Hou noticed Xiao Ye looking at him weird and he sensed his body. He realised how he looked differently, and decided to distract her while he subtly activated the ring, hopefully fixing the problem.
He looks at the table behind Xiao Ye and saw a necklace with a red gem embedded in it, he pointed at it and said,
"Look at this, it reminds me of your hair,"
When she turned her head to look back, Hou used the disguise ring. He deactivated it and he started to morph into his real form.
For a split second, his hair started to turn a shade of pink until Hou quickly reactivated the ring. This time, he switched back into his scholarly look, back to Shu Daizi.
His hair which was turning pink shifted again, turning back to a brown. His face, which had grown more rough, smoothed out and he regained his looks.
'Now I just hope she didn't notice anything...'
Hou repositioned himself so he still held Xiao Ye by the waist but now with just one hand while he stood by her side.
"Hey, can I look at this necklace a little closer!" Hou shouted out to the stall owner and pointed at the necklace he had pointed out to Xiao Ye.
The owner jumped then walked over while holding their hands together in front of them,
"Of course which one again, this?" They pointed directly at the necklace Hou had pointed to.
He nodded and the owner took it off the table and handed it to Hou.
"Good choice, it reminds me of your girlfriend's hair," the owner smiled as he handed the necklace to Hou and he turned back to sit down.
When Hou grabbed the necklace, he could feel it was heavy and was like it was being pulled down to the table.
'This must be why he didn't worry about theft,' Hou thought about the reason he was given the necklace without any suspicion of stealing.
Xiao Ye looked at the necklace in Hou's hand and then rubbed her eyes. Hou had changed back to his previous form and Xiao Ye did not know whether she was hallucinating or not.
She shook her head then returned back to look at the necklace. The small red gem shimmered and when she looked closer she saw a lighter energy moving around in it.
"Oh that's an artifact! I can't possibly ask you to buy that. How about this?" Xiao Ye backed away from the ring with her hands and shook her head.
She turned back to the table and pointed towards a random piece of jewellery, not even paying attention to what it was, just that it looked unimpressive.
An artifact, another name for a treasure. This one specifically is something that can be used by ordinary people and was likely consumable.
Xiao Ye was aware of the price of artifacts, they start at a gold at the low end. She was having fun with Hou and didn't want to scam him, she explained to the confused Hou,
"You might not know this but that's an artifact. They cost gold! That's a hundred silver at the low end, I can't accept anything like that,"
Hou looked disappointed and said,
"Okay, if you say that then I can't convince you. I just thought it would look very pretty around your neck. Do you like that one?" He gestured to the piece of jewellery she had pointed out instead.
Xiao Ye hadn't looked at it yet, she only picked it since it seemed unimpressive. It was a small metal ring, with a dull grey colour. Instead of a smooth polished look, it was rough and you could see visible imperfections.
Even though it was unimpressive, Xiao Ye, as she looked at it more was drawn to it. It had an attraction that couldn't be explained with simple craftsmanship, it looked unique.
"I do, I do like it very much..." She looked at the ring and while logically it looked bad, for some reason she felt an attraction to it.
Hou smiled and said,
"It doesn't matter then, no matter the price, I'll get it for you. He turned to the stall owner and asked to have a look at the ring.
The stall owner looked at the ring confused and said,
"I don't remember getting this, how about just buying it? Special price, three silver."
Hou immediately took out three gold from his robe. He hid it in his hand and put it in the shopkeep's hand secretly. He went in for a hug and whispered into his ear,
"Here's three gold, can I also buy this necklace? Just nod and let me take it if I can."
The shopkeeper's eyes widened imperceptibly before quickly hiding his shock, his thumb tested the coins' edges.
"A generous benefactor," he murmured aloud when he felt to reality of the coins, no mere counterfeits. Xiao Ye heard something and turned he head but then the shop owner realised he said it aloud and hushed,
'My discretion is bought, I'll undo his restrictions' He realised that the money was to be discrete and hide it from Xiao Ye.
The shopkeeper moved his hands under the table and felt the raised surface. With practiced precision, he simultaneously looked at what Hou wanted to buy and pressed the corresponding raised button by touch alone. The attraction that prevented theft disappeared on the necklace and ring Hou had bought, Hou felt the weight of the necklace in his hand lighten.
Hou felt the weight shift and quickly threw the necklace in his robe when Xiao Ye was distracted. He then grabbed the ring, surprisingly heavy and cold to the touch. For Xiao Ye's comfort Hou used body cultivation to circulate his laws.
With sun laws and the impression, and therefore expression, of heat, Hou made the ring warm up in his hand to body temperature before turning to Xiao Ye.
He looked Xiao Ye in the eyes and said despite his bright red blush from both his sun law cultivation and what he was going to do,
"Will you permit me to place the ring on your finger?"
But before Xiao Ye answered, the ring seemed to pulse, the Celestial Ink in his body shook. Yue had awoken when he sensed something amiss and notified Hou. In the split moment between Xiao Ye answering, Hou and Yue begun an internal conversation,
"Hou, my disciple, that ring... I couldn't recognise it initially but now I'm sure. That's one of my rings, back when I was an active spirit master, before Yao Tian. I don't know how it still works but if I'm right, it should have a spirit inside it!"