With the heavy timbers planed. The dark rock terraces were anchored over the two-thousand-meter drop. The five stone pools steaming gently in the twilight, the grand stone-built skeleton of the Eternal Cedar Bathhouse was complete.
Yet, as any seasoned innkeeper or weary traveler knew, the difference between a simple pool of warm water and an unforgettable safe hall of pure rejuvenation lay entirely in the details. A palace of bare stone and exposed wood could feel hollow without warmth, texture, and thoughtful hospitality.
Fortunately for the Myriad Spirit Safe hall, Su Ling’er was a master of hospitality.
The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Maiden had transformed the covered entrance pavilions and changing chambers into havens of quiet luxury. Working alongside twenty young fox-clan maidens and human seamstresses from the valley guilds, she moved through the cedar-scented halls with graceful, purposeful steps, her nine snowy plumes swaying like clouds behind her vermilion sash.
Lin Xiao bounced along beside her, his sapphire form squishing into a relaxed cube every time he paused to inspect a low shelf.
“Look at these shelves, Ling’er,” Lin Xiao noted, nudging a smooth plank of polished red cedar with a blue slime arm. “The natural cedar oil keeps the moisture from lingering. The open-slat design lets the alpine air circulate freely so nothing ever smells damp. It’s practical and beautiful.”
