"Fine, keep your secrets then. Xiaoshu here is Miss Tight-Lips—once she's decided not to say a thing, no amount of asking will get it out of her," Shen Yushu said meekly.

"That much is true," Gu Mengyao said, and oddly enough she did not argue this time, because it was simply the truth: once Xiaoshu did not want to talk about something, no matter how you pressed her, she would not say a word.

"Heh heh." Watching the two sisters bicker, Wei Zhao felt that this sort of life was truly warm. Whenever he was out on the road, once he calmed his mind, this warm scene would come back to him. Was this what it felt like to miss home? Was this place... his home?

Sometimes Wei Zhao would drift into a daze, as though he were already a member of this villa household. His attachment to this place had even surpassed that to West Star Mountain Village, and his longing for it, too, exceeded his longing for West Star Mountain Village.

In West Star Mountain Village there was only one person he missed: Old Man Wei. But Wei Zhao missed him without worrying about him, because in West Star Mountain Village, Old Man Wei was invincible! That was also why, whenever Wei Zhao ran into trouble, Old Man Wei would always tell him to come back and take refuge.

The reason was much the same as with Ergoudan, though Old Man Wei's case was rather more serious.

Wei Zhao recounted his journey to the Ulanhot Mountains to the young lady and Xiaoshu—a tale of heart-stopping danger that surpassed even the Ice Palace Trial! The enemies had been fiercer still, and every step had set his heart pounding.

Some key matters, however, Wei Zhao left out—such as Sun Jingyan's origins, and certain secrets he could not speak of concerning the Great Fire Lion, the heaven-rank spider, and the Way of Heaven.

When Wei Zhao finished, Xiaoshu and Gu Mengyao were dumbstruck! They had never imagined that this trip of Wei Zhao's had been a brush with death at every turn. Even though Wei Zhao had omitted many of the perilous situations, the whole account was still enough to make one's blood run cold!

"Wei Zhao, how could it be so dangerous? Next time, don't just go off with anyone who asks you to." Gu Mengyao was somewhat put out with Sun Jingyan. What right had she to drag Wei Zhao along on her adventure? And such a dangerous one at that?

"Heh heh... she is a good friend of mine," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"That won't do either. What if something happened to you? What would Xiaoshu and I do then? Who would protect us?" The young lady's temper, long kept under wraps, flared up again.

"Nothing will happen," Wei Zhao said. "Besides, I got some benefits out of it too."

"Yao Yao, actually, Brother Arrow Brand gets stronger and breaks through his limits every time he faces danger. We shouldn't hold him back..." Shen Yushu said suddenly.

"Hm?" Gu Mengyao looked at Shen Yushu in surprise, as though she were seeing a stranger.

"Only if Brother Arrow Brand becomes stronger and more formidable can he protect us—protect us for a lifetime..." Shen Yushu went on. It was the first time she had ever spoken words so profound and philosophical, utterly unlike the old Xiaoshu.

Wei Zhao, too, looked at Shen Yushu with some astonishment. After all, every time he recounted the course of a journey, Xiaoshu would be giggling and joking; rarely did she speak with such a straight face.

But the young lady, to everyone's surprise, did not argue either. She thought of how Wei Zhao had created the Frenzied Fire Eight-Trigram Palm based on Tagan Long's martial techniques and crippled Bi Lao with a single move—so it was indeed true: Wei Zhao really had grown stronger!

In the past, it would have been impossible for Wei Zhao to cripple with one move an expert of such high rank—a peak late Earth-rank fighter far above his own level.

"Xiaoshu, perhaps you are right," Gu Mengyao nodded, then said to Wei Zhao, "Then be careful next time. Promise me and Xiaoshu—you must come back alive! Don't take risks!"

"Mm..." Wei Zhao smiled, feeling the young lady's deep concern, and his heart grew warm.

It was just that he found it a little hard to pin down his relationship with the young lady. At first it had been very simple—merely employer and follower. Later, it seemed to have become something more like friendship, because the young lady no longer gave him orders in that commanding tone...

And later still, up to the present, it seemed they were good friends? Or perhaps not—something pure and ambiguous?

Be that as it may, this feeling was very, very good.

"Brother Arrow Brand, tomorrow come shopping with me and Yao Yao. It's been so long since we went out shopping and having fun. With you not home, we were afraid of running into bad people, so we didn't dare go out on our own," Shen Yushu said. "We finally made it to university, and there's less coursework, but our weekends are still worse than they were back in Songshan City!"

"Sure," Wei Zhao nodded. He had indeed been swamped with one thing after another lately. Ever since coming to Eastsea City, first the Hidden World Clans Summit, then the trip to the Ulanhot Mountains—he had hardly had time to spend with Xiaoshu and the young lady.

"Yay, Brother Arrow Brand, you're the best!" Shen Yushu cried happily.

Gu Mengyao said nothing, but a flash of delight crossed her eyes.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Wei Zhao took Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu and drove his Grand Cherokee out of the villa...

Next door, in Han Jingyi's villa, Han Jingyi stood at the window with a aggrieved look, shaking her fist. "Brother Wei Zhao, you never take Jingjing out to play, and after all the effort Jingjing put into refining pills for you—hmph, hmph, hmph!"

But once her grumbling was done, Han Jingyi picked up her tablet again and started reading—and then her phone rang.

She took out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and answered without any change in expression. "Dad!"

"Jingjing, how have you been lately? University life treating you well enough?" The caller was a middle-aged man—naturally, Han Jingyi's father.

"It's all right. It's just that the botanical medicine department is quite different from anything I've studied before. It's a different field, so it takes some effort to pick up, and I have to use my brain more..." As she spoke, Han Jingyi rubbed her aching temples. Lately she had been studying the art of pill refinement day and night, burning through countless brain cells.

"Heh heh, who told you to decide at the last minute to switch to such a major? Economics was the same thing, and it happened to be your strong suit," Father Han said with a laugh.

"It's not the same. Anyway, I quite like my current major," Han Jingyi said with a smile.

"Mm, as long as you like it," Father Han nodded and said no more.

"Yes, it's my own choice, so Dad, don't worry about it," Han Jingyi said.

"Me, worry? In this family, you're the one I need to worry about least," Father Han said with a laugh. "By the way, how is Xiaochao doing?"

"Ugh, still the same old personality—a regular bookworm. All he knows is reading, reading, reading, and he hardly takes part in any school activities." Han Jingyi felt a little vexed at the thought of Han Xiaochao. "He truly keeps his ears shut to the world outside the window and gives his whole heart to the books of the sages. But he'll change, slowly."

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