When they were almost at Shen Jianshu's office, An Liya suddenly stopped.

"Qiao Yu, you go up by yourself. I'll wait for you here."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Qiao Yu asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, I just don't want to disturb your teacher-student chat." An Liya said with a smile.

"Okay." Qiao Yu nodded and went up by himself.

As soon as Qiao Yu pushed open the office door, Shen Jianshu immediately put down his thermos cup when he saw Qiao Yu and rushed forward to grab his shoulders.

"Why did you come back alone? Weren't you supposed to have three more days? Where's An Liya?"

Shen Jianshu asked three questions in a row, spraying Qiao Yu's face with saliva.

Qiao Yu wiped his face and asked in confusion, "An Liya is downstairs. What do you mean, three more days? Professor Shen, why are you acting so strange today?"

Shen Jianshu hurried to the office door and looked downstairs.

An Liya seemed to have anticipated this and exchanged a glance with Shen Jianshu, a gentle smile on her face.

Shen Jianshu's heart sank.

"Professor Shen, I have to tell you! I made a big discovery in the Dishun Lake (Soul Cleansing Lake) dungeon! It's about that Bai Ze..."

Qiao Yu picked up Shen Jianshu's thermos cup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and prepared to explain.

But Shen Jianshu interrupted him directly.

"You don't need to tell me. This old man who's been in Daxia Ancient Kingdom (Great Xia Ancient Kingdom) knows more about Bai Ze than you do. It's just Bai Shiyan's little tricks."

Shen Jianshu waved his hand and snatched the thermos cup back from Qiao Yu.

"Qiao Yu, I've been thinking, you've been busy ever since you came back, and you're too stressed. Too much is as bad as too little."

"How about this, I'll give you three days off. Have fun, relax for three days, and then come back. I have an important task for you!"

Then Shen Jianshu stared at Qiao Yu.

"Remember! You must get some rest! Don't secretly run off to grind dungeons or anything. The task three days from now is extremely important!"

"Uh... okay."

Qiao Yu was confused by Shen Jianshu. He had no idea what the old man was up to.

"Alright! Get out of here! You're on vacation now!"

Professor Shen kicked Qiao Yu in the butt, sending him flying, and then slammed the door shut.

"What's wrong with this old man? Is he going through menopause? No, he should be past that." Qiao Yu rubbed his butt, looking puzzled.

Behind the office door, Shen Jianshu closed his eyes in pain.

"Sorry, this old Shen can only help you this much..."

Qiao Yu was still wondering why Shen Jianshu had suddenly given him a vacation after he went downstairs.

But after thinking about it without any result, he stopped dwelling on it. He believed that Shen Jianshu wouldn't harm him.

Seeing An Liya standing there in a daze with her head down, her beautiful face devoid of any smile, Qiao Yu suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Professor Shen gave me three days off. Is there anything you want to do?" Qiao Yu asked. He wanted to make up for his guilt toward An Liya as much as possible.

"Really?" A look of surprise appeared on An Liya's face. "Um... I heard there's a city in Daxia Ancient Kingdom called Su City. Shall we go there and take a look?"

Qiao Yu's heart couldn't help but flutter.

"Su City? Why do you want to go there?"

"Um... I heard the nian gao (glutinous rice cake) there is very delicious. I want to try it." An Liya said with a smile.

"Nian gao?"

Qiao Yu was stunned. He had heard that Su City's nian gao was famous, but he himself had never actually eaten it.

It's the same in many places. If you ask the locals about local delicacies or scenery, they'll just tell you, "There's nothing."

Traveling is just about spending money to go from a place you're tired of to a place other people are tired of.

"But they have nian gao in Kyoto too. Why do we have to run all the way to Su City to eat it?" Qiao Yu responded, puzzled.

Kyoto, as the heart of Daxia Ancient Kingdom, naturally had access to Su City's specialties.

"It's different!" An Liya shook her head.

"What's different about it?" Qiao Yu was even more puzzled.

"Um... it's just different. I'll tell you when we get to Su City!" An Liya said firmly.

"Okay, let's go then." Qiao Yu replied.

He couldn't think of anything else to do for these three days anyway.

"Yay!"

