The smooth cedar peg hammered into the wall beside the Frost-Pine kitchen door had held the exact same garment for eighteen years.
Reaching up with both hands, twenty-five-year-old Gu Nian (Rank 10 Benevolent Chaos Guardian Sovereign) lifted down his cherished, well-worn [Fused Yellow Bunny Kitchen Apron].
Even though the apron had been upgraded alongside him into an indestructible Rank 10 Supreme Sovereign Artifact capable of blocking cosmic deletion. Turning slaughter-qi into tomato soup, its fabric still felt just as soft, warm. Sun-dried as the afternoon his father had first tied it around his thin eight-year-old waist in Frost-Pine Town.
Across the front of the yellow cotton bib, the two floppy white cloth bunny ears still bobbed cheerfully with every movement.
With a practiced, familiar flick of his wrists, twenty-five-year-old Gu Nian slipped the neck-loop over his head. Tied the yellow apron strings into a neat bow behind the waist of his formal black-and-gold Rank 10 Chaos Sovereign Robes, rolled his dark sleeves up past his muscular forearms. Stepped straight over to the wooden washbasin beside the kitchen stove to scrub his hands with Frost-Pine soap!
Out under the blooming pomegranate tree at the round cedar table, Lin Wanwan—who had just sat down between Empress Luo Qingxue and Su Nuannuan with twelve glowing Imperial Jade Bracelets on her wrists. Looked through the open kitchen doorway and covered her mouth with a soft, delighted giggle.
