Rongnuan held Ronghua’s hand tightly while showing signs of happiness on his face. Ronghua could not help but to turn her face and looked at Rongnuan. “He is much taller than me, but still, he likes to lower his head and look up to me as if he’s still a child. He is always so obedient to me and is constantly afraid of being disliked by me. He spends much of the time around me, and I simply cannot get rid of him,” thought Ronghua.

“Didn’t he say that he wanted to become more powerful, revenge for himself, and protect me afterward?” thought Ronghua.

“Why is he the one being protected now?” wondered Ronghua.

Ronghua could not help but turned her head and looked at Rongnuan. “I think he can’t remember what he has said,” thought Ronghua.

“I thought he wanted to revenge, but what is he doing now?” wondered Ronghua.

“Rongnuan!” asked Ronghua tentatively, “Are you ok?”

Rongnuan turned to Ronghua and asked, “What?”

Ronghua looked at his gentle and kind facial expression. She then wondered, “Really? Has he really forgotten his words and ambitions?”

“Now, you are much more powerful than before. But you don’t want to go home, why is that?” asked Ronghua.

Rongnuan probably was not expecting this question and did not manage to reply to Ronghua immediately. In silence, Ronghua was not worried about Rongnuan’s reaction and waited for him to willingly answer her question.

Though Jun Lang was following them in the distance, he couldn’t miss any part of their conversation with his hearing.

“I am someone who was taken in by Ronghua, just like Rongnuan. But why are we being treated so differently by Ronghua? She used to treat me so gently, just like how she is talking to Rongnuan now. But now it is changed,” thought Jun Lang. Upon realizing this, Jun Lang held onto his tulwar more tightly in indignance and thought, “That was so unfair. Has she really forgotten everything about me?”

“Huahua!” said Rongnuan.

“What?” replied Ronghua.

“Would you feel uncomfortable if I call you that?” asked Rongnuan.

Ronghua was stunned for a while. She then quickly broke into laughter. “Nobody ever dared to call me by something so intimate for so long. Maybe only Rongnuan has the gut to do so,” thought Ronghua.

“No, I will not be uncomfortable! Call me whatever you like. It’s just a name. But... you have not answered my question yet!” said Ronghua.

Rongnuan thought about her question for a while and smiled. “That’s nothing. I’m indeed powerful now, and they certainly can’t beat me. But if I revenge them now, I will be bullying the weak. I won’t be happy if I get my revenge that way,” said Rongnuan.

“Huahua, you are the only light in my dark life. If I choose to revenge for myself, I will be going astray from you, and you might choose to leave me or even kick me away afterward. You are nice, and you have saved my life. You’ve given me the chance to become powerful, and I have thought through that. I will choose to cherish the chance of being with you over my vengeance,” said Rongnuan.

Ronghua, “... You will not lose me. Also, I am not as good as you may think. You’ve got something more important than me.”

Rongnuan, “No, you are fine, and I don’t want to lose you. Also, you are much more important than my vengeance.”

“Boom!” Ronghua’s mind exploded.

“Is he trying to say he loves me?” thought Ronghua, breathing heavily. “He has been around me for so long. Why don’t I even have a clue about his feelings? But it’s only been half a year. Could he really develop something that strong for me?” thought Ronghua.

“So... you are going to give up your vengeance like that? Maybe you should think about that more carefully,” said Ronghua.

Ronghua tried to shift the center of the conversation away. Though she was doing that blatantly, Rongnuan followed her lead and did not try to point that out.

“You are all that I need!” said Rongnuan.

Ronghua then let go of Rongnuan’s hand and quickly walked away. She could not remember when was the last time someone had said that to her.

“No, I have never heard something even remotely like that. I have devoted much of my time to cultivation since I was born, and I simply don’t have time for that kind of thing!” thought Ronghua.

Rongnuan then walked to Ronghua and grabbed her hand again. Ronghua tried to free herself from his grip, but soon forgot that when she saw Rongnuan’s aggrieved face after turning around.

“Huahua... could you stop ignoring me?” asked Rongnuan.

