They silently ate their bread, and eventually, their vision returned.

"Should we just run away?" Hanbi suggested, biting down on the cooked bread. "I don’t think we’ll be able to beat him."

Xuan sighed. "Running away wouldn’t be the end of the world, but what’s the point? He won’t kill you. He’ll probably rough me up, but he won’t kill me either. Just don’t worry about it. We’ll train and survive the one minute."

Hanbi grumbled and waved her hand. In the next instant, the spirit companion he had seen yesterday appeared.

"Mei Mei, can you tell him this is a bad idea?" Hanbi smirked.

However, the little spirit companion simply shook its head and shared its thoughts.

"You idiot, you’re across the table from him. Just tell him yourself. Or should I tell him all the other things you’ve been hiding from him, huh?" Mei Mei replied sternly.

Hanbi’s eyes widened. "Don’t you dare..."

"Sup." Xuan waved, pointing at the clay cup beside him. "You’re an ice spirit, right? Can you pour some ice cubes into this?"

"I can pour ice cubes down your throat instead. How about that?" Mei Mei shot back. "Listen, you two... If you called me just because you wanted someone to listen to your messed-up relationship, then I want to go back."

Hanbi threw a piece of bread at Mei Mei, who absorbed it straight into its body.

"It’s not that," Hanbi said. "Can you mess with us while we train? Make the floor slippery, blast us with cold air, anything to throw us off. If we’re going to fight blind, we might as well get used to fighting under pressure."

Mei Mei hovered closer. "Hmm? You’re finally asking for my help? Where did Miss ’I don’t want your help, hmph’ go?"

Hanbi’s cheeks flushed slightly, and when she glanced over at the amused Xuan, she threw a piece of bread at him, which he caught with his mouth, frustrating her further.

Seeing that, Mei Mei chuckled. "Alright. I’ll help you two. It’s not like I have anything better to do."

"Thanks for that," Xuan said sincerely. "Also, you mentioned she was hiding something from me. What is it?"

Hanbi immediately slammed her fist down on the table, her expression cold.

"Don’t tell him. And you too. Don’t ask about it. It’s nothing important," she said, standing up. "Let’s start training now. I’ll do the treatment on you later."

Yet when she tried to take a single step forward, Hanbi suddenly slipped, falling onto the ground and ripping her shirt on the table.

"Whoops." Mei Mei whistled absentmindedly.

Hanbi’s fists trembled in anger. She stood up and ripped half of her shirt off, revealing her thin, flawless hourglass waist.

She tied the ripped bit of her shirt around her ears, and of course, she stuffed a little into her nose.

"Come here. We don’t have that much time," Hanbi urged, finally putting on the blindfold.

Xuan’s eyes lingered on her waist for a few moments, but after Mei Mei landed on his shoulder, he froze.

"A sight for sore eyes, was it? Heh..." Mei Mei shook its small head. "You two both need to be more honest with each other. But oh well, I’m just a weak spirit companion, don’t mind me..."

Xuan flicked Mei Mei off his shoulder and proceeded to put on a blindfold as well.

Not only that, he copied what Hanbi had done and covered his ears and nose as well. In the end, he couldn’t hear anything, and smelling anything was impossible too.

He wasn’t sure when they would start, but that was when he felt the ground shaking slightly, as if someone was tapping their foot on it.

Hanbi? Is she...?

Eventually, the tapping slowed down, resounding once per second.

And almost as if by instinct, once the count reached three, Xuan dashed forward.

Hanbi met him halfway as the two clashed, hitting each other wherever they could.

But within just five minutes of them clashing, Xuan landed a hit across her cheek, sending her flying toward their kitchen.

Despite this small victory, however, he wasn’t satisfied.

They were just throwing punches at each other in hopes of one landing. It was all luck, and it was also the only reason he landed that punch in the first place. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

With a slight frown, he took off his blindfold as well as the other things he had inserted into his nose and ears.

When he did, he spotted Hanbi by the kitchen, throwing fists at God knows what. It was embarrassing, and clearly, Mei Mei thought so too, as he kept blowing cold wind in her direction.

How are we supposed to do this...? Xuan wondered, completely lost. I’m definitely getting stronger, and so is she. Our teamwork is improving, and our individual fighting is too...

He lowered his head. But even so, I have no clue where to go from here... Foyan left us with too vague of a task...

It was the first time he felt this lost, but as he was about to think of an alternative, Hanbi dashed toward him, trying to strike him down.

Since he didn’t have anything restricting him, he dodged effortlessly.

Then, when she overextended, Xuan threw a soft punch at her abdomen, knocking the wind out of her.

But just as she was about to fall, Xuan grabbed her by the waist and took her restrictions off, gazing into her conflicted eyes.

"I want to try something," Xuan said plainly.

Hanbi was slightly flustered from the way he was holding her bare waist, but holding her embarrassment back, she tilted her head.

"What is it?"

"Before the fight started, I felt you tap the ground. After we began fighting, that feeling kind of disappeared, but I think that’s our way out of this mess," Xuan explained calmly as a resolute look appeared on his face.

"Let’s take turns with the restrictions. Let’s say... four hours each. While one fights restricted, the other becomes the instructor. We’ll attack each other the way Foyan did until we stop relying on luck."

He pulled her closer, whispering in her ear with a smile.

"I’m going first."