Several days later, Wutan City.
Xiao Yan stood before the familiar clan gates. Seeing the two additional guards beside them, he could not help smiling.
Their clothes had changed to the Xiao Clan's uniform, but the men were still from the Desert Iron Mercenary Group.
"Third Young Master!"
Once the guard recognized his face, he immediately came forward, while the other turned and ran into the courtyard.
Hai Bodong glanced up at the plaque above the gates and chuckled. "You're home. What are you still standing around for?"
"Come on, let's go in and have a proper meal. I've eaten so much dried meat on this trip that I've almost forgotten what hot food tastes like."
Xiao Yan stepped over the threshold. He had barely reached the covered walkway when he saw his father coming to greet him with his two elder brothers.
"Dad!"
Seeing him so full of energy, Xiao Zhan finally let go of the worry weighing on his heart, and a smile spread across his face.
"You're back just in time. I have some good news for you."
Xiao Yan's gaze swept over him, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"Dou Ling?"
Before Xiao Zhan could nod, he sensed the aura coming from his son, and his smile suddenly faltered.
"You broke through too?"
"One-Star Great Dou Master."
Xiao Yan held up one finger and added with a grin, "Still a whole major realm behind you, Dad."
Xiao Zhan looked at him for a moment, then raised a hand and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh, stop it! If you keep training at this pace, how many more days can your old man stay ahead of you?"
Beside them, Xiao Li could only shake his head.
How long had they been apart? The brat had already crossed another threshold. The little progress Xiao Li had made since returning home hardly seemed worth mentioning.
Xiao Ding, however, had already noticed the white-haired elder behind his younger brother and cupped his hands in greeting.
"May I ask who this senior is?"
"Hai Bodong, Elder Hai. A friend I met in Desert City. He looked after me on the way back."
Xiao Yan stepped aside to introduce him, and Hai Bodong waved a hand.
"I wouldn't call it looking after him. I owe my young friend a favor, so I simply accompanied him for part of his journey."
Once they entered the main hall, Xiao Zhan invited everyone to sit before quietly asking about Elder Hai's cultivation.
Xiao Yan answered casually.
"Two-Star Dou Emperor."
Xiao Zhan had just been about to ask someone to refill the tea, but the words stopped dead on his lips.
A Dou Emperor!
There were only so many experts of that caliber in the entire Jia Ma Empire. His son had gone out on a trip and actually brought one of them home?
He immediately rose, but Hai Bodong lifted a hand first.
"Sit. I'm merely having a cup of tea at my young friend's home. There's no need for ceremony."
Only then did Xiao Zhan sit back down, his gaze moving once between his son and the elder.
He had previously thought Xiao Yan's teacher must be at least a Dou Wang.
Now it seemed he had probably still guessed too low.
Before lunch, Xiao Yan met Xun'er in the covered walkway.
The girl stood beside a pillar. Hearing him approach, she turned her head, a smile already playing on her lips.
"Brother Xiao Yan, you finally decided to come back?"
"Didn't I have my eldest brother bring you something?"
"A gift is a gift. You are you."
After saying that, Xun'er added softly, "The lantern is lovely."
Xiao Yan laughed.
"As long as you like it. I looked through several shops before finding that one."
She glanced at him, her eyes curving a little more.
"Will you come over tonight to see it? It looks different lit up than it does during the day."
"Sure."
This time, Xiao Yan agreed without hesitation.
At the other end, Xiao Yi Xian was coming out of the medicine room with an herb sieve in her arms. When she saw him, she stopped.
"You're finally back. I was starting to wonder whether you'd found some fine herbs on the road and couldn't bear to leave."
"You're actually partly right."
Smiling, Xiao Yan pointed at his Storage Ring. "I brought back quite a few. I'll show you later."
Xiao Yi Xian's eyes lit up. She nodded in agreement, then took the herb sieve back to the courtyard first.
Farther away, in the shadows beneath the covered walkway, a gaze settled on the entrance to the main hall.
