Jingliu didn't know what to say for a moment.
She had originally wanted to say that a long-living body had extremely strong self-healing, and even if any marks were left, they would return to normal the next day.
Zero didn't need to be this cautious.
In his eyes, was kissing her… considered such an excessive act?
Jingliu hadn't expected that even when Zero was drunk, he could stay rational and think about her feelings in everything.
Her heart softened, and she raised a hand to pinch Zero's cheek.
Even though Jingliu had a lot she wanted to say, in the end she only sighed, "Your mouth…"
Sometimes, the things that came out of Zero's mouth always made her think too much.
Zero didn't understand why. He cooperated completely, not pulling away from Jingliu's hand, letting her pinch his face as she liked.
Maybe the alcohol was interfering, making his thoughts slow.
Only after Jingliu pinched his face for a while did he recall that sentence from earlier, the one that could easily be misunderstood.
Zero, "…"
That sentence was only meant literally. He truly just thought the clothes were hard to take off… there were absolutely no other inappropriate thoughts.
Zero started digging through the dating tips he'd read on the forum.
Like how before hugging or kissing, you should take the initiative to ask, and only continue after getting permission.
He had taken that very seriously.
And about when a couple could hug or kiss, he had specifically looked that up.
But Jingliu didn't play by the rules and completely messed up his plans.
All the "experience" he'd summarized from the forum was completely useless.
It was like, an inappropriate example, but still, studying ahead of time, finishing all the past exam papers, only to find that when you entered the exam room, the test was filled with questions you'd never seen before, covering material you'd never reviewed.
Zero thought, 'Dating is so hard.'
He tried hard to think of the right words to explain his sentence from earlier, "I didn't mean anything else..."
The moment he said it, Zero shut his mouth again.
It was better not to explain at all, once he explained, it sounded even weirder.
It made him seem like he had ulterior motives.
Jingliu lightly nodded. "I know."
She knew that with Zero's character, he wouldn't do anything against her wishes.
Zero let out a sigh of relief.
He made up his mind to give Jingliu a full sense of security.
He spoke comfortingly, "Don't worry. Before we're married, I won't do anything that crosses the line with you."
For some reason, Jingliu just looked at him without speaking.
Zero hesitated inwardly.
'Did Jingliu feel that talking about marriage now… was too early?'
Honestly, thinking about it, the Xianzhou people's marriage and birth rates had already been absurdly low.
Even when Zero purposely lowered the legal marriage age to twenty, it didn't help.
If Jingliu didn't want to get married… that was very normal.
Someone who didn't want marriage would probably feel pressured hearing what he just said, right?
With that in mind, Zero quickly added, "I was being presumptuous. Just treat it as drunk talk."
This time, Jingliu finally reacted.
Back when she first received the ring Zero gave her, she had already thought about marriage.
It wasn't a small matter.
Jingliu had wanted to wait until they understood each other enough, until they figured things out clearly, before deciding.
When Zero brought up marriage, she intended to think through her wording and give a serious answer, but she never expected that her brief silence would make Zero completely misinterpret it.
She didn't know how Zero managed to take her silence and somehow conclude that she didn't want to get married.
If her subordinates had Zero's level of comprehension… she would've drawn her sword and sparred with them long ago.
At the same time, she was also angry at Zero's attitude.
If it were anyone else, realizing their lover didn't want to marry them… they'd definitely be upset, angry even, right?
But after making this mistaken conclusion, Zero had no negative emotions at all. Instead, he thought he had been too forward.
Zero wasn't her comrade in arms, even if she was angry, all she could do was grab his collar and drag him with her.
The two walked to the stone table. Jingliu paused.
If they bumped into the stone table… he'd get hurt.
She remembered that Zero didn't have the same self-healing as other Xianzhou people, so she dragged him toward her room instead.
Without a word, Jingliu shoved Zero onto the bed.
Zero didn't understand, but followed the push and lay back on the bed.
He realized Jingliu seemed angry.
He didn't know why she was angry, so he could only go along with her.
He asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Jingliu sat at the bedside, looking down at Zero.
She gazed at those calm eyes, the ones that seemed able to accept everything.
