On this night, the second floor of Tang Pavilion remained brightly lit.
Behind every door came occasional whispers and bursts of laughter.
After two days of unrestrained play, the girls who had been suppressed for several days had returned to their initial excitement and energy.
Xia Liu walked along the corridor with a white cat in her arms.
She knocked on every door, reminding the noisy girls to rest early, even though she knew the reminders were unnecessary.
She made her way to the room at the end of the corridor, pushed the door open, and stepped inside naturally.
Su Zhan sat at the desk, her gaze soft yet focused. In her arms she held something — a sword with a glowing blue tip. It was Su Zhan’s Natal Spiritual Sword.
She was wiping the blade with sword oil and a soft cloth.
Her expression was concentrated, her movements gentle, as if she were cherishing a lover.
The surface of the sword glimmered faintly, almost as though it were breathing.
Every time it was nourished and cared for, the blade grew a little brighter, making one feel as if the sword itself was jumping with joy.
Damn it… Why am I sensing the emotions of a sword.
Xia Liu curled her lip.
She thought that Su Zhan had never looked at any person with such eyes.
If the other girls saw this scene, they would probably be jealous of the sword in her arms.
“Is that Junior Sister? Why aren’t you resting yet? Sit down first. Once I put this sword away, I’ll pour you some tea.”
Xia Liu had not hidden her presence at all. Su Zhan had noticed her the moment she entered, yet her hands never stopped moving.
“I’ll do it myself. Wouldn’t want your spiritual sword to get jealous.”
Xia Liu joked casually as she walked over to the table with the white cat in her arms and sat down. She poured herself a cup of tea.
The white cat in her arms twitched its nose and looked at Su Zhan with curious eyes.
“Junior Sister is joking. How could a spiritual sword possibly get jealous.”
Su Zhan spoke without looking up. She sheathed the Natal Spiritual Sword and set it aside before asking,
“It’s so late. What brings Junior Sister here?”
“It’s not me who’s looking for you. It’s her.”
Xia Liu gently lifted the unusually well-behaved white cat in her arms. The white cat also let out a soft meow.
Su Zhan raised her head at the sound and was slightly surprised when she saw the white cat.
The white cat gently struggled free from Xia Liu’s arms, jumped onto the table, and sat properly in front of Su Zhan.
It tilted its head up slightly and showed her the necklace around its neck.
“Did it get lost?” Su Zhan smiled and reached out to pat the white cat’s head. “Why is this little one so playful that it doesn’t even go home?”
The white cat meowed, sounding quite displeased.
It shook its head to dodge Su Zhan’s hand and lowered its head to paw at the necklace around its neck with its claws.
“This necklace… suits you quite well. It’s very pretty.”
Su Zhan failed to understand the white cat’s meaning and gave a serious compliment, only to be glared at by the white cat.
“Dumb Senior Sister.” Xia Liu covered her forehead.
“Look at what’s on that necklace. This cat has intelligence. It came looking for you, so it must have been sent by that Senior Su.”
“Ah? Oh, oh…”
Su Zhan suddenly understood. She reached out and removed the necklace from the white cat’s neck.
This time the white cat did not resist. It allowed her to do so, then shook its head and lightly jumped into Su Zhan’s arms, curling up on her lap.
“This little one wouldn’t let me touch the necklace, so I guessed that whatever was inside was meant for Senior Sister. It seems I was right.”
Xia Liu sighed and propped her chin on her hand, unable to hide her curiosity. “What’s inside?”
“Nothing much. Junior Sister can see for herself.”
Su Zhan smiled and shook her head.
She took out a letter from the storage ring and held it in her hand, then passed the storage ring to Xia Liu.
“Why are you showing it to me… This is clearly something meant for Senior Sister.”
Xia Liu muttered, yet her body was honest. She accepted the storage ring and examined it, her eyebrows rising slightly.
Inside the five-cubic-meter space were piles upon piles of medicinal herbs.
There were so many varieties that there had to be at least one or two thousand plants.
Among them were even some rare spirit herbs.
Converted into spirit stones, the value of this item was roughly between seven thousand and ten thousand.
Xia Liu knew about Su Zhan calling that Senior Su “Granny.”
Su Zhan had told her about it, but she had only assumed that the other party, like Li Xingyue, was treating Su Zhan as someone else.
She had not expected that this Granny Su would treat Su Zhan so well.
This was almost half the wealth of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
“You’ve struck it rich, Senior Sister.”
Xia Liu sighed. When she looked at Su Zhan, however, she saw that Su Zhan’s expression had darkened, as though she had been moved by the contents of the letter.
She stood up and leaned over to look. Upon seeing the thin stack of papers, she could not help but freeze.
The pages were filled with densely packed small characters listing over a hundred types of medicinal herbs, each described in great detail.
Every few herbs, there were also prescriptions and poison formulas.
The effects and principles of the prescriptions, the methods of the poisons, how to combine them, how to counteract them — everything was written with perfect clarity.
As if afraid that it was not detailed enough, the blank spaces were filled with annotation after annotation and supplementary notes, all of them her life’s experience.
Only on the final half-page did Granny Su write some personal words.
She told Su Zhan not to trust others easily and that one must always be on guard.
She told her not to be overly competitive and to act within her means…
At the very end of those words, she added in small characters: “Guyu will soon pass. The weather will gradually grow warmer. Do not drink cold things out of greed. You must take care of your body. Do not stay up late and catch a chill. During rainy times, remember to add layers of clothing…”
These words felt extremely cautious when read.
Every character had been carefully chosen, as if she was afraid of saying the wrong thing, afraid that even one sentence would sound like overstepping or lecturing and make the other person impatient.
It was filled with the concern of an elder for a junior.
These trivial words seemed to have been held back in her heart for several years without ever being spoken.
Now, fearing they might never meet again, she had poured them all out at once.
It was as though she were speaking to Su Zhan, and yet also as though she were speaking to someone else.
At the very end was a request.
Granny Su wished to entrust this white cat named Xue’er to Su Zhan.
However, if she was unwilling, she would not force it. This little one had its own destiny and was fated to find a good home.
Su Zhan remained silent. She lowered her head and looked at the cat curled up on her lap.
The cat stretched lazily, lay down flat, noticed Su Zhan’s gaze, meowed once, and rolled over to find a more comfortable position.
She suddenly smiled.
She reached out a hand to the white cat’s mouth and scratched under its chin. The little one squinted its eyes in great enjoyment.
“So Senior Sister has already made up her mind?” Xia Liu raised an eyebrow and asked.
“Mm. It’s just that it’s too late today. I won’t have time to find some small fish skewers to use as a betrothal gift. We’ll see tomorrow whether this little one is willing to wait for me.”
Su Zhan hummed softly and nodded.
“Then let’s make another trip to the market tomorrow before we leave. The girls were still begging to go shopping again tonight anyway. It’ll be right up their alley.”
Xia Liu sighed. She stood up and walked toward the door, then turned back.
“Since there’s nothing else, rest early. We have to get up early tomorrow. If you’re buying a betrothal gift, it should be the best and freshest fish. Don’t oversleep and delay things.”