Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

The three stood not far from the shop and saw a young woman inside arranging a dazzling array of hairpins. Strands of her hair hung down, and she was dressed simply. Beside her, a child was eating candy of unknown name. Although the shop was small, it was well-managed.

Looking at the scene before him, Su Yang thought to himself, "If Zhang Hongtao weren't a soldier, but just an ordinary worker, perhaps his life of leaving early and returning late, with his wife, children, and a warm bed, would be the happiest description of his life."

After searching around Xu Ning Street for a while and confirming that this was indeed Zhang Hongtao's wife's shop, the three of them went inside with the envelope. Upon entering, the woman immediately greeted them warmly, saying, "Gentlemen, what type of hairpins would you like?"

Perhaps it was this traditional lifestyle that made Su Yang see the woman through a filter, but she seemed quite attractive. Although she wasn't stunningly beautiful, her simple and unpretentious charm was very pleasing to the eye.

Lin Anlan stepped forward and said, "We're not here to buy hairpins. Your name is Li Xiuwen, right? Zhang Hongtao is your husband?"

Upon hearing Lin Anlan's words, Li Xiuwen was taken aback at first, then seemed somewhat flustered, and began to stammer, "I am, is it...is it that Hong Tao...has something happened to him?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Anlan was stunned for a moment, then realized something and quickly explained, "No, no, no, he's fine now. We are adventurers, and he entrusted us to deliver this letter to you."

After saying that, Su Yang handed the envelope to Li Xiuwen. She took the envelope and immediately opened it without waiting to examine it carefully. Su Yang could clearly feel her emotional changes, sometimes joyful, sometimes sad, and sometimes a little excited. He wondered what Zhang Hongtao had said in the letter.

After reading the letter, Li Xiuwen wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, thanked the three people repeatedly, and picked out two hairpins from the shelf. She said somewhat awkwardly, "Thank you, thank you for helping to bring my husband's letter. I don't have much money. I made these two hairpins myself. Please accept them as a token of my gratitude."

No matter how Lin Anlan and Tang Wan tried to refuse, Li Wenxiu insisted that they accept the hairpin. Unable to resist, the two had no choice but to accept it. After chatting for a while, the three of them left the shop. Behind them, Li Xiuwen, holding her child, said goodbye. She was still holding the letter in her hand, as if it were the most precious treasure in the world to her.

Su Yang had only seen this scene in books and heard it in stories. At this moment, Zhang Hongtao's homesickness seemed to be that yellowed letter, with his wife and children on this side and him on the other.

After leaving the shop, the three of them had to face a real problem: it would take half a day to get back to Dongcheng. At the mention of this, none of them wanted to walk any further, so at Lin Anlan's suggestion, they paid to take a carriage back to Dongcheng.

The carriage took a different route than when they came, choosing to detour through the North Gate of the Imperial Palace. As a result, when passing through a certain area of ​​the northern city, people dressed as students could be seen everywhere on the streets. Tang Wan immediately recognized that this was the main area where students participating in the academy's martial arts competition were active.

"So, the academy's martial arts competition is being held in the North City?" Lin Anlan couldn't help but ask, as she had never paid attention to these things before and therefore knew nothing about them.

Hearing her question, the coachman replied, "The academy's martial arts competition has always been held in the North City. After all, the strongest and largest academy in the empire is located in the North City."

Hearing the coachman's words, Su Yang couldn't help but become curious about this academy that claimed to be the strongest and largest. He looked at Tang Wan beside him and asked, "What kind of academy is this? It claims to be the strongest."

"I've also heard a bit about it. This academy is called Qinwang Academy. It's said that the students there are either rich or noble, or sons of high-ranking officials and military generals. It's indeed very large, far larger than Qingfeng Academy. The reason it's called the strongest is because this academy is known for its strictness. Most of the students who graduate from it join His Majesty's Tiger Might Army."

"Oh, it's a training base similar to the Imperial Guard's new recruits," Su Yang muttered to himself.

"Training base? What's that?"

"Uh, nothing."

Soon the carriage left the north city and turned into the east city. Before they even reached the inn, Lin Anlan suggested that the three of them be dropped off. After getting off the carriage, at her suggestion, the three of them found a teahouse, found a private seat, ordered a pot of tea and some snacks, and then Lin Anlan started to discuss things with them.

"Now that Brother Zhang's task is complete, what should we do next?"

Tang Wan had no particular thoughts: "Wherever you go, I'll go."

Su Yang thought for a moment. There were two things he cared about. The first was that among the rewards Shi Jinpeng had given him, there was a piece of S-grade light element forging material. He wanted to see if he could find a senior blacksmith in the capital to forge this material into an S-grade light element bracelet. The other thing was the crimson flower letter that Qin Xiyun had given him at Qingfeng Academy and the request he had made to her. He thought about finding some time to go and see it, but when he remembered that Qin Xiyun had not told him where to find her, he could only give up.

So he said, "Previously, the Prefect gave me a piece of excellent material. I was thinking of finding a blacksmith to forge it. What about you, Anlan?"

After hearing this, Lin Anlan tilted her head and looked out the window. After a long while, she sighed, turned back, and said in a somber tone, "I want to go home and see..."

Su Yang knew why she was in low spirits. Regardless of what changes had occurred in her home, just returning to her hometown would likely evoke painful memories from every blade of grass and every tree.

"How about we go with you sometime?" Su Yang suggested with concern.

Lin Anlan looked up at him, and after a long while, nodded: "Okay."

"How about we go to the forge to have the bracelets made in the next couple of days, then go watch the martial arts competition at the academy, and then go to Sister Anlan's house together?" Tang Wan tried to arrange the itinerary.

Her suggestion did not elicit any objections from the two men. Su Yang and Lin Anlan both nodded in agreement. At the moment, Lin Anlan did not have any very clear information about her enemies, so she could go back whenever she wanted and there was no rush.

After agreeing to this, the three rested for a while before getting up and leaving the teahouse. Led by Lin Anlan, they headed to the adventurer's area where she used to frequent. There, in addition to the adventurer's guild, there were also a large number of blacksmith shops and equipment stores.

Upon arriving at the gathering area, he found it indeed teeming with adventurers. The streets were filled with all sorts of outfits, ranging from Purple Sun-level teams to Gold-level teams, and occasionally one or two Orange Sky-level teams. As for Crimson Storm-level adventurers, Su Yang had not encountered a real Crimson Storm-level team since he had seen the fully-organized Black Whale Squad on the island.

The three searched for forging shops all over the street, but couldn't find anything suitable. The highest-grade bracelets sold in the shops were either Grade A or Grade B. Grade S bracelets could only be found in specialized bracelet shops, and the shop owners were unwilling to reveal their origins, which gave the three a headache.

Just as the three continued their search, Su Yang inadvertently caught sight of two extremely familiar figures. Upon closer inspection, he realized that these two were the same two he had seen in the cave on the island. They were none other than Yuwen Rongxuan and Yuwen Zuoqing, the brother and sister who had escaped death at the hands of Yin Tianbao!