Zero stared at the blade, lost in thought.
He asked again, "Why do you have this sword?"
Hua had no intention of telling him the truth.
Considering the guardian's mental state, she had to be careful.
Every topic Hua chose, every word she spoke, had to be measured.
Even playing the emotional card had to be done with proper control.
For example, she had to use a method so obvious that anyone could see through it at a glance, even to the point of being clumsy.
And for example, hiding the origin of this blade.
If she told the truth, aside from making him sad, what use would it have?
Hua made a gesture, signaling the attendant to step forward.
She took the wooden box and replied with a smile, "You could only say it was a coincidence, I guess?"
"I didn't expect that several years after parting with you, I would obtain this blade from the 'Elation.'"
Word games, he could play them, and so could she.
He left the Xianzhou when Hua was eighteen. Two years later, he died. On that same day, the Aeon of "Joy" delivered this broken blade.
'Two years… couldn't that count as several years later?'
Zero didn't believe her.
He asked, "I heard from Daiyang that you never celebrate your birthday."
Hua didn't answer. Instead, she asked Zero, "Back then, why didn't you like going out?"
She continued on her own, "Because it wasted patrol tokens."
"With your status, every time you traveled, the star skiff harbor and related routes had to be sealed off. That would cause countless losses in patrol tokens."
"You thought it wasn't worth spending patrol tokens on going out, so you stayed in Yaoguan instead."
"I'm the same. If I celebrated my birthday… wouldn't that just be wasting manpower, resources, and patrol tokens?"
"Besides, what birthday is there to celebrate for long-lived species?"
Hua looked at the attendant and, quite abruptly, asked about his family situation.
The attendant smiled brightly and spared no praise, eagerly talking about his daughter.
Hua's gaze flickered.
In a tone that anyone could tell was deliberate, she said, "So you have a daughter…"
Hearing this, Zero raised his eyes, his gaze lingering on Hua for a moment before shifting to the wine in front of him.
Hua chatted with the attendant for quite a while, deliberately saying things with very clear implications.
For example, elders shouldn't care too much about saving face, or it would create distance with the younger generation.
And elders shouldn't be stubborn, or it would disturb family harmony and harm fortune.
Zero: "…"
He set the wine glass down on the table with a barely audible sound.
The two of them fell silent at once. The attendant hurriedly ended the conversation and left the backyard.
Hua pushed the wooden box toward him.
She said nothing, quietly watching as the guardian examined the "Tenseiga" inside.
In the blink of an eye, the blade disappeared.
The guardian stared into empty space, seemingly lost in thought.
He looked genuinely surprised.
"Akivili isn't dead."
Hua didn't have time to think about why an Aeon would come back to life. She instinctively smiled along with him.
Relief washed over her. She knew things were halfway settled.
But Hua still didn't dare relax completely.
When it came to acting, no one could surpass the person in front of her.
She thought for a moment, then probed, "Then when you and Jingliu get married, will you invite them too?"
Zero shook his head.
"No, there's no time."
"We'll have to wait several hundred more years."
Hua didn't blink, unwilling to miss any change in his expression.
Zero couldn't hide his smile. He looked very happy.
"They are the true owner of this blade."
"During this time, I'll keep it for them."
"How are the Nameless doing?"
Hua thought about it and felt there was no problem answering.
When talking about Akivili, how could the Nameless not come up?
She replied, "They refused to accept the shares you gave them back then. After repeated discussions, the profits will be split equally between the 'Galaxy Rangers' and the 'Nameless.'"
"At the same time, they won't participate in the internal meetings of the 'Interastral Peace Corporation.'"
Zero nodded. He touched the pocket of his windbreaker and sighed.
"Losing the jade communicator is really troublesome."
"Not long ago, I ordered ten thousand peonies from a flower shop."
Hua raised an eyebrow. "Ten thousand? That's too few, isn't it?"
The flower wall at the guardian's funeral had far more than ten thousand.
Leaving aside funerals, for something happy like a proposal… the budget should at least be doubled, right?
Zero nodded along. "Yeah, I was planning to have the staff hand those flowers out to passersby."
Hua immediately took out her jade communicator.
"I'll have someone handle it."
"Oh, and we should have the Diviner of Yuque pick an auspicious date for you."
After sending the message, she turned to urge Mati.
[Hua: Where are you]
[Still picking mechanical puppets qwq]
[Hua: …You're not picking, you're making them, aren't you?]
[Hua: He's in a good mood. He won't get mad at you, and definitely won't hit you]
Hua put down the communicator, then heard Zero say, "I want to see fireworks."
She smiled. "Alright, starting today, we'll set them off continuously until the auspicious date. How about that?"
This time, Zero didn't worry about the cost of patrol tokens and agreed readily.
Hua thought to herself, maybe having a partner made him more generous.
Zero asked again, "How many patrol tokens do I have left?"
Hua's smile instantly disappeared.
Her expression turned cautious, afraid that the person in front of her was giving last instructions.
Seeing this, Zero added, "To prepare Jingliu's dowry."
Hua thought for a moment and relaxed.
The gap between the two of them in terms of assets was huge.
To give Jingliu a sense of security, helping prepare a dowry… that made sense.
The guardian privately subsidized Mati with at least nine-digit amounts of patrol tokens. There was no reason to shortchange Jingliu.
Hua gave a very conservative estimate.
Zero responded with an "oh," then said, "Give it all to her."
Hua frowned. "Is the dowry only patrol tokens?"
That felt far too careless.
At that moment, the communicator rang.
[Daiyang: Imbibitor Lunae said that before that person left, he asked Danfeng to find him a medical kit]
[Daiyang: Was he injured qwq]
Hua's expression went blank.
She stared at the message, connecting every detail from her interaction with the guardian.
She arrived at a truth that no one wanted to face.
Aside from questioning whether she was mara-struck when they first met… had he said anything to mess with her mindset?
'No.'
Even when she read out that overly sentimental preface, he just listened quietly.
So this was the last meeting, which was why he went along with her.
From the moment they met until now, they talked about Shuhu, about the Vidyadhara, about Akivili and the Nameless, and about the ownership of the shares the guardian gave to the Astral Express.
The guardian had clarified and resolved the issues that needed to be addressed, both current and leftover.
And then, that blade called "Tenseiga."
He said he was keeping it for Akivili… it sounded like he was willing to wait for Akivili's revival…
But even keeping it for a few minutes still counted as keeping it.
Lastly, Jingliu.
The guardian only mentioned preparing a dowry for Jingliu, but… why was he so perfunctory, only mentioning patrol tokens as an option?
Unless he didn't have the energy to consider anything else.
And besides, did the guardian ever say it was a dowry for marrying him?
[🎉 Shoutout to Ph4t0m for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]