"Hehe~ Really? That's great!"
Three-Eyed Golden Lion excitedly took a small step toward her, then quickly retracted into Long Jinyu's arms, "But I still prefer to stay here~ The smell of him is so comfortable~"
He looked sideways at Long Jinyu, raised his eyebrows slightly, and there was a bit of joking hidden in his eyes.
Long Jinyu caught her narrow gaze and smiled helplessly. He lowered his eyes and looked at the little golden retriever in his arms who was repeatedly rubbing his clothes with the tip of his soft nose. There was a gentle tenderness in his eyes.
Three-Eyed Golden Lion's closeness was far more than that. It burrowed into his arms again, found a more comfortable angle, then raised its head slightly and moved it close to his cheek.
"You smell really good..."
It muttered softly, then stretched out the tip of its tongue, licked the left side of his cheek, then rubbed it over, opened its mouth slightly, revealing the row of tiny teeth - and bit it gently.
The tips of the teeth were embedded in the surface of the skin, leaving a small circle of reddish marks. The warm air blew on his skin, bringing with it a warmth unique to cubs.
Long Jinyu felt that tiny touch and was slightly startled.
Little Golden Lion didn't let go immediately, as if he deliberately stopped there for an extra breath, leaving a little trace of moisture.
After a moment, it stepped back half an inch, squinting its eyes, like a "King of Yamashiro" leaving a scent on its territory, satisfied.
"Your Highness..."
Zi JI's voice came from the side, with a helpless reminder, "Young Master Long is a distinguished guest, so you must not be rude."
"I'm not rude~ I just want him to know that I like him."
Long Jinyu raised his hand and touched his cheek - his fingertips touched the row of shallow tooth marks, and lightly tapped the tip of its nose. "You are the first person to be so direct - no, beast."
Zi JI looked like he had a headache, and took a step forward to apologize. "Young Master Long, you are just kidding me. This child has been spoiled by us since he was a child, and his words are neither gentle nor serious--"
"It's not in the way. It's quite cute and innocent, just like I imagined Auspicious Beast to be."
Three-Eyed Golden Lion bumped his head against his palm. "Hey~Long Jinyu, will you marry me?"
Long Jinyu froze. "... what did you say?"
"I said - let's get engaged!"
Three-Eyed Golden Lion looked at him with bright golden eyes, "You are our distinguished guest Star Dou Forest. You are fragrant, good-looking, and well-spoken. My mother once said that when you meet someone you like, don't miss it, so I think - we should make a decision first!"
"Pfft--"
Long Jinyu He couldn't swallow a mouthful of honeydew and almost choked. He put down the cup and looked at the little golden beast in his arms, which was looking up and looking forward to it. He felt that his face was undergoing a big test.
"...Little Golden Lion."
He said after careful consideration, "You... are only over ten thousand years old, right?"
"Well! He's already fifteen thousand years old! He's not young anymore!"
"For you Soul Beast, this age is still considered your infancy. You are still young..."
"I'm not young anymore!"
Three-Eyed Golden Lion puffed up his chest, "I can already hunt by myself! I can also fight! And I'm Auspicious Beast, and I'm not an ordinary little beast - it's normal to talk about marriage when you're over 10,000 years old!"
"I didn't mean that..."
"What is that?"
Long Jinyu was silent for a while.
He thought of that fiery red figure, the scene where she was sitting on the window sill of the Phoenix Perch Pavilion, waiting for him, with a blushing face as she handed the dumpling to his mouth.
"Hmm... have you ever thought that when you grow older, you may find that things that you think "smell good" and "look good" now are not like, but just attracted to?"
Three-Eyed Golden Lion tilted his head. "What does being attracted... mean?"
Long Jinyu thought for a while, "It's like when you smell a particularly fragrant flower for the first time in the forest. You will want to get close to it and keep smelling the smell. But that's not because you like the flower - you just like the fragrance."
"..." Its tail suddenly stopped wagging.
"Real love is much deeper than that. It's not that you want to get close because you 'feel comfortable'. It's that even if the flower has withered and no longer smells fragrant, you still want to stay by its side. It's that you will remember the shape of each of its leaves and be willing to protect it from wind and rain."
"The me you see now is just a flower that smells good to you. You don't know me yet, you don't know what kind of person I am, and you don't know my past and future. What you like may just be a phantom that 'makes you comfortable'."
