Early the next morning, before the sun had risen, Mi Lan, dressed in a red and black-trimmed robe, led the "Four Great Vajras" out of the Mi Family estate.
This was the first time in nearly eighteen years that Mi Lan had ever woken up this early.
He wanted to prepare a special gift for Qin Nana, adding a unique personal touch to the Hunyuan Heavenly Silken Gauze he had bought earlier at the Gathering Treasure Pavilion.
The plump Mi Lan strode majestically through the streets of Yijia Town. As usual, friendly greetings of "Good morning, Young Master Mi" echoed from all around. Mi Lan nodded and smiled warmly in return. Every time he saw those smiling faces coming and going, he felt a sense of elation, believing himself to be deeply respected by others.
The Armory was an enterprise of the Xiao Family in Yijia Town. Just like the alchemists of the Mi Family, the Xiao Family had their own weapon refiners, capable of forging spiritual weapons, treasured weapons, and even semi-divine weapons. Why only semi-divine weapons? Because the Xiao Family could find the materials to forge divine weapons, but lacked anyone in the Tongxuan Realm capable of refining them. Only weapon refiners in the Tongxuan Realm could forge divine weapons.
The Xiao Family's weapon refining standard was among the best in all of Donghai City. The weapons produced by the Armory were fair in price and of superior quality, favored by the rogue cultivators under Donghai City. Although the Xiao Family and the Mi Family were not exactly on the best of terms, their business philosophies were similar: integrity came first, and there were never any shoddy goods. After all, for an aristocratic family, business was a long-term endeavor; if one chased momentary profits and ruined their reputation, such a family would sooner or later vanish into the mists of history.
Mi Lan walked into the Armory and found its finest weapon refiner, Xiao Yuanshan. Xiao Yuanshan was the third grand-uncle of Xiao Guoji, and the third uncle of the current head of the Xiao Family, Xiao ZhanKong.
"Hello, Grandpa Xiao." Mi Lan bowed to Xiao Yuanshan. Although the relations between their families were poor, the proper courtesies still had to be observed.
"Ah, it's Fatty. What brings you here?" Xiao Yuanshan smiled and asked Mi Lan. Xiao Yuanshan knew a thing or two about the deeds of the Mi Family's third young master, and he held a somewhat favorable view of Mi Lan. After all, in this cultivation world where interests reigned supreme and the strong were kings, who could resist a harmless, simple, and kind-hearted chubby fellow?
"Grandpa Xiao, I'd like to add something to this Hunyuan Heavenly Silken Gauze—a line of text, perhaps. Is that possible?" Mi Lan took the Hunyuan Heavenly Silken Gauze out of his Storage Bag and handed it to Xiao Yuanshan.
Examining the quasi-saint-grade Hunyuan Heavenly Silken Gauze closely, Xiao Yuanshan was astonished. After all, in Donghai City, this quasi-saint weapon could truly be called a supreme treasure, impossible to buy even with money. He asked, "Carving characters on this seems like it might ruin the overall aesthetic. Are you sure you want to do it?"
"Uh..." Mi Lan patted his large head, realizing that carving a few words onto such a gorgeous piece of Hunyuan Heavenly Silken Gauze would indeed look ugly, but he desperately wanted to leave a bit of his own element on it. He asked, "Grandpa Xiao, is it possible to forge it in such a way that the words are normally invisible, and only appear under specific circumstances?"
"Let me think." Although Xiao Yuanshan had some doubts about Mi Lan's taste, his extremely high level of professional dedication prompted him to try his best to meet the customer's needs.
Dozens of breaths later, Xiao Yuanshan said, "I have it. There is indeed a material called Starblue Ore. When ground into a powder and soaked in a medicinal liquid, the words written with it dissolve into any material, and they will only appear when reflected against the blue sky. I heard that two ancient kingdoms in the Northern Continent were at war year after year, and for a time they used this Starblue Ore powder to write and transmit top-secret battlefield messages. Later, after it was discovered, it spread across the continent and hasn't been used since."
