Chapter 996: You Forgot Me

Ye Wenxin immediately slipped behind Han Shanxue. Sister Hong blinked in surprise but didn’t think much of it and continued leading them to the dining hall.

Without the annoying Qian Duoduo and the elder, the Fang household returned to having their usual home cooking. The Fang children were all cheerful and lively. Even the introverted seventh sister got along well with everyone.

Ye Wenxin was especially popular among the children. They treated her like a big sister, unaware she was old enough to be their grandmother.

Lately, she had even developed a sense of superiority over being in her fifties.

She treated the girls around her with motherly warmth. They loved clinging to Ye Wenxin. The youngest even asked if she could marry her when she grew up.

Ye Wenxin couldn’t stop laughing, enjoying these serene moments.

“Am I interrupting?” Huang Hanyan appeared.

And serenity vanished just like that.

Huang Hanyan wore an apricot yellow dress today, the hem trimmed with translucent lace. Carrying the sword on her back, she looked like a wandering fairy.

But because of her low-key nature, she hadn’t earned the title like Gu Xiangsi.

“Senior Sister Hanyan, what brings you here?” Ye Wenxin was perplexed. Huang Hanyan should be alienating her out of anger for being stood up yesterday. Not show up with a smile first thing in the morning.

Sunlight fell perfectly on her, making her pure smile appear immaculate. The Fang children stared blankly at this sister, thinking she must be the descended fairy Ye Wenxin had mentioned.

Huang Hanyan seemed confident and unhurried today. She landed gracefully, as light as a feather.

But Ye Wenxin didn’t fear her the way she did Long Qingyue. In her eyes, Huang Hanyan was her disciple.

“You forgot something yesterday.”

Huang Hanyan glanced around. Catching Sister Hong and Han Shanxue, she tried to figure out which vixen had kept Ye Wenxin busy last night.

“I did?” Ye Wenxin asked, frowning.

Huang Hanyan pointed to herself, smiling. “Yes, you forgot me.”

The eavesdropping storyteller choked on his spit and broke into a coughing fit. Fei Chai stared at Ye Wenxin’s face, trying to find what made her so different.

“……”

Ye Wenxin paused, wondering if Huang Hanyan was flirting with her. But her heart didn’t even flutter for someone too young and gullible, so those words had no effect on her.

She stared straight at Huang Hanyan.

Flustered under the gaze, Huang Hanyan awkwardly tossed over a pouch she’d long prepared.

Ye Wenxin opened it and saw about 100,000 spirit stones inside.

“This is interest.”

Huang Hanyan, now calmer, realized she’d come on too strong. She wasn’t going to give up, though. If once wasn’t enough, she’d keep confessing until Ye Wenxin accepted.

After all, they still had a transactional bond. Ye Wenxin couldn’t just toss her aside.

“Oh… you’re not keeping any for yourself?” These spirit stones came right when Ye Wenxin urgently needed them, so she didn’t refuse. But she was concerned that Huang Hanyan might not have enough for her cultivation.

“I have more, and I can earn more…” Huang Hanyan tucked her hair behind her ear, biting her lip again.

She wanted to ask why Ye Wenxin hadn’t come last night, but doing so with this many people around didn’t feel appropriate.

This was why Ye Wenxin had spent the morning hanging around the Fang family. Who knew it would work so well on the thin-skinned Huang Hanyan?

“Alright, if you ever run into trouble, come find me.” Ye Wenxin smiled, slipping the spirit stones into her bag of holding.

She turned to glance at Han Shanxue, wanting to inform her that she had money again.

But Han Shanxue didn’t even look at Ye Wenxin. Given her upright personality, Ye Wenxin figured Han Shanxue’s image of her had probably sunk even lower.

The atmosphere dipped into a subtly awkward silence again. Realizing things wouldn’t work out today either, Huang Hanyan politely took her leave.

“Then I’ll get going, Wenxin.” She mouthed the word ‘Master’ to Ye Wenxin before flying off in a hurry.

Ye Wenxin stared in the direction Huang Hanyan had gone. “That way’s the recruitment venue…  I suddenly have a bad feeling.”

Considering Huang Hanyan had ties to Cozy Pavilion, it was highly likely she had ties to the Secret Guard, too. Watching how urgently she left, Ye Wenxin suspected she might show up as an examiner.

“Maybe Miss Huang is also a participant.” Sister Hong also glanced in that direction, countless questions popping into her mind.

When she thought she understood Ye Wenxin, more mysteries about her would jump out. Yet, she wasn’t close enough to Ye Wenxin to ask about such personal matters.

“I hope so… Anyway, shouldn’t we be heading out, too?” Ye Wenxin suddenly remembered they were also supposed to participate in the recruitment. But everyone present seemed oddly unbothered.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be taking a special route.” Sister Hong smiled. Being a member of the emperor’s faction had its privileges.

She didn’t hesitate to use one of those privileges for Ye Wenxin and Han Shanxue, both people the faction wanted to win over.

“Why do we need a special route?”

“Over 10,000 people are participating in this recruitment. If we don’t use the special route, the event will end before we enter the venue.”

After Sister Hong’s explanation, the family’s steward ran over to inform them the carriage was ready.

“Alright, let’s get going.”

“Sister Hong, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us.”

“Heh, out in the world, you rely on friends.” Sister Hong gave a small smile, not revealing her motives.

The storyteller went on to praise her until she felt too embarrassed and revealed a bit about the recruitment.

“The first trial is a headache. You’ll need to survive inside a secret realm for seven days.”

The information stunned Ye Wenxin. “Since when did the Golden Age Dynasty have a secret realm?”

A secret realm referred to a dimension an ascended had left behind.

Cultivators usually had treasures and manuals they couldn’t take with them upon ascension. Unwilling to give those precious items away arbitrarily, they created secret realms to store them in.