Although Mi Lu had long anticipated that the people from the Medical Hall would come looking for them, he didn’t expect it to happen so soon, and with such a large group.

It seemed that the head of the Medical Hall had already learned of Wei Sheng’s death.

Clearly, they couldn’t stay here much longer. They needed to leave as quickly as possible.

When Mi Lu arrived earlier, he had observed the layout of the inn and knew that there was another door at the back of the inn that led to a deep alleyway. If they followed the alley forward, they could reach the main road leading out of town.

He just wasn’t sure if there were also people from the Medical Hall guarding that area.

Mi Lu thought it over, but he didn’t dare to act rashly. So, he decided to pick a seat near the main entrance and pulled Hulü Yan along to sit down.

From their vantage point, they could clearly see the group approaching.

However, there were many shops on both sides of the street, along with a few other small inns, so it would take some time for the group to reach them.

Mi Lu glanced at Hulü Yan sitting across from him and saw that he was actually picking up one of the pastries the waiter had just brought and putting it into his mouth.

It was a piece of jujube pastry.

And it was the most expensive pastry sold at the inn.

But Mi Lu had lived a life of luxury both before and after transmigrating into this world, enjoying countless delicacies, so he had developed a picky palate. The moment he took a bite of the jujube pastry, he found it a bit too sweet.

He had never been fond of sweets, so he pushed the plate of jujube pastries aside.

Unexpectedly, Hulü Yan pulled the plate over and slowly ate almost half of the pastries.

Ever since they started traveling together, Mi Lu had rarely seen Hulü Yan eat. Even when Mi Lu handed food directly to him, Hulü Yan would only take a bite or two out of courtesy, sometimes not even touching it at all.

This was the first time Mi Lu had seen Hulü Yan with such an appetite.

Seeing Hulü Yan finish the entire plate of jujube pastries, Mi Lu called the waiter over to order two more plates of pastries and also had all the desserts on the menu packed up.

They ate quickly, and by the time the people from the Medical Hall were only a few shops away, Mi Lu called the waiter to settle the bill, including the remaining room fees.

Before leaving, Mi Lu pointed to the people from the Medical Hall and asked the waiter, “Your boss said those people are from the Medical Hall, and it seems like they’re looking for someone. Do you know who they’re searching for?”

The waiter followed Mi Lu’s gesture, scratched his head, and said, “Well, I’m not too sure. I’ve only heard they’re looking for two people.”

He paused, then added curiously, “But it’s strange. They say they’re searching for someone, but they don’t have portraits of the two people, nor do they describe their appearances. They’re just relying on their own eyes to identify them. Very odd.”

Mi Lu thought to himself that it wasn’t odd at all. Since his and Hulü Yan’s identities couldn’t be revealed, the people from the Medical Hall were naturally being very cautious.

But these thoughts stayed in his mind. Mi Lu composed himself and asked the waiter again, “How long have they been searching?”

The waiter thought for a moment and said, “A few days now, I think.”

Mi Lu nodded, showing a look of regret. “So many people must mean they’re searching for someone very important.”

“Exactly!” the waiter said casually. “And don’t be fooled by the number of people here. This is just a small squad. I heard there are even more people searching on the east side.”

“The east side? Where exactly in the east?” Mi Lu felt a wave of relief—they were in the southwest part of town, far from the east.

“You’d know if you went that way,” the waiter exaggerated. “There are a lot of people over there.”

With that, the waiter hurried off to attend to other matters.

Mi Lu packed the food into his spatial pouch and quickly pulled Hulü Yan out through the back door.

The rest of the way was smooth sailing, and they didn’t encounter any more people from the Medical Hall.

Since they couldn’t go to the market, Mi Lu had to make do by buying supplies from a few small shops. Although he didn’t manage to get everything he needed, it was better than nothing. It was certainly better than starting a wilderness survival adventure without any supplies at all.

Thanks to the spatial pouch and a few Hundreds Treasure pouches, Mi Lu was able to store a lot of items. He even bought a stove that could ignite with just a bit of spiritual energy, along with some low-tier magical artifact pots and pans. If they managed to catch a rabbit or two in the wild, they could have a barbecue on the spot.

Mi Lu was quite pleased with his plan.

