Na'er froze, her violet eyes filled with confusion. "Why are you apologizing?"
Gu Yue raised an eyebrow as well, studying Arthur with a curious look, as if she too wanted to understand the reason behind his sudden apology.
Arthur lowered his gaze and spoke sincerely. "My intentions behind that question weren't pure. So, I'm sorry."
He had already dismissed the idea of using Na'er. Arthur had decided to keep this friendship untainted.
She treats me with sincerity, so I'll do the same.
Silence settled over the car once more.
Tang Wulin and the others were completely baffled, unable to make any sense of what Arthur had said.
It was just a casual hypothetical. How did that turn into "impure intentions"?
Na'er blinked, seemingly unsure what "impure intentions" meant exactly. But seeing the earnest look on Arthur's face, she didn't press him. She simply shook her head gently, her tone carrying a quiet warmth. "It's fine. No matter what you ask, I always answer truthfully."
In her heart, what mattered wasn't his supposed "intentions." What mattered was whether the promises she made were believed.
Gu Yue watched Arthur's candid expression, and the curiosity in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by a look of quiet understanding.
She grasped his train of thought immediately.
From the hypothetical question alone, it wasn't hard to see that Arthur had considered using Na'er's feelings for him as leverage, testing whether she would help him if he faced danger.
It was easy enough for Gu Yue to see, because it was exactly the kind of strategy she herself had planned: winning someone over through sentiment.
She turned her gaze back to the window, her expression as composed as ever.
Though, if you looked closely, there was something faintly bewildered in it too.
The semester exams ended, and a month-long break followed.
"Na'er, do you have any plans for the holiday?"
A message had come in from Mu Chen's side, asking Arthur to visit sometime soon.
Since the break lined up perfectly, Arthur decided to head to Glorybound, and extended an invitation to Na'er along the way. Having company on a long trip out of town wasn't a bad thing at all.
"I'm planning to go to Glorybound this holiday. Want to come along?"
"Yes, yes!" Na'er's eyes lit up instantly. She practically bounced over to Arthur's side, already brimming with excitement.
"No."
The cool voice cut in without warning. It was Gu Yue.
"What?!" Na'er's expression soured immediately. "What do you mean, no? Since when is it your business where I go?"
This time, Gu Yue didn't argue back. She simply looked at Na'er in silence.
There wasn't the slightest ripple in those eyes. Something in that gaze made Na'er pause. She seemed to realize something, and instinctively stilled herself, her voice dropping a notch. "Is it time?"
Not far away, Tang Wulin, who had been joking around with Xie Xie, suddenly felt a chill run through him. An uneasy feeling crept up on him for no apparent reason.
Na'er's fingers tightened around Arthur's sleeve. A flicker of hesitation crossed her violet eyes, but she still lifted her chin stubbornly. "Surely it can wait another month. It's not like he's going anywhere."
"Delay breeds complications." Gu Yue shook her head, her tone carrying an edge of coldness that wasn't usually there.
They made no effort to hide the exchange from Arthur.
After all, anyone who didn't know the full story wouldn't understand what they were talking about, and would assume it was simply something between the two of them.
Na'er glanced at Gu Yue's unwavering gaze, then turned back to Arthur, her voice carrying a tinge of resignation. "I'm sorry. I probably can't come with you this month. Gu Yue and I have something important to take care of."
"That's alright. Next time, then." Arthur fell quiet for a moment, turning the exchange over in his mind.
Is it time. It's not like he's going anywhere.
The memory of that stormy night flashed through his mind, along with the divine might he had witnessed then.
The day after, both Gu Yue and Tang Wulin had shown up at the academy as usual. No clear winner had emerged.
Were they planning to make another move on Tang Wulin?
Arthur wasn't certain. It was only a guess.
But it was probably right.
Over the time they'd spent together, Na'er had never put her guard up around Arthur, so he could clearly notice the subtle signs: the way she occasionally kept an eye on Tang Wulin.
"Haah."
