Following Kiran to Merlot Heavenly City as Instructor Han Xu, Hua Zhen had been extremely cautious every time he spoke with Kesha, He Xi, and the others, afraid that one slip would expose him.
Yet getting used to something was truly difficult, because it meant overturning parts of who one originally was. Changing a habit to avoid suspicion, only to form new habits, was even harder.
Once one became deeply reliant on something like "habits," it was impossible to break free immediately. Most people could not simply cast them out of their hearts, because often even their bodies had grown accustomed to those fixed movements.
If others have it, then you must have it too. If others don't have it, you must still have it. You have to become the strongest and never settle for being behind anyone!
He had said those words to Kesha the night before leaving Tian Ren Star, yet now he had blurted them out without thinking. In that same habitual lecturing tone, with the same leg-crossing posture... Tsk!
Hua Zhen admitted that he had been pretty damn stupid at the time.
Did he not want to reunite with Kesha? How could that be possible?
If not for the dark cloud of the "void" hanging over his head, he would have returned to see the woman he loved the moment he was revived, tell her how much he had missed her. Why would he torment himself like this?
Thinking back to the look in Kesha's eyes, the faint disappointment and sorrow that had flashed through them after the Eye of Insight failed to uncover anything—though she had hidden it well, Hua Zhen had still caught it.
His heart ached with a tenderness like it was being squeezed, yet outwardly, he could only respond with indifference.
Looking