No Such Thing—Only Dogs Like You

He Zhuoming heard those words but didn't quite register them, asking in confusion, "Was the Divine Palace damaged in many places? I went to the main hall to offer incense to the Earth Immortal today, and it looked the same as always. I thought the palace had already been repaired..."

Tang Shuyu replied flatly, "That's because the main hall wasn't severely damaged to begin with. Didn't you see the sorry state of the temporary shrine? The palaces near it suffered similar destruction."

He wouldn't have said anything if it hadn't been brought up, but mentioning it made Tang Shuyu angry—the smile at the corners of his lips faded, and his eyes no longer curved.

No one would be happy if their own home got smashed, let alone when a good friend was present at the time of the wrecking. It made Tang Shuyu feel provoked.

The green-maned horse following behind was the first to notice the shift in his mood, quietly softening its footsteps and doing its best to minimize its presence to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

What had happened to the Divine Palace was essentially not the horse's fault, because when the incident occurred, it had been accompanying Tang Shuyu to the True Deity assembly, and the subordinate deity who had stayed behind to guard the palace was not it.

But considering that the colleague who should have been responsible for this matter was already dead, the green-maned horse still felt it was better to treat this as its own mistake.

He Zhuoming was surprised and muttered, "Ah, I thought everywhere else was like the main hall—already fully repaired."

Tang Shuyu said, "How could it be that fast? It's only been a day."

He Zhuoming said, "But didn't they say the Earth Immortal took action? The Earth Immortal is a True Deity, right? A True Deity should be able to conjure houses out of thin air, shouldn't they?"

Tang Shuyu suddenly stopped in his tracks, and He Zhuoming, whose shoulders he was holding, had no choice but to stop as well.

He Zhuoming looked up at him in confusion, and in her line of sight, Tang Shuyu's smiling face tilted downward, yet it seemed he wasn't actually smiling.

The long earrings by his cheeks swayed slightly with his walking movements