The two embarked on the road to Su City. An Liya was as happy as a child going on a spring outing for the first time.

Both of them were at the Wang (King) tier, so they naturally traveled very quickly. Before long, the outline of Su City came into Qiao Yu's view.

An Liya couldn't wait to drag Qiao Yu into Su City.

Facing this hometown that he hadn't returned to for a long time, Qiao Yu was also filled with emotion.

Western architectural styles have a more romantic feel, while Daxia Ancient Kingdom's architecture is majestic and awe-inspiring; each has its own essence, and both are ingenious.

All the scenery, culture, and environment in Su City were things that she, who had grown up on the God Mountain, had never seen before. Along the way, An Liya was like a curious baby, constantly asking Qiao Yu all sorts of questions.

When they passed a small hat shop, An Liya asked with a puzzled expression, "Wow! Qiao Yu, look, the hats they sell here are so pretty! Huh? Why aren't there any green hats? Green is so good, it represents environmental protection and nature."

Qiao Yu's face darkened. For a moment, he didn't know how to explain. There was no saying about wearing a green hat in the Western Alliance.

At this moment, the shop owner was amused by An Liya's naivete and laughed heartily.

The owner of the hat shop was a slightly aging woman, about forty years old, wearing a tight cheongsam.

She was now laughing so hard that she was shaking, and couldn't help but explain, "Little girl, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. In our Daxia Ancient Kingdom, no one would voluntarily wear a green hat. Usually, they're forced to wear one."

"Why?" An Liya blinked her beautiful eyes, even more puzzled.

"Hahahaha, because... come here, put your ear close, and I'll tell you."

The shop owner leaned close to An Liya's ear and began to whisper.

Qiao Yu couldn't hear what she said to An Liya, but he saw An Liya's delicate little earlobes instantly turn red, and then the blush began to spread, soon covering An Liya's cheeks.

"Th... thank you! Sorry to bother you!"

With a flushed face, An Liya quickly thanked her and hurriedly dragged Qiao Yu out of the store.

The shop owner's smile became even wider.

"Slow down, don't fall. Come back and play next time. If you really want a green hat, I can knit one for you specially."

Hearing this, An Liya dragged Qiao Yu and ran even faster, escaping several streets before stopping, out of breath, with a hint of fleeing in defeat.

"What did that lady say to you? Why are you so excited?" Even Qiao Yu couldn't help but be curious.

"N... nothing."

An Liya's complexion was originally showing signs of returning to normal, but when Qiao Yu asked her this, she didn't know what she thought of, and it became even redder.

"I... let's go eat nian gao! Right! Eat nian gao!"

An Liya explained in a flustered manner, then quickly dragged Qiao Yu to a luxuriously decorated nian gao shop.

"Boss, two orders of crispy fried nian gao!"

"Alright, just a moment!"

Before long, two orders of nian gao were handed to Qiao Yu and An Liya.

The freshly fried nian gao was still steaming, and the fragrance of rice occasionally drifted into their noses, mixed with the surrounding air.

Taking a bite, the crispy crust crackled, and the sweet, glutinous texture collided with their teeth, as if they had fallen into cotton.

An Liya's beautiful eyes lit up as soon as she took a bite.

"Qiao Yu! Fried nian gao is so delicious!"

The food of Daxia Ancient Kingdom was even more delicious than she had imagined.

"Delicious is delicious, but can you finally tell me why you had to run all the way from Kyoto to Su City to eat this stuff?"

Qiao Yu swallowed the nian gao in one bite. He really couldn't understand girls' obsession with food. Wasn't it enough to just be full?

Hearing this, An Liya smiled gently, then seriously raised her head and looked into Qiao Yu's eyes.

"Because... although nian gao isn't only available in Su City, Qiao Yu is only available in Su City."

"Silly Qiao Yu."

"Eating nian gao was just an excuse I thought of on the spur of the moment. I just wanted to breathe the air you breathed since you were little, to see the scenery you've seen since you were little, the stars, the moon, and the evening breeze."

"I wanted to see what the place you grew up in was like, and how it was different from the God Mountain where I grew up."

"I wanted to participate in your past, even if it's just for a short time."

"These things are only available in Su City, nowhere else."