“No can do~ After tasting An An’s greatness, I don’t really feel like moving anymore.”
Evin cupped her cheeks and spoke in a slightly bashful tone.
The moment the words left her mouth, I put her in a headlock. “Can you speak like a normal person?!”
“Is there something wrong with what she said?” Cecilia tilted her head in confusion beside us. “Wasn’t she just praising how amazing An is?”
Evin, who had been begging for mercy a second earlier, immediately gained confidence. “That’s right. Even Yaya said so, An An. It must be because you’re too perverted…”
She was locked even tighter, which scared her into quickly raising the white flag again.
“Tch, whatever.” I had completely given up hope on these two little ones and loosened my arm.
Since Evin and Cecilia were clearly waiting for the answer, I decided not to keep them in suspense and explained directly, “The term ‘ten thousand zhang of glory’ comes from Sienato’s Imperial Grace Edict. The original meaning is that royal authority is bathed in light, possessing supreme honor and splendor. Put nicely, it’s really just the radiance emitted by a lighting fixture. And coincidentally, the style of the chandelier above perfectly imitates Sienato aesthetics.”
I pointed at the magnificent chandelier hanging from the library’s dome. The light it cast, refracted through crystal orbs, looked exceptionally beautiful.
“As for ‘immortal authority,’ it’s a bit of a stretch, but you only need to know that in Sienato’s art history, it has been used to refer to a key. Even though that’s the case, the forum post didn’t actually record much corresponding information. But it doesn’t matter, because the final train of thought is already confirmed—”
“So together, it’s telling us to use the light cast by this chandelier as the key to open the final door?”
“Then how exactly do we do it, An An?” Evin, who had been rubbing her cheeks, was drawn in by the story. She thought for a moment and asked the crucial question.
“There are glass panels of different colors on the surrounding bookshelves. These glass panels only allow light of the same color to pass through. White light can be split into various colored lights, and the colors of these panels are exactly red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Think carefully—what does this remind you of?”
This time they did not disappoint me. Evin and Cecilia exchanged a glance and both guessed the answer.
“Is it telling us to use these glass panels to shine the refracted light of different colors onto the bookshelves on the first floor?”
Since they had guessed it, we removed the six colored glass panels from the bookshelves and moved to the center of the third floor. There was a special short pillar there with a hollow interior, clearly left for some specific purpose.
“A little more to the side. Raise it up just a bit higher.” Leaning over the railing, I observed the changes in the light below while directing Evin and Cecilia to carefully insert the assembled glass panels into the groove in the middle of the short pillar.
Fortunately, the process was not difficult. After a few minutes of adjustments, we directed the brilliant light from above—just like the ‘ten thousand zhang of glory’ written on the first page—through the six glass panels. It refracted into beams of different colored light that slowly fell onto the six bookshelves at the front of the first floor.
As if a mechanism had been triggered, the bookshelves began to emit light that gradually merged with the falling beams. It looked like something incredible was about to happen in the next moment. However, in reality, nothing else occurred after that.
After waiting for a long time, both Evin and Cecilia subconsciously looked toward me.
“Strange. Did we make a mistake somewhere?”
Actually, it was not just them—I was also somewhat puzzled. This was the solution I had deduced from that forum post, so it should not have been wrong.
After thinking for a long time without figuring out where the problem lay, I looked at the two beside me. They simply shrugged, indicating they were out of ideas. Or rather, this kind of situation was exactly what they had expected.
I sighed. “Forget it. It’s almost dinner time anyway. Let’s log off first and check back later to see if we can think of something.”
“Can we come to An An’s house for dinner?” Evin’s eyes lit up the moment she heard that. She quickly raised her little hand.
“Haven’t you been coming over every day lately?” I rolled my eyes, taking it as a yes, and turned to Cecilia beside me. “Cecilia, do you want to come too?”
Cecilia seemed a bit stubborn in certain aspects. She shook her head. “I want to eat what An makes. Can there be dessert?” Cecilia’s thoughts were very pure.
“Of course. I’ll just let my little aunt know.”
Seeing this, Evin naturally refused to fall behind. “No way! An An, you can’t play favorites. I want some too!”
Why do the people mooching meals still have so many demands?!
“Fine, fine, fine.” Faced with these two headache-inducing little girls, I could only helplessly agree.
And so, after logging off, I managed to lure both lolis to my house with nothing more than the promise of dessert. My skill was so proficient that certain veterans who always carried lollipops and were ready to review their “how to get sent to jail” techniques would call me a true professional.
Although I had never planned for this at all, and I was starting to regret agreeing to let Evin mooch and even inviting Cecilia along.
After all, making this damn fruit milkshake was way too troublesome.
Even in the kitchen, I could faintly hear the cheerful voices of the two little girls and my aunt chatting about TV drama plots in the living room. Thinking about how I was still struggling with the ratio of milk to ice cream powder, I took a deep, somewhat unbalanced breath.
My little aunt, who was washing vegetables nearby, saw this and could not help but chuckle. “How about you wash the vegetables, Tongtong? I’ll make the milkshake.”
“No. Cecilia wants to eat the one I make.” I shook my head and sighed. “Besides, the most important thing is that this girl’s sense of taste is extremely sharp. If you made it, she would notice the difference right away.”
Cecilia’s obsession with desserts was beyond common sense. She had even developed a unique taste perception that allowed her to easily distinguish what she called “desserts made by cute girls that possess a cute soul.”
If not for this reason, I would have long ago placed an order for delivery from a dessert shop on my phone instead of wrestling with this fruit milkshake here.
My little aunt gave me a helpless look. Right at that moment, the doorbell at the entrance rang.
“I’ll get the door.” Saying this, my little aunt wiped her hands and walked toward the door, leaving me here still agonizing over the milk ratio.
I originally thought that at this time of day it would just be a delivery or something similar. I never expected to hear my little aunt’s surprised voice from over there, calling out to me, “Tongtong, come see who’s here!”