Sunlight still spilled warmly over them. The market crowd pressed shoulder to shoulder, cries of hawking and haggling rising and falling one after another.
Song Zhiyi stood where he was, watching the direction Shen Yuxi had vanished into. Dark currents churned in his deep eyes, then gradually settled, returning to tranquil calm.
"Pretty brother!"
A crisp little voice suddenly popped out of the crowd, brimming with undisguised delight.
Song Zhiyi looked toward the sound and saw a tiny figure struggling to squeeze through the crowd. Short little legs moved swiftly as he ran over in high spirits.
The child wore a moon-white robe clearly several sizes too large. Its hems fluttered as he ran, the empty sleeves swaying on either side like a butterfly flapping its wings but still unable to fly steadily.
But when he reached them, he raised his little head and looked around to the left and right. He even poked his head behind Song Zhiyi to take a look, but where was there any trace of Shen Yuxi?
The smile on his little face deflated bit by bit, and even his sparkling eyes dimmed somewhat.
Ye Xi looked up at Song Zhiyi eagerly, his voice full of disappointment. "Brother Zhiyi, isn't pretty brother here?"
Song Zhiyi crouched down so that he was at eye level with Ye Xi, his usual gentle expression already back on his face.
He reached out and rubbed that fluffy little head, his fingertips brushing soft hair, and smiled. "Second Senior Brother had something urgent come up and left not long ago. Did Xi'er come specifically to find Second Senior Brother?"
Ye Xi let him rub his hair and shook his head. "Grandpa Teng said that since I came to attend the Artifact Refining Tournament, I couldn't come for nothing. He told