The arms wrapped around Yang Yong were absurdly strong, but showed no intention of hurting him.
The way she held him felt nothing like an attack or a restraint. It was more like...
A drowning person clinging to the last piece of driftwood.
Yang Yong lowered his head to look at the face buried in the crook of his shoulder.
It was a woman's face.
Her features were quite pretty, and her skin had a somewhat unhealthy pallor in the moonlight.
She was a head taller than him, her whole body covered in vines and tiny rootlets. She looked filthy and disheveled, clearly not having bathed in a very, very long time.
Strangely, though, there was hardly any foul smell on her.
Instead, she carried a fresh, plantlike fragrance.
"Who are you?"
Yang Yong asked, looking at her face.
No answer.
He waited a moment, then asked again, "Who exactly are you?"
Still no answer.
Yang Yong turned to look, only to find that the head resting on his shoulder had already tilted to one side. Her eyes were closed, her breathing even and relaxed.
Moonlight shone on her face, her lashes casting shadows on her cheekbones. She was as peaceful as a sleeping child.
She had fallen asleep.
Just like that, standing there with her arms around him, she had fallen asleep.
"Hey, don't fall asleep!"
Yang Yong grew anxious. "What am I supposed to do if you fall asleep?"
There was no response at all.
Yang Yong stood in the night breeze for a long time.
The Blood Moon moved slowly across the sky, stretching his shadow and hers into a tangled mass on the ground.
At last, he sighed.
He couldn't just stand there all night.
The Heavenly Dragon Slash unfurled once more, its enormous wings beating