82 An Invitation (1/2)

The following morning, all of them woke up with a headache. They had either been sleeping on the hard ground of the banquet hall or laid across the hard table, so their entire bodies were aching slightly from the uncomfortable positions.

As they awakened, all of them, apart from Xue Wei, had a sheepish expression on their faces. Although Xue Wei felt rather embarrassed too, he did not show it on his face.

Tie Haolong, who now looked very unkempt, with untidy hair and crumpled clothes, cleared his throat.

”Please follow me. I will lead you to the chambers you can use for the next two days until our first deployment as soldiers.”

”I imagine that we will not be using our rooms much,” Tie Haolong continued, ”so I suggest we prepare and tidy ourselves a little before we head out for the Golden Chambers' shop again. Given that a day has passed already, our armors should be finished by now, yes? I am sure you are all as eager as I am to see the finished product in preparation for the war against the Primordial Beasts and their hordes.”

The others nodded their heads. It was obvious that all of them needed to change their clothes and freshen up. Their hair was a mess – strands had loosened from their buns – and framed their faces, and their clothes were wrinkled and not very suitable for them to wear in public.

It was easy to smoothen out the fabric of the fierce beast silk, but although they were capable of doing so, the clothes still reeked of wine and food. They clearly needed to be cleaned.

Xue Wei was led to a small but cozy set of chambers. It had a living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. He headed straight for the bathroom to freshen up, tidy his hair, and wash his face.

He quickly untied the red ribbon that held his hair in position and allowed for all of it to cascade down from the top of his head, after which a smile appeared on his lips.

Xue Wei's hair was long and lush; it was black like a raven's feather and had the same shine to it.

With experienced hands, he once more gathered the hair on top of his head and tied it with another ribbon. This second ribbon was, like the first, made from the same kind of silk as his Fierce Beast robes.

He then stripped out of his clothes and washed himself before he adorned a set of the clothes he had worn when he first entered the capital.

Although they were not made from Fierce Beast silk, they were still better than wearing something that smelled of wine and food.

He then washed the clothes and activated the flame in the clothes itself, watching as the flame danced on top of the fabric. It was hot enough to burn anyone who tried to touch it, but it also made the water dissipate into steam, vanishing into thin air.

Having dried his clothes, Xue Wei was about to change into them again when he decided to keep them for when he was about to march out of the city.

He was likely to be treated to yet another, albeit smaller, feast today too. As a result, it was possible he would end up drunk once more, which would make the clothes smelly again.

Although it was easy to clean them, doing so would also wear down the silk. The more often it was cleaned, the more worn down it would become, especially the silk that Xue Wei had picked that had the element of fire. This element would become destroyed upon too many washes, whereas it would not have mattered if he had picked Fierce Beast silk with a water attribute.

This was also why the water-attribute silk was in higher demand than its fire-type counterpart despite being less luxurious. Fire-type silk was more volatile and could perform better in fights, but it was also more fragile. Most noble-born within the capital wore clothes that had been created from water or ice attributed Fierce Beast silk.

Tie Haolong was like the others; his robes were made from Fierce Beast Silk with the water attribute. The water attribute was not so powerful, but Fierce Beast silk regardless of attribute was a layer of protection by itself. Furthermore, even if the water silk did not grant you the ability to directly attack, its utility in creating water orbs and slowing down the enemy was not to be belittled.

After having freshened up, all of them met outside the Tie Mansion, and Tie Haolong raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw what Xue Wei was wearing. It was not until now that he understood why he had purchased more robes - he simply did not have enough of them so far.

Together, the group made their way towards the Golden Chambers. At the same time, they all chatted with one another. Despite Xue Wei being silent throughout, none of the others felt that the silence was oppressive. Instead, it was comfortable.

Song Yuyan was smiling mysteriously while Tie Haolong walked with light steps and behaved as ifthere were no problems whatsoever. Becoming friends with Xue Wei was a benefit for both him and his family, and he could not help but feel gratified about how last night's talk had gone.

Xue Wei was the same. He had acknowledged the others in this group as his friends and genuinely viewed them as such. This made him feel warm and fuzzy in his heart. For someone with so few friends, he had now gotten four more.

Although he was not ready to consider them brothers or sisters just yet, even he was looking forward to fighting by their side and one day becoming martial siblings with them.

Without saying anything, Xue Wei vowed to do everything in his power to ensure that no harm came to these four people, that he would do everything in his power to protect them.

This was quite different from Xue Wei's usual thoughts of just improving himself and becoming stronger and stronger. He wanted to display his might to the Wayfarers and get the acknowledgment of Wang Xiaoyun's family, but now he also wished to protect these people.

”Nine years,” he muttered to himself. ”After nine years, we will become brothers and sisters.”