"...Hey..." Pei Ye called softly. The head beside the vat immediately ducked down, leaving only a pair of eyes watching him.
"Can you talk?" Pei Ye asked hesitantly.
"..."
"What's your name?"
"..."
"Does your family live in the Far Southern Sea of Heaven's Edge? What's the scenery like there?"
"..."
"Do you eat candy?"
"..."
Met with nothing but silence, Pei Ye turned to glance at the little cat on his shoulder and gestured, meaning that neither of them was human, so perhaps they could find something to talk about.
Black Cat could not remember doing anything to make him think it spoke another language. It silently watched the eyes beside the vat for a moment, then tried a cold "meow."
The little fish girl darted to the bottom of the vat with a swish and would not show her head again.
"You're too fierce and fearsome," Pei Ye complained to Little Black Ball, frowning.
On this winter morning at the Cultivation Literature Academy, people had already bundled themselves into padded clothes. It had not been obvious in summer, but now that winter had arrived, differences in family circumstances began to show. Quite a few people wore padded coats with patches in similar colors; light furs and warm cloaks were rare.
Pei Ye had sent the driver away and was driving the horse himself, passing many familiar faces. By now, he knew that along this route, the lakeside waterside pavilion, the Heart-of-the-Lake Pavilion, and the little maple grove were the three places where people gathered most readily. He often saw people collating books and debating principles there.
In fact, to the scholars of the Cultivation Literature Academy, this bright, upright young swordsman was also an easily noticed figure. Especially now, when the cold had already formed thin ice on