In fact, he was so pleased that he found himself looking forward to the coming days, wondering if he would be able to catch a rabbit.

While Mi Lu was busy shopping, Hulü Yan, as usual, quietly followed behind him. However, once when Mi Lu was haggling with a shop owner, he unknowingly let go of Hulü Yan’s sleeve.

Just as he finished paying, Mi Lu suddenly felt a weight on his hand. Surprised, he turned around to see Hulü Yan firmly grasping his wrist.

Hulü Yan’s grip was strong, and it hurt Mi Lu’s wrist.

Instinctively, Mi Lu tried to pull his hand away, but he couldn’t break free. He couldn’t help but say, “Loosen your grip, you’re going to break my wrist.”

Hulü Yan didn’t respond, falling into his usual wooden state.

Mi Lu: “…”

Unwilling to give up, Mi Lu pried at Hulü Yan’s fingers with all his might.

Hulü Yan remained expressionless, not even frowning, but his grip tightened further.

Mi Lu gritted his teeth, struggling for a long time, but not only did he fail to loosen the grip, his wrist was now hurting even more. He took a deep breath, the pain causing his breath to tremble, and large beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

It seemed that Hulü Yan sensed something was wrong but still didn’t loosen his grip.

Mi Lu, in too much pain to continue struggling, resignedly extended his hand toward Hulü Yan and said in defeat, “Go ahead, grab as much as you want. Break my hand if you must, and then see what you’ll have left to grab.”

He had said it casually, but to his surprise, Hulü Yan immediately relaxed his grip.

The pain in Mi Lu’s wrist disappeared instantly.

Mi Lu was stunned for a moment and looked at Hulü Yan in surprise.

He really didn’t expect this.

So Hulü Yan could be swayed by such words?

But then again, this guy’s grip really hurt.

Ouch—

After leaving the town, the two of them continued walking northwest.

Although Mi Lu had gone through ten reincarnations, he had never ventured into this region. As the vegetation on the ground thinned and the landscape before him became dominated by vast patches of alternating green and yellow, he felt a strange sense of novelty.

He recalled a line of poetry from his childhood: “A single plume of smoke rises straight in the desert, the sun sets round over the long river.”

The scenery before him evoked the very essence of the poem.

But there was no lonely smoke in his view, nor any long river—only a warm yellow sun slowly sinking below the horizon, and a world almost entirely covered in snow.

Snowflakes fell on the distant mountains, on the trees nearby, and on Hulü Yan’s jet-black hair.

Mi Lu turned and saw that Hulü Yan, with snowflakes on his head, was still walking forward with intense focus. He couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “Pfft—”

Hulü Yan stopped in his tracks at the sound, tilting his head slightly toward Mi Lu in confusion.

Mi Lu thought, “This guy really doesn’t notice anything, does he? Not even the snow on his head.”

But he didn’t bother to tell Hulü Yan. He figured it’d be more fun to let him realize it on his own. After glancing at the sky, Mi Lu said, “It’s getting dark. Let’s find a place to rest.”

Hulü Yan had no objections.

Of course, even if he did, it wouldn’t matter—he didn’t speak and was always like a silent stone.

By the time Mi Lu found a cave for them to rest in, night had fully fallen. Light snowflakes began to drift down, and cold winds mixed with snow blew relentlessly into the cave.

Mi Lu set up a barrier at the entrance, then took out Wei Sheng’s luminous pearl.

He used this pearl often because, unlike other luminous pearls, its light was dim, like a low-wattage bulb, only bright enough to illuminate a radius of four or five meters.

Other pearls were too bright and would easily attract unwanted attention from both people and beasts.

Mi Lu placed the luminous pearl within reach and then pulled out the bedding and pillows he had bought earlier from his spatial pouch, spreading them out on the ground he had just cleaned.

Though the wilderness couldn’t compare to home, Mi Lu still wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

After laying out the bedding, Mi Lu turned to call Hulü Yan.

He saw that Hulü Yan was sitting with his back to him, staring blankly out of the cave at the dark, snowy scene beyond the barrier.

Mi Lu walked over and asked, “What are you doing?”

Having grown used to Hulü Yan’s usual indifference, Mi Lu was startled when Hulü Yan actually turned his head toward him before he even finished speaking.

