Zero stared at Jingliu for a long time without speaking.
He was surprised that she could be this sharp.
Jingliu carefully and cautiously looked him over.
After staring for a while, she belatedly realized she had asked something pointless.
How could it not hurt?
An old injury, treated carelessly, how could it fully heal?
Just as she was thinking that, Zero held her wrist and guided her hand toward his neck.
Right before touching his skin, Jingliu instinctively pulled her hand back.
Zero let out a low laugh.
"It's fine. It doesn't hurt. I can't really feel anything…"
Jingliu's expression turned cold. She cupped his face again and started kneading it.
Zero froze for a moment.
Before dying, he didn't mind telling others the truth.
That was why, back in Scalegorge Waterscape, he had spoken honestly about his feelings and stopped Dan Feng from taking his own life.
But in front of Jingliu… that was different.
Zero opened his mouth, then reluctantly changed his words.
"Alright, it hurts a little."
Jingliu remained unmoved. Her face stayed indifferent as she continued kneading his face.
Zero calmly said, "Mm, not just a little."
"To be honest, I kind of regret using this method…"
Jingliu's movements paused.
She realized that if they had met earlier…
If the Zero she met had been the Marshal of the Xianzhou...
She still would have been drawn to him.
But the Marshal would never have stopped his gaze on her.
Fortunately, they met at the right time and formed the closest relationship in the world.
Partners could hug, kiss, and speak honestly with each other.
Yet Zero had stayed in the position of Marshal for too long.
He didn't need pity, much less sympathy. That was a form of belittlement toward him.
Zero almost had no emotions that belonged solely to himself.
And because of that, in front of Jingliu, he was always a flawless partner.
Aside from being a little unromantic…
Zero was so perfect that he almost had no flaws.
Jingliu's thoughts drifted. For some reason, she thought of those dense male leads from storybooks.
Even if the heroine took off her clothes, the male lead would only ask if she was cold.
Jingliu, "..."
That really did sound like something Zero would do.
No, maybe it wasn't that he was unromantic.
Maybe Zero did it on purpose.
Jingliu pulled back her thoughts and looked at his face.
His expression was gentle, his gaze calm.
It was as if no matter how outrageous her actions became, Zero would only show brief surprise, then quickly adjust himself and continue maintaining the image of the "perfect lover" in front of her.
Only Jingliu.
Only in certain moments could she see the side of Zero hidden from everyone else.
For example, waiting for her to take the initiative?
She gently pressed her lips against the side of his neck.
Using her lips and tongue to kiss and lick the old scar.
Jingliu knew she couldn't say anything comforting, so she could only pull out the words she had rehearsed countless times in her heart.
"Starting today, we both have another identity."
"We are each other's legal partners."
"I won't say things like forever or always."
In the past Jingliu had never taken part in, her lover had met countless people and witnessed too many farewells.
Zero would neither like nor believe those kinds of words.
They were too shallow.
Jingliu pressed her forehead against his and looked steadily into those amber eyes.
She softly said, "I just want to say…"
"You can keep confirming it with me."
Jingliu had never been some innocent, naïve person. Nor did she long for some flawless love without any darkness.
Everyone had selfish desires.
Zero compared her to the moon, but even the moon waxed and waned.
She also secretly hoped to see more expressions and reactions from him.
Jingliu raised her hand and smoothed the hair beside her lover's ear. Her tone was gentle but firm.
"You can be yourself."
Under the candlelight, Zero's eyes darkened.
Keep confirming it with Jingliu?
Be himself?
Zero's thoughts became a mess. Instinctively, he began doubting, separating emotion away and examining everything from a third-person perspective.
He listed out every close relationship he had seen before.
So-called forever… was nothing more than promises casually spoken by lovers in the middle of passion.
Whether friendship, family, or love, as long as one side was needed and had value, then even without feelings or sincerity, the relationship could still continue.
Soon, Zero turned to reflecting on himself.
Back then, Guanliang had asked him what kind of woman he liked.
He had copied the standards from storybooks and used them to brush off his subordinate.
For example, someone who didn't love status, money, or power, but only loved his soul.
Or someone who would hug him when he was lonely, and who, after seeing his glory in front of others, still understood his hardships.
Among all of them, the one Zero found most unrealistic was this, when he hit a wall, she could make him put down his pride and willingly open up to her.
