The workings of cause and effect in this world were wondrous beyond words.
Though she was still young, it was clear that Clara had grasped this truth in that moment.
"Ah—no, you don't have to."
By comparison, A Lian's understanding was clearly much shallower. Faced with an excessively generous reward, she instinctively refused.
"Don't be polite. I'm already quite satisfied with what I've seen today."
Fu Qian simply tossed it over without giving her a choice, his gesture so carefree and generous that you'd think money meant nothing to him.
Smack—
Without even waiting for A Lian's reaction, he took the two bundles of incense from her hands, lit one, and passed it to Clara beside him.
"Here. Keep going."
But...
She jolted back to her senses, yet under A Lian's baffled gaze, Clara still couldn't come up with a reason to refuse.
She reached out and accepted the incense, then walked back over and placed it in the same spot.
The moment she struck the pose, she felt all the more strongly that this evening was utterly bizarre.
In theory, she had always been free to choose not to keep dancing.
But the countless twists of fate had somehow made her feel truly powerless to do otherwise.
Even stranger was the sense of peace that came with it.
Gazing at the starlight between the waters and the sky, Clara set her feet moving once more.
"Just now... were you two doing this?"
The performer wasn't the only one who found the scene bizarre. Clara's dance was indeed captivating, but A Lian was clearly more astonished by the peculiar spectacle of one person performing while another watched.
How had they ended up like this?
Was it love at first sight? A reunion after a long separation? Or had they