There was no argument, nor much else said.
Li Junzi merely saw the look Lin Luoyu gave her, and all the thoughts surging up within her scattered.
At that moment, she was somewhat at a loss.
As though avoiding something, Li Junzi said:
"Let's eat first."
Lin Luoyu looked as though she wanted to speak, but in the end, she fell quiet too.
Li Junzi did not ask why, and Lin Luoyu did not explain why.
At that moment, not answering seemed to have become the best answer.
They ate in silence, though perhaps neither of their hearts was quite so quiet.
Life went on as usual, as though that day had been a dream, a bubble, a fleeting illusion.
Li Junzi did not press Lin Luoyu about why she had said she no longer wanted to study, nor did she mention Lin Luoyu's choice, as though leaving every decision to her.
She neither expressed sadness nor urged Lin Luoyu to continue studying and cultivating the Confucian path.
Only, Li Junzi began spending a little longer staring blankly at the trees nearby.
Lin Luoyu did not bring it up again either. As usual, she read and went to the school to debate principles.
The talk of giving up that day seemed to have been no more than a passing joke.
Both seemed to have returned to how they had been at the beginning, as though the words they had spoken had all been taken back.
Sometimes, even time could not push along those who wanted to remain where they were.
No one knew how long those drawn-out, difficult days lasted.
Until a piece of news reached Lin Family Ravine-the immortal sect recruitment assembly in Yuzhou City, publicized by the Black Tortoise Kingdom's Demon-Suppression Bureau and Chanwood Temple.
Anyone who met