“Ok, ok! I will just let him take the lead. I am not shameful about anything anyway.” thought Ronghua. She then let Rongnuan hold her hand again without any reason.

Rongnuan soon looked happy again.

Upon seeing that, Jun Lang was upset. “Since when has Ronghua become so forgiving?” wondered Jun Lang.

The three of them soon went back to the deserted temple, where You Yue was entertaining herself.

After entering the temple, Ronghua put her cold look back on and let go of Rongnuan’s hand.

“Oh. You guys are back?” said You Yue.

Ronghua frowned upon sensing the indifference in her tone.

Ronghua then sat down and said, “What? Feeling bored after staying here for so long?”

You Yue was reminded of how angry she was about that.

“You’ve told me that we would go and save my sister,” said You Yue.

“I don’t have the time now,” said Ronghua.

You Yue dropped the firewood and said, “What do you mean?”

Ronghua did not look at You Yue. She then tidied up Rongnuan’s clothing and replied, “Don’t you understand? I said I don’t have time for that now.”

“You are such a liar, who says whatever she likes and do things according to her mood. What? Want to go back on your promises now?” said You Yue.

Ronghua frowned and looked at You Yue with contempt. “That’s too much. Be careful of your words!” said Ronghua.

You Yue became more aggressive and said, “Too much? You think I’ve said too much about you?”

Ronghua opened her eyes and looked at You Yue.

“You Yue, let me remind you something about the idea of saving your sister. It’s not a task everyone would like to do. You came and begged us to save your sister. However, your sister has nothing to do with me, and nothing will happen to me if I choose not to save her. So I am warning you now. Be careful of your words about me and try to be kind,” said Ronghua.

The last part of Ronghua’s remark was a warning.

Stunned speechless, You Yue opened her mouth in shock and could not say anything. “She was right about that. I did go too far on pushing them to save my sister, and I had begged her about that for so long before she finally agreed. And now they’ve just returned and could be too tired. Maybe I should not have said something like that in a hurry. I should calm down,” thought You Yue.

“I am sorry. I worried about my sister too much,” said You Yue.

Yet, Ronghua did not show any signs of forgiving You Yue after her apology. You Yue was worried about missing the optimal timing of saving her sister because she had pushed it too hard.

“I am sorry. I was worried about my sister. She could not use any of her spiritual power and simply could not protect herself,” said You Yue.

“That’s enough!” Ronghua interrupted, “Sleep now. I am tired.”

Upon finishing her remark, Ronghua stood up and headed for somewhere behind the temple’s hall to sleep. You Yue looked at Ronghua in frustration. She did not stop Ronghua as she was not in the position to do so.

Realizing Ronghua was leaving, Rongnuan soon followed her cheerfully. After the two left the temple, Jun Lang walked to the bonfire and threw some firewood into it. “Don’t worry about it too much. If Ronghua don’t want to save your sister, she would have already asked you to leave here,” said Jun Lang

You Yue was comforted, and her eyes were also brightened. “Really?” asked You Yue.

Jun Lang nodded and said, “She’s tried, and she needs some rest.”

You Yue looked outside and said, “...It’s still daytime.”

Jun Lang turned his head and looked at You Yue, who was then frightened. “I’d better stop messing with him,” thought You Yue. She then stopped asking questions. “It’s not exactly daytime anyway. It’s actually near nightfall now,” thought You Yue.

Ronghua found a room behind the temple’s hall and sat down. She closed her eyes and started to rest. Rongnuan walked to Ronghua with mixed feelings. “Should I cuddle up to her now?” thought Rongnuan.

“Well, I could be beaten and kicked out of here. That’s not nice. I am not used to Ronghua being so kind anyway,” thought Rongnuan. Rongnuan stood there in silence without moving a finger. He seemed to be thinking about something.

Ronghua sat for a while and opened her eyes with frustration. “Aren’t you tried standing there? Come here,” said Ronghua.

Rongnuan then threw himself at Ronghua with a happy face. He crawled to Ronghua like a cute silkworm. Probably because Ronghua was sitting there, Rongnuan chose to lie supinely and place his head on Ronghua’s thighs. Ronghua did not seem to mind.