Ling Ying watched the white-haired elder, his expression gradually growing grave.
Hai Bodong.
That name, together with the profound Ice Dou Qi, was enough to remind him of an expert who had not appeared in many years.
The Ice Emperor!
Xiao Yan had actually persuaded this man to accompany him?
Recalling his several fruitless investigations on the mountain behind the clan grounds, Ling Ying grew even warier of that mysterious teacher.
He did not continue spying. His figure quietly vanished into the darkness.
This meal was more comforting than any he had eaten on the road.
Xiao Li spoke about how the new mercenaries had been incorporated into the guards, while Xiao Ding asked what medicinal ingredients he still needed. Listening to his three sons talk, Xiao Zhan tried to interject several times, but in the end, he simply smiled and asked for more dishes to be served.
Holding his rice bowl, Xiao Yan suddenly felt that all the arrangements he had worked so hard to make had finally fallen into place.
Sitting beside him, Hai Bodong gradually understood why the boy had been so eager to hurry home as soon as he emerged from seclusion.
The people around this table were the ones he truly could not stop worrying about.
That afternoon, at the Mittel Auction House.
Ya Fei accepted a teacup from a maid and looked at Xiao Yan across from her, her face wreathed in smiles.
"After a trip away, you finally remembered that your big sister still has a business here?"
"Didn't I come to see you as soon as I got back?"
Xiao Yan placed two wooden boxes filled with medicinal ingredients on the table, then asked about the supplies delivered during his absence.
Ya Fei fetched the ledger and went over a few important points.
The common medicinal ingredients the Xiao Clan needed had been delivered as agreed, and several rarer varieties had also been brought in from nearby cities.
"However, Wutan City really has very limited stocks of those well-aged medicinal ingredients you asked about last time."
Xiao Yan nodded. Just as he was about to ask about the situation in the Imperial Capital, Hai Bodong spoke from beside him.
"Does Teng Shan still manage the family's affairs?"
Ya Fei froze, then took a proper look at the elder.
Earlier, she had only heard Xiao Yan call him Elder Hai and had not asked about his background. Now, hearing him address a clan elder directly by name, she could not help sitting a little straighter.
"Senior, do you know Grand Elder Teng Shan?"
"I do."
Hai Bodong took an old jade token from his Storage Ring and set it on the table. It was small, with ice patterns carved along its edges and only the character for "Hai" on the back.
"I am Hai Bodong. Send this to Teng Shan and tell him I have returned. I'll be staying in Wutan City for a while."
Ya Fei's gaze immediately fixed on the jade token.
Hai Bodong?
She had heard her clan's elders mention that name, but she had never expected to meet the man himself here.
Just what had Xiao Yan done on this trip?
"You are... the Ice Emperor?"
Hai Bodong nodded slightly, then gestured toward Xiao Yan.
"Continue the medicinal ingredient business between the Xiao Clan and the auction house as before. If goods need to be brought in from the Imperial Capital, ask him to give the matter some attention as well. Charge according to the usual rules."
Ya Fei carefully put away the jade token.
"I'll arrange for someone to take it to the Imperial Capital today, along with a letter. The round trip will take some time, though. Once a reply arrives, I'll send it to the Xiao Clan immediately."
"There's no hurry."
Hai Bodong lifted his teacup.
Xiao Yan nodded as well. "For now, just see what good medicinal ingredients they have there. I'd also like to find some things that could help Elder Hai recover, though I'll need to consult my teacher about the specifics."
"Your big sister will keep that in mind."
Ya Fei closed the ledger, looked at him, and suddenly gave a soft laugh.
"Next time you bring a friend over, remember to tell me beforehand. If there were any shortcomings in my hospitality today, I'll hold you accountable."
Xiao Yan helplessly spread his hands.
"I came to give you business as soon as I got back, and I still get scolded?"
Ya Fei smiled without answering, merely pushing the tea on the table closer to him.
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