The girl in the pink dress stood with her back to Mi Lan.
On her left wrist hung two silver bells, and her right hand held a long silver sword that was obviously no ordinary weapon. With her graceful figure and raven-black hair cascading down like a silk waterfall, her silhouette alone possessed peerless beauty.
Seeing Luo Zhongyu injured, his two lackeys sprang into action. One propped Luo Zhongyu up, while the other threw a flurry of punches toward the girl in the pink dress.
With a light wave of her right hand, the girl used her scabbard to block the incoming punches one by one. Then, smoothly thrusting her sword forward, she struck the lackey in the chest. Without any apparent exertion, she sent him flying over ten paces back onto the ground, where he struggled in vain to get back up.
Supported by his remaining lackey, Luo Zhongyu gasped in shock, "Great Accomplishment!"
"Are you leaving, or do you want to die?" the crisp voice of the girl asked.
Luo Zhongyu opened his mouth as if to say something, but the lackey beside him tugged at his sleeve. With a cold snort, Luo Zhongyu turned and limped away.
Seeing the "formidable enemy" retreat, Mi Lan let out a long breath of relief. He hurriedly stepped forward, cupping his fists toward the girl in the pink dress and saying, "Many thanks, heroine, for saving my life. I am eternally—"
"Fatty Brother!" Before Mi Lan could finish his words of gratitude, he was interrupted by the girl's sweet voice.
Mi Lan froze as the girl in the pink dress turned around to face him. Her features were breathtakingly delicate, her brows like willow leaves and her eyes like clear water, beaming at him with an enchanting smile.
Staring at the girl before him, Mi Lan was momentarily dazed. Though Chunyue and Qiuhua by his side were considered beauties, and the Hundred Flowers Pavilion he frequented was full of attractive women, he had never laid eyes on anyone this stunning.
The girl in the pink dress patted Mi Lan on the head and softly called out once more, "Fatty Brother!"
Mi Lan snapped out of his daze and took a half step back. A memory flashed through his mind: a chubby little girl walking ahead of him while he followed behind, the little girl who loved to skip around and call him "Fatty Brother."
He remembered what his mother had said yesterday: "Nana is coming."
"Nana? You're Nana!" Mi Lan recovered his wits, exclaiming with pleasant surprise.
"That's right, that's right!" The girl hopped over joyfully, grabbed Mi Lan's hand, and shook it.
She was just like the chubby little girl who loved to skip around in his childhood.
Mi Lan was overjoyed. Right on the most wretched day of his life, he had unexpectedly encountered the most important girl in his eighteen years of existence.
Overcome by emotion, Mi Lan pulled the girl tightly into his embrace.
Qin Nana was also filled with deep emotion. Seven years apart, meeting this destined man once again, he was still just as kind, exactly as he had been back then, never having changed at all.
As she felt the man holding her, Qin Nana's thoughts drifted back to their childhood. She had been a little chubby, and Fatty Brother had been a little chubby too. Whenever others teased him by calling him "Fertilizer," he would just smile; but the moment someone called her a "little fertilizer" too, a fight would break out. If the bullies were only two or three, the two kids would join forces to beat them; if there were too many, they would both get beaten up together, and then limp back to Grandpa Qian the alchemist for medicine.
She also remembered how they used to go out "scattering money" together to help those in need, and how they would bring injured animals and spirit beasts into the Mi Family's medical clinic, temporarily turning all the doctors in her family's clinic into veterinarians.
Lost in these thoughts, Qin Nana responded to the man holding her tightly. She opened her arms and hugged the man who, barring any unforeseen circumstances, was destined to be hers.
It was not until the applause and cheers of the onlookers rang out beside them that the two slowly pulled apart, their faces flushed with shyness.
At some unknown point, the "Four Great Vajras," supporting one another, had returned and were now standing behind Mi Lan.
"Young Master Mi, when is the great celebration?" asked a woman in coarse cloth with a smile.
"I want candy! I want candy!" cried a mischievous child.
"Congratulations, Young Master Mi!" said an elderly tea vendor in patched yet clean and tidy clothes.
"Congratulations, Young Master Mi, congratulations, miss," chorored many simple, honest townsfolk in the crowd.
"..."
