Qi Yu looked him up and down and said seriously, "You and I have absolutely no tacit understanding. We're bound to lose."

He then turned to Chu Jin, his eyes lighting up. "Brother Chu and I, on the other hand, get along especially well..."

Before he could finish, a hand slapped across his face with a crisp smack, completely muffling the rest of his words. The next second, he was dragged to the side by an arm hooked around his neck, and Song Sifan's voice, grinding his teeth, sounded by his ear, "Shut up! Don't go ruining things for others!"

After Song Sifan dragged Qi Yu away, the room instantly fell silent. Everyone's gaze, intentionally or not, drifted toward the only two people left in the center of the room.

"..."

Shen Mengzhi turned around, a complicated expression on his face as he met Chu Jin's eyes.

The latter was completely unaware of anything amiss and said matter-of-factly, "Senior Brother Jiang, it seems you and I are together."

Shen Mengzhi's mouth twitched. Two people who were complete strangers to each other, what kind of tacit understanding could they possibly have?!

But he couldn't find any words to refuse, so he could only say, "Alright."

Seeing that everyone had formed their groups, Yin Yu scanned the room and announced in a soft voice, "In that case, everyone, please proceed to the first trial."

She let out a light laugh and parted her vermilion lips.

"Recognize the Sound."

The author has something to say:

The Heaven Tier's spiritual connection is just a little game to improve the husbands' relationship (laughs).