"Senior Sister, Senior Xiaotao… let's take a walk."
Those three gazes were too scorching. Huo Yuhao did not dare meet them directly. With a faint smile, he spoke and walked ahead.
Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao quickened their steps, following at his left and right.
Watching the three figures from behind—
Wang Dong's pretty face turned pale.
Only after they gradually disappeared into the night did she hurriedly follow.
Yet she did not dare draw too near.
She remained far behind, trailing at a distance.
...
A gentle evening breeze stirred; willows swayed softly by Sea God Lake.
The fierce battle earlier had not disturbed the tranquility here.
Soft soul-tool lamps cast light upon the lake's rippling surface, scattering delicate golden reflections.
Occasionally, students strolled by in pairs or trios. Seeing the three figures of Huo Yuhao and the others from afar, they smiled knowingly and quietly detoured.
"Junior Yuhao!"
Unable to hold back, Ma Xiaotao asked again.
"Whose name did you write on that paper?"
Her temperament had always been like fire.
Tonight had brought too many ups and downs.
She feared that if she let this moment pass, she might never gather the courage to ask again.
Though Zhang Lexuan said nothing, her gaze remained fixed upon Huo Yuhao, never wavering.
After a long silence, Huo Yuhao extended his palm, fingers spreading open.
In his hand—
Was a neatly folded slip of paper.
It was the very one on which he had written the name earlier.
His voice sounded in the evening breeze, clear and calm.
"Senior Sister… Senior Xiaotao…"
He paused, then finally asked:
"Do you… truly like me?"
Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao both froze, never expecting him to be so direct.
"I…"
Zhang Lexuan parted her lips slightly. The word lingered at the tip of her tongue, yet she could not utter it.
Ma Xiaotao pressed her lips together as well, momentarily losing her usual boldness.
Huo Yuhao smiled.
"Perhaps…"
"You both do feel some affection toward me."
His gaze was clear.
There was no evasion in his tone.
"But for Senior Sister, perhaps it stems more from admiration of my talent. And for Senior Xiaotao, perhaps it carries the stirring caused by the clash of our attributes."
As his words fell—
A trace of panic flickered through their hearts.
They wanted to say…
Even if this feeling had not yet sunk into their very bones, in this world, the only youth who had ever made their eyes linger and their hearts stir—
Was you.
Looking at their beautiful faces now touched with uncertainty because of his words, Huo Yuhao's own heartbeat quickened a few beats.
"You are both so outstanding. It would be impossible for me to feel nothing."
"But if I were to say 'love,' it might be somewhat forced."
He let out a long breath and smiled.
"What I mean is…"
"Why not leave the answer for two days from now?"
"I know of a place called the 'Yin Yang Love Querying Valley.' It is said to be a trial ground left in the mortal world by the God of Love, capable of revealing the truest feelings within a man and a woman's hearts."
"My purpose in going to the Valley is to improve my cultivation and heal my teacher."
"If you are willing to accompany me, perhaps… you may also see your own hearts clearly there."
The two women exchanged a glance, then nodded firmly.
"Alright."
Zhang Lexuan's white robes fluttered in the night wind, like a fairy from the moon palace—breathtakingly beautiful.
"Junior Brother, though I cannot speak those words right now, it does not mean I feel nothing for you."
Her cool and delicate face was flushed red, yet she still met Huo Yuhao's eyes.
"Since I participated in Sea God's Fated Blind Date, I have already acknowledged you in my heart."
"If I must rely on the Yin Yang Love Querying Valley to prove this heart, I, Zhang Lexuan, have no fear."
With that—
She drifted away, soon blending into the night.
A flicker of flame danced at Ma Xiaotao's fingertips, casting her features in a vivid glow.
"I, Ma Xiaotao, have never dressed up like this for any man before. If it's questioning love, then so be it—I'm not afraid."
She let out a soft huff.
As she turned, her garments flared like fire, her stride bold and unrestrained as she left the lakeside.
Faced with consecutive confessions—
Ripples inevitably stirred in Huo Yuhao's heart.
He was about to turn and leave—
When a shout tinged with tears suddenly rang out behind him.
"Huo Yuhao!"
"They don't dare say it—but I do…"
"I, Wang Dong, like you."
By the last few words,
The girl's voice trembled uncontrollably, even turning hoarse.
By the lakeside, a silver carp quietly poked its head above the water. Seeing the complicated expression on the young man's face, it blew a bubble and slipped back beneath the surface.
Huo Yuhao stood stunned, looking at the blue-haired girl walking toward him step by step, tears streaming down her face.
"Huo… Huo Yuhao…"
"I don't even know what's wrong with me."
Wang Dong raised the back of her hand, wiping her eyes hard, yet the tears would not stop.
"You've treated me coldly and distantly again and again. By all logic, I should hate you…"
"But ever since I met you, I haven't been able to control myself."
She stopped before him, lifting her tear-soaked face—now softened by vulnerability—and pleaded:
"I… we must know each other."
"Can you tell me… what is really going on?"
A faint ache twisted in Huo Yuhao's chest.
The Yin Yang Love Querying Valley…
It was close at hand.
That place had been the turning point in his relationship with Wang Dong.
In his previous life—
Wang Dong had resolutely taken her own life to save him, only to be rescued by Tang San behind the scenes and fall into a long slumber.
The Yin Yang Love Querying Valley had, from the start, been a trial aimed at him.
In the end—
Tang San sealed Wang Dong's memories and awakened the divine past of Tang Wutong.
Huo Yuhao slowly closed his eyes.
He did not wish to relive such an experience again.
Tang San's so-called "trial"—
Had left him scarred all over and lost to himself.
If a love must be proven by crushing one's own identity,
Then it only proves that the one you met was never the right person.
The hand he had been clenching gradually loosened.
The slip of paper fluttered upward in the wind,
Drifting into a patch of grass nearby.
Moonlight fell upon it,
Illuminating the inked name written clearly upon it: Huo Yuhao.
He had written his own name.
If one does not know how to cherish oneself,
How can one truly cherish another?
It might seem laughable.
Yet it was a truth he had only understood after living through two lifetimes.
Huo Yuhao opened his eyes. Countless emotions surged like a tide before finally settling into something complicated and restrained.
"Wang Dong, what lies between us… you likely would not understand."
"Perhaps once we go to the Yin Yang Love Querying Valley, you will learn everything."
"And at that time, you may discover that you have not even figured out who you truly are."
"The 'like' you feel now may belong only to the 'you' of this moment."
Having said that—
He did not linger, turning and walking away.
Wang Dong stared at his retreating back, biting her lower lip, and said firmly:
"I am Wang Dong. That will never change."
"The Yin Yang Love Querying Valley—I will definitely go."
Huo Yuhao returned to the inn outside the academy, but his thoughts refused to settle. He could not even enter meditation for cultivation.
Within his sea of consciousness—
Skydream spoke leisurely:
"Yuhao, what are you worried about?"
"In your previous life at the Yin Yang Love Querying Valley, the God King Tang schemed behind the scenes and forced that so-called 'trial' upon you."
"But this life is different. Behind you stands Brother Zhexian."
"He will make his move."