"Hey, I'm being serious here!" Li Xiaoya snapped, his temper flaring.
"Uh, why are you shouting so loudly? All right, I get it. Tell me, what happened between you two?" Second Better faltered and spoke quietly, his eyes darting around involuntarily. But since he had no physical body, Li Xiaoya naturally could not see that.
"Here's what happened..." Li Xiaoya calmed down a little and recounted the events, naturally leaving out the more private details. Finally, he asked, "So what should I do now?"
"Uh... hehe..." After hearing him out, Second Better pondered for a long while, then suddenly chuckled foolishly.
"What are you laughing at?" Li Xiaoya asked with a frown.
"Well, actually, I don't know either," Second Better admitted in a small, timid voice.
"Uh..." Li Xiaoya froze, then immediately realized what was wrong. This fellow's entire mind was absorbed in mechanisms and puppetry. What would he know about romantic entanglements? Those tens of thousands of years of life had gone to waste. Li Xiaoya also realized that, like a desperate patient seeking any doctor, he had asked Second Better, who knew even less than he did.
"Forget it. I'll figure something out myself." Still, talking about it had settled his mood considerably, and he waved a hand as he spoke.
"Uh, don't be like that. Although I can't help you right now, I finally got a chance to come out. Don't lock me up again!" Second Better had grown terrified of confinement. Back in the Maze Passage, he had passed the time researching Mechanism Arts. Now he was simply shut away, unable to see or hear anything. How could that not leave him miserable?
"Oh, so that's it." Li Xiaoya understood his meaning. Since Zhang Hong was no longer beside him, he might as well let Second