Three-Eyed Golden Lion was quiet for a while and said in a low voice, "... Then how do you know I don't really like you?"
Long Jinyu smiled, "I don't know. But you can figure it out yourself."
"How to figure it out?"
"When you grow older, go out of Star Dou Forest and see the scenery outside the forest, see the spring breeze and autumn moon, see life and death; see a person's most glorious appearance, and also see his most embarrassing moment - until then, if you still think he is good, then you like him."
"You are still young and have met too few people. When you really meet all living beings in the world, look back today - if you still remember me and feel that I am different from other 'flowers', you can look for me again."
Three-Eyed Golden Lion pursed his lips, and his golden eyes blinked again and again, as if he was trying to digest these words.
It didn't quite understand the "embarrassed" and "all beings" behind it, but it understood - Long Jinyu didn't agree to its engagement.
It was a little wilted, and buried its head in his chest, saying in a sullen voice but with a bit of unwillingness to admit defeat, "Huh. I understand, you just mean that I am young and ignorant, right?"
"... Then, what you said - seeing the world, seeing the wind and rain, seeing the embarrassment - if I see all that, would I still think you are good?"
"Then tell me when the time comes."
"Will you listen?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you going to say that I'm young or that I can't tell the difference?"
"No."
"Okay, I have memorized your taste. No matter where you go, I can find it. If you still don't agree by then, I will bite you. I will bite you until you agree."
After saying that, he lowered his head and rubbed a handful of soft golden hair from the side of his neck, pressed his little paws next to the red mark on his clothes, and arched the tip of his nose. "This is for you, for counting!"
Long Jinyu Looking at the golden head that was erect again in his arms, he suddenly felt a little funny and a little indescribably soft.
He put the handful of golden hair into Soul Tool: "Okay. Then we have made an agreement. If that day comes and you are still willing to bite me, I promise to listen to you carefully."
Three-Eyed Golden Lion buried her head back on his chest with satisfaction, and her voice came out muffledly from among the downy hair. "Well, we have agreed."
The atmosphere of the banquet was slightly disturbed by this "engagement".
"Little Golden Lion."
Di Tian put down the cup, slowly rubbed the rim of the cup with his fingertips, and his eyes fell on the little golden beast that was nestling comfortably in Long Jinyu's arms.
"Come here."
The tips of Three-Eyed Golden Lion's ears moved, and he raised his head, and saw Di Tian looking at him. It subconsciously shrank into Long Jinyu's arms, and gently put its front paws on his sleeves without letting go.
"Father...?"
"Come here."
The second time, the tone did not change, but everyone knew that it was not a discussion.
Three-Eyed Golden Lion said "Oh", reluctantly climbed out of Long Jinyu's arms, and turned around to reach Di Tian's hand.
Di Tian didn't scold it, but just raised his hand and pressed it gently on its furry forehead, as if pushing back something that was about to overflow.
"This is an honored guest, not a piece of fruit for you to gnaw on. If you do this again next time, you will be banned for half a year."
Little Golden Lion's ears drooped and he said in a muffled voice, "... I know."
Di Tian took back his hand, looked past it, and landed on Long Jinyu. His tone softened a bit. "Young Master Long, my daughter has been very offensive just now. I hope you won't mind it."
Long Jinyu smiled, "It doesn't matter, it is still young and not sensible, so it can be understood."
Di Tian nodded. "But--I just heard from Young Master Long that I want it to see the scenery outside Star Dou Forest and gain insights."
"The young master must also know the meaning of Emperor Auspicious Beast to Star Dou Forest. If it leaves this forest, Soul Beast Clan's fortune will be affected. This is a rule engraved in the blood."
He paused for a moment and tried to speak as calmly as possible, "So, I can understand that Young Master Long's words just now were out of goodwill. But please, Young Master, please don't instill such thoughts. It's not that I can't trust you, it's that Auspicious Beast's safety is in danger, and the entire Star Dou Forest can't bear it."
"Di Tian."
A cold voice came from the side.
Unexpectedly, his green eyes fell on Di Tian's face.
She was still being fed by Bi Ji just now, her head tilted and nodding like a peaceful spring mountain, but now the gentleness had gone away. The curvature of the corners of her lips was still there, but it was no longer the same smile as when she was being fed.
"You just said, don't instill this idea into it."
"I would like to ask - what do you think my young master is 'indoctrinating' into?"
