Spring had deepened outside the window; in such surroundings, one could sleep soundly.
When Guo Dong woke again, several more days had passed.
She looked across and found Jing Jiu still sitting there, seemingly without having moved at all. Only the cup of tea was gone.
Jing Jiu withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at her, wanting to say something, but ultimately left it unsaid.
"Do you think I'm mad?" she asked. "Wanting to kill Xilai with such a low cultivation realm?"
"It was indeed unwise," Jing Jiu said.
"Tong Yan said the same thing," Guo Dong said. "He privately tried to dissuade me several times in the vegetable garden at the Precious Thoroughfare Zen Monastery."
Jing Jiu thought, You were never a girl who listened to advice.
"I have a nephew named He Zhan. He's rather foolish. If you have the chance in the future, look after him a little for me."
Without waiting for his answer, Guo Dong continued, "I went to the Western Sea because I thought there was a possibility. As long as there's a possibility, I want to try."
"The prerequisite for any risk should be that no other choice can be found," Jing Jiu said.
"I don't have much time," Guo Dong said. "I think that can count as having no other choice."
"I told you that you wouldn't die," Jing Jiu said.
"Even if I survive this time, I won't have much time left," Guo Dong said.
Jing Jiu understood what she meant and turned to look at the scenery outside.
Spring had grown so deep that it was almost moldy. It was less beautiful than a few days earlier, and far less so than the red leaves of late autumn.
The spring silkworm spun until death exhausted its silk, but