Smiling (Nine More Updates-I'm Losing My Mind)

"Was archery fun?"

"Pretty fun. Want to learn?"

"No."

"Why not? I could teach you!"

"All right, then."

Ning Qing stopped at the courtyard gate and slid her key into the long lock. With a click, it opened. She pushed the wooden gate, which gave a rusty creak. The hand pressed against it was snow-white and smooth, with five long, lovely fingers.

Chen Shu entered ahead of her, the Cat carrier on his back.

“It's Winter Month already.”

"Mm."

"Have you ever seen the northern lights?"

"I've been with you since we were little. What do you think?"

"How tragic."

"Have you?"

"On TV."

"..."

"I never said it had to be in real life. You decided that yourself!"

"..."

"How about we go see them someday?"

"When?"

"Once we've both reached High Tier, we'll fly there and avoid the no-fly zones."

"That's so far away."

"Not far, not far..."

In this world's cultivation system, one did not strictly need to reach High Tier to fly. As technology advanced, the threshold kept falling. Even those at the fifth or sixth tier could fly now; the questions were how fast and for how long. Chen Shu simply figured they would have more freedom once they reached High Tier.

"The persimmons are ripe."

Chen Shu saw that the persimmons on the tree had turned completely red, almost translucent in the sunlight.

An earlier frost and snowfall had stripped nearly all the leaves from the tree. Now only the fiery persimmons hung from its branches like lanterns, looking beautiful.

The dried persimmons had developed their sugar bloom too.

Thanks to several straight days of blazing sun, they had not blackened or gone moldy despite the bad weather afterward. Instead, they were red and translucent. Chen Shu picked one up and broke it open.