It was snowing heavily in Winter City.
Although it was cold, there were lights and decorations everywhere on the streets since it was close to the New Year. They were people walking in and out of the crowded commercial district.
Two little girls trudged in the snow while holding hands in a villa area close to the commercial district in the east of the foothold. Both of them were dressed in the same jacket but in different colors. One was white while the other was black.
"Little Witch, do you think Brother will like the presents that we picked out?" Lin Xin who wore the white jacket asked in excitement.
The Witch who wore the black jacket had soft hair sweeping her shoulders. She replied softly while flushing, "Master will definitely like the present Young Master picked out."
"Then, let's go home right away. Maybe Brother's already at home waiting for us." Lin Xin nodded while wearing a smile and pulling the Witch along to hasten their footsteps.
The two girls slowed down as they reached a three-story villa. They entered the house after scanning their fingerprints at the door.
The villa remained the same as it was when they had headed out in the morning.
Looking at the furnace devoid of fire, Lin Xin seemed rather disappointed.
She changed her shoes at the entrance, removed her jacket and hung it on the rack. Then, she walked to the furnace and tossed a red crystal in. A crimson spark lit up in the furnace while circles of heatwaves were released at the same time. The chill in the house disappeared immediately.
"The house's much warmer." Having changed into slippers, the Witch sat on the floor in front of the furnace. She extended her hands to the furnace for warmth.
Lin Xin stood by the furnace, her eyes reflecting the red sparks dazzling in the furnace. She stared emptily for a while before asking softly, "Little Witch, it'll be the New Year in four days. Do you think that Brother isn't coming back?"
The Witch went silent for a while and tugged Lin Xin to sit down. "Since Master has promised you that he'll come back, he'll definitely be back as he agreed as long as he doesn't encounter any unusual circumstances."
"He said he would go into the ruins for three months, but it's been a few days since three months have passed." Lin Xin was rather worried. "Could he be in some kind of trouble?"
"Given Master's current abilities, he shouldn't get himself into any trouble as long as he doesn't encounter some extraordinarily powerful imperial-level powerhouse. After all, since my combat strength has elevated to imperial-level, Master's other imperial monsters should be the same too. Moreover, there are a few imperial monsters that are more powerful than me over there. It would be a relief if he doesn't create trouble for himself," the Witch explained with a smile, "Master said three months, but maybe it isn't exactly three months."
Noticing that Lin Xin was still upset, the Witch stood up and changed the subject. "We've bought all the goods for the New Year, so let's decorate the house today. Master will definitely feel the New Year spirit when he comes back."
Lin Xin finally felt her spirits lifted after hearing that. "That's right. We must shower Brother with the New Year spirit."
"Little Witch, let's start working! We'll start with cleaning!" The young lady who was exuberant and full of energy was back.
…
Walking out of the long-distance dimensional portal in the White Capital, Lin Huang knew that Lin Xin was not staying in the Martial Hunter College because the Witch must be with her and he did not sense the Witch's aura in the White Capital.
However, Lin Huang did not summon the dimensional portal to leave the White Capital right away. Instead, he headed straight to the largest shopping district in the White Capital.
He had to bring some presents back for his sister before heading home.
Unsure what combat strength Lin Xin was on now, he ended up buying two sets of equipment — one on silver-level while the other was on gold-level.
The two sets of equipment included the latest battle armor. Apart from that, Lin Huang picked two top-quality battle swords as well as two modified weapon firearms for Lin Xin. He got the staff to wrap them up as gifts and put them away in his storage space.
He then bought the Witch a puppet and got it wrapped too.
The puppet was an ancient relic similar to the doll that Grimace wanted. However, a doll was a battle-type of relic while a puppet was more for controlling the battlefield. Its battle ability was much weaker when it came to fighting enemies head-on.
After buying those gifts, Lin Huang summoned a dimensional portal and stepped into it.
The Witch, who was hanging lanterns with Lin Xin, shivered all of a sudden. She stopped what she was doing the second she sensed Lin Huang's return.
"What's wrong, Little Witch?" Lin Xin noticed the weird reaction from the Witch.
"Master's back! I can sense it."
"Brother?" Lin Xin's eyes flew wide open and she turned to look at the door.
Right at that moment, the door opened while a silhouette walked in. Seeing the person's face, Lin Xin bolted right into the person's embrace instantly.
"Brother!"
Lin Huang hugged Lin Xin while patting her head. She only let go of him after a long while her eyes had become a little red.
"You've grown taller quite a fair bit, silly girl! Let me take a good look at you!" Lin Huang put both his hands on her shoulders and took a long look at her while beaming. "Wow, you're getting prettier! You're a beauty now."
"Nah… Really?" Lin Xin was flushing. Although she denied it softly, she was secretly over the moon.
While he was complimenting her, Lin Huang was secretly shocked as he could clearly sense that Lin Xin's combat strength had elevated to complete-stage gold-level rank-3. It seemed like she would break through to holy fire-level anytime now.
Lin Huang was slightly upset that the present he had picked out for her was useless since she could use relics now.
'Seems like I need to buy her something else,' Lin Huang thought to himself.
At that moment, the Witch walked towards him while feeling bashful and greeted him softly, "Master."
"Little Witch, you don't seem to have changed at all." Lin Huang nodded at the Witch while smiling, but he thought what he said was not right as soon the words came out of his mouth. He added immediately, "You're still as cute as always."
The Witch blushed when she heard that. She dared not look at Lin Huang and gazed down at her toes nervously.
After closing the door, Lin Huang looked up at the decorations around the house. It was almost done now. "Not bad. The New Year spirit's here."
The two ladies were overjoyed to hear that because that was what they had hoped for.
Lin Huang summoned Bloody and Bai to finish up the decorating in the house after changing into his slippers and taking his jacket off.
The reason why he did not summon Tyrant and the rest was mainly that they were not suitable for doing such a fine and meticulous task. He might end up with collapsed walls if he got them to paste some decorations. He did not want the simple job of decorating the house to end up in tearing the house down.
The speed of the task was boosted immensely when Lin Huang and the other two monsters joined them. In less than half an hour, they had hung all of the lanterns and decorations while the ceiling looked like a sky full of stars with the dazzling crystals.
Lin Huang indulged in the New Year atmosphere as he looked at the decorations. However, he could not help but slip into his memory of the New Year back on Earth. Although there were some differences here and there, the overall ambiance was similar.
'It's my third New Year in this world now…' Lin Huang could not help but sigh in his heart.