Back in the mortal realm, Xin Lan finally returned home in the early morning hours. Hua Lin Yu still hadn’t managed to fall asleep at that time but hearing steps, he hastily closed his eyes and pretended to be, not wanting Xin Lan to know.

Maybe this was stupid. Maybe being open about this would help them more to take a step forward in this relationship but he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. This whole night, he had worried. Now, he was a little afraid that if Xin Lan knew that he knew how long he had been out, it would just lead to even more problems. So he just felt that it was safer not to risk it.

Xin Lan took off his outer robe and then lay down next to him, pulling him into his arms. There was the faint smell of alcohol lingering around him, making Hua Lin Yu furrow his brows. So Xin Lan had gone out to … get drunk?

He couldn’t quite wrap his head around that. But on second thought, maybe that wasn’t strange. Back in the Jian Yi Sect, he had also seen some of the senior martial brothers and sisters sneak away to get drunk every now and then. Once, one of them had told him about how when you were suffering from heartbreak, there really was nothing you could do besides that. So Xin Lan … felt as if he had his heart broken?

Hua Lin Yu raised his head and looked behind him but in this position, the only thing he could see was the masks that covered half of Xin Lan’s face. He really couldn’t say what he was feeling right now. In any case, he felt that it was quite likely. After all, before he left, Xin Lan had brought up the matter of their previous botched-up engagement. It was safe to say that there had at least been some heartbreak involved even if that hadn’t been the main problem.

Well, there was nothing he could do so he turned back around and just closed his eyes. With Xin Lan back at his side, he actually didn’t have trouble falling asleep anymore. After just a couple of minutes, his breath evened out and he was off to sleep.

Behind him, Xin Lan opened his eyes and stared at the back of his head. Hua Lin Yu … had probably been worried because he was out for too long? That came as quite a surprise. He had thought that … Well, to be honest, he wasn’t quite sure what he had thought.

When it came to Hua Lin Yu, he didn’t trust his feelings anymore. Usually, he felt that this youth did indeed love him. But then again, he also felt a bit … careless. As if just one wrong word, one wrong gesture, one fateful coincidence could pull them apart again. So no matter what, he never dared to trust in what they had. He was constantly on edge. Naturally, that wouldn’t help with having a good relationship.

He sighed faintly and pulled him closer into his arms before closing his eyes again. He would just hold onto what Wu Ya had told him tonight: That there would always be another chance. For as long as they lived, he could try again. He had no reason to give up anytime soon.

With both of them having somewhat disentangled their motions, they finally had a couple of hours of a good night’s sleep before they got back up in the morning. By this time, Xin Lan was back to his usual self. There was no indication that he had gotten drunk the night before and there also wasn’t much of a change to his mood. He was a little grumpy with everyone save for Hua Lin Yu but at least he seemed to have calmed down slightly.

Hua Lin Yu didn’t quite understand but he was still happy to see his fiance doing better so he stuck to his side, intending to make sure that there would be no miscommunication. Since he had decided on Xin Lan, he needed to see this through.

On the other hand, Wu Ya looked very much as if he was having a headache. He might have drunk a bit more than Xin Lan last night and he also hadn’t been able to sleep as well. After he returned to his own room, he had been lying awake, thinking about the past and trying to imagine the future. With that, he had hardly gotten an hour of sleep and felt pretty hungover now.

Unfortunately, Xin Lan that bastard didn’t seem to have any kind of compassion for somebody who had accompanied him through his sorrow, and Hua Lin Yu didn’t seem to understand what was going on and just looked at him cluelessly, mentioning how he seemed a little down.

Wu Ya could only smile wryly and then motion for them to leave already. In any case, this kind of town was loud. He’d much rather travel through the forest where things were silent and his head wouldn’t hurt as bad.

Xin Lan probably had at least a little bit of compassion left as he rubbed Hua Lin Yu’s back and then motioned ahead as well. “Well, since he’s the one leading us around, we should probably do as he says.”

Hua Lin Yu who was intent on doing whatever Xin Lan wanted today nodded immediately and the three of them finally left under other well-wishes of the spiritual beasts, very much to Wu Ya’s misfortune.

He just gritted his teeth though and waved a bit and then sped up his steps, soon leading them far enough away that he wouldn’t have to listen to people yelling good luck at them anymore.

Hua Lin Yu didn’t think about that town anymore and instead looked around curiously while Xin Lan had on his usual expression of not caring about what was around him one bit. It really seemed as if after a night of doubt, everything was back to normal again.

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