Meeting Gift

When Hua Yichen saw him clench his fist at him, the spots where he had been beaten before began to ache involuntarily.

Although Qin Xiaoran was a spell cultivator and did not hit as hard as a sword cultivator, Hua Yichen was an artifact cultivator—he could not take a beating!

Hua Yichen smiled and wrapped his hand around Qin Xiaoran's clenched fist. "Hehe, don't worry. Other than being rich, the only virtue I have is keeping my mouth shut. I guarantee I won't breathe a word of it."

Qin Xiaoran knew Hua Yichen quite well. Although he could be rather unreliable at times, if asked to keep a secret, he would not reveal the slightest bit of it even if he died.

"As long as you know. Oh, right—today is your first time meeting my two junior brothers, my younger sister, and my junior sister. As their senior, shouldn't you give them some meeting gifts?"

After Qin Xiaoran finished discussing business with him, he began seeking benefits for Feng Wuhen and the others. The moment Hua Yichen heard this, he immediately guarded the treasures on his person.

Qin Xiaoran rolled his eyes at his actions in disgust. "I'm asking you to give them meeting gifts, not the things on your body. For example, artifacts you refined.

Who said you had to give them the things you're wearing? Even if you wanted to, they wouldn't want them!

Do you think everyone is like you, wanting to be a walking jewelry rack?

Say, can't you change this whole getup? Standing beneath the sun in all that glittering finery, you shine brighter than the sun itself!

Just now, you dazzled my junior brother's eyes until they started tearing up. If you don't change, don't blame me for stripping you myself."

Qin Xiaoran had long been unable to stand Hua Yichen's taste. He could understand liking brightly colored things, but no matter how much he liked them, he could not possibly wear all of them on his body!

Especially since he had just made Feng Wuhen's eyes water. Meng Hongying and Qin Leyan also found their eyes uncomfortable and were asking Shen Ziheng for pills to treat them.

Bing Ling, on the other hand, had adapted quite naturally. At the moment, she was pulling Feng Wuhen along to pay for her things!

Seeing that Qin Xiaoran did not seem to be joking, Hua Yichen hurriedly put away more than half of his sparkling artifacts, leaving only the golden crown atop his head and the hollowed golden-leaf fan in his hand.

Qin Xiaoran led the no-longer-quite-so-dazzling Hua Yichen over to Feng Wuhen and the others, who were standing before a stall eating buns. Feng Wuhen handed them a steamer basket of buns when he saw them approach.

"Senior Brother, and this senior brother too, hurry and try their buns! Their buns taste really good—the wrappers are thin, the filling is generous, and they're full of juice."

Qin Xiaoran took one for himself and began eating, then pushed the steamer basket toward Hua Yichen. Hua Yichen took a bun as well.

"This really does taste good. How did I never notice before?"

As Feng Wuhen ate his bun, he sized Hua Yichen up. Now that he's shed all those gaudy decorations, he's actually quite good-looking. But why did his brain short-circuit and make him insist on dressing himself up like that!

Oh~ So that's how it is!

Feng Wuhen glanced at the bun-eating Hua Yichen, his gaze carrying several parts disdain, frustration at his failure to live up to expectations, and two parts speechlessness.

He actually failed to notice that his junior sister Xu Niannian, just like him, likes their Senior Brother Xia Jingcheng!

Xu Niannian's eyes practically turned to silk whenever she looked at Xia Jingcheng. It was so obvious even a blind man could see it, yet he didn't notice! He even listened to his love rival's advice and dressed himself up as a walking jewelry rack.

Oh, so Xia Jingcheng once praised Hua Yichen for looking good wearing the Heartsea Stone Necklace, and Hua Yichen took it to heart. That was why he so easily believed Xu Niannian's words.

But Xia Jingcheng said that because he had given Hua Yichen that Heartsea Stone Necklace. Out of selfishness, he felt Hua Yichen looked especially good wearing a gift from him.

In truth, he secretly wanted to give Hua Yichen even more gifts, covering him in his own things. It was the little scheme of someone secretly in love.

