With the barest touch of a toe against the rocky crag, Xiao Xun'er rose like a violet butterfly, her lithe form tracing a teasing arc as she bounded lightly up onto the ridge and landed beside Xiao Yan. Even as she spoke, the slender hand she had been holding behind her back flicked once — and a purple-gold card appeared between her white fingertips, its surface rippling with five bands of differing light.
A Five-Vein Violet-Gold Card. On the Dou Qi continent, one needed at least the strength of a Dou Ling to be so much as eligible to hold such a gold card, a mark of status its bearer could carry like a banner. Naturally, a few transcendent powers, those standing above the ordinary run of men, possessed the standing for it as well.
"That's plenty, plenty." Delight dawned on Xiao Yan's face as he bobbed his head. He could not help reaching out to pinch the girl's pretty cheeks once more — only by a supreme effort of will did he manage to stop himself in the nick of time.
"Do not worry. One day I'll pay all of this back to you." He thumped his chest in a solemn vow.
"Who ever said I'd let you?" Xun'er's lips curled into a pout, and even as she spoke the violet-gold card behind her vanished back into the nimble folds of her hand.
"Come, the day grows late. Tomorrow I'll show you around Wutan City." Xiao Yan waved toward her, then turned and, with a joyful bound, went leaping down the mountain ahead of her.
Standing quite still where she was, Xun'er watched the boy who had at last regained the easy, headlong manner of three years past. A soft smile crept across her face, and she murmured to herself in a low voice: "Nalan Yanran… do I truly not know whether I should hate you, or thank you?"
...
The light of early morning spilled through the window, falling warm and gentle across the boy who sat cross-legged upon the bed, his eyes shut in meditation.
"Hah..."
After sitting in stillness for a long time, Xiao Yan drew a long, slow breath, and a thin, faintly visible stream of pale-white qi, following his nostrils and mouth, was drawn deep into his body, warming and nourishing the bones themselves.
His eyes snapped open, a flicker of cold white light flashing through them. Xiao Yan stretched lazily, his face brimming with longing and contentment. "So this is the feeling. Three years... the sensation of growing stronger has finally come back to me."
He clambered slowly out of bed, loosening his limbs, then changed into a fresh set of clothes. From beyond the door drifted Xun'er's clear, bell-like voice: "Xiao Yan-gege, are you not up yet?"
"Coming so early, this girl." Shaking his head with resignation, Xiao Yan turned and rummaged through his cabinet for a while before drawing out a small wooden box. With great care he pried it open — and at once a sliver of golden light leaked out, making him narrow his eyes...
"This is everything I have in the world now." He gathered up the little box and gave a wry shake of the head.
He pushed open the door and stepped out. Catching sight of the young girl standing in the doorway, bright and fresh in the morning, Xiao Yan could not resist letting out a light, teasing whistle.
Today Xun'er had changed into a well-fitted dress of pale green, a color so clear and pure that it lent the maid an extra measure of innocence. A snug pair of long trousers wrapped her slender, elegant legs so smoothly they seemed to trace every graceful curve.
Long legs, a pert rump, the merest beginning of a young woman's figure — in this moment Xun'er might well have been a lively maiden of the mortal realm, brimming with youth and an irresistible vitality. And yet, it had to be said, there was a quiet, faint elegance about her, a quality of grace that Xiao Yan had never once seen on any other girl...
"Here — the thing you need." Noticing him come out, Xun'er smiled and handed him a black card. It was an ordinary gold-storage card, and its limit could not exceed five thousand gold coins.
Taking the black card in passing, Xiao Yan teased her: "Little lass, dressing up so prettily — whatever for? Do you have some appointment with another?"
"Yes, yes! This is the first time in three years that Xiao Yan-gege has invited me out with him. How could Xun'er not be flattered? Of course I had to dress my very best." His affectionate gibe made Xun'er's eyes curve into shallow crescents of laughter as she answered him in a playful, ringing voice.
With a shake of his head, Xiao Yan, in excellent spirits, chuckled a reply or two in turn. The two of them walked on out of the clan laughing and talking together. Halfway along, they ran into some of the clan's juniors, and when those boys and girls caught sight of the two of them trading easy, friendly banter, a strange, unreadable look crept across every face.
For now Xun'er, whether by beauty or by talent, was the brightest jewel among the young generation of the clan. And yet, for all her customary gentleness and affability, beneath that perpetual, faint smile lay a hidden coolness that kept everyone at arm's length. A greeting from her came easily; to draw her into a real conversation, that was another matter entirely.
Ignoring the stares of those clansmen, Xiao Yan led Xun'er straight out of the family grounds, then slowed his pace to wander idly along the crowded, bustling street.
Wutan City, as befitting one of the great cities of the Jia Ma Empire, fairly overflowed with life. Though the sun hung high and scorching overhead, the thoroughfare was still thronged with a ceaseless tide of people — and here and there, every so often, one might even catch sight of some strange and alien race.
Perhaps because she had Xiao Yan at her side, Xun'er grew far livelier once they left the clan. Dragging the exasperated boy behind her, she darted this way and that among the little stalls and marketmen, and the girl's clear, pealing laughter somehow managed to cool the sun-baked, sweltering street by a few degrees.
Only once Xun'er had worn herself out from the fun did Xiao Yan lead her to a nearby herbalist's shop. There, spending upward of nine hundred gold coins, he bought three Purple Leaf Orchids of twenty years' growth and two five-year-old Bone-Washing Flowers. These were all low-grade materials — with money in hand, one could simply buy them at any herb shop. Were he to need anything rarer or finer, however, he would have to go out and hunt for it himself, or seek it in the trading markets and auction houses.
Gazing at a purse that was shrinking with alarming speed, Xiao Yan shook his head with a rueful smile. Only now did he truly begin to understand just how important money was on the Dou Qi continent...
The herbs were in hand now. Only one thing remained to be had — a first-class wood-attribution magic core.