Tang Wulin froze, then her eyes darted away. She instinctively tried to avoid Tang Li's gaze.
"That's not true. I'm not saving up money. I'm just taking commissions to sharpen my forging skills."
The more Tang Wulin spoke, the less convincing she sounded. By the end, her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Go on. I'm listening."
"I'm not making it up. It's just..."
Tang Li cut off her explanation. He looked at her with a complicated expression, his tone more serious than she had ever heard it.
"Enough. Do you think I don't know you? Whatever you're planning must affect the family, so you've kept it to yourself because you don't want us to know.
But we're a family. If something bad happens to you and we had no idea, don't you think Mom and Dad would blame themselves?"
Tang Li had never spoken harshly to Tang Wulin before. This was the first time, but he truly didn't want her carrying everything alone.
"Xiao Li, I didn't mean to hide it from you. It's just..."
Tang Wulin lowered her eyes, looking close to tears. She was torn over whether to tell him the truth. She couldn't exactly say there was a dragon inside her and that she would die if she didn't undo its seals, could she?
He would think she was crazy.
"I don't need to know what happened to you. Right now, I just need to know what you need."
Tang Li stood and stepped closer, fixing his gaze on her eyes. As he'd said, he might know more than Tang Wulin did. He only needed to learn what she required to undo the second seal.
"Thank you, Xiao Li."
Tang Wulin suddenly hugged him and rested her chin on his shoulder.
"Come on. We're family. You