Pillar of Yita

His answer was somewhat interesting, and everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Tianlan, straightforward as she was, couldn’t contain her laughter and giggled, ”Hee hee, haven’t you already told us?”

The little boy’s face turned red, and he was at a loss for words for quite some time.

At that moment, an elderly voice came from within the door, ”Alright, my dear guests, please spare him. Meili, let them in. They are indeed our guests this afternoon.”

Only then did Meili open the door to let them in. Although Tianlan was straightforward, she meant no harm and reached out to pat the other’s head, but the boy was very alert and stepped back.

He glanced at Tianlan, his face flushed, and without saying much, led everyone into the house.

Soon, a hound ran out from the house, wagging its tail as it circled around the visitors. Tianlan was initially a bit scared, but quickly became familiar with the little fellow.

The hound seemed to like her very much, affectionately sticking out its tongue to lick the back of her hand, causing her to giggle.

Sir Duke’s residence was larger than they had imagined. The old man seemed to have bought this half of the apartment and knocked down the walls between them. They passed through a grand hall adorned with various trophies and blades, and then arrived at a smaller drawing room.

Hilveld whispered to Fang Hong, biting his ear and saying that her father would have loved this place if he were here, as he too had a similar hall in his castle in Bardson, and Bakins’s habit of displaying weapons was in fact learned from her father.

Her breath tickling Fang Hong’s ear made his face turn red.

Fortunately, the others didn’t notice, and they followed the boy into the drawing room. Between the sofas encircling the fireplace, they saw the rumored Sir Duke.

He sat in a chair, wearing a coat and draped in a grey shawl, with a bright flame in the fireplace casting light on one side of him, a brown patterned blanket on his lap, and a book resting on top.

Gita glanced at the book’s title, which read ”Colin Ishurian Folk Tales.”

The old man had white hair but was lively in spirit. Upon seeing the visitors, he greeted them with a smile, ”It seems that Linxiu’s friends have arrived. I actually heard about you from him long ago, but we lost touch over the last decade, and he doesn’t know I’ve moved.”

”And I just couldn’t get in touch with you for a while, so sorry to trouble you all. It must have been difficult to find this place, wasn’t it?”

”Indeed,” thought Fang Hong, but fortunately, they had been idle over the past month. However, the old man’s immediate mention of Linxiu instead of Mazak took him by surprise.

But the visitors already knew that the Chairman of the Black Goat Commerce Association and the owner of the Traveler’s Rest were close friends, so they weren’t too surprised.

The old man gestured for them to sit, and they each found a seat, with Tianlan insisting on being with Gita, so Atira had to sit in the middle, while Hilveld silently nestled next to Fang Hong.

And Fang Hong had no choice but to sit closest to the old man, with Miss Tata perching on his shoulder.

Only then did the hound leave Tianlan and return to its master. The old man stroked its head, instructing it to sit aside. The boy named Meili, looking at the book on his grandfather’s lap, finally spoke crisply, ”Grandpa, you said you would continue telling me the story when the guests arrived...”

The old man smiled, ”Meili, go and pour some tea for our guests first.”

The little boy, though reluctantly pouting, left with a lingering look.

Then the old man began with a nostalgic tone, ”Speaking of which, it has been almost thirty years since that incident. If Linxiu hadn’t written me, I would have almost forgotten that the time was drawing near.”

”Are you talking about the Dolifen incident?” Tianlan asked.

Atira gave her a glance.

But the old man didn’t seem to mind, ”No matter, I quite like straightforward characters, and as one grows old, one tends to reminisce. Although it has been so long since that incident, it has just come back to me.”

He ran his hand over the book’s cover, ”Thirty years ago, when Meili wasn’t even born, I rescued his mother from the ruins of Dolifen. Of course, she was just a little girl, unaware of worldly matters, and one of the few survivors of the event—”

”Later, she married my son, and they had Meili, but death caught up with her after thirty years. My useless son spent his Starlight on the battlefield, and the poor girl followed him shortly after, leaving Meili alone.”

”Fortunately, I still have a few good years to take care of him until he grows up,” said the old man, seemingly reminiscing as his hand gently touched the embossed copper letters on the book cover, ”This book tells the tale of Yoshude and the Evil Dragon, it’s his favorite story.”

He looked up, his grey eyes seemingly shining with wisdom, ”This book is one of yours, very popular once it was published. People from your place are always clever, good at spotting business opportunities.”

Fang Hong was momentarily startled before realizing that ’you people’ referred to Earthlings.

The old man changed the subject, ”But since you’ve come here with that letter, you must understand the true nature of the story, right?”

Everyone nodded.

The old man extended his hand, ”Do you have that item with you?”

Understanding what he meant, Fang Hong took the Ring of Golden Flame out of his chest and handed it to the old man. Although Mazak had admonished him not to open the letter until he met the recipient, the Ring of Golden Flame had revealed itself fortuitously, and he didn’t trouble himself to make a new envelope.