She put down the jade cup in her hand, and the bottom of the cup collided with the stone surface, making a crisp sound.
"Your daughter proposed to my young master at the banquet and bit him on the face. Jin Yu didn't care. She patiently coaxed her and taught her principles. Do you think this is 'indoctrination'?"
"Auspicious Beast was rude first, the young master tried to smooth things over for him, but you suspected him of ulterior motives. Is this your Star Dou Forest way of hospitality?"
Di Tian's brows wrinkled slightly.
Yu continued, "I have lived for tens of thousands of years, so I naturally know how important Auspicious Beast is to the Soul Beast Clan, and I also know that it cannot leave this forest easily. But that is your concern, not its choice."
"That child made a serious commitment to someone for the first time. You only saw that Auspicious Beast couldn't leave Star Dou Forest, but you didn't see that it was learning how to choose, how to trust, and how to grow. Are you going to let it just be a Auspicious Beast trapped in rules for the rest of its life, or do you hope that one day it can truly figure out why it lives?"
The table was quiet for a while.
Di Tian's eyes met Yu's, and the two breaths collided silently above the table for a moment, and then went back.
His right hand suddenly grasped the cup tightly. The wall of the cup was very thick. When he grasped it, his knuckles turned white and his fingertips trembled slightly. A small mouthful of amber tea liquid swayed from the rim of the cup, leaving a warm dark mark on the table.
Long Jinyu noticed the slight shaking. He took a sip of the honeydew in front of him, put it on the table, and looked up at Di Tian: "Senior Di Tian, my sister speaks straightforwardly, but she has no malice."
"What I said to Little Golden Lion was not to instigate it to rebel. You always said you couldn't let it leave Star Dou Forest. But have you ever thought about it - the more you protect it in the palm of your hand like this, and the more you tell it 'it's dangerous outside, you can't go', the more it will want to go out in the future?"
"I read a very interesting book. The book said that when a bird grows up, it will want to fly to farther places. It's not because it doesn't love its nest, but because flying is its innate instinct. Even if you put it in a cage and give it the best food and the warmest nest, it will still wonder - what is it like on the other side of the sky?"
When he said this, he turned his head slightly and glanced at Little Golden Lion, who was squatting beside Di Tian and listening with his ears upright.
"It's just like that little bird now. It promised me today that it'll remember my scent. Do you really think it's willing to stay in this forest for the rest of its life? It's small and obedient now. If you tell it to come, it will come. But it will grow up one day, and by then -"
"You can lock its person, but can you lock its heart that yearns for the outside?"
Di Tian: "..."
Long Jinyu continued, "Furthermore, senior, you are not without a trump card. I heard that the dragon's reverse scale is the most indestructible guardian in the world. If you are willing to take off a piece of the reverse scale and turn it into an amulet and give it to it, no one in the world can hurt it at all. With this layer of support, even if it occasionally goes out to enjoy the wind and the moon, why do you need to worry about its safety?"
"It will eventually grow up. Instead of waiting for it to sneak out on its own in the future - you may not even know where it has gone - it is better to let it know now: you are not its shackles, but its backing."
"When it goes out in a dignified manner, sees the vastness of the world, and then walks back by itself and tells you what it saw - then you will truly 'protect' it. Instead of keeping it trapped in this world for its whole life, so that it can only rely on imagination about what the wind outside smells like."
After the words fell, he lowered his eyes quietly, as if giving Di Tian time to digest.
Three-Eyed Golden Lion squatted beside Di Tian's hand, holding the edge of the table with his two front paws, and looked at Long Jinyu with his golden eyes unblinking. He understood "birds fly high" and also "reverse". "Scale", but what it heard most clearly was that he was not speaking for it, he was paving the way for it. It didn't know whether it would really fly out in the future, but at least at this moment, it felt as if it was really treated as a bird that could fly.
Di Tian was silent for a long time. He held the cup, his knuckles still tense and white - he did not dare to let go immediately. He knew that once he let go, the hand might shake uncontrollably again. It took him three breaths to return himself to the state of the "Beast God".
The little guy in front of me... is really not simple. Although there are two Dragon King sisters who are capable of overturning the entire Star Dou Forest, they can still sit down calmly and reason with him politely.
He has lived for tens of thousands of years and has seen countless geniuses, but he has never seen a young man with such a heart at such an age.