Han Jing did not repeat her words, but the cold atmosphere in the air felt as if it had solidified, with time terrifyingly still in the night.

For a long time, Su Yu finally parted his lips slightly, as if sighing, as if resigned: "Jing’er."

He called softly, with a gentleness that feared frightening her.

It was the first time in five years that Han Jing heard her name from his mouth again.

It made her dazed and wavering for a moment, but she still did not move.

The waves in her heart subsided, leaving behind a calm pain that reached the depths.

The two remained in this rigid standoff, neither speaking again.

Until time passed by second by second, Su Yu thought she would never speak again, planning to remain in this standoff with him for the night, when she finally spoke once more.

Her voice remained as calm as if speaking to a stranger,

Oh, speaking to a stranger would still make one panic, after all, she would still have emotions when facing strangers.

But now, facing him, she truly had not a single shred of emotion.

Su Yu rarely felt such panic, yet in front of her, throughout his life, he always seemed one step behind, unable to see through her, unable to decipher her.

"Su Yu," she called his name,

He sat up, maintaining about half a wall’s distance between them, the night so quiet, quiet enough that their breaths intertwined in the gentle night air, seeming both tender and detached.

His heart beat inexplicably fast.

"You treated me well, so well that when words are spoken, I feel like I’m being pretentious. From our coincidental encounter, to me realizing I liked you, to me believing you also liked me."

Her voice was unhurried, but not the way she usually spoke.

He suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, with a slight force.

"Your kindness to me, your kindness to Xiao Xue, everything you gave and did for us leaves me with no position to blame you even a bit, not even to be angry, which feels inexplicably powerless. Initially, I was truly angry, but I didn’t even know what I was angry about."

"It was later that I realized I wasn’t angry, I was genuinely feeling a trace of exhaustion."

Su Yu furrowed his brows slightly, as he felt a kind of elusive, untouchable illusion in her calm and unwavering voice.

"No matter in the beginning, when you hid from me that Xiao Xue was your child, or later, when you were in Spirit Flame Sect while I was in the Ghost Realm, separated by such a short distance, you never told me the truth. You had your reasons, your difficulties, which I empathized with, so even from the start, despite so much misunderstanding, when I guessed that you all conspired to hide from me that Xiao Xue was indeed your child, I still bit my lip and endured all the doubts and helplessness because I trusted you enough, trusted your kindness to me, with never a hint of falseness."

"Then, when we unexpectedly met at Wengshan Sect, you listened to me telling Xiao Xue that you were not her father, listened as I said I did not know you, I did not know what emotions were in your heart. I even repeatedly told Xiao Xue to be sensible, not to acknowledge you, because it might cause you pain. You are the one in this world who loves her most, her father. So how did you feel when you saw her but she dared not call out to you?"