Jingliu watched Oliver go to the study, then sat at the stone table in the courtyard, lost in thought.
The sun was warm, and the surroundings were quiet.
She unknowingly leaned on the table and fell asleep.
"You'll never be able to block my sword in your lifetime."
"We've been master and disciple long enough; it's time to say goodbye."
"No!"
Jingliu was startled awake by a brief dream.
She dreamt that Oliver was leaving and would never return.
Just thinking about Oliver not being by her side filled Jingliu with an inexplicable sense of unease, reluctance, and unhappiness.
"It must be because I'm not strong enough. I can't even block one of his swords; I'll only drag him down and am not worthy of being with him."
Because back then, her mother was relatively weak and was captured by Evil Creatures to threaten her father. Her father compromised and put down his sword, but they both ended up dying together.
If one side is weak, it will drag down the other.
Jingliu had always known this, which was why she had never taken a step further with Oliver; it wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she didn't dare.
Her mind was chaotic at this moment, filled with disordered thoughts.
Just then, her peripheral vision keenly caught an unusual movement by the door frame.
She turned her head, only to see a fluffy figure furtively clinging to the edge of the vermilion-painted door frame, half its body peeking out, then quickly retracting.
The fluffy purple Tail nervously wagged from side to side, betraying someone's panic.
It was Bai Heng.
Jingliu walked over silently, her steps as light as wind skimming over water.
She stopped behind Bai Heng, her clear, cold voice unwavering: "What are you mumbling about here?"
"Waaah!"
Bai Heng jumped up in surprise, turning sharply, her fox fur almost standing on end.
Seeing it was Jingliu, she deflated like a punctured balloon, her pretty face flushing crimson, the color spreading from her cheeks to her small earlobes.
"You scared me! I thought it was Oliver... I wasn't ready yet..."
Ready?
Ready for what?
Jingliu didn't speak, but her clear, ice-lake-like red eyes calmly observed Bai Heng, with an all-knowing penetrative power.
Her gaze silently swept over Bai Heng's burning cheeks and over her large Tail, which was still restlessly wagging slightly.
"We're close, so I don't want to hide it from you. Actually, actually, I'm preparing to confess to Oliver; I'm still rehearsing."
"Oliver, I... I like..." (ahbi)
She bit her tongue.
Bai Heng stuck out her tender, pink tongue in pain.
Jingliu instinctively frowned when she heard the word 'confession'.
"Why choose this moment? Instead of talking about romance, it's better to practice martial arts more. At least then you'd have a better chance of survival."
She knew Bai Heng had feelings for Oliver, but accepting her didn't mean agreeing to her cutting in line.
I consider you a close friend, but you want to become my master's wife first?
That won't do; I need to talk her out of it.
"It's precisely because we're about to fight the Aeon of Abundance that I absolutely must seize the moment!"
Bai Heng's eyes shone remarkably bright, and her tone was very firm: "What if... what if I die tomorrow? If I just disappear like that, without ever telling him I like him, wouldn't I suffer a huge loss? A loss so great it reaches my great-great-grandmother's house!"
As she spoke, she even waved her small fist: "And what if Oliver's dream definitely comes true, and I'm left without even a corpse, with no chance of being resurrected? So, I must cherish the time I still have to speak."
Her voice gradually lowered, carrying a vulnerability and stubbornness like a small animal, yet her eyes still shone with defiant brightness.
After hearing these words, Jingliu's heart felt as if something had gently bumped it, and an extremely subtle ripple spread beneath the frozen surface of that lake.
But her face remained expressionless; she merely asked indifferently, "So, you've rehearsed?"
"Yes!"
Bai Heng nodded vigorously, her fluffy Tail also wagging hard, as if cheering herself on.
However, in the next second, Bai Heng's round eyes, with a hint of cunning light, suddenly locked onto Jingliu.
Her gaze carried an unprecedented penetrative power, as if it could strip away all the outer shells Jingliu had built with her coldness and sword qi.
She took a small step closer, with a Foxian's unique perceptiveness, her voice lowered, yet it was like a small stone dropped into a deep pool: "Jingliu, what about you? Are you still going to wait?"
Jingliu's fingers curled almost imperceptibly.
"If I can't keep up with his pace, I'll only be a burden, a weakness, and there can be no lasting future."
She finally raised her eyes, though her gaze was still unfocused, "Until I can truly withstand that sword strike, until I... am worthy of him."
"Worthy?"
Bai Heng's usually smiling fox eyes widened in rare astonishment. She forcefully flicked her large Tail, making a soft 'thwack' sound, "Is love about being worthy or not?"
She stepped closer, almost pressing against Jingliu, tilting her head up, her gaze burning as she stared into those cold eyes, her voice urgent and rapid, like a machine gun:
"Liking someone is just liking them! Where do all these rules and restrictions come from? Our Foxian lifespan isn't long; we could kick the bucket any day!"
Her words were like sharp fragments, carrying a unique clarity, "I don't care about 'forever'! I only know that at this moment, I like him, and I want to tell him! Being happy for one day is enough!"
"All I need is... to have had it, that's enough. I don't want to wait until the day I close my eyes and kick the bucket, still holding a liking I never got to express in my heart. How tragic would that be? Dying with regrets!"
Jingliu fell silent.
Only the rustling of wind through the leaves remained in the courtyard.
The heavy feeling brought by Bai Heng's phrase "dying with regrets" carved a winding crack in Jingliu's heart.
Yes, why cling to that unattainable 'worthiness'?
Jingliu recalled her dream from earlier and suddenly didn't want to wait any longer. Since Bai Heng was going to do it, she had to be one step faster than Bai Heng.
Otherwise, the next time she saw Bai Heng, she would have to call her 'Master's Wife'.
Jingliu suddenly turned, moving as swiftly as a startled gust of wind, leaving only a single sentence: "He... is waiting for you at the annex."
Her voice sounded calm, yet carried a hint of imperceptible urgency.
"Ah? He's waiting for me? As expected, nothing can be hidden from him..."
Bai Heng's fluffy big Tail excitedly spun like a windmill, and she herself shot out like an arrow from a bowstring towards the annex, leaving only a string of faint footsteps and a lingering delicate fragrance in the air.
Jingliu took a deep breath, with a determination that felt strange even to herself, and abruptly turned, walking quickly in the opposite direction from the annex.
Her steps grew faster and faster, eventually almost turning into a run, her robes fluttering in her rapid movement.
"Bai Heng, I'm always one step ahead of you."