"All right, enough dawdling — go take a bath!" An Jianwen waved his hand in annoyance and snorted. "You've stunk me up from head to foot! How old are you, still wetting your pants?"

"Uh ... don't bring it up, Brother An, I'm too embarrassed ..." Su Taizao said, his face flushing scarlet.

"If you're embarrassed, then hurry up and wash — what are you waiting for?" An Jianwen said, and set off in the direction of the sea.

"I'm not waiting for anything, Brother An. It's so dark out — I daren't go," Su Taizao said, hesitating.

"I'm going with you and you still dare not? What exactly are you afraid of?" An Jianwen cried in fury.

"I'm afraid of ghosts. That scene just now — my heart's still pounding," Su Taizao said faintly.

"What ghosts? Haven't I told you already? There are no ghosts at all! Where are they? That was Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu and Tang Yun — have you gone stupid? If you won't wash, fine: don't sleep in the tent tonight, just stay out there!"

"Then ... I'd better wash." The instant Su Taizao thought about spending the night outside the tent, wouldn't that be even more terrifying? Better to be a little scared right now and get it over with under the water!

The night passed without incident.

Though he entered his dreams to cultivate every single day, Wei Zhao had long since learned to keep perfect control of the difference in time; even while asleep, his connection with the outside world remained intact. Most people cannot govern what happens within their dreams — but Wei Zhao could.

In the dream, inside the space of the jade pendant, Wei Zhao was almost exactly as he was in reality.

"Xiaoxiao, wake up — let's go watch the sunrise." Wei Zhao patted gently at Feng Xiaoxiao, who lay fast asleep in his arms, and spoke in a low voice.

The night before, Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao had slept apart. Perhaps out of maidenly reserve, she had made no bold move once they returned; bold as she had sounded when talking to Shen Yushu yesterday, the moment she was back she grew coy all over again!

In the end Feng Xiaoxiao was still an innocent girl untouched by such matters — talk was one thing, and doing it quite another.

Yet in the cold of the small hours she had slipped naturally into Wei Zhao's arms, and Wei Zhao had not pushed her away; he had held her like that until now.

"Mm?" Feng Xiaoxiao had been sleeping sweetly and woke at Wei Zhao's call. She opened her eyes, still a little muddled. "Is it time? Time to make the love breakfast?"

Feng Xiaoxiao shot upright out of Wei Zhao's arms and spun round and round the tent, muttering under her breath, "Where's the oven? Why is the oven gone?"

Watching her, Wei Zhao felt a wave of warmth and emotion move through him. For a good while now Feng Xiaoxiao had been making him a love breakfast every single morning; clearly the habit had been ingrained in her — the moment the alarm rang she was up and reaching for the oven.

Finally out for a bit of fun and relaxation, and she still took this place for home.

"Xiaoxiao, we're at the seaside." Wei Zhao rose and gathered her into his arms — the first time he had taken the initiative to hold her. Deep in his heart, the image of this girl had already been branded there for good.

"Huh?" Feng Xiaoxiao rubbed her sleepy eyes and only then came to her senses, going red with embarrassment at once. "I thought we were still at home — I was half asleep!"

"Don't make any more love breakfasts from now on. Just rest properly — it pains me to see you wear yourself out like this." Wei Zhao looked at her and spoke, word by deliberate word.

"Ah!" Wei Zhao's tenderness left Feng Xiaoxiao both pleasantly surprised and ill at ease. In her eyes, his fondness for her might well be genuine, but that he was actually with her had far more to do with the wager between her and Tang Yun than anything else.

Yet in that moment Feng Xiaoxiao could read a deep and ardent love straight out of Wei Zhao's eyes — he truly did love her!

For a time it left Feng Xiaoxiao feeling lost and melancholy. Her original intention had been nothing more than to make Wei Zhao fall in love with her and then cast him aside — a form of revenge. Though that purpose had long since been buried in the bottom of her heart, never to be raised again, her terminal illness was all too real. Revenge or not, the moment she left, Wei Zhao was bound to be heartbroken — and that was not what Feng Xiaoxiao wanted to see.

"You ... why are you so good to me ..." Feng Xiaoxiao was frightened, a little. This time a deep self-reproach rose within her; she felt she was playing with fire, and yet she could not stop herself. Matters of the heart — how could you play at them and simply call it quits?

"You are good to me, and naturally I will be good to you. Love goes both ways." Wei Zhao smiled. "Weren't we going to watch the sunrise? Any later and the sun will be up!"

"Oh ..." Feng Xiaoxiao murmured, thinking to herself: should she not come clean with Wei Zhao after all?

Yet she was afraid — afraid that once she confessed, Wei Zhao would grow angry and storm out of her life in a rage. Feng Xiaoxiao could not bear to lose this love she had won so dearly. She was torn, and sorely conflicted.

"Last night ... you slept holding me?" Feng Xiaoxiao changed the subject. The more she dwelt on these maddening troubles, the worse her head ached — better not to dwell on them at all.

"Mm." Wei Zhao nodded.

"You ..." Feng Xiaoxiao bit her lip, her cheeks deepening to crimson, and at last she said, "Do you want me ...? Actually ... we could ... now ... I've made up my mind ..."

"Huh?" Wei Zhao stared.

"I want to be your woman!" This time Feng Xiaoxiao dropped every trace of coyness and spoke instead with firm resolve.

She thought that giving herself to Wei Zhao would count as some sort of repayment to him. In such matters it was always the man who gained the advantage; and though she was dying, she was at least still a virgin. Back when Feng Xiaoxiao had run with those delinquent boys, had they not all traded such things as bragging points and badges of pride? They would compete with one another over how many virgins each had had, how many women, and so forth ...

Wei Zhao's heart stirred, but he kept his face perfectly even. "Let's talk about that when we get back — shall we go and watch the sunrise first? If we dawdle any longer, we may miss it."

"Mm ..." Feng Xiaoxiao nodded, cheeks burning, a flicker of resentment at his refusal. Wei Zhao was wonderful in every way — it was just that at times he was a shade too proper for his own good!

Little did Feng Xiaoxiao know that Wei Zhao's heart had not been untouched by her proposal either. It was simply that he had not grown so feckless as all that: with Feng Xiaoxiao's life hanging by a thread, how could he have the mind for such things?

What mattered now was finding a way, as quickly as possible, to save Feng Xiaoxiao's life — otherwise Wei Zhao might regret it for the rest of his days.

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