All You Can Eat

"Wait a little longer," Zhong Shenxiu said.

Old Chen nodded and did not try to persuade him further. He knew the boy had his own plans.

"By the way, have you visited those shops I mentioned last time?" Old Chen asked.

Zhong Shenxiu shook his head.

Old Chen meant the businesses Long Hengxu had helped contact, the ones that partnered with Eastsea Academy. As the director of the Intermediate Division, Long Hengxu carried some weight in Eastsea City. After he put in a word, those shops agreed to purchase the Soul Tools Zhong Shenxiu made at standard retail prices, so long as the quality met their standards.

But Zhong Shenxiu had never gone.

It was not that he did not want to. He was waiting.

Waiting for his success rate to improve a little more, waiting for his craftsmanship to become a little steadier.

He did not want Long Hengxu to lose face because of substandard quality.

"It's good for young people to be steady," Old Chen said with a smile. "But don't be too steady. When an opportunity comes, seize it. Miss it, and it's gone."

Zhong Shenxiu nodded.

He understood what Old Chen meant.

But he had his own rhythm.

"I'll come again next week," Zhong Shenxiu said.

"Alright." Old Chen waved him off. "Take it slow on the road."

Zhong Shenxiu left the materials shop and headed back along the alley.

When he reached the mouth of the alley, he suddenly stopped.

Not for any other reason, but because a familiar figure stood quietly not far ahead.

Long, lustrous black hair. A beautiful, refined face. An air of cold detachment that seemed utterly out of place amid the surrounding bustle.

Gu Yue.

She stood beneath a plane tree across from the alley entrance, black-haired and black-eyed, gazing at him calmly. It looked as though she had been waiting for quite a while.

Zhong Shenxiu paused, then resumed his normal pace and prepared to go around her from the side.

"Zhong Shenxiu."

Gu Yue's voice rang out. Neither loud nor soft, yet it cut clearly through the noise of the street and reached his ears.

Zhong Shenxiu did not stop.

"I want to talk to you."

He still did not stop.

Gu Yue frowned slightly. She had seen people of few words before, but never anyone with so few words. He had clearly seen her and clearly heard her, yet he simply kept walking as though nothing had happened.

What kind of attitude was that?

She took a deep breath, quickly caught up, and stepped in front of Zhong Shenxiu.

"I'm calling you," she said.

Zhong Shenxiu stopped and looked at her calmly with his golden vertical pupils.

That gaze plainly said, "I heard you. So?"

Gu Yue felt somewhat uncomfortable under his stare. As the Silver Dragon King, although most of her power was currently sealed, the pride in her bones had never diminished. Others had always come to speak with her. When had she ever had to chase after someone just to talk?

But when she recalled that dragon might, that sensation that had made her bloodline tremble, she suppressed her displeasure and said:

"I want to talk to you."

"No time," Zhong Shenxiu answered.

Two words, clean and decisive.

Gu Yue froze.

She had considered that Zhong Shenxiu might refuse, but she had not expected him to refuse so bluntly, so... naturally.

"Why?" she asked.

Zhong Shenxiu looked at her, his golden vertical pupils utterly still.

"There is no why."

He turned sideways, preparing to go around Gu Yue and continue on his way.

Gu Yue stood where she was, watching him move farther away step by step, her brows knitting tighter and tighter.

She remembered that pressure.

That pressure that had nearly made the bloodline within her submit.

It was dragon might.

The purest, most ancient, most supreme dragon might.

Dragon might that did not lose to the Dragon God's.

She had to find out exactly who Zhong Shenxiu was.

"Zhong Shenxiu!"

She called out to him again.

Zhong Shenxiu stopped, but did not turn around.

Gu Yue hurried before him and blocked his path. She raised her head, her black eyes meeting those pale golden vertical pupils.

"I only want to ask you a few questions."

Zhong Shenxiu looked at her without speaking.

That gaze plainly said, "Ask. I may not answer."

Gu Yue took a deep breath.

"Is your martial soul really the Radiant King Dragon?"

"Yes."

"Did you grow up in an orphanage?"

"Yes."

"Have you... ever had any strange dreams?"

Zhong Shenxiu's eyes shifted slightly.

It was subtle and quick, almost impossible to notice.

But Gu Yue caught it.

"What dreams?" he countered.

Gu Yue fell silent for several seconds.

"Dreams... about dragons," she said. "About... ancient, powerful dragons."

Zhong Shenxiu looked at her.

Golden vertical pupils met black eyes.

Silence spread between them.

Around them, Hundred Crafts Workshop bustled with hawkers' cries, bargaining voices, and the hum of Soul Tool testing. Yet it seemed as though an invisible membrane stood between the two of them, shutting all that noise away.

"No," Zhong Shenxiu said.

He turned and continued walking.

Gu Yue watched his back and suddenly smiled.

She did not know why she was smiling. She simply felt that this quiet, taciturn boy was far more interesting than she had imagined.

"Zhong Shenxiu," she called again.

Zhong Shenxiu did not stop.

"How about this?" Gu Yue's eyes shifted, and a smile curled across her lips. "What if I treat you to a meal at Qingyun Restaurant?"

Zhong Shenxiu kept walking.

"All you can eat."

Zhong Shenxiu stopped.

The smile on Gu Yue's face deepened.

She looked at Zhong Shenxiu's back, at his upright figure stiffening in place, at the foot he had lifted hanging in midair without coming down.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Zhong Shenxiu slowly turned around.

Those pale golden vertical pupils looked at her calmly, his face entirely expressionless.

Yet Gu Yue felt that something in his gaze had changed.

"Qingyun Restaurant?" Zhong Shenxiu asked.

"That's right." Gu Yue nodded. "One of the best restaurants in Eastsea City. Their Soul Beast dishes are all made from Soul Beast meat over a hundred years old. They're rich in energy and beneficial for cultivation."

Zhong Shenxiu was silent for several seconds.

"All you can eat?"

"All you can eat."

Zhong Shenxiu looked at her. A faint gleam flashed through those golden vertical pupils, so subtle it was almost impossible to detect.

Then he nodded.

"Let's go."

Gu Yue was stunned for a moment.

She had questioned him for so long, yet Zhong Shenxiu had refused to say a single extra word. But the moment she mentioned food, especially the words "all you can eat," he had agreed so readily?

"You..." she could not help asking, "Aren't you going to ask why I'm treating you to a meal?"

Zhong Shenxiu looked at her.

"If you want to say it, say it."

Gu Yue: "..."

She suddenly began to wonder whether she had been played.

But when she saw Zhong Shenxiu already heading toward Qingyun Restaurant, she followed him anyway.

The two walked side by side down the street.

One had black hair and black eyes, cold and ethereal.

The other had molten-gold eyes, proud and indifferent.

Passersby turned to look wherever they went.

"Those two children have such unusual temperaments..."

"Were that boy's eyes born like that?"

"That girl is so pretty..."

Whispers drifted over, but neither of them paid any attention.

After walking for a while, Gu Yue suddenly spoke.

"Aren't you curious why I came looking for you?"

"Not curious."

"...Then aren't you curious what I want to ask?"

"Not curious."