The gentle voices of his wife and daughter turned into a warm breeze, relaxing Zhang Han’s tired body.
He had been nervous during the last minute in the relic, and now he was finally at ease.
The Elixir-stage Thunder Yak was almost invincible, and it should be at the top of the food chain in the relic. Zhang Han was unable to defeat it now.
He speculated that the Thunder Yak had swallowed the Taiyi Wood Thunder a long time ago, but unconsciously released it when sleeping.
Anyway, this expedition turned Zhang Han’s 2,000 clouds into 4,000, increased his soul sense, and expanded the area of his soul sense sea and the cloud layer above it.
This was good news, but… it would be more difficult for Zhang Han to suppress the clouds that constantly wanted to gather together.
Fortunately, Zhang Han was optimistic and even regarded it as a way of cultivation. He just needed to wait a year for the Thunder Yang Wood to mature, and then he would advance to the Innateness stage.
In addition, Zhang Han was satisfied with the Heaven-sea Crystal Stone he got this time.
The energy in the Heaven-sea Crystal Stone was difficult to be refined, making the stone unsuitable for cultivation. But the energy in it could improve the energy condensation degree of other crystal stones, that was to say, it could improve the quality of ordinary crystal stones. However, although Zhang Han now had a fifth-level Heaven-sea Crystal Stone, it was not enough for him to upgrade the crystal vein under Mount New Moon to a medium level.
Fortunately, it could improve the concentration of crystal ore solution, shorten its setting time, and greatly improve the condition of the whole Mount New Moon due to the elevation of the ore vein.
Now, Mount New Moon was developing toward the goal of integration, and the upgrading of the crystal stone vein could also promote the upgrading of the thunder yang tree and shorten its growth time.
Therefore, this Heaven-sea Crystal Stone was also Zhang Han’s great harvest in this relic.
In addition, Zhang Han got some Power Grass for Dahei, and crystal stones for Little Hei as snacks.
Eating these things was the quickest and most efficient way to improve Little Hei’s strength.
And this time, Zhang Han got a lot of spirit treasures and crystal stones, accounting for more than 30% of all the treasures he got, many of which were very useful.
But Zhang Han didn’t care about that at all. He just wanted to get home soon.
“When can you get home?” Zi Yan asked.
“I’m driving back home from Mount He Snow. Wait a while for me.” When Zhang Han answered, Mengmeng couldn’t wait to speak.
Zi Yan chuckled when she saw her little girl trying to steal her husband from her!
She switched to hands-free mode.
“PaPa, why haven’t you come back? Mengmeng misses you.”
“Daddy missed you too. I’ll be back soon,” Zhang Han said with a smile.
“Well, after you went out, MaMa and I didn’t go out to play today, and we haven’t had dinner now. We are waiting for PaPa to come back and have dinner together.”
Zhang Han checked the time and said, “It’s past seven o’clock in the evening. Haven’t you had dinner yet? Go to eat something with your mother, because I have to drive for a while before I get home.”
“We’ll wait for you,” Zi Yan replied. “We are not hungry. We shared some snacks just now while watching TV.”
“Just some snacks. I haven’t eaten ice cream yet. PaPa, it’s hot in the room…” Mengmeng complained.
Zhang Han smiled and interrupted Mengmeng. “I’ll buy some ice cream for you.”
“Wow, PaPa is great! I love you!”
Although he was on the phone, Zhang Han could imagine his little princess’s happy expression and pouting lips.
So he grinned as well.
He chatted with Mengmeng for more than 20 minutes, and most of the time, he was listening to his daughter. As a little girl, Mengmeng was more active than Zi Yan, and Zhang Han hoped that she could keep this kind of unrestrained character.
Mengmeng’s future had to be different. After all, not everyone had a universal father like Zhang Han.
After the call, Zhang Han bought two ice creams from the mall on his way back.
“PaPa.” Mengmeng ran to Zhang Han as soon as he came back home and threw herself into his arms.
Zhang Han squatted down, kissed Mengmeng on her pink face, gave her an ice cream and Zi Yan the other.
After Zhang Han returned to the villa, Lei Tiannan and Mo Chengfeng went to Wang Zhanpeng’s residence. They planned to have a party in the evening to celebrate the success of the expedition.
On the way, they decided which restaurant to go to.
It was Western Mountain Restaurant, which was famous in Ice City.
The Western Mountain Restaurant was large scale and sold all kinds of special dishes. The chef of the restaurant was famous in Ice City.
Zi Yan kept sharing her ice cream with Zhang Han, who was resting. If Zhou Fei was here, she would again complain about their public display of affection.
In the end, Mengmeng and Zi Yan ate one ice cream and fed the rest to Zhang Han.
After eating the ice cream, Mengmeng happily leaned on Zhang Han’s chest.
When Wang Zhanpeng and the others were ready, Zi Yan and Mengmeng began to put on their thick clothes.
It was warm in the room but cold outside.
“PaPa, will we go back tomorrow? Shall we take the snowmen with us?” after Mengmeng went out, she looked at the three snowmen and asked Zhang Han.
