Xianyu lowered his head and stared at the dew-covered peach blossom.
A long time had passed since the Cloud Knights had marched off to war and returned victorious to the Luofu.
The seasons had turned, and spring was long gone.
Jingliu seemed to realize this too. She paused almost imperceptibly, then continued, still holding the wooden box she had yet to give him:
"Autumn has come to the Luofu now. This... does seem a little out of season. If you don't like it-"
"Thank you."
Xianyu cut her off, taking the wooden box from her hands himself. He smiled at the Sword Champion, who had yet to react.
"I love it."
He looked at Jingliu, who was still processing his response, and repeated himself.
"I love it."
Her love had not faded with time.
Instead, it had made her more willing to take the initiative.
Xianyu knew it couldn't have been easy to preserve this gift on the battlefield and bring it back to the Luofu intact.
He couldn't refuse such a special gift.
Xianyu and Jing Yuan were friends, and he often heard Jing Yuan talk about his experiences on the battlefield.
Conditions there were basic, nowhere near what they had on the Luofu.
When things got busy, their meals were stripped to the bare minimum. They only had time to fill their stomachs with nutrient solution.
Nutritious it might have been, but it didn't taste particularly good, and they rarely got to eat anything decent.
Aside from the spartan living conditions, there were also troublesome enemies.
The enemy didn't care whether it was day or night. Sometimes, after the Cloud Knights had been busy all day, the enemy returned before they even had a chance to close their eyes.
What else could they do? They could only hurriedly