Another man's face flushed red. "How could you call Father by his name?"
Jingliu instinctively looked at Xianyu.
His expression hadn't changed, as if he weren't the center of their conversation, but merely listening to them discuss someone entirely irrelevant.
Only the hand clasped around hers betrayed what Xianyu really felt.
Xianyu tightened his grip slightly, pulling Jingliu along at a faster pace.
The others behind them joined in the rebuke. "Exactly! How could you call Father by his name? That's far too disloyal-"
"It's all those damned Fictionologists' fault! If not for them, how could we have forgotten everything Father did for us?"
One of them sounded particularly dissatisfied.
"If you ask me, Father's statue is still too small."
Xianyu stopped dead in his tracks.
Seeing this, Jingliu hurriedly whispered, "They must mean one at a tourist attraction on the Xianzhou..."
It was only a tourist attraction. At worst, they could simply never go there again.
The group continued their heated discussion:
"If you ask me, they shouldn't have built such a small statue. It ought to be at least ten thousand meters tall, right?"
"No, no, that's too tall. We wouldn't be able to see Father."
"Exactly. Before long, we'll be able to see a thousand-meter-tall Father in the Forest of Utmost Loyalty-"
Both of them: "..."
A tourist attraction was one thing, but why did they have to put it in the Forest of Utmost Loyalty?!
With Jingliu practically dragging him along, they finally got away from the group.
Unable to bear seeing him like this, she pressed her lips together and said softly:
"Let's go back."
Xianyu took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth:
"No. We're going to the teahouse."
Giving up wasn't his style.
He had one choice, and one choice only.
To