"I..."
On a small path atop Shushan's Heavenly Peak, the moonlight in the woods was dim. Xu Ziyang spoke softly, his head lowered in a rare display, his brows tightly furrowed as though facing some towering challenge.
The merfolk princess before him raised her eyes to look at him, her gaze sparkling with expectation. "What is it...?"
"I..." Xu Ziyang repeated the word, fell silent for a moment, then blurted out, "I think you should still pick out a weapon for protection. Go to the Sword Transmission Hall tomorrow and choose one. Shushan is very safe, but your journey here from the South Sea might not always be smooth sailing."
"I see." Baozhu Liange nodded. "All right."
The young man and woman continued walking side by side. After passing through the stretch of path and returning to the merfolk princess's residence, they stopped beneath the pavilion.
"Then I'll go up?" she asked softly.
"Mm." Xu Ziyang nodded. "Then I'll head back too."
Though their mouths said so, their feet remained firmly rooted. Neither of them moved.
"Get some rest early after you return. You spent the whole day accompanying me, so you must be tired too," Princess Liange reminded him.
"I'm not tired." Xu Ziyang shook his head. "You came such a long way this time. You need to rest properly."
"It wasn't that far. I quite like going out to sea for fun. I never dared to before, but thanks to you... and your Shushan friends..." Princess Liange said.
"If you like it, stay a while longer," Xu Ziyang said.
"Mm."
"I..."
"Mm?"
"I..." Xu Ziyang stammered again, then said, "I'll be going now. I still need to cultivate when I get back."
"Oh." Princess Liange nodded once more. "Goodbye."
The two of them walked away like that, turning