Chapter 4042 — A Necklace for the Fair Lady

The purpose of Little Curly Bear's visit was naturally to deliver a letter on Shangguan Lan'er's behalf. The letter contained only seven words: Meet me in the little grove three days from now.

There were countless little groves in the world; for anyone else, such a message would have been hopelessly confusing. Only Wei Zhao himself knew which grove she meant.

The three days passed in the blink of an eye. Wei Zhao arrived punctually to keep the appointment, at precisely the little grove where he and Shangguan Lan'er had their first "date."

Sure enough, no sooner had Wei Zhao passed through the forest path than he saw Shangguan Lan'er from afar, beckoning to him from within the pavilion.

"Little Junior Brother, I heard you went to the Far North Island a few days ago. How was it? Fun over there?" Shangguan Lan'er asked eagerly the moment they met.

"Not bad, though I was there for an auction this time, so I didn't get much chance to look around." Wei Zhao nodded with a smile, while inwardly somewhat puzzled. He had never told anyone about his trip to the Far North Island with Hong Zhong—so how was it that even Miss Shangguan had heard of it?

Little did he know that on the very first day Nan Tianxiong and his companions returned from the Far North Island in disgrace, they had egged on Hu Yunfeng, the Pavilion Master of the Welcome New Pavilion, to report the matter to the higher-ups of the Threefold Pavilion, accusing Wei Zhao of being a newcomer who broke the rules and wandered about recklessly. Even if they could not bring any real punishment down upon Wei Zhao, they were determined to use the affair to thoroughly disgust him.

It was just that at present everyone's focus was fixed on the wanted Xu Lingchong, and no one paid any mind to such trifles. Of course, should Wei Zhao make another misstep in the future, certain interested parties would inevitably dredge this matter up again—and then it would be adding frost to snow.

"What a shame. Feifei says the Far North Island is ever so much fun! It's just that my grandfather never goes, and he never lets me go alone..." Shangguan Lan'er's lovely eyes flickered, and she suddenly said, "How about we sneak off there to play next time, without letting my grandfather know?"

"Eh?" Wei Zhao was still wondering who this "Feifei" in Shangguan Lan'er's mouth might be when he suddenly heard this remark and could not help but start in alarm.

He and this little senior sister had not even become anything yet, and already rumors were flying everywhere. If he really did sneak off to the Far North Island with her, wouldn't they haul him off for public denunciation?

"What? You don't want to?" Shangguan Lan'er knitted her delicate brows.

Wei Zhao hastily collected himself and said, "Oh. Well, we'll go whenever there's a chance. The Far North Island is heavily guarded—it's not as though one can simply walk in."

"Fine then..." Shangguan Lan'er pouted, then suddenly added, "So, Little Junior Brother, since you made such a rare trip to the Far North Island, did you bring your senior sister a present?"

Wei Zhao had been thinking of exactly this, and he nodded at once: "I did."

With that, he drew two necklaces from his bosom, glimmering with a crystalline blue light, and handed one of them to Shangguan Lan'er.

Shangguan Lan'er was instantly overjoyed. Clutching the necklace, she hopped about cheering: "Little Junior Brother, so you do have a conscience! All the affection I've lavished on you wasn't wasted after all. This necklace is so beautiful—I love it!"

"Since my little senior sister likes it, then nothing could be better." Wei Zhao smiled with gratification, then explained, "These two necklaces—I actually made them with my own hands these past two days, under the guidance of a master artificer at my side."

"Really?" At these words, Shangguan Lan'er's eyes shone even brighter. A necklace bought from someone else's hands and a necklace crafted by Wei Zhao himself were, in her eyes, two entirely different things—this necklace was steeped in Wei Zhao's own heart and effort.

"Of course it's true. Earlier, at the auction on the Far North Island, I won a matched pair of blue light mother-and-child stones, and on a whim I forged them into a pair of mother-and-child necklaces. Once true qi is infused, the two necklaces can sense each other. Little Senior Sister, after you put on this child necklace, should you ever be in danger and your heart grow tense, the true qi I infused will fluctuate—so no matter where you are, I will be able to sense your location," Wei Zhao explained.

Forging the mother-and-child necklaces had not been purely a whim. After hearing the recent rumors, Wei Zhao had devised this as a roundabout means of protecting Shangguan Lan'er, so that should danger ever arise, he would be able to sense it.

"How marvelous! Then I mustn't let Little Junior Brother's kindness go to waste!" Shangguan Lan'er immediately grew jubilant and, right there in front of Wei Zhao, put the blue light child necklace on around her neck, close to her skin.

"How is it, Little Junior Brother? Does it look good on me?" Shangguan Lan'er lifted her chin and turned in a circle, her beauty like a celestial maiden descended to the mortal realm—so much so that even Wei Zhao, for all his composure, could not help but stare.

"Absolutely beautiful," Wei Zhao praised from the bottom of his heart.

"Hehe, Little Junior Brother has such a sweet tongue—I like it!" Shangguan Lan'er teased with innocent artlessness, while Wei Zhao, a "veteran" long seasoned in the ways of romance, unexpectedly blushed with embarrassment.

Shangguan Lan'er had invited Wei Zhao out this time for no particular reason—purely to play. This little senior sister put on no airs of a great miss, and being with her was easy and joyful—a balance of work and rest. Wei Zhao rarely got to relax like this for a whole day.

By the next day, Wei Zhao reckoned the time was about right, and he promptly headed for the Rag King's secret cave base to begin the final countdown to the forging.

After dealing with him all these days, Wei Zhao had come to know the Rag King quite well, and he believed that this artificer—who had never produced any dazzling results—could take the rare materials he had gathered through such bitter effort and forge a mighty divine weapon worthy of his hopes.

But Wei Zhao was an artificer himself, and naturally could not simply sit back and play the detached overseer in such a matter. Even if his own abilities were insufficient to control the entire forging process, lending the Rag King a hand was no great problem—and regardless of success or failure, he was bound to profit enormously from the experience.

Encompassing such supremely rare and precious materials as the ten-thousand-year tree crystal and the primeval pure land, this forging was, even across the entire cultivation world, an occasion that might never come again. Not to mention Wei Zhao and the Rag King—even the most formidable master artificer would surely be stirred to the depths of his soul.

The Rag King had more than once boasted grandly to Wei Zhao that this forging would surely go down in the annals of history, and would surely make his name known throughout the world!

True to the Rag King's long-standing style, he had always pursued maximum forging quality without the slightest regard for success rate. But this time, he had—for the first time in his life—changed his style. (To be continued..) R752