When Zhang Han was about to promise her…
Zi Yan interrupted him. “No, we can’t do that. Hong Kong is hot and the snowmen will melt as soon as we go back. But we have taken enough photos of them, and you can come back to enjoy the snow the next winter.“
“Well, okay,” Mengmeng agreed.
Zi Yan rolled her eyes at Zhang Han, because she knew that Zhang Han would have fulfilled Mengmeng’s wish at any price.
Zi Yan was better than Zhang Han in educating Mengmeng.
Adults sometimes couldn’t spoil their children, and they should learn to say no. Zi Yan was helpless because Zhang Han always listened to what Mengmeng said and followed what she did.
She understood Zhang Han, who had never seen Mengmeng in the past few years. Therefore, she had to be the strict parent.
To Zi Yan’s relief, Mengmeng was a good girl and never made trouble for her.
After the family of three left their yard, they saw a group of people including Wang Zhanpeng getting in their cars on the left side.
They were excited and kept talking loudly.
They could be heard vaguely.
“So amazing! You could never imagine what I saw in that relic! Long lightning! They were all eaten by our boss!”
It was Elder Meng’s voice.
Actually, he was not in the explorer team at all.
As for those real explorers including Director Bi, they were also praising Zhang Han.
“The situation there was worse than you could imagine, even Grand Master Gai was in a dilemma. It was Grand Master Zhang who turned the tide and convinced us of his strength.”
“My master fought against Gai Xingkong before entering the relic, and we all knew that he would have been the winner. Then Gai Xingkong had a talk with my master somewhere else, and we were told that they were on the same side.”
“…”
When the martial artists who were chatting happily saw Zhang Han and his family coming, their discussion gradually stopped.
It was the first time for Director Bi and the others to see Zi Yan and Mengmeng, who immediately attracted their attention.
Even though they were not interested in the entertainment industry, almost all of them had heard of Zi Yan before, who was now called Ms. Zhang.
“Han,” Rong Jiaxin hesitated for a while and then said with a smile, “I remember that your father had a good friend called ‘Old Gai’. I saw him several times back then, but I never expected him to be Gai Xingkong. It wasn’t until my brother-in-law retired that he became famous.”
“Yes, that’s him.” Zhang Han nodded and smiled. “Let’s go first, and talk about it in the restaurant.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
The group got into the cars next to them.
Because Director Bi, Lei Tiannan, and other people took the same cars to and from the relics, their vehicles were enough to form a long team to drive to Western Mountain Restaurant.
Western Mountain Restaurant occupied a seven-story building in the downtown area of the Western District of Ice City. Its main color was brown and it looked solemn. There was a big plaque on the gate, and the outdoor parking lots on both sides were almost full of cars.
This restaurant was well decorated, with high service quality and distinctive dishes, but the price was not very high, so it was popular.
Zhang Han and his friends parked their cars in the parking lot and walked into the restaurant.
There was a big round hall in the center of the first floor, which was the service desk and the place for queuing. Around it were four-seat dining tables, almost full of people.
It was not the normal time to eat, but there were still many people here.
“Hello, welcome. Have you made a reservation?” the hall manager immediately greeted the group of people and asked enthusiastically.
“We booked room 601 before.” Zhao Feng nodded his head.
The best rooms here were all on the sixth floor, and there was a service charge for each room. 601 was a large multi-functional room, which had three tables and a sofa at the back.
But before Zhao Feng checked his mobile phone number, the 20-year-old female manager looked at him in surprise, and said after pondering, “Room 601? Did you book it at 7:15 p.m. using a cell phone?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry. The time you set was 8:30 p.m. and I asked someone to call you then, but he didn’t get through. We thought you might not come and then gave the room to another guest. I’m so sorry.” The manager apologized.
Though she seemed to be sincere, she knew actually that the room was arranged by the boss of the restaurant for some honored guests, and the boss would come in person after a while.
Zhao Feng knew that there had to be some hidden reason, so he frowned.
Seeing this, the manager said with shame, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Now although there are no big rooms, there are still two small rooms on the third floor, and you can go there. The second floor is not a private area, and there are many vacant seats. You can sit down separately.”
Zhao Feng was hesitating.
He didn’t want to annoy Zhang Han at such a happy time, so he asked, “Master, shall we change to another restaurant or go to that small room?”
While Zhang Han was thinking, a balding man hurried out from the inside.
Seeing so many people standing there, he frowned, looked at the hall manager, and said, “Haven’t you arranged them yet?”
“Boss, they booked room 601 before, but they are late.”
“Seat them as soon as possible,” the restaurant owner said and hurried out.
Before he got to the door, his face changed and he said with a smile to the man who came in, “Childe Gai, welcome!”
Gai Rulong came in with more than 10 outstanding young men from local families or sects. Their elders who followed Gai Xingkong to explore the relic were staying at the Gai house tonight, and these young men followed Gai Rulong to celebrate.
When Gai Xingkong nodded at the restaurant owner and was about to enter through the door, he suddenly saw Zhang Han.
Gai Xingkong was so surprised that he ignored the restaurant owner and walked forward to greet Zhang Han. “Mr. Zhang!”
All the young men following him were excited.
“Master… Mr. Zhang!”