"Uncles and aunts, grandpas and grandmas, older brothers and sisters! Um... when that day comes, I will definitely, absolutely invite everyone to Yijia Town to drink—" Before Mi Lan could finish speaking, a blushing Nana pulled him away.
Only various sounds of laughter echoed behind them.
There had been five people on the way here, and there were five people on the way back.
Zhang Ya had been sent back in advance by Mi Lan, riding "Chasing Wind" to report the news of Qin Nana's arrival to the Mi estate.
The five people and four horses slowly made their way toward Yijia Town. Mi Lan had wanted to share a horse with Qin Nana, but Nana was too shy, forcing Chunyue and Qiuhua to squeeze together instead.
Two hours later, deep into the night, Mi Lan arrived back in Yijia Town.
The Mi estate was brightly lit tonight. From afar, Mi Lan spotted three figures standing at the entrance, gazing into the distance.
Mi Lan knew one of them had to be his mother, Yu Mei. Especially after learning that Mi Lan had been chased and beaten today, she must have been terribly worried.
Mi Lan remembered how, when he was a child, because of his mediocre aptitude and a cultivation level that gradually fell behind his peers, every time he lost a fight, his mother would secretly wipe away her tears, grow increasingly furious, and threaten to go back and beat the other kid until they couldn't get up. Mi Quebi would try to reason with her, saying that healthy competition and fighting among children was fine, but what business did an adult have getting involved?
Finding some sense in this logic, yet still furious, Yu Mei would drag her second son, Mi Shui, out of his room and order him to go avenge his brother and beat the culprits up. Mi Lan had an older sister, Mi Ai, and an older brother, Mi Shui. Mi Ai had married away many years ago, while Mi Shui was two years older than Mi Lan. Blessed with top-tier aptitude, Mi Shui's cultivation realm was among the absolute elite of his generation, known alongside Xiao Guoji of the Xiao Family, Wu Buche of the Donghai City Wu Family, and Zhuo Lenghang of Ping'an Town as the Four Prodigies of Donghai.
Mi Shui would protest that going to fight would just be bullying the weak, which wouldn't look good. Hearing this, Yu Mei would fly into an even greater rage, patting Mi Shui on the head while yelling, "Have I raised you in vain all these years? What's the use of having a high cultivation level if you won't even help when your younger brother gets beaten like that?" With his head buzzing from the slaps, a reluctant Mi Shui would thus be forced into bullying the younger ones, ultimately becoming the least respected of the Four Young Masters of Donghai—because everyone in Donghai City thought Mi Shui was some kind of freak who loved beating up kids.
When the five arrived at the gate of the Mi estate, a servant stepped forward to lead the four horses away. Yu Mei happily took Qin Nana's hand and walked into the estate. Mi Lan followed behind, looking at his mother and Qin Nana holding hands, and smiled faintly.
There were many guests at the dinner banquet, and almost all of the Mi Family's direct blood relatives were present: the Family Head Mi Quebi, Second Uncle Mi Queding who held the title of elder, and Third Aunt Mi Sanying who managed the family's financial lifeline. Mi Sanying had suffered through an unhappy marriage; she later separated from her husband and lived alone in the Mi Family with her only daughter, Mi Shan. Having been scarred by love, Mi Sanying poured all her heart into the family's business. Mi Quebi oversaw the overall situation, Mi Queding led the group of elders in external affairs, while Mi Sanying managed internal affairs with a faction of family members.
As for the younger generation, aside from the eldest sister Mi Ai who had married far away to Dongzhen Prefecture and could not attend, everyone else was present: Second Brother Mi Shui, Mi Queding's three children—eldest Mi Qi, second Mi Li, and youngest Mi Xiang, who were Mi Lan's cousins—along with Mi Sanying's daughter Mi Shan. Mi Shan should have taken her father's surname, but her father had fled right after she was born. Mi Lan had heard that the man originally possessed a very noble status, but upon discovering after the baby's birth that Mi Shan was born with severed meridians and unable to cultivate, he threw a massive argument with Mi Sanying. Knowing how people looked down on slow cultivation, let alone someone utterly incapable of it due to congenital severed meridians, the man abandoned the Mi Family and had not been seen for sixteen years, so everyone knew he would never return.