Hulü Yan stared at him for a while with his hollow, dark eyes, then suddenly stood up and walked into the cave.

But he hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he accidentally kicked something.

At the same time, Mi Lu’s startled voice came from behind, “Oh no! You stepped on the jujube pastry!”

Hulü Yan instantly froze in place. Though his face remained expressionless, there was a faint hint of panic.

Huh?

What’s this?

Could Hulü Yan actually show emotion?

Mi Lu was astonished. For a moment, he thought he might have seen it wrong. He blinked and looked again—

Well, as expected, he was wrong.

Mi Lu tossed the crushed pastry out of the cave, pulled Hulü Yan to sit on the bedding, and then started organizing the food he had just taken out.

It was a bunch of pastries.

Using his spiritual energy, he molded the pastries together into a small triangular shape, placing a newly bought candle at the very top.

The lump of pastries didn’t look great, but at least Hulü Yan couldn’t see.

Mi Lu lit the candle.

The small, oval-shaped flame flickered gently on the thin white candle, perched atop a clumsy combination of pastries. This was the birthday cake Mi Lu had made for Hulü Yan.

It was ugly, crude, and completely unpresentable.

But it was the only thing Mi Lu had managed to put together in such a rush today.

In this cold winter, in a cave filled with the earthy smell of soil, in this quiet and awkward atmosphere, there were only the two of them sitting face-to-face, and the “birthday cake” that Mi Lu held carefully in his hands.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Mi Lu said, “Today is your fourteenth birthday. Given our current situation, I can’t throw you a grand birthday party, but we can at least have a small celebration.”

The candlelight illuminated Hulü Yan’s beautiful face, casting a faint golden glow over his features.

Hulü Yan remained unresponsive for a long time, his expression slightly dazed, his eyelids half-lowered as if he was looking at Mi Lu, or perhaps at the “birthday cake” in Mi Lu’s hands.

“This is a cake I made on the spot. Let’s make do with it. Make a wish, then blow out the candle,” Mi Lu said, playfully holding the “birthday cake” in front of Hulü Yan. “They say birthday wishes made on the day itself are more likely to come true.”

After speaking, Mi Lu anxiously observed Hulü Yan’s reaction.

This was by far the simplest birthday he had ever experienced.

Although he had planned to buy some things from town to celebrate Hulü Yan’s birthday, things hadn’t gone as planned. Running into people from the Medical Hall was unexpected.

Mi Lu wasn’t sure if Hulü Yan would dislike the cake—probably would.

After all, the cake was far too simple.

Even though it was a heartfelt gesture, it was still a rather cheap one.

Mi Lu sighed inwardly, suddenly regretting his actions.

He had hoped to use this occasion to strengthen his bond with Hulü Yan, but now he feared it would only push him further away.

As Hulü Yan remained still for a long time, Mi Lu’s smile gradually stiffened. He began to quietly pull his hands back, preparing to act as if nothing had happened and put the “birthday cake” away.

Just as he was about to retract the cake, Hulü Yan puffed out his cheeks and blew gently.

The candle’s flame instantly went out.

Mi Lu froze for a moment, and when he realized what had happened, he broke into a delighted grin. “Did you make a wish?”

To his surprise, Hulü Yan nodded—a response quicker than any Mi Lu had ever received from him before.

Mi Lu seized the opportunity and asked, “What did you wish for?”

The question slipped out before he even thought about it. As soon as he spoke, Mi Lu realized that Hulü Yan couldn’t answer him, and besides, it was rude to ask about someone’s birthday wish.

Feeling a bit frustrated, Mi Lu was about to change the subject when Hulü Yan accurately grasped his wrist again.

This time, Hulü Yan’s grip was light, his fingers slowly circling Mi Lu’s wrist, just like he had done many times before.

Yet for some reason, this time it felt different to Mi Lu. He tried to think deeper but couldn’t figure out why.

He could only ask, “Why are you grabbing my hand?”

Hulü Yan remained silent, quietly but firmly holding Mi Lu’s wrist.

What Mi Lu didn’t know was—

This was the first time Hulü Yan had ever celebrated his birthday in his fourteen years of life. It was also the first time he had ever so strongly desired for his wish to come true.

No, it would come true.

One day, he would personally make sure that this wish became a reality.