She suddenly had an illusion.
As if everything she did was already within Zero's expectations.
As if no matter how excessive her actions were, they would never make him angry.
Clearly in terms of strength, Zero couldn't compare to her.
Yet she felt like she was the one being controlled by him.
Embarrassed to talk about marriage, Jingliu chose her words carefully.
"You… don't need to hold yourself back."
"Whatever you're thinking, you can tell me."
Zero blinked, not knowing how she reached that conclusion.
He denied it, "I'm not holding myself back."
Jingliu leaned down slightly, closing the distance between them, and asked, "That sentence, was it really just drunk talk?"
Zero paused.
Since Jingliu was able to ask proactively, she must be different from the other Xianzhou people.
He hesitated, then said, "No."
Jingliu let out a long breath.
"I hadn't even said anything yet, and you went and assumed a bunch of things on your own."
Zero tossed the earlier question back at her.
He asked, "Then what do you think?"
Jingliu grabbed his chin, staring into those clear, lake-like eyes.
These eyes, the ones that made people drop their guard, were the reason she kept giving in.
Zero did it on purpose.
He deliberately made her say embarrassing things.
After a moment, Jingliu gave in again. Enduring her embarrassment, she said, "This isn't a small matter. It needs to be considered long-term."
Zero nodded thoughtfully. "I understand."
Seeing his expression, Jingliu took a deep breath.
This time, she said exactly what she was thinking, "What do you understand?"
Zero raised a hand to cover the one she had on his face and said, "I understand that we're thinking the same thing."
He looked up, meeting her eyes, "This isn't a small matter. I want you to think it through clearly."
Zero could promise that if they ever broke up, he'd end things peacefully. But if they actually made it to marriage… he wasn't sure he'd be able to let her go.
He had once used Mirror Flower, Water Moon on humans.
He had personally witnessed believers of the "Abundance" abandon their faith and become followers of the "Hunt."
The blade in his hand could so easily rewrite their cognition, overturn their beliefs.
So… would Zero ever use that blade on Jingliu?
Faced with a question, he never answered lightly. He would only assume all possible outcomes and prepare countermeasures ahead of time.
For example, before they even started dating, Zero had already assumed everything that could happen after a breakup, and had gone to Hua in advance, just in case he ever did something wrong.
He didn't believe in sweet words spoken during the heat of romance, nor did he believe he'd ever meet someone who could accept all his flaws.
Zero rarely acted on impulse due to emotions.
But faced with Jingliu's pure, sincere heart, he couldn't help feeling moved.
So… did he love Jingliu?
He couldn't judge. He couldn't give a clear answer.
He could only say he liked her, but maybe… not to the level where "love" was the right word.
Jingliu was his only lover. He had no one to compare these feelings to, so he tried to think back to the Aeons he was on good terms with.
As for why Aeons and not people… well, he didn't really have any good human friends.
Take Jing Yuan and the Strategist, for instance.
If Jing Yuan contacted him again, things would probably just be awkward.
And the Strategist… if Zero met him again, even if the Strategist didn't grow actual leaves, he'd probably fall into the Mara-struck state because of him.
Among the Aeons, only Lan and Akivili had good relationships with him.
But those two, one relationship came from a contract, the other from Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
So what about his lover?
Did he also need to use a contract or Mirror Flower, Water Moon to keep her?
Zero thought for a bit and gave up.
He needed at least one relationship that was pure.
At least one thing in life needed to be decided by his own will.
Zero released her wrist, letting his hand slide up to cover hers on his cheek.
He said solemnly, "I will always respect your thoughts."
Jingliu wanted to ask, 'Then what about you? What are your thoughts?'
She had asked him that before, but he didn't think he was suppressing his emotions at all.
Looking into those completely calm eyes, she didn't ask again.
Asking wouldn't get answers.
A long time ago, Baiheng had gotten into an accident piloting the star skiff, causing both herself and Jingliu to arrive late, leaving Zero waiting for them for a long, long time.
They had thought Zero would be angry, but he had accepted it all calmly, even considering their feelings.
Jingliu had been drawn to this unusual trait of his, but now she felt powerless because of it.
