Li Jinshuang still hadn't woken by the first light of dawn.
Yu Sui and Xue Mushi watched her. Her brows were knitted tight, and her head was slick with sweat. She seemed to be plagued by countless troubles in her dreams, frightened and afraid, and every so often she murmured.
"She needs to break that habit of talking in her sleep," Yu Sui said.
Xue Mushi nodded in agreement.
Yu Sui asked, "What do you think is wrong with her sword spirit?"
Xue Mushi racked his brains. "It doesn't want to be controlled by its master. Maybe it looks down on her."
Yu Sui asked, "What do you think about her makes her easy to look down on?"
This time, Xue Mushi was stumped.
He scratched his head and thought hard, but in the end, he shook it. "I can't think of anything. I don't see how she fits the bill."
Yu Sui changed the question. "Then what about her might make her sword spirit look down on her?"
Xue Mushi thought it over carefully. "It's rare for a sword spirit to think for itself. They always obey their masters. They don't have their own thoughts."
Yu Sui nodded. "So now there's a sword spirit that can think for itself. What about Li Jinshuang might it find disagreeable?"
Xue Mushi furrowed his brow, looking miserable, as if he were exhausted but had no choice but to force himself to think. In the end, he shook his head in defeat. "I can't think of anything."
Yu Sui sighed. "If only Li Jinshuang's sword spirit were like you."
Xue Mushi fell silent. That was supposed to be a compliment, right?
Brilliant dawn light illuminated the earth. Xue Mushi had class today, and when it was about time, he said goodbye to Yu