A Meeting Gift

When Hua Yichen saw him clench his fists at him, the places 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 was not built to 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 single word of it to anyone."

Qin Xiaoran knew Hua Yichen well enough. Though he could be rather unreliable at times, if asked to keep a secret, he would not leak so much as a hint 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 finishing the serious matter, Qin Xiaoran began seeking benefits for Feng Wuhen and the others. The moment Hua Yichen heard this, he immediately shielded the treasures on his body.

Qin Xiaoran rolled his eyes at his actions in disgust. "I'm asking you to give meeting gifts, not these things on you. For instance, the magical 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 wants to be a walking jewelry rack like you do?

Speaking of which, can't you change this outfit of yours? Standing under the sun in all that glittering splendor, you're brighter than the sun itself!

You just made my junior brother's eyes water. If you don't change, don't blame me for stripping you myself."

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

Especially when Feng Wuhen's eyes had been made to water just now. 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, he was dragging Feng Wuhen around to pay for things!

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

Qin Xiaoran led the now somewhat less dazzling Hua Yichen toward Feng Wuhen and the others, who were standing before a stall eating steamed buns. When Feng Wuhen saw them coming, he handed them a steamer basket of buns.

"Senior Brother, and this Senior Brother too, hurry and try their buns! They taste really good—the skin is 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 also took a bun and ate it.

"This really is delicious. How did I never notice before?"

While eating his bun, Feng Wuhen sized Hua Yichen up. After shedding all those gaudy decorations, this guy actually looks pretty good. But why did he have such a brain cramp that he insisted on dressing himself up like that?!

Oh~ So that's how it is!

Feng Wuhen glanced at Hua Yichen as he ate his bun, his eyes 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 liked their Senior Brother Xia Jingcheng just like he did!

Xu Niannian's gaze at Xia Jingcheng was practically dripping with syrup. It was so obvious even a blind man could see it, yet he failed to notice! He even listened to his love rival's advice and dressed himself up as a walking jewelry rack.

Oh, so it was because Xia Jingcheng had once praised Hua Yichen for looking good wearing the Heartsea Stone Necklace. Hua Yichen had taken it to heart, which 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 selfish motives, he thought Hua Yichen looked good wearing the gift he had given him.

In truth, he was secretly hoping to give Hua Yichen even more gifts, to cover him from head to toe in his own things. It was the little scheme of someone nursing a secret crush.

But Hua Yichen had not understood the hidden meaning. He genuinely thought Xia Jingcheng liked him wearing lots of jewelry, so he dug out all the jewelry he had bought before and wore it on himself. Whenever he went out to gain experience, he often bought pretty jewelry to swap in and out.

That also made him a major customer of Brocade Pavilion. Whenever Brocade Pavilion had new products, they informed him to come buy them. They even sweet-talked him into buying some items that were not selling well. He was the very picture of a sucker.

Still, to be honest, it was rather enviable how extravagantly he bought things. He spent handful after handful of spirit stones without feeling the slightest pain. With that much money, he truly deserved to be called the artifact refiner best at making money among all cultivators.

Amid all those thoughts, Hua Yichen did not hear that Xu Niannian had tricked him into dressing as a jewelry rack, nor did he hear that Brocade Pavilion treated him like a sucker. He also did not hear Feng Wuhen envying his wealth in spirit stones. He only heard one thing: Xia Jingcheng had a secret crush on him, and the two of them liked each other.

Hua Yichen was so delighted he was about to jump up, but Qin Xiaoran pressed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "You brat, restrain yourself. I know you're happy, but don't get ahead of yourself.

Don't forget what you promised me before. Feng Wuhen must not find out that we can hear his thoughts. If you get this excited, won't you expose everything?"

Only then did Hua Yichen remember that he still had to keep it secret. He used every ounce of strength in his body to control his expression, making himself look less crazed, though his gaze toward Feng Wuhen was extremely gentle.

Feng Wuhen noticed how gently he was looking at him and found it strange. What's going on 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 may call me Senior Brother Hua.

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

Hua Yichen took five magical 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 all that impressive.

Wait, we're all getting 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 him about to shake the two marbles, he was so frightened that he hurriedly explained, "Junior Brother, never shake them. They may look small, but these two marbles are packed full of ammunition.

When you want to deal with someone, throw both of them directly. They will explode upon colliding with the enemy.

After the explosion, 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 no longer dared shake them.

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

The meeting gifts Meng Hongying and Qin Leyan received were two mirrors. By reflecting their clothes and jewelry in the mirrors, they could use them to change outfits and put on accessories.

The mirrors could help them select clothes and jewelry more effectively. They would no longer need to worry that the clothes and accessories they bought would look bad together. It could be said that these meeting gifts had struck straight into both their hearts.

After putting away their meeting gifts, the group prepared to find somewhere to stay. Hearing that they intended to look for an inn, Hua Yichen took the initiative to invite 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 will do nicely. Then I can watch the drama up close. Senior Brother Hua didn't come out alone this time—Xu Niannian and that Senior Brother Xia are both here. The three of them brought disciples from their sect out to gain experience, and they came for the child disappearances in Radiant Moon City as well.

More precisely, Senior Brother Hua and Senior Brother Xia brought disciples out to gain experience. Xu Niannian had forcibly tagged along.

Hearing his thoughts, Hua Yichen suddenly did not want Feng Wuhen and the others to stay with them anymore.

Qin Xiaoran saw that he was beginning to back out. He draped an arm over Hua Yichen's shoulders and gave his shoulder a slight squeeze.

"Didn't you say you were taking us to the inn? Then hurry up and go. We haven't even had lunch yet—just a few buns won't be enough for us."