Inside the Sacred Nine-Dragon Bathhouse, the air was warm, humid, and fragrant with the scent of white spirit-orchids and mineral-rich mountain water.
The bathhouse was an enormous vaulted hall carved out of polished white nephrite and veined rose marble. Nine towering pillars sculpted like coiling golden dragons supported the high dome overhead, while at the center of the hall lay a vast, circular hot spring pool forty yards across. Steaming, crystal-clear water poured continuously from the jaws of nine marble dragon heads along the walls, keeping the water waist-deep along the outer steps and chest-deep near the central jade platform.
Unaware that a silent ripple of silver-violet light had just materialized behind the widest golden dragon pillar in the shadowy northern alcove of the hall, Yan Ruyu and Ning Wan'er walked to the marble dressing screens beside the water's edge.
