Chapter 860: Chapter 856: An Accidental Encounter with a Family of Three
After standing there for a long time, Sun Miaohan still showed no intention of turning back. From Xiao Tian’s angle he could vaguely see her pink lips move twice, but for quite a while no sound came out.
In the next instant, Sun Miaohan tapped lightly on the snow with the tip of her foot and in the blink of an eye she had already drawn far away, then vanished without a trace. Only the shallow footprints on the ground proved that she had once been here.
At this moment, Sun Miaohan’s mood truly became somewhat strange. This trip out could be said to be the heaviest loss she had suffered in more than twenty years of life.
First she had plotted and even lent out a precious treasure, yet in the end failed to obtain the Shaking Light Disc. Later, when they were in danger, she forced her way through the seal and lost the bet with Ji Dantong.
Especially since this was, since time immemorial, the very first time that her undefeated record had been destroyed. Before this, it was something Sun Miaohan simply could not accept no matter what.
However, once that final threat, which sounded absurd on the surface, was accepted by him, she actually felt no regret at all in her heart.
It might be a bit unrealistic to call it secret delight, but Sun Miaohan simply couldn’t feel the sense of loss she had imagined. It was as if, with that final promise, all of this had become unimportant.
Feeling that her thoughts were a tangled mess, Sun Miaohan could only turn all that irritation into fuel for moving forward with all her strength. She went straight on toward her sect, so fast that some experts along the way only felt a gust of wind sweep by.
Then, by the time those experts realized someone had passed, they had no idea that the owner of that gust of wind had already gone far away.
...
Not until the footprints left by Sun Miaohan had long since been covered by new snow did Xiao Tian finally chuckle and shake his head, then pack up his things in preparation for the return journey.
Yet when he had completely sorted everything out and was putting things into his backpack one by one, he was surprised to find an extra item.
It was a handmade bracelet, woven entirely from seven-colored cords. Xiao Tian instantly recalled that earlier this bracelet had been on Sun Miaohan’s wrist.
He didn’t know whether she had left it behind on purpose or lost it without realizing, but Xiao Tian still put it away in his backpack, then started on the way back without any further delay.
Little did he know, this seemingly ordinary object, with no energy fluctuation at all, was in Sun Miaohan’s heart even more important than the Demon-Suppressing Bell.
It was the item that had accompanied her ever since she was taken into Heartbreak Valley—one could say it was the only thing her parents had left her.
Later, Xiao Tian didn’t know whether Xu Ming had made it up herself or if it was actually true. Once, when she happened to see Sun Miaohan staring blankly at the bracelet, she told a story that sounded just like a fairy tale.
Xu Ming’s story was very simple. In her telling, the bracelet in Sun Miaohan’s hand became the witness and vessel of all the world’s beauty. She also said that if one day she met someone she liked and personally put the bracelet on his wrist, all those beautiful blessings would be transferred to him as well.
Moreover, the one who had the bracelet put on him, his heart would also be tightly bound by an invisible link to the bracelet’s original owner. From then on, no matter when or where, he would never forget the other person.
This story very quickly convinced Sun Miaohan, who at the time was about the same age as Bai Xiaoxuan. Ever since then, whenever she saw the bracelet again, that bitter feeling was gone, replaced by endless warmth and longing.
However, for now Xiao Tian knew none of this!
...
After more than half a day, Xiao Tian returned to the small town at the foot of Kunlun Mountain. The whole way was smooth, and he didn’t encounter any unexpected complications.
However, when passing by the Kunlun Sect, he was enthusiastically kept back for a while by the Lei Tong brothers, which delayed him quite a bit.
Otherwise, according to Xiao Tian’s plan, he had wanted to reach the town before sunset and then hurry back to Shanghai without stopping.
But after that little interruption at the Kunlun Sect, he didn’t reach the town until dusk, much later than he’d expected. His plan to leave immediately thus fell through, and he could only stay here for the night before setting off again.
And here, the place Xiao Tian chose was naturally that familiar little tavern, but he hadn’t expected that, on the way there, he would bump into several familiar figures head-on.
Coming toward him were three people: a man and a woman, two adults, followed by a little girl of about four or five. The three of them were chatting and laughing, looking very much like a harmonious family of three.
When his gaze swept past Xiao Tian, the man’s expression immediately changed; the smile on his face froze and became very stiff.
Unlike the man, the woman at his side, upon seeing Xiao Tian, had her eyes light up with joy. She walked quickly toward him, looking extremely excited.
"Hello! Are you here this time to tell us news about Xuanxuan?" the woman asked, her expression agitated. On the one hand she was delighted at the prospect of finally hearing news of her daughter, but on the other she was afraid of bad news, looking very conflicted.
Realizing she was losing composure, Xuanxuan’s mother hurriedly brushed the stray hair from her forehead back behind her ear, then said a bit embarrassed, "Sorry, I got too excited!"
Xiao Tian waved his hand and gave her a smile to show he didn’t mind, already having a rough guess in his heart.
They must have seen him coming from the opposite direction and mistaken him for someone who had come specifically to deliver news about Bai Xiaoxuan.
Although Xiao Tian was smiling at this moment, he couldn’t help but secretly think that this was bad. He had spent so long with Sun Miaohan just now and had actually forgotten to ask about the little girl’s situation.
Now this was awkward—facing the little girl’s mother’s question, he really had no way to answer for a moment.
But this couldn’t really be blamed on Xiao Tian. It was just that Sun Miaohan’s personality was peculiar, and she was always tight-lipped when it came to matters of the sect, strangling all his questions in the cradle so that he even forgot the questions he’d planned to ask before.
However, looked at another way, no news was actually the best news.
Thinking of this, Xiao Tian’s expression didn’t change as he said naturally, "She’s doing very well. She even asked me to bring you a gift so you won’t worry about her."
As he spoke, Xiao Tian took out a crystal-clear jade necklace from the backpack on his back. Under the moonlight, the gentle warm jade gave off a soft glow, so that even a layman could see at a glance that it was extraordinarily valuable.
Seeing Xuanxuan’s mother beaming with joy, Xiao Tian secretly rejoiced that he had been in such a rush when he came that he’d casually grabbed a few pieces of the gold, silver, and other valuables he had swindled from those third-faction experts last time. Otherwise, he really would have been at a total loss right now.
However, after he had soothed Xuanxuan’s mother, Xiao Tian suddenly felt someone tugging at the hem of his coat, and then a childish voice sounded by his ear.
"What about mine? What about mine? Did big sister bring me anything?"
Hearing this, Xiao Tian lowered his head and saw a little face full of expectation, urgently shaking the hem of his coat.
Seeing this, Xuanxuan’s mother hurriedly tried to pull the little girl back, an apologetic smile already appearing on her face.
But before she could act, she saw Xiao Tian had already crouched down ahead of her and pinched her little daughter’s cheek.
"Of course there’s something for you," Xiao Tian said with a gentle smile. Then he took out a delicate pouch and lightly hung it around little Xuanxuan’s neck.
