"So that's what you were worried about." Yu Hua's eyes brightened slightly. "You needn't overthink it. No matter what dangers we encounter in the secret realm, I will face them together with you."
"But... I..." Song Wen hesitated, unable to speak.
Yu Hua gently bit her red lips and stared intently at Song Wen. A trace of resolve suddenly flashed through her eyes, as though she had made up her mind.
"Fellow Daoist Yinshuo, I know that asking you to risk entering an unknown secret realm with me when we have only just met is truly forcing the impossible upon you. But my feelings for you are not merely empty words. I hope you can lend me a hand. So long as we can both return safely from this journey into the secret realm, whether or not I obtain what I seek, I will become Dao companions with you. What do you say?"
Before Song Wen could answer, she rose, crossed the stone table, and threw herself at him.
She crashed fiercely into Song Wen's arms.
Song Wen seemed not to have reacted in time. She knocked him off the stone stool, and he fell onto the ground behind it.
Song Wen only felt soft jade and fragrant warmth in his arms, followed by a pair of red lips pressing against his own.
"Inside."
Song Wen naturally did not refuse a beauty delivered to his door. Holding her close, he swept into the room.
Ten days later.
Song Wen reclined half-upright on the bed, looking somewhat weary.
Yu Hua lay sprawled in his arms, her jade-white hand gently stroking Song Wen's chest.
"My lord, you are truly formidable." Yu Hua's face was flushed with embarrassment.
This form of address had not been a whim; she had called him that