I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

"I know."

The artist interrupted him and continued:

“I know that I have been here on this day of the year.”

"Then you..."

"What? You don't want to?"

Seemingly realizing that Bai Zhou might not understand what she was saying, she added another sentence.

"It won't take long."

"...Although I don't know what's going on, since you said so, I will go on the trip with you."

"Well."

The artist seemed to smile, and the dim light seemed to transform into the sun, imprinting that smile firmly in Bai Zhou's heart.

How strange, he agreed, and the gentleman is so happy?

The daytime remains unresolved.

But since we can't guess, let's go and see what the artist is planning to do.

"..."

After dinner, and after the servants had tidied up, Bai Zhou wanted to go to the painter's side to watch her paint, but the painter pushed her to the bed instead.

"You can't watch this yet. Besides, you've been busy with those things for so many days, you need to get some rest."

"...I'll listen to you, sir."

Although Bai Zhou was curious about what the painting was about, since Xi had already said so, he had no choice but to be an obedient child and sit by the bed watching the painter.

"I almost forgot."

During the day, clasp your hands together and calm yourself down.

"What should I give you for your birthday, sir?"

Paintings by famous artists?

No, that's not appropriate. Although you enjoy looking at paintings of various styles and schools, there are quite a few of them, and it's too difficult to find a new school of painting among the existing masters. Besides, you don't have much time to go and find masters to paint.

Sending clothes? The gentleman seems to be very sentimental and rarely takes the initiative to change into new clothes.

Even if I give it to him, he won't wear it often, so it's the same as not giving it at all.

What should we give as a gift?

We can't really send him away on his own.

"Ah Xi, why aren't you resting yet? What are you thinking about so intently?"

The artist's voice roused the day from its reverie.

"Ah, it's alright, I'll go to sleep now, sir."

After saying all this, Bai Zhou suddenly felt a little strange.

In the past, he was the one who would wake Xi up to rest, but now it's the other way around, with Xi reminding him to rest.

"It feels...not bad."

During the day, under the painter's watchful gaze, Bai Zhou obediently took off her outer clothes and lay on the bed wrapped in her inner clothes.

"Ah."

The artist nodded slightly, seemingly quite satisfied.

"Sir, aren't you asleep yet?"

"Coming soon."

Xi put the painting away, strolled to the bedside, and nudged Bai Zhou.

"Go inside."

"Oh? Sir is going to sleep outside?"

"What's wrong with sleeping outside?"

Xi thought Bai Zhou was making a fuss over nothing.

Wherever she sleeps, he'll hold her, so what difference does it make whether she's inside or outside?

"It's nothing, it's just..."

"Stop talking, it's so late, you have to get up early tomorrow. Go to sleep."

The familiar scent of ink wafted to his nose. He gently embraced her, and she responded softly in response, closing her eyes contentedly.

Returning to the Seventy-Eight Mountains and Rivers, We Will Meet Again (Part 1)

Have any of you heard the stories of chivalrous wanderers?

On stage, the storyteller struck his gavel with a resounding thud, silencing the entire audience. Dozens of eyes were fixed intently on the stage.

"Today, I will tell you all about the famous 'Ode to the Knights'!"

"boom--!"

He slammed his fist on the table and launched into a long, eloquent speech.

"It is said that in the second year of Yuanhe, a down-on-his-luck wandering swordsman sought lodging at the Jiang family in Rongquan. Jiang Xiaozhou, the head of the Jiang family, always admired people of the martial arts world, so he treated the wandering swordsman to good wine and meat."

Unexpectedly, disaster struck the Jiang family that very night. They were robbed by a group of vicious mountain bandits, and all fifty-odd members of the Jiang family were supposed to perish that night. However, Jiang Xiaozhou's son, Jiang Chengfeng, was rescued by a down-on-his-luck wandering swordsman who sought shelter there that night. The swordsman used a large bell that the Jiang family had recently forged to seal the last bloodline of the Jiang family.

"Although Jiang Chengfeng, the surviving son of the Jiang family, was killed on the spot by the bandits, the loyal and chivalrous young man was killed. Even in death, the young man stood still and firmly protected the bell."

"Later, to commemorate the chivalrous deeds of this wandering knight, starting with Jiang Chengfeng, every generation of the Jiang family head would have the three characters 'Xia Ke Xing' tattooed on their back to remind future generations to do righteous deeds and not to do evil."

With the gavel striking three times, cheers erupted and tips were given. The restaurant instantly became a lively scene.

"Well said, you deserve a reward."

A tael of silver coin appeared out of nowhere and landed steadily on the storyteller's table.

"Hey! Thank you all for your generous donations! May our friendship endure forever, and may we meet again tomorrow."

"Leaving so early again! Tell me another one!"

"Yes! Everyone here has plenty of money!"

The storyteller's storytelling was indeed excellent, and the audience members all tried to persuade him to stay.

As for how the storyteller interacts with the audience, that's none of our concern.

What we should be talking about is the person who gave such a generous tip.

"I never expected to hear such wonderful stories in this place. It really shows that you have to travel more to broaden your horizons."

"Indeed, having traveled all over the world, even if one cannot compose a few lines of poetry or songs, the spirit within one's heart can still rise like the sun."

The emerald green pines, like the corners of a forest, swept through the air, and an approving look appeared in the bright rainbow-colored eyes.

"Where else would you like to go, sir?"

The dragon's orange-yellow amber horns, with their sharp, mountain-like lines, swayed slightly. As it poured tea for the painter, the dragon softly inquired about the journey ahead.

"Um……"

The painter pondered for a moment, then turned to look at him and asked for his opinion.

"Is there anywhere Ah Xi would like to go?"

"me?"

After thinking carefully for a moment, Bai Zhou slowly spoke under the artist's gaze:

"Being by your side is the place I most want to be."

"..."

The artist's teacup fell onto the table, spilling a few drops of tea, and his fingers tapped the artist's forehead lightly.

"Where did you learn such infatuated talk?"

"Sigh... These are my true feelings, not just infatuated words."

Bai Zhou put on a pitiful look, but secretly grabbed the painter's hand and held it in her palm, refusing to let go.

“I thought about it very, very carefully before I came up with it, sir.”

"Be serious."

The artist's expression remained calm and composed, seemingly unaffected by Bai Zhou's words.

"Well, how about we go hiking, sir?"

"Although the mountains here are not as magnificent as the Five Sacred Mountains, they have their own unique charm."

"Climbing mountains...that's fine too."

Although it was physically demanding work that the artist didn't particularly enjoy, the thought of watching the sunset, sipping tea, and appreciating the scenery with Ah-Xi gave the artist a lot of motivation.

"Then let us set off, sir."

Taking the painter's hand, leaving the tea money, Bai Zhou led her away from the teahouse and towards the picturesque hill outside the town.

■

"Sir, is this comfortable?"

Feeling the almost negligible weight on his back and the comfort brought by that pressure, Bai Zhou spoke with concern to the painter lying on his back.

"Um……"

The artist is currently feeling conflicted.

She made a bold claim when she first started climbing the mountain, saying that she could reach the top of a small mountain less than a thousand feet high in one breath. However, she was exhausted after climbing less than a third of the way.

He wanted to finally uphold her authority as a gentleman, but he failed again.

Stupid Ah Xi must be laughing very happily right now.