"Y-you knew?" Du Yu asked Xingtian, his eyes widening.
"Of course. Other people might not know, but how could I not?" Xingtian scratched his head. "That's why I'm so damn troubled. Why do you think I don't want her following me onto the battlefield?"
Only then did Du Yu realize that everything this rough-hewn man had done was to protect the young Houtu.
"But I'm really in a bind. That damn girl copies everything I do, from the way I walk to the way I talk..." Xingtian shook his head helplessly. "She keeps thinking that if she gives up spells and toughens her body through martial training, she can follow me onto the battlefield. She thinks dressing as a man all these years means she can go kill enemies... but she's still a young girl. Who'll marry her if her face gets scarred?"
Hearing this, Du Yu felt caught in a difficult position.
It seemed the bond between these two already had a firm foundation.
What made things even harder was that beneath Xingtian's seemingly boisterous exterior lay a sensitive heart. For someone like him, a single "misunderstanding" would never be enough to sever the threads of love.
"Well... big brother, my name's Xiao Sage," Du Yu said. "What should I call you?"
Xingtian glanced at Du Yu and said, "I don't have a name."
"No name?" Du Yu froze for a moment, then asked, "What's your surname, then?"
"I can't remember my surname either. I vaguely remember being born into the Zhan Tribe when I was little, but that tribe was wiped out. Now I take the Grand Patriarch's surname, Jiang."
"Uh..." Du Yu was puzzled. There was clearly nothing wrong with this legend, so why wasn't Xingtian called Xingtian?
"Why are you asking all this?" Xingtian asked, staring