"What were you thinking about just now?"
"What do you mean, what was I thinking about?"
"When you woke up."
"You might get angry if I tell you."
"I won't."
Yu Xunge didn't believe her, but she told the truth anyway.
"I was thinking about how you felt when you missed Tian Huhaoqi. I was thinking about what you once told me—'It won't stop and wait for you.'" Only now did she understand how much unwillingness that sentence concealed.
"Actually... they aren't that important. It truly is magnificent, but life is long. Once you grow up, you'll realize there are still many honors in Astralana waiting for you to claim, and many legendary adventures worthy of being sung by all to complete."
Zhuri did not say what exactly "they" referred to, but the two people on the ice field—no, three people—could all understand.
"But I haven't grown up yet." Yu Xunge refuted her firmly. "I haven't grown up yet. In my world, Zhuri Moment and Tian Huhaoqi are the most dazzling legends. Just now, I wondered whether, if I gave up chasing Zhuri Moment and Tian Huhaoqi now, I would never feel despair or pain again."
"Yes. Nothing has begun yet. There's still time." Zhuri's voice was gentler than ever before. At that moment, she seemed to understand how Aihao had felt when she sought out the Chinu Queen all those years ago.
It wasn't that she didn't believe in her apprentice. She just... perhaps she was afraid.
When she completed Zhuri Moment back then, she had never considered opening Tian Huhaoqi for three consecutive years. Tian Huhaoqi had been the only goal in her heart.
But what about Xunge? She was too greedy. She wanted Zhuri Moment, and she wanted Tian Huhaoqi. The pressure she faced was more than