“What a coincidence to meet Mr. Zhang here.”
“…”
The 10 young men all rushed to say hello to Zhang Han.
The restaurant owner was left behind and stunned.
“I have never seen Childe Gai be so respectful to others. That… that man must be very powerful! Hiss!”
When Gai Rulong approached Zhang Han, he felt a little nervous.
“Nice to meet you here, elder brother Zhang, sister Zi Yan, and you, little princess.” Gai Xingkong greeted the family of three politely.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Hello, brother.” Mengmeng looked at Gai Rulong curiously and waved her hand at him.
“Hello.” Zhang Han nodded and looked at Gai Rulong carefully, finding the young man to his liking.
Wang Zhanpeng knew that Zhang Han and Gai Xingkong were on the same side, so he stared at Gai Rulong and asked, “Did you occupy our room?”
“What? What room?” Gai Rulong was in confusion.
“We booked room 601. Did you do the same as us?” Zhao Feng informed him.
“No.” Gai Rulong’s face darkened as he replied, “I don’t know.”
Then he looked at the restaurant owner seriously and asked, “They booked the room first. Why did you give it to us?”
“This, I…” The restaurant owner was frightened into sweating.
Gai Rulong did not intend to pursue the matter. He looked at Zhang Han and said, “Brother Zhang, would you like to have dinner with us? That room seems to be big enough.”
“Yes, it’s big enough.” The restaurant owner nodded and echoed, “We’ll arrange one more table in it.”
“Okay, fine.”
Finally, the large group of people went directly to the stairs, and the hall manager, who was already stunned, heard Gai Rulong say, “Brother Zhang, when will you come to my home? My second grandfather has been waiting for you.”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Then they entered the elevator.
The restaurant owner who took the lead on the way was a little confused. “Isn’t Gai’s second grandfather the head of the Gai family who is famous in northeast China?
“Is this seemingly ordinary young man at the same level as the head of the Gai Clan? It’s so scary!”
In the room, Gai Xingkong heard most of the martial artists not talking much about the relics, but about their family life. So he followed them to talk about some local interesting things.
But those who came with him sat still very seriously. In the face of many “elders”, they were still a little uneasy
They finished dinner at almost 10 o’clock in the evening.
When the other martial artist were still chatting, Zhang Han, Zi Yan, and Mengmeng left the restaurant with Rong Jiaxin and Zhao Feng.
They drove back to Ice Bay The First, took a walk outside for a while, and then went back to their room to sleep.
With Zhang Han by their side, Zi Yan and Mengmeng fell asleep much faster.
Yesterday, Zi Yan suddenly realized that she was not used to life without Zhang Han.
At seven o’clock the next morning…
Zhang Han had prepared breakfast including steamed buns and rice porridge.
Zi Yan and Mengmeng washed their faces and ate breakfast before they began to get dressed.
They dressed from eight o’clock to eight-thirty, packed up their luggage and other things, and went out at nine.
The other people also took their luggage and left Ice Bay The First, intending to visit the Gai Clan house and return to Hong Kong in the afternoon.
In the early morning, Gai Rulong came to visit Zhang Han, and then sat in the first car to guide them on the way to his family.
The Gai family also had businesses, covering all of northeast China. But their manor was located in the downtown area of Ice City. It was in the center of the urban area of North River District, occupying a small hill.
This area used to be on the edge of the city, or in the suburbs, but as the city expanded, it gradually became a central area.
Although house prices had gone up a lot, such a big family like the Gai family would no longer be attracted by wealth.
The motorcade went directly through the big iron gate of the Gai family manor and stopped in front of the large main residence.
The main residence was located at the top of the low mountain, and the building was more ancient.
At this time, about 20 people headed by Gai Xingkong were standing at the door of the main residence, smiling.
“Han, you are here.”
After they got out, Gai Xingkong took the initiative to welcome them.
“Good morning.” Zhang Han smiled.
“Nice to meet you, Uncle Gai. I’m Zi Yan.”
“Well… Nice to meet you, Grandfather Gai. I’m Zhang Yumeng, and they all call me Mengmeng.”
Mengmeng’s greeting made everyone laugh, but Gai Xingkong was very happy. “Nice to meet you.”
“Zi Yan is really a pretty girl, and Mengmeng is so lovely. It’s cold outside, let’s go inside to have a talk,” Gai Xingkong nodded at the group of people behind him and said.
Then they all entered the main residence and seated themselves on the sofas in the hall.
“Wow, Mengmeng is so cute. Now that you call me grandfather, I’ll give you the jade pendant as a gift. Zi Yan, I didn’t know what you like, so I prepared a bracelet for you.” Gai Xingkong took out two gifts.
A gift was a must.
“Thank you, Uncle Gai.”
“Thank you, Grandfather Gai.”
Zi Yan and Mengmeng thanked Gai Xingkong as they took the gifts.
Zhang Han took a glance at their gifts and smiled. “You are very considerate, Uncle Gai.”
Both the two gifts were third-stage defensive spirit treasures, which were specially arranged by Gai Xingkong.
The Gai family had been dominating northeast China for so many years, and two third-stage spirit treasures were nothing to them.
