For three continuous days, Qin Fan had holed up in his rented apartnt, completely imrsed in crafting a defensive artifact.
In the apartnt, where the sll oscillated between fragrant and foul, a furnace had been incessantly heated by the One-Flavor True Fire day and night. It was only because Qin Fan constantly reinforced the furnace with his True Qi that it hadn’t exploded long ago from the relentless flas.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—!
A few rhythmic sounds emanated from the furnace.
Qin Fan cracked a smile and heaved a long, relieved sigh.
It’s finally done!
He reached out to remove the lid, and a scent that seed to soothe the soul imdiately wafted out. The mont the lid was lifted, a bracelet and a thumb ring suddenly floated into the air. Both were a solid, unadorned erald green, but it was precisely this absence of patterns that gave them an extraordinary aura of nobility.
Looking at the two defensive artifacts—forged not only from a jiaolong’s teeth, blood, and tendons, but also with Spirit Communication Grass and his own True Essence Qi—Qin Fan smiled silently with satisfaction.
He didn’t imdiately take the bracelet and ring. Instead, he opened his eyes, reached out, and gripped the levitating furnace. Withdrawing his True Qi, he swung the furnace itself toward the floating items.
But then, sothing strange happened.
The mont the furnace was about to strike them, it suddenly froze in place, unable to advance another inch.
Seeing this, Qin Fan muttered to himself, "It seems the Artifact Refining techniques I learned in the Cangqiong Continent weren’t wasted after all."
After muttering to himself, he finally reached out and took the bracelet and thumb ring. He opened the door to his apartnt and walked straight downstairs.
Wei Shuying was at ho, just bringing dishes out from the kitchen. She glanced at the clock on the wall and asked Qin Fan as he walked in, "Xiao Fan, why are you ho so late today?"
"Oh, I just ran into an acquaintance on the way and chatted for a bit," Qin Fan said, casually making up an excuse before changing the subject. "By the way, Mom, where’s Dad?"
"In the bathroom," Wei Shuying answered. Just as she spoke, the bathroom door opened. Qin Chu walked out and said, "By the way, Xiao Fan, let ask you sothing. Do you know that Zhou Yihang’s daughter has gone mad? What exactly happened between you two that day?"
Zhou Xueman went mad? So quickly?
Qin Fan feigned ignorance. "Zhou Xueman went mad?"
"Yeah, I just happened to hear it from soone. I heard Zhou Yihang hired professors, experts, and even a Master, but none of them could fix her. Now they’ve hired soone just to watch her and keep her from leaving the house," Qin Chu said. He paused, then added, "You still haven’t told what happened. Did you do sothing to her?"
"I didn’t do anything! I just said a few things to provoke her. If that’s my fault, then so be it. But for soone like Zhou Xueman, her going mad is a good thing. At least it purifies the air," Qin Fan said nonchalantly.
At this, Wei Shuying grew displeased. She set down the dish she was holding and glared at Qin Chu. "Qin Chu, must you always be so ddleso? Who cares if that ungrateful girl goes mad or dies! She hired thugs to nearly cripple our son! Soone like her deserves to go mad!"
"Even so, she’s still—!"
Before Qin Chu could finish, Wei Shuying cut him off sternly. "Enough, Qin Chu! Don’t make angry. If it weren’t for your personality, would we have ended up in this situation today?"
Hearing this, Qin Fan fell silent and gave a self-deprecating sigh.
"Alright, Mom, Dad, there’s no need to get upset over worthless people. Here, I brought you a gift!" Seeing the sour mood, Qin Fan quickly changed the subject.
With that, he pulled the bracelet and thumb ring from his pocket.
"What gift?" Qin Chu and Wei Shuying asked in unison. Their eyes widened when they saw the items in Qin Fan’s hands.
"You little rascal, where did you get these?" Wei Shuying asked, noticing they weren’t even in a gift box.
"Don’t worry about where they ca from. They weren’t stolen or swindled, that’s all that matters! Here, let put them on for you," Qin Fan laughed heartily. Not allowing any resistance, he first put the thumb ring on Qin Chu’s finger, then slipped the bracelet onto Wei Shuying’s wrist.
He continued, "Mom, Dad, rember this: no matter what, never take these off. You have to wear them twenty-four seven."
"You didn’t buy these from so master in the Martial World, did you?" Qin Chu imdiately chid in.
Insisting we never take them off? Isn’t that the typical line from a master in the Martial World?
"This is a thoughtful gift from our son. Why do you have to question it?" Wei Shuying shot Qin Chu a glare before caressing the bracelet on her wrist. "Xiao Fan, Mom loves this bracelet! Haha! Don’t worry, even if you hadn’t said anything, I would never take it off!"
What she left unsaid was that this was the first gift from her son. How could she, as a mother, bear to toss it aside instead of wearing it always?
Tired of being berated by Wei Shuying in front of their son, Qin Chu grumbled in annoyance, "Honestly, Shuying, does it make you feel better to pick on all day? Can’t you argue with a little less? You say you won’t take yours off, implying I would take mine off! I was just asking a question! Was that really necessary?"
"You’re the boss outside, but in this house, what I say, goes! You’ll listen whether you think I’m right or wrong! Alright, I’ll let you off the hook this ti. Let’s eat!" Wei Shuying laughed warmly and pulled Qin Fan to a chair at the table.
The atmosphere in the room grew warm and familial.
After a joyful lunch, while Qin Fan was sitting on the sofa cutting fruit for his parents, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. He couldn’t help but frown slightly. Only a handful of people knew his number, and fewer still would actually call him.
What could it be this ti?
Sensing the vibration, Wei Shuying said, "It’s alright, Xiao Fan, let Mom cut the fruit. You take the call."
"It’s fine, I’ll answer after I’m done," Qin Fan replied with a small smile. He quickly finished cutting the fruit, then pulled out his phone.
He glanced at the unsaved number, hesitated for a mont, then chose to answer.
"Who is this?"
"Master Qin, it’s Lai Zhuge," a voice answered imdiately.
Hmm? Lai Zhuge?
"What’s the matter?" Qin Fan asked, his brow furrowed.
"Do you rember Li Wenxuan from three days ago?" Lai Zhuge asked directly.
"What happened?" Hearing Lai Zhuge’s solemn tone, Qin Fan knew the proud daughter of the Gambling King must be in trouble.
"Master Qin, can we et in person? It’s not convenient to talk over the phone," Lai Zhuge said hesitantly. "Where are you? I can co to you."
"Forget it, I’ll co to you. Where are you?"
"Alright. Then thank you for making the trip, Master Qin. I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance of the Lingnan Fengshui Association!"
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