He glanced over at Tang Wulin, stayed quiet for a moment, and finally let out a long sigh without saying anything. Even if they were classmates, this wasn't something he could get involved in. The affairs between the Gold Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King were not his place to speak on.
Well. Might as well mentally curse Tang San a little for this one.
The break had arrived. Everyone had their own life to return to.
Tang Wulin packed his things alone, a quiet sense of uncertainty sitting in his chest.
Everyone in the Zero Class had gone home.
And him? Where did he have to go back to?
In the end, the pull of longing was too strong. He decided to head back to Glorybound, just to take a look.
Even if his mom and dad were nowhere to be found.
That place still held his memories.
Tang Wulin tucked his neatly folded school uniform into his bag, and his fingers brushed against an old photograph hidden in the inner pocket.
He pulled it out.
In the photo, he sat between his parents, grinning wide enough to show his little canine teeth.
He ran his thumb along the edge of the photograph, and his eyes grew hot.
He knew full well there was almost no chance of seeing anyone there. And yet his feet carried him forward, toward the station bound for Glorybound, as if they had a will of their own.
Just as he stepped outside the academy gates, a familiar voice called out from behind him. "Tang Wulin!"
Arthur jogged up with a simple pack on his back and a bag of snacks in hand, meant to pass the time on the road.
He offered some to his friend and said, "You're heading to the station too? I'm going to Glorybound, so we're going the same way. Let's go together."
Tang Wulin took the snacks and blinked, then scratched the back of his head and broke into a grin. The loneliness from before seemed to ease a little, washed away by the simple fact of having company. "Sure, let's go!"
Arthur clapped him on the shoulder, and in that same motion quietly left a trace of elemental energy behind.
He still couldn't quite shake the worry.
That was the kind of person Arthur was. He couldn't help everyone, but once someone was in front of him, he couldn't look away.
Maybe a trace of elemental energy wouldn't amount to much. But at least it was something he could live with.
The two walked side by side into the fading light of the evening, their shadows stretching long behind them.
Tang Wulin chattered happily about how beautiful Glorybound was, his earlier gloom completely gone.
Arthur chimed in here and there. He hadn't intended to get involved in the business between the Silver Dragon King and the Gold Dragon King, yet he couldn't quite bring himself to watch this completely oblivious boy walk straight into danger without doing anything at all.
Even if, in his memories from a past life reading the original story, the later version of Tang Wulin had left him frowning more than once.
But none of that had happened yet.
With everyone Arthur met, his starting point was always the same: basic respect, given freely, before anyone had done anything to lose it.
Evil Soul Masters were the only exception.
If an Evil Soul Master ever crossed Arthur's path and had some kind of grievance to explain, they had better start talking fast.
Any slower, and they could save the explanation for their next life.
Though honestly, Arthur might not listen even then.
Tang Wulin stood in front of his old home in Glorybound, his bag still on his back.
When he pushed the door open, the wooden table in the living room was right where he remembered it, only buried under a thick layer of dust.
He walked over and ran his fingertips lightly across the surface. For a fleeting moment, he could almost see his mother setting out dishes, his father laughing beside her.
He was still lost in the memory when everything changed.
Tang Wulin's expression snapped tight.
He felt it: the Gold Dragon King's seal inside him had gone haywire. It was surging, pressing outward, like something trying to claw its way free.
He stumbled and fell, crashing hard into the dusty wooden table. Bowls and chopsticks clattered to the floor with a loud crash.
The old warning surfaced in his mind. Old Tang's words: to rupture and die.
"Old Tang?"
"Old Tang!"
Tang Wulin called out in a panic for Old Tang, who had not responded in a long time. He was the only one Tang Wulin could turn to.
He couldn't die. He had to stay alive, to wait for his mom and dad to come home.
I was going to leave this alone.
But then again, that doesn't fit how the protagonist should be.
Better step in after all.
He jokes around and acts thick-skinned most of the time.
But when a friend is in trouble, he shows up.