Three Years

"Let's go, Tang Wulin." Gu Yue took his hand. Her fingers clasped his palm, not tightly, but steadily, as if confirming that he was still beside her.

Gu Yue did not understand why the big boy before her had seemed like a different person ever since Mistress's disappearance three years ago.

On the surface, he was still as cheerful as ever, bickering with Xie Xie, joking with Xu Xiaoyan, and piling his bowl into a small mountain at mealtimes, but there were traces of sorrow in his eyes now.

That sorrow was hidden deep in his eyes. No one would notice it without looking closely, but she had.

After that battle three years ago, Tang Wulin had almost forgotten the following days of the Skysea Alliance Tournament. He had been pierced through, the blow passing beneath his left shoulder. Even as blood poured from the wound, he had kept charging forward, only stopping when his knees gave out.

Then Gu Yue had saved him with her Life Origin.

But the Golden Dragon King had completely vanished without a trace.

All that remained was a faintly visible scale on his chest, dark gold and pressed against his heart. It was normally invisible, surfacing for only an instant when his emotions fluctuated.

It contained nearly all of the Golden Dragon King's origin power. The once-violent Golden Dragon King had been sealed again, and no one knew what price that old dragon had paid.

"Oh, okay." Tang Wulin forced a smile. "Thanks, Gu Yue."

"You're doing it again." Gu Yue glanced back at him and slowed her pace by half a beat. "If something's troubling you, you can tell me." After saying that, she stopped walking. Her ears had turned red, from the rims all the way to their tips, covered in a