He had never imagined he would truly meet a lover who matched every standard.
How could he doubt Jingliu's sincerity?
Reason and emotion kept tearing at each other, unable to decide a winner.
Zero lowered his head and buried his face in Jingliu's neck, using it to hide his expression and eyes.
Jingliu moved her hand to his back and tightly hugged him.
Under the dim candlelight, she looked at the tip of his ear that seemed kissable at any moment, and suddenly remembered a very untimely sentence.
Zero had once said that after they got married, he would let himself enjoy things fully.
Jingliu thought to herself that she had really been led astray by Zero.
At a moment like this, when they were opening their hearts and confiding in each other, how could she say something like that? It would ruin the mood too much.
Wait. If Zero was unhappy, then couldn't this distract him?
Jingliu thought it over and over, but couldn't come up with a better method.
A few system hours later, they would be meeting with friends and family.
Zero cared about her too much. He wouldn't do that kind of thing with her.
Jingliu felt no embarrassment at all. Without blinking, she stared at the tip of his ear.
Holding back her laughter, she carefully controlled her tone.
"You said before…"
"After we got married, you'd let yourself…"
Zero's body immediately stiffened.
Jingliu deliberately paused for a moment, then slowly repeated, "Let yourself enjoy things fully."
The tip of Zero's ear turned red at a visible speed.
Jingliu desperately held back her laughter.
"What? Were you lying to me too?"
She quickly added another sentence.
"This time, even calling me big sister won't help."
The moment she finished speaking, Jingliu finally couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed softly.
She moved closer to Zero. Their faces pressed together as they felt each other's warmth.
Pretty hot.
Almost instantly, the world spun.
Jingliu ended up lying on her back, the smile still on her face.
While startled, an untimely thought suddenly appeared in her mind.
If Zero really used his full strength… Who would win?
Zero supported himself against the sofa with one hand while the other held Jingliu's chin.
His face was expressionless as he looked down at her.
"Having fun?"
Hearing this, Jingliu snapped back to herself. Her gaze uncontrollably drifted downward.
After staring for a while, she made her choice between being a shameless flirt and being a proper gentleman.
Jingliu held back her laughter and pretended to button up the buttons she had undone for him.
"Don't catch a cold."
Zero, "..."
He withdrew his hand, stood up, then sat back where he was before and lowered his eyes to straighten his clothes.
Zero rarely doubted his own mental state.
When Jingliu said that extremely obvious hint earlier, only one thought appeared in his mind.
So he really wasn't normal after all.
If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't refuse their lover.
Zero's first reaction had been rejection.
Tonight, he was taking Jingliu to meet his friends and family.
More importantly, he still hadn't told Jingliu the truth.
Jingliu walked to Zero's side and wrapped herself around his arm.
She had accidentally teased him too much.
She knew he wasn't angry, but still asked, "What? Angry?"
Zero shook his head.
"No."
"It's just… there are some things I want to tell you."
"Let's start with my parents."
Zero couldn't remember very clearly anymore.
Fortunately, Zandar still remembered.
Even though the scholar had only briefly mentioned it, Zero could still piece together his original family.
Then, through his own personality, values, and behavior, he inferred what his parents must have been like.
While recalling how he treated the Xianzhou people, Zero said, "My parents loved me very much."
"They believed children were independent individuals, so they never interfered with any of my decisions."
"In their eyes, love meant lifting someone up, so they did everything they could to support me."
"They were the ones who gave me the courage and freedom to travel across different countries."
"It's just that my health was poor."
Jingliu said nothing and tightened her grip on Zero's hand.
She had looked into related information.
People on other planets, after developing clotting disorders, had to stay careful at all times. Without medicine specifically for blood clotting, if they suffered severe injuries… there was a certain chance they would die.
Zero recalled the talismans he had drawn and continued reasoning backward.
"They took me everywhere to pray to gods and buddhas, hoping heaven would let me live a little longer."
"During that time, I also learned a little bit. I could draw some… very simple talismans."
Then Zero thought of his own name.
His parents had prayed to gods and buddhas for him, placing their hopes in vague and illusory deities…
Then they definitely would have studied birth charts and feng shui for him too.
So why had they given him such a careless name?
And why did it carry the meaning of "empty hopes"?
Zero softly laughed.
"My name sounds very careless."