But Hua Yichen failed to understand his hidden meaning. He truly thought Xia Jingcheng liked him wearing lots of jewelry, so he took out all the jewelry he had bought before and wore it on himself. Whenever he went out to train, he often bought pretty jewelry to switch out with it.

That was also why he became Brocade Pavilion's biggest customer. Whenever Brocade Pavilion had new products, they would notify him to come buy them. They even talked him into buying some of the items that were harder to sell. He was a complete sucker.

Still, to be honest, I'm rather envious of how lavishly he shops. He throws away spiritual stones by the handful without feeling the slightest pang. With that much money, it's no wonder artifact refiners are the best earners among all cultivators.

Amid all those thoughts, Hua Yichen did not hear that Xu Niannian had tricked him into dressing like a jewelry rack. Nor did he hear that Brocade Pavilion treated him as a sucker, nor that Feng Wuhen envied his abundance of spiritual stones. He only caught one sentence: Xia Jingcheng was secretly in love with him. The two of them liked each other.

Hua Yichen was so happy he nearly jumped up, but Qin Xiaoran pressed down on his shoulder to keep him still. "You brat, rein it in. I know you're happy, but don't get carried away just yet.

Don't forget what you promised me before. You can't let Feng Wuhen find out that we can hear his thoughts. The moment you start celebrating, won't it all be exposed?"

Only then did Hua Yichen remember that he had to keep it secret. He used every ounce of strength in his body to control his expression so he would not look quite so unhinged. Still, the way he looked at Feng Wuhen was exceptionally gentle.

Feng Wuhen noticed the gentleness in his gaze and found it strange. What's with him? Why is he looking at me so strangely?

Afraid Feng Wuhen would notice something was off, Hua Yichen hurriedly said, "I'm your senior brother's friend. You can call me Senior Brother Hua.

Since this is our first meeting, I'll give you some meeting gifts. They're artifacts I refined myself, so please don't dislike them."

Hua Yichen took five artifacts from his storage ring and handed one to each of them.

Feng Wuhen looked at the one in his hand, then at Shen Ziheng's and Bing Ling's. Compared to their saber and staff, his did not seem like much.

Wait, we all received meeting gifts, so why did my brother and Lingling get a saber and a staff, while I got two marbles? Huh, there seems to be something inside these marbles.

When Hua Yichen saw that he was about to shake the two marbles, he was so frightened that he hurriedly explained, "Junior Brother, don't shake them! They may look small, but those two marbles are packed full of ammunition.

When you want to deal with someone, throw them both directly. The moment they collide with the enemy, they'll explode.

After exploding, the two balls can still be used, but you'll need to refill them with explosives."

Upon hearing that, Feng Wuhen hurriedly put the balls into his storage ring and did not dare shake them again.

Luckily, Hua Yichen had stopped him before he shook them. Otherwise, he would have sent them all on their way.

Meng Hongying and Qin Leyan received two mirrors as their meeting gifts. Once they used the mirrors to reflect their clothes and jewelry, they could change outfits and put on accessories through the mirrors.

They could help them choose clothes and jewelry more effectively, without worrying that the outfits and accessories they bought would look bad together. It could be said that these gifts had gone straight to the two girls' hearts.

After putting away their gifts, the group prepared to find somewhere to stay. When Hua Yichen heard that they planned to look for an inn, he proactively invited them. "If you haven't found a place to stay, come with me. The inn we're staying at still has plenty of rooms!"

Oh ho, this could work. Then I can enjoy the drama up close. This time, Senior Brother Hua didn't come out alone. Xu Niannian and that Senior Brother Xia are both here. The three of them brought disciples from their sect out to train, and they're also here because of the child abduction case in Radiant Moon City.

More precisely, Senior Brother Hua and Senior Brother Xia brought disciples out to train. Xu Niannian forced her way along.

Upon hearing his thoughts, Hua Yichen suddenly did not want Feng Wuhen and the others to stay with them after all.

Qin Xiaoran saw that he was beginning to back out. He draped an arm around Hua Yichen's shoulders, the hand gripping his shoulder tightening slightly.

"Didn't you say you were taking us to the inn? Why aren't you hurrying up? We haven't even eaten lunch yet. A few buns aren't enough to fill us up."