On Lifespans

Jingxing glanced at her. "Your eyes are always on the move, no matter where you go."

"It's a waste to be idle." Fu Xuan curled his lip. "You have to understand that this is an era that the Xianzhou has never experienced. The more information I gather here, the more valuable it will become when I return."

"It seems like the Xianzhou places a lot of importance on history," Jingxing remarked casually.

"By learning from history, we can understand the rise and fall of dynasties," Fu Xuan explained. "In the Xianzhou's educational system, both the ancient kingdoms that can no longer be found and the history after the Xianzhou set sail are key subjects of our study."

"I was the same way when I was a child." Jingxing thought for a moment, "I still remember the story my teacher told me about how the Trailblaze Aeon guided the expansion of our Klimt Constitutional Republic."

"The Xianzhou Alliance has weathered several crises. If it weren't for Reignbow Arbiter's origins and repeated interventions, the Xianzhou Alliance might still be unable to unify its faith in the Aeon," Fu Xuan murmured with emotion. "A civilization that cannot unify its faith in the Aeon will find it difficult to possess top-tier strength on the global stage."

Jingxing thought about it and realized it was true. Most of the powerful forces in the universe had an Aeon who followed them. They followed the Families that believed in "Harmony," companies that believed in "Preservation," and the Xianzhou Alliance that followed "The Hunt." If they were a little shameless, they could even include their own homeland.

After the two finished their stroll and returned to their starting point, the hot soup stall at the street corner was still open. Jingxing went over and bought two hot pancakes, one for each of them, and also ordered two bowls of steaming hot seaweed soup, so delicious it would make your eyebrows fall off.

After resting and having a meal at the simple spot, Fu Xuan led Jingxing towards the factory area.

Rows of stones lined the road leading to the factory area, their surfaces carved with words. Synesthesia Beacons indicated that these were all names, one after another, stretching from one end of the road to the other; some stones were already covered with names, and a new one had been added next to them.

She stopped in front of a nut stall, asked about prices for a long time, picked up a small bag of dried fruit, weighed it in her hand, put it down, and finally went to another stall.

"The Lord Diviner can haggle?" Jingxing joked. "I thought he would just make a move right away."

"I've lived a solitary life in Luofu for so long," Fu Xuan nudged Jingxing's waist, "So naturally I'll know how to bargain."

As the sun began to set, they turned onto a narrow street. This was on the edge of the factory district, and surprisingly, the street was lined with more exquisite stalls: copperware, leather bags, spices, and one stall selling hairpins—dozens of hairpins were arranged in a row on an old wooden board covered with cloth, with one in the most conspicuous position, its head shaped into an eye-catching flower, the stamen inlaid with a rather dazzling gemstone.

The stall was run by an elderly woman.

"Take a look, you two?" she squinted at them. "Young lady, pick one, and have your man pay."

Fu Xuan's finger stopped in mid-air.

"We are not..." she began.

"This one's the one," Jingxing interjected, "Sorry, she's a little shy."

The old woman smiled, took off the top hairpin, and handed it over. "This one will be the perfect color for her hair."

Fu Xuan's ears turned bright red. She glanced at Jingxing, her gaze filled with a mixture of annoyance and other emotions.

Jingxing reached into his cloth bag, took out a few Amber Shards, and placed them on the cloth.

Is that enough?

"There's too much." His mother-in-law was about to pick some out to return to him, but Jingxing stopped her.

Fu Xuan held the hairpin in his hand and twirled it halfway before remembering to put it in the hairpin.

Once outside the narrow street, Fu Xuan quickened her pace considerably. She remained silent the entire way, only constantly rubbing her fingertips together.

Jingxing followed half a step behind, watching Fu Xuan's expression without asking any questions.

They booked a room at a hotel located on a street.

The shopkeeper was a woman with her sleeves rolled up to her elbows. When collecting the Amber Shards, she first weighed them on a scale, then rounded down the change, saying it was to leave a good impression on the two of them. The room they were assigned was on the second floor. The stairs were narrow, and the wooden planks creaked with every step. When they reached the door, the door to the next room was ajar, and someone inside was coughing incessantly.

The room was small, with just a bed and a table. The window faced the factory area, and you could see the outline of half a wall. People downstairs were still talking late into the night, their voices climbing the stairs and dissipating by the time they reached the door.

The quilts in the room were old cotton sheets laid on the stone-built kang (a heated brick bed), and surprisingly, they felt dry to the touch.

Fu Xuan put the hairpin back into the box, turned her back to him, loosened the sash of her outer garment, then stopped. The sash hung limply in her hand for a few moments before she draped it back over her shoulder.

"Jingxing."

"Um?"

"That sentence you said at the hairpin stall..."

Am I telling the truth?

"I'm not shy," Fu Xuan turned around, looking at him. "I'm just hesitating."

The room fell silent.

"It's clearly written in the laws of the Xianzhou," Fu Xuan said slowly. "Celestial beings are forbidden from forming bonds with short-lived species, and are even less allowed to have offspring. Even if I were the Diviner, my report to the Marshal would still be rejected."

"I've lived far longer than you can." She tapped her finger on the table. "Your life, in the annals of people like us, is just a thin page, so..."

"Let it be like this from now on," she said slowly. "Just go your own way."

Jingxing didn't speak immediately.

He could tell that Fu Xuan these words for a long time. He also knew that what she said was true: the laws were true, and the difference in their lifespans was also true.

Ke Jingxing looked at the finger Fu Xuan was pressing on the table, pressing it so hard.

"Laws govern contracts and offspring," he began, "But they can't govern the feelings between people, can they?"

Fu Xuan raised his head.

"Besides, who says I'll always be a short-lived species?" Jingxing said. "Although I've never thought about this before, if it's for you, I'm willing to find a way to change all of this."

Fu Xuan stared at him for two breaths.

"You're really good at making promises." She said, lowering her head and twitching her shoulder—she probably smiled.

After a while, Fu Xuan picked up the hairpin on the table, walked to the small bronze mirror by the window, loosely tied up his loose hair, and inserted the hairpin.

The bronze mirror was too small, so she had to tilt her head to see it, and it took her two tries to insert it into the right spot. Jingxing sat on the edge of the bed watching Fu Xuan's back, and suddenly felt that the room was a little warmer than before.

Before going to sleep, Fu Xuan sat at the table, opened the notebook that had become a diary, and looked up at the window.

"Heaven-Mending Lord, please bless my mood today."