"Because this is my childhood nickname."
For the sake of their child, elders would deliberately give them a rough, easy-to-raise nickname.
"Only my closest family and friends called me by this nickname."
"I also had a formal name chosen according to my birth chart."
Jingliu raised her other hand and covered the hand they were holding together.
Zero stared blankly into space for a moment, then turned toward Jingliu and smiled.
"But I don't remember it anymore."
"The Xianzhou lost its direction, and so did I."
Zero tightly held Jingliu with one hand while the other rose to touch the side of her face.
Without blinking, he stared at his lover and spoke seriously.
"Jingliu, I will fulfill all your wishes."
Jingliu opened her mouth, about to refute him, but Zero continued, "Here, I can't die."
"But now, I'm a little uncertain…"
He raised Jingliu's chin instead, pressing his fingertip against her lips.
Normally, the movement would have been intimate, but now it carried no suggestive meaning at all.
He looked deeply at Jingliu.
"I'm not sure… whether I can become a qualified husband."
"I'm even less sure whether you're the same as me."
Jingliu quietly waited.
Waited for her lover to reveal his true thoughts.
The two looked at each other for a long time. In the end, Zero was the first to lose.
He shifted his gaze away, avoiding Jingliu's eyes, and softly said, "The same as me… unable to die."
Jingliu instinctively tightened her grip on his hand. With a calm expression, he told her,
"My flesh and blood can suppress mara-struck conditions."
Jingliu's face lost all color.
Her breathing stopped for a moment, and even her heartbeat slowed.
Was it anger? Or heartache?
Jingliu couldn't tell.
She stared at her lover's profile.
After a long while, Jingliu asked, "Who else knows about this? Dan Feng? Yingxing?"
"Or do all of them know?"
Zero slowly shook his head, "That's not important."
At that moment, Jingliu identified the emotion.
It was anger.
She tried hard to control her tone, "How is that not important?"
Zero still wore that naturally approachable smile, "Jingliu, I don't want to repeat the same mistakes."
Jingliu was burning with anger.
Zero never cared about himself. He barely had any negative emotions.
He only cared about the feelings of people close to him.
So how could he let Jingliu experience the pain he had gone through?
Zero withdrew the hand rubbing her lips and gently gave his promise, "But it's alright. I'll fulfill all your wishes."
His gaze lowered to Jingliu's neck.
The place where her carotid artery was.
His eyes darkened as he smiled at Jingliu.
"What do you want to do?"
"I can agree to anything."
Jingliu's chest rose and fell violently.
Anger only clouded people's minds and drove them to say irreversible, painful things.
Zero's current state… was very wrong.
Jingliu took several deep breaths while suppressing her anger and thinking of a solution.
Some things Zero could do, but people close to him could not.
He could cut away his flesh and blood.
He could make promises that would free Jingliu.
But what if it were Jingliu herself?
Jingliu quickly came up with a method.
Shake off Zero's hand and go to the kitchen to get a knife.
Teach him a proper lesson.
But… that was too dangerous.
The two of them had only sparred before confirming their relationship.
And on top of that, Zero had a clotting disorder. He couldn't withstand even the slightest bump.
After learning this, Jingliu had become extremely careful. Even when kissing him, she restrained herself, afraid of biting through skin or leaving marks.
Now, Zero was telling her that his flesh and blood could suppress mara-struck conditions…
There was even less chance she would tolerate him getting hurt.
If he got cut and bled, was he going to share it with the other Xianzhou people too?
Jingliu knew they absolutely could not start down that path.
What next? Was he planning to bleed even more and save everyone?
After thinking for a while, Jingliu reached a conclusion.
The plan would work.
But if she used a weapon to hurt herself… Zero would definitely fight her for it.
If Jingliu were facing an abomination, she naturally wouldn't hesitate.
But against Zero, she inevitably couldn't go all out.
Conclusion, impossible.
Jingliu had no way to carry out the plan without leaving behind wounds or bruises.
She couldn't beat him.
After the vacation, she needed to continue extra training.
Even though Jingliu had thousands of things she wanted to say, in the end she only forced out a smile, raised an eyebrow, and used a teasing tone.
"You said all wishes? Then can you call me big sister too?"
Zero, "..."
He blinked slowly, and the darkness in his eyes instantly disappeared.
'Didn't she just say it wouldn't work?'