She brought up the wager Zero had lost earlier.
"You said I could order you to do one thing…"
Zero nodded, half joking, "Anything is fine. Even if you want a star from the sky, I can give it to you."
Jingliu shook her head.
Yes, she wanted to know her lover's past.
But not now.
That calm, emotionless acceptance, like nothing could ever anger him, how had it been trained?
She couldn't guess, but she knew it definitely wasn't a pleasant experience.
Rather than using this condition to force him to recall that past, she preferred to hear him speak of it on his own someday.
When that time came, maybe he would be able to release the pain and tell her himself.
Jingliu stroked his cheek and asked softly, "Before you met me, how was it living on your own? Was it very exhausting?"
As she finished, she saw Zero freeze, with emotions in his eyes she couldn't read.
Then Zero closed his eyes briefly and smiled. "Are you sure? You only want to ask me that?"
Jingliu nodded, quietly waiting for his answer.
Zero didn't know how to express his feelings.
He didn't want to lie, so he lightly embellished his past and spoke.
In a brisk tone, he said, "Well… I never had to worry about food or drink, so life was pretty good. The only suffering I endured… was probably coffee."
"As for whether it was tiring… it was. Like reading, I don't like reading at all."
"Thinking back now, the hardest thing was probably socializing. I was always excluded. But it's fine, with my tireless efforts, I've successfully made peace with Them."
Zero used just a few sentences to summarize his past life and current life.
In his past life he didn't eat meals, in this life he never lacked money, so no need to worry about food or drink, makes sense.
He hated reading, but in his past life he had to manage Xianzhou affairs, and in this life he had to attend school, so he had to read anyway.
And then socializing, in his past life he was rejected by the Aeons, in this life he was bullied by classmates, and he successfully reconciled with both.
For some reason, Jingliu went silent, then looked at him with an expression he had never seen before.
Usually, those eyes that kept everyone at a distance, that never showed any ripples, changed in that moment.
How to describe it?
The light in her eyes wasn't like the fire of a sunset.
It felt more like ripples formed by a falling maple leaf on water, or like the moon hanging high, scattering its glow without lingering anywhere.
Zero looked away, no longer meeting her gaze.
He said, "There are a lot of things I'm not good at. I'm learning. I ask the Swordmaster to be patient with me."
Jingliu drew back the hand touching his face and nodded slightly.
She didn't press further, only said, "Alright. I'll learn together with you."
Jingliu swung a leg over him, straddling him, and pulled open the collar of the man beneath her.
As a martial practitioner, she could clearly sense the way Zero's body immediately tensed.
Watching the expression he almost failed to maintain, she couldn't help laughing.
She leaned down, intentionally slowing her voice, and whispered, "Why don't we start with the excessive things..."
Warm breath brushed against his shoulder and neck, then pressed to the side of his neck, and finally, a slight sting.
———
[The Next Morning, at the Divination Commission]
A colleague passing by Zero's desk was instantly drawn to the medicated patch on his neck.
He couldn't help asking, "Zero, your neck… what happened?"
Zero took a deep breath. "Slept wrong."
The colleague was puzzled. "Then what about the other side? Slept wrong on that side too?"
Zero calmly said, "The other side was pressed by a cat."
The colleague clicked his tongue. "Your cat is something else."
Zero nodded. "Isn't it? It weighs a few dozen kilos."
The colleague stared, dumbfounded. "That's not good! You need to make it lose weight. Being too fat affects its lifespan!"
Zero continued nodding.
Watching his colleague leave, he thought back to how he and Jingliu had gotten too carried away last night, leaving marks all over each other's neck and shoulders.
The red marks on Jingliu had vanished by morning. That made Zero miss his Mara-struck Body debuff a little.
If only he still had it, he wouldn't need medicated patches to cover up anything.
Zero picked up a storybook to pass the time.
It was currently the best-selling book in Luofu.
As he read the interactions between the male and female leads, the more he read, the more something felt wrong.
The male lead aggressively confessed, forcefully took what he wanted, and single-handedly controlled the pace of their relationship.
Zero, "…"
'Wait a second.'
Had he and Jingliu… gotten their script reversed?