She then hugged Rongnuan into her arms, while Rongnuan curled his body in satisfaction.

“Ronghua, aren’t you going to sleep?” asked Rongnuan in confusion. “If I were to fall asleep like this, Ronghua could not sleep,” thought Rongnuan.

Ronghua stroked his hair and said, “Just sleep. I don’t sleep at night.”

Rongnuan was confused and asked, “Why not?”

“Shouldn’t people be sleeping at night?” wondered Rongnuan.

Ronghua lifted her head and placed her sights onto the shining stars through the holes on the temple’s roof. “I can’t even remember how many nights I’ve been through without sleeping,” said Ronghua.

“...Oh,” said Rongnuan, seeming to be thinking about something. Ronghua petted on Rongnuan’s head and said, “Now sleep. Otherwise, you would be feeling tired tomorrow.”

“That’s true,” thought Rongnuan. He quickly fell asleep shortly after. Ronghua noticed he was not wearing much. She put a coat on his body lest Rongnuan would catch a cold tomorrow. Suddenly Rongnuan frowned and turned away. Frustrated, Ronghua moved his head back in fear that he might wake up with a neck pain tomorrow. “Huahua…” murmured Rongnuan.

Ronghua replied with her usual smile, “Sleep tight. I am here.”

Rongnuan then slept quietly as if Ronghua’s words were his pain-killer. He then rubbed his face against Ronghua’s body before he could be assured. Frustrated, Ronghua continued to sit up straight.

She then summoned the fire of nothingness in her hand. The flames then went afloat and surrounded her, burning the nimbus around for Ronghua to absorb.

The reason why Ronghua did not sleep at night was twofold. The first one was that she was afraid; the second one was because the fire of nothingness could burn up more Yin qi at night. Thus, it would restore much more nimbus for her and helped to facilitate her cultivation.

The encounters with Guiyun and the man in black had inspired Ronghua to think more about herself. Though she was powerful, she would be helpless without her spiritual power. “I could not even fight back with spiritual power and could be killed well before completing my task,” thought Ronghua.

“But everything will be much easier if I still have the fan,” thought Ronghua.

“I blame Weilian, the King of Death, for all of my troubles because he took my fan away and disappeared with it for so long,” thought Ronghua.

Jun Lang was looking at this lovely picture formed by Ronghua and Rongnuan. He clenched his fist so hard that it started to bleed. But Jun Lang seemed to have neglected his physical pains.

“She still would not even look at me after so long. How cruel she is!” thought Jun Lang.

But there was nothing Jun Lang could do, for he knew that his princess was changeable and capricious.

You Yue noticed that Jun Lang came back to the temple’s main hall and asked, “Why don’t you rest inside?”

Jun Lang did not reply. You Yue did not ask anything else. She curled her lips and added firewood into the bonfire to keep it bright.

“Wanna talk?” asked Jun Lang.

Surprised by Jun Lang’s sudden question, which came as a shock to You Yue, she nearly dropped her hands into the flames.

“What? Did you just say you want to talk?” asked You Yue tentatively.

You Yue could not believe people like Jun Lang would like to talk, so she repeated her questions.

Jun Lang threw away a piece of firewood.

“I’ve said, ‘Come and talk!’” said Jun Lang.

“Oh!” You Yue then recovered from the shock. “He never initiates any talks. What has happened to him today?” wondered You Yue.

After a while, their conversation entered an embarrassing deadlock in silence as neither of them knew what to say.

Though You Yue had no idea of what to say, she asked tentatively, “Jun Lang, how long have you known Ronghua?”

Jun Lang then lifted his cold, sharp eyes. You Yue lowered her head in fear that she might have asked the wrong question.

“Not very long!” replied Jun Lang.

You Yue was relieved after receiving an answer. Silence then ensued.

“Why are you and your sister fleeing?” asked Jun Lang.

You Yue lowered her head as that was not something she would like to remember.

“My father was framed. The others accused him of shielding monsters and killed him with that false charge. My sister and I tried our best and finally escaped,” said You Yue.

Jun Lang replied in a low voice, “Escape? Is that really possible? No one could escape from their memories, no matter how far they have fled.”