"Against the blue sky?" Mi Lan was puzzled. Could there really be someone in this world who carried blue things around every day just to read a few words?
Xiao Yuanshan smiled and pointed upward with his finger.
Mi Lan was startled: "The sky?" An image flashed through his mind: a girl in a pink dress looking up at the sky, reading this line of text, and smiling softly...
"Great! Let's do that." Mi Lan decisively made up his mind. Then he asked, "Grandpa Xiao, how can I get the Starblue Ore powder?"
Xiao Yuanshan said, "Just leave it to Grandpa Xiao. Starblue Ore isn't rare. You can come and pick it up tomorrow afternoon."
Mi Lan clapped his hands happily and said, "Thank you so much, Grandpa Xiao."
Watching the chubby fellow dancing with joy before him, a trace of sorrow involuntarily welled up in Xiao Yuanshan's heart. Sometimes, people could live so happily and simply. What was he doing when he was this age? Ah right, racking his brain to fight his brothers for the position of family head. The ridiculous part was that he lost in the end, and spent the last forty or fifty years confined here in this armory as if in a prison.
Xiao Yuanshan shook his head, banishing the thoughts, and said to Mi Lan, "Ah Fei, this is a gift for the girl from the Qin Family, isn't it? You're a good kid, and Nana is a good girl. I hope you two will be happy!"
Mi Lan nodded vigorously. "Mm, we will."
Xiao Yuanshan asked, "Have you figured out what to write?"
"Just write: *Fatty Brother likes Nana, may this gauze protect Nana's safety throughout her life*," Mi Lan said with a smile.
If one day Nana's cultivation realm grew higher and she no longer needed the Hunyuan Heavenly Silken Gauze, she could pass it on to the children belonging to him and Nana. In the future, he could make a trip to the East Domain, or even the Imperial Capital, to find even better things to give to Nana. So Mi Lan thought to himself.
By the time Mi Lan left the Armory, the sun was high in the sky.
Walking on his way back to the Mi Family estate, Mi Lan reminisced about what Nana liked to eat as a child. Roast chicken? Hundred-flower pastry? Candied hawthorns? Pork buns? Qingjiang fish? Spirit deer meat? Emerald bamboo brew? Spirit fruit wine? It seemed whatever he loved to eat as a child, Nana loved to eat too. The well-to-do Young Master Mi decided to buy the whole lot!
He instructed the Four Great Vajras to split into three teams to rush out and buy the food, leaving only Zhang Ya by his side to protect him.
The streets of Yijia Town were still bustling with people coming and going. Mi Lan stood on the road waiting for the three to return, his thoughts drifting back to his childhood. Back then, even though he was often beaten up by the children of the other three families, that *her* was always by his side... How wonderful. He would treat her well for the rest of his life!
Within the span of a cup of tea, the three returned to Mi Lan's side carrying all sorts of food boxes.
By the time Mi Lan returned to the Mi Family estate, it was nearly noon. Originally, You Mei had been furious; her future daughter-in-law had arrived on the very first day, and her son had dumped her and vanished. When her son got back, she was going to pull him by the ears.
Later, upon seeing Mi Lan return carrying large and small bundles of food boxes, You Mei smiled. Her silly son was ultimately growing up step by step and gradually taking on the responsibilities of a man.
When Mi Lan found Qin Nana, she was standing by the pond in the West Courtyard garden of the Mi Family estate, watching the fish swim to and fro.
Hearing footsteps approaching from behind, the dazed Qin Nana turned back abruptly, her radiant smile making her look like a fairy descending to the mortal realm.
Mi Lan was completely captivated.
With fine food, good wine, and a beautiful companion, Mi Lan and Qin Nana spent a delightful afternoon.
As time flew by, many years later, whenever Mi Lan recalled this noon, his heart would ache so intensely countless times that he could barely breathe.