Xiao Yan'er

"Hungry..."

The griffin beside her was scared out of its wits. It immediately spread its wings to take off, letting out a piercing screech.

The little girl grabbed the griffin's wing in one hand, her tiny body forming a stark contrast with the massive beast.

As though she possessed Super Strength, she held the griffin firmly suspended in midair, leaving it able to do nothing but let out miserable wails.

For a moment, the griffin felt as though its entire bird life had come to an end.

Everyone else in the square was stunned by the purple-haired little girl. They gestured at the difference in size between the two. "She's so small... and she can hold down something that huge..."

"Little Gold, behave..." The little girl raised her right hand and kept waving it around.

Xiao Fan's mouth twitched. He could clearly see the tears brimming in the griffin's eyes, showing just how deeply traumatized it had been.

Yet what he felt more was the joy of being reunited after so long. "Xiao Yan'er..."

As if she had heard Xiao Fan calling her, Zi Yan turned her head. She saw him as well, the corners of her lips lifting as bright light sparkled in her beautiful eyes.

But, strangely enough, neither of them went to the other.

Smack.

"Ow!" Zi Yan was soundly smacked on the head.

Upon seeing who it was, Zi Yan pointed at him furiously and cursed, "Old Man Su, try hitting my head again!"

Xiao Fan also recognized the man Zi Yan called Old Man Su. He was Su Qian, the Great Elder of Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy.

"I told you not to cause trouble. Look at the mess you've made."

"Hmph." Zi Yan put her hands on her hips and haughtily turned her head away.

"If you keep messing around, I'll take you back immediately!"

Clearly, those words were quite effective on Zi Yan. She immediately put on a sweet and obedient smile. "Old Man Su~ I was wrong."

Xiao Fan and Su Qian were both stunned. "This girl knows how to admit she was wrong?"

"More like she knows she's wrong, but she'll do it anyway."

Su Qian shook his head. "Enough, enough. I really don't know what you insisted on coming to Wutan City for."

Zi Yan stuck out her little tongue and made a face. "Pfft... old man, mind your own business."

Su Qian was completely helpless. He had only accompanied Zi Yan here because he could not withstand her relentless pleading.

Xiao Fan suddenly felt as though his memories had become muddled. Why would Su Qian and Zi Yan come to Wutan City at this point? Was it really for recruitment? That would be far too beneath them. If the people of Wutan City knew that the old man before them was a Dou Zong, their heads would probably fall off from shock.

At this time, Jia Nan Academy did not allow backdoor admissions. Xiao Fan queued up with everyone else, and the long line stretched as far as the eye could see.

If Xiao Fan revealed that he was a disciple of the Xiao Family, he could easily move to the front of the line, but he had no intention of doing so.

Keeping as much distance from the Xiao Family as possible was also part of Xiao Fan's plan.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?"

Hearing the voice, Xiao Fan snapped out of his daze and looked ahead, only to find nothing there.

"Where are you looking?!"

"Hm?"

Xiao Fan lowered his head and saw Zi Yan staring up at him with clear disdain in her eyes.

Zi Yan was a little annoyed. She had deliberately come to find Xiao Fan, intending to bully him while he was still young. Yet who would have thought that even now, Xiao Fan was still taller than her?

"Hmph, did this guy grow so fast even when he was little?" Zi Yan grumbled unhappily.

"Xiao Yan... shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone else's name?" Xiao Fan nearly called her Xiao Yan'er out loud, but remembering that they did not know each other yet, he asked in a gentle tone.

"My name is Zi Yan." Zi Yan answered instinctively, but quickly realized that Xiao Fan could no longer have things all his own way. How could she answer so readily?

"Zi Yan, what a nice name. You're shorter than me, so how about I call you Xiao Yan'er?"

"Okay... no..."

Zi Yan punched herself in her mind. Why was her mouth always faster than her brain?!

Without paying attention to Zi Yan's expression, Xiao Fan habitually took several jade bottles from his Storage Ring. They were Sugar Pills he had unconsciously refined while making medicine earlier.

"My name is Xiao Fan. Nice to meet you, Xiao Yan'er. Here, this is a gift for you." Xiao Fan stuffed all the Sugar Pills in his hands into Zi Yan's arms.

One carefully prepared jade bottle after another was placed in Zi Yan's hands, quickly filling her arms to the brim.

As he handed them over, Xiao Fan introduced them one by one. "This one tastes like honey candy. It's very sweet."

"This one is honey-flavored. It sticks to your teeth, so don't eat too much."

"This one is vanilla-flavored. It helps you grow."

"This one is five-kernel flavored. Uh, it doesn't taste good. Forget it."

"..."

While Xiao Fan chattered on endlessly, Zi Yan suddenly turned around, leaving him completely confused.

Only then did he remember that they were not familiar with each other yet. Xiao Fan stopped and explained, "Uh... sorry. I was too abrupt."

Zi Yan looked at the jade bottles piled like a small mountain in her hands. Tears dripped down her cheeks, streaking across one jade bottle after another as she sobbed through choked breaths...

Zi Yan gathered the jade bottles into her arms and ran away in a flash.

Xiao Fan inwardly cried that things were bad. His actions really had frightened Zi Yan.

It was like walking down the street when a strange uncle suddenly asked, "Little girl, would you like some uncle's lollipop?"

You would get arrested for that...

Maybe even sentenced to death...

Or was it legal?

Ahem.

Xiao Fan sighed. "It seems I can only explain things to Xiao Yan'er later."

Sob, sob, sob...

Su Qian was utterly baffled as he watched Zi Yan run back crying. He regarded Zi Yan as his own granddaughter, and this was the first time he had ever seen her so upset.

"Zi Yan, what's wrong?"

"Sniff... I'm fine. I'm so happy..."

The comforting words Su Qian wanted to say caught in his throat. Looking at Zi Yan, whose tear-streaked face had turned into that of a little tabby cat, Su Qian could not help asking, "Happy?"

"Yes, because I made a very, very good friend..."

Su Qian had not expected Zi Yan to be so happy just because she had made a friend. Thinking about it, though, that girl had no friends at Jia Nan Academy, and the students treated Zi Yan as if they had seen a ghost. Still, he was curious about who this very, very good friend was.

Zi Yan first put all the jade bottles into her Storage Ring, then took out a bottle of five-kernel-flavored Sugar Pills. Xiao Fan had once said that the five-kernel flavor was terrible, that the mixed assault of different tastes would make people want to throw up.

But now, Zi Yan thought it tasted delicious. After the passage of countless years, joy, anger, sorrow, and grief were all like the flavor of five kernels—bitter, yet somehow sweet.

After a long while, Zi Yan calmed herself and found one of the recruitment instructors.

"I'll test the next people."

Seeing the little girl before them, those conducting the tests advised her without knowing who she was. "Kid, don't interfere. Go play somewhere else."

Seeing Zi Yan's tiny stature, they naturally had no way of knowing that the little girl before them was a Dou Wang powerhouse who had lived for several hundred years, perhaps even longer.

The recruitment instructor had just opened her mouth to say something when an enormous crash rang out.

Bang!

The stone monument used to test strength shattered with a boom...

"Convinced now?"

Zi Yan looked at the person who had just belittled her. That person's legs were already trembling, and an unpleasant smell wafted from their lower body.