Luo He and his sister continued their conversation as if the world around them didn't exist. Their words were sharp, fast, layered with meaning that only the two of them seemed to fully grasp.
One moment they spoke with calm precision, the next with a strange, almost reckless humor like they were walking a fine line between brilliance and madness.
Jin Mulan stood slightly to the side, watching. Listening. Trying to keep up.
Luo He suddenly glanced at her, a faint smile forming. "Now do you understand," he said, tilting his head slightly, "why I call her my sister?" Jin Mulan blinked.
Her gaze shifted between the two of them.
And then it clicked. They were the same.
Not in appearance. Not even in presence. But in something deeper.
Both of them carried a kind of brilliance that felt almost dangerous. Sharp minds. Calculating. Always thinking ahead.
And yet there was also that other side.
A reckless edge. A quiet kind of madness they didn't show to the world.
She let out a small breath. "You're both insane," she said under her breath.
Luo Ming smirked immediately. "Only when it matters," she replied her arms crossing. "The rest of the time, we're perfectly reasonable." Luo Ming chuckled softly.
"Most people wouldn't understand," she added. "So we don't bother showing it."
Her eyes rested on Jin Mulan for a moment longer. "But family is different."
The word lingered. Family.
Jin Mulan felt something shift inside her.
She looked at Luo Ming again there was an ease in her posture, the lack of hostility, the way she spoke without holding back. Then back at Luo He.
"You mean," she said slowly, "you only act like this around each other?" "And you," Luo He replied without hesitation.
That caught her off guard. "For everyone else," Luo Ming added casually, "we keep things simpler." "A mask," Luo He said.
"A necessary one," she finished.
Silence fell for a moment. Jin Mulan lowered her gaze slightly, her thoughts turning inward. When she first came here she expected resistance. Cold looks.
Doubt. Maybe even rejection. But instead she was accepted. First by Luo Xinyue. Now by her. By his family.
"I still don't understand," she admitted quietly.
Luo He raised a brow. "What?" She hesitated. "Why you all accept me so easily." This time, neither of them answered immediately. Luo Ming glanced at Luo He, a knowing look passing between them.
Then she looked back at Jin Mulan.
"You think this is easy?" she said.
Jin Mulan looked up. "You're standing here," Luo Minhg continued, her tone calmer now, "speaking freely, questioning him, doubting him and still staying."
A small pause.
"Most wouldn't last a day." Luo He stepped closer. "You were never treated as an outsider," he said. "Because you never acted like one." Jin Mulan's fingers tightened slightly. "You struggle," he continued. "You doubt. You get angry."
A faint smirk appeared. "And yet you don't run." He held her gaze. "That's enough." Something in her chest tightened again.
But this time, it wasn't pain.
Luo Ming gave a small shrug. "Besides if my brother chose you, there's usually a reason." "Usually?" Luo He glanced at her. She smirked. "Don't get arrogant."
Jin Mulan let out a quiet breath.
For the first time since morning…
The tension inside her eased.
"You really are strange," she muttered.
Luo He's smirk returned. "And you're only just realizing that?" Luo He asked.
Luo He suddenly burst into laughter, the sound unrestrained and genuine rare for someone like him.
"Do you know, sister," he said, still amused, "the first time I told her I might have room in my heart for another woman." He paused, clearly enjoying the memory. "She didn't hesitate. Pushed me straight off my own bed in the capital city, no less."
He shook his head, laughing again.
"No restraint at all. What a wild wife I got. I ended up sleeping on the ground like some stray the entire night."
Jin Mulan stiffened. Her eyes widened slightly, her heart skipping a beat.
What would she think of me? A flicker of unease passed through her. She instinctively glanced at the woman beside him, suddenly aware of how she might be judged measured compared.
But Luo Ming didn't react the way she expected. Instead of criticism or even surprise her eyes sharpened with interest. "Oh?" she said, stepping forward slightly. "Another woman?"
A faint smile tugged at her lips. "Now that's something worth hearing." Jin Mulan blinked. That wasn't the reaction she expected at all. Luo He only smirked, clearly anticipating this.
"She's someone close," he said casually.
Luo Ming raised a brow. "Close?" she repeated. "How close?" Luo He turned away slightly, as if dismissing the question entirely. "Close enough," he replied. "You can keep guessing."
Luo Ming clicked her tongue, half annoyed, half intrigued. "You're doing that on purpose." She said "Of course I am." Luo He replied.
Jin Mulan stood there in silence, her thoughts tangled. Part of her felt relieved.
Another part even more unsettled.
Someone close the words echoed in her mind. Was he talking about no.
He didn't say. And that uncertainty lingered. Luo He glanced at her briefly, the corner of his lips lifting just slightly as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, and chose not to clarify. And somehow
that made her heart beat even faster.
By the time they reached the borders of the Chu Kingdom, the atmosphere had already shifted.
The meeting with the prince was formal, controlled. Gifts were exchanged. Words were measured. Nothing was said openly but everything was understood. She stayed behind to get to know him better. Once it was done, Luo He made his decision without hesitation. "Leave two thousand of the Flame Elite here," he ordered calmly. "They will remain and protect her."
No one questioned him. The remaining thousand soldiers regrouped behind him, lighter, faster. The journey resumed.
With the heavy cavalry reduced by nearly two-thirds, their speed increased noticeably. What once felt like a marching fortress now moved like a blade cutting through the land.
And along the way training never stopped. Jin Mulan found no rest.
Every halt, every quiet stretch of road, every moment Luo He deemed sufficient, he used to push her further.
She gritted her teeth through it all.
Her element still refused to answer her.
And that only made him stricter.
Then something unexpected happened.
Luo He suddenly raised a hand. The entire convoy halted instantly. Jin Mulan frowned slightly. "What is it?" But Luo He didn't answer.
He stopped, his gaze fixed ahead. After a brief pause, she followed. In the distance
a blacksmith was fighting. Or rather
Trying to.
Several thugs surrounded him, their movements rough but coordinated. The blacksmith swung his firsts with raw strength, but it lacked technique. He was losing. Badly.
Within moments, he was forced to his knees. The thugs closed in, weapons raised. "Cut off his arms," one of them sneered. "Let's see him forge anything after that."
Jin Mulan's expression tightened.
But before she could move a sudden crack of force split the air. The attackers were thrown back violently, as if struck by invisible lightning.
They crashed to the ground, stunned.
The soldiers behind Luo He had already shifted their attention toward the scene.
Seeing the armored guards seeing the formation the thugs panicked. "Retreat!"
They scrambled to their feet and fled without looking back. Silence returned.
Jin Mulan looked at Luo He. "You stopped for this?" she asked, confused.
Instead of answering, Luo He gestured toward the ground. "Look." She stepped closer.
There, near the blacksmith's feet was a small puddle. Something metallic.
Glistening faintly under the light. She frowned. "Water?" Luo He shook his head slightly. "Look again." She narrowed her eyes. And then she saw it.
It wasn't water. It was denser. Heavier.
Reflecting light in a way that felt unnatural. Her eyes widened slightly.
"That's not normal." Luo He's gaze sharpened. "Exactly." Without another word, he walked toward the blacksmith.
Jin Mulan followed closely behind him now, her curiosity fully awakened.
The blacksmith was still on the ground, breathing heavily, his arms trembling not from fear, but from exhaustion. Even so, he tried to push himself up the moment he saw them approach. Luo He stopped in front of him. Calm. Composed.
Observing.
"What's your name?" he asked. The blacksmith hesitated, clearly wary.
"My lord?" Luo He didn't answer immediately. His eyes briefly flicked toward the shimmering substance on the ground.
Then back to the man. "What happened here?" he asked instead. Jin Mulan stood beside him now, still watching the blacksmith but her thoughts were no longer on the fight. They were on that puddle.
And for the first time since they left
She realized. Luo He hadn't stopped because of the man. He stopped because he saw something no one else did.