At that moment, Ye Lanyu had no time to seize on Ye Lang's little weaknesses, nor did she want to discuss whether his past behavior had been an act. She only found it strange—why did her younger brother speak in such a tone?
Melancholy. Such an expression had never appeared on her brother's face. Ever since childhood, though he had been somewhat flawed, he had always been happy and carefree, without the slightest trace of worry.
Now that he had become a normal person, he was still leisurely and at ease every day. During the day, he studied alchemy; at night, he held Tiger Girl as he slept.
What could possibly make him melancholy?
Ye Lanyu wanted to ask, but she had no chance to do so—at least, not for the moment.
Just then, Tiger Girl happened to emerge from inside. Fresh from her bath, she carried a faint fragrance as she walked toward Ye Lang, curiously looking at the brother and sister in the courtyard.
What had happened? Why did Miss Lan Yu look somewhat strange, and why did Young Master seem strange too?
Tiger Girl's instincts were extremely keen. She could notice even such tiny details. Whether that was simply her nature or because the person at the center of it all was her young master, no one knew.
Ye Lang stood up and silently walked toward Tiger Girl. Then he pulled her into his arms, holding her quietly, quietly, without saying a single word.
"??" Tiger Girl and Ye Lanyu both found it strange. What was wrong with him?
Although Ye Lang slept while holding Tiger Girl every night, he had never held her during the day, much less made such a gesture in front of someone else.
"Young Master, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Tiger Girl said nothing at first and simply let Ye Lang hold her. But he showed no sign of stopping. Ten minutes had passed, yet he still held her without moving or speaking.
This left Tiger Girl increasingly puzzled. She could not make head or tail of it.
Ye Lang slowly separated from Tiger Girl, placed both hands on her shoulders, and looked into her eyes. In a gentle voice, he said, "Tiger Girl, don't blame me, and don't be angry. This is for your own good."
"?? Young Master, what are you talking about?" Tiger Girl was even more confused. What did that mean?
"Today..." Ye Lang looked at Tiger Girl, wanting to tell her the reason and explain everything. But at that moment, someone else barged in.
"You little bastard, what trick are you playing this time? What's with that mercenary group outside? What precious treasure are you sending that you invited the entire Anna Mercenary Group and are even paying them a million in commission? You didn't squander anything for three months, and I thought you'd finally settled down. Who would have thought you were merely gathering strength, waiting to erupt all at once?" Long Anqi charged into the courtyard and loudly berated Ye Lang.
Yes, a million gold coins—what kind of concept was that? Ordinary jobs paid only a few gold coins. Better ones paid several dozen. Dangerous missions doubled that amount. More advanced jobs that were time-consuming and laborious paid hundreds or thousands, and if they were dangerous, that amount doubled again.
Yet even a top-tier, extremely dangerous mission like slaying a dragon paid only around a million, perhaps not even that much.
Of course, those commission figures were calculated according to the standards of the Anna Mercenary Group. Sometimes a mission required many mercenary groups to work together. A dragon-slaying mission, for example, was absolutely not something one or two mercenary groups could handle; they would need to hire quite a few helpers. After all the bits and pieces were calculated, a single mercenary group could receive at most several hundred thousand.
So, to use a modern analogy, this mission's value for money far exceeded that of any other job. Any mercenary group would accept it, because it could accelerate their growth.
And after accepting this mission, the Anna Mercenary Group developed at breakneck speed over the following years, shooting straight into the top ten.
It was equivalent to receiving an enormous investment. No wonder the Anna Mercenary Group had gathered every one of its members back within only two months. Under normal circumstances, even half a year might not have been enough.
Because of this, the Anna Mercenary Group gave Ye Lang the position of honorary regiment commander, treating him as their most exalted guest. They granted whatever he asked for, waived fees whenever possible—though a Prodigal Son like Ye Lang would never care whether something was free.
As for the benefits to Ye Lang, the most basic was the mercenary group's shared intelligence. Ye Lang, who understood the importance of information, later felt that he had spent too little on those one million coins.
There was another benefit: the mercenary group was entirely female, and there were many beautiful women among them—especially Regiment Commander Anna. Thus, as their honorary regiment commander, Ye Lang gained some unexpected benefits as well.
In short, those intangible benefits seemed to be something even one million could not buy.
But for now, no one could see any of that. All they saw was Ye Lang once again spending lavishly like a Prodigal Son.
"A million... Young Master, you're being far too reckless. What treasure are you sending?" Tiger Girl was stunned upon hearing the number. This was Ye Lang's greatest record of squandering money. Before, he had spent at most six figures, but now it had reached seven.
"I'm sending away the most, most precious treasure of this life. I won't allow my treasure to suffer even the slightest harm." Ye Lang smiled at Tiger Girl.
"?? What? You have a treasure like that? You used Ban's notes as a table mat. You've never cared about anything." Tiger Girl was doubtful. From childhood to adulthood, she had never seen Ye Lang treat anything as a treasure.
If certain alchemists heard Tiger Girl say that, they would surely wail to heaven and cry to earth as they denounced Ye Lang. He had actually used Ban's notes as a table mat—and what he possessed was the original, not a copied version.
"Those are all dead things, and I've already memorized them. Why should I care about them? My treasure is you. You are forever my most precious treasure." Ye Lang smiled at Tiger Girl. Though his words sounded somewhat careless, almost like a joke, anyone could tell that he was serious—serious in a way that allowed no doubt.
"Hmph, you're making fun of me again. As if you'd really treat me as a treasure forever... Wait, what did you say?" Tiger Girl did not react at first, but she quickly realized the problem.
If she was the treasure, then didn't that mean she was the one to be escorted?
That explained why he had earlier told her not to blame him or be angry. So that was it—he wanted to send her away.
Tiger Girl's heart tightened. Looking at Ye Lang, she asked fearfully, "Young Master, are you sending me away? Don't you want me anymore?"
"Silly girl, how could I not want you!" Seeing Tiger Girl's fear, Ye Lang pulled her into his arms again and spoke with great tenderness.
"Then why are you still sending me away?" Tiger Girl trembled lightly in Ye Lang's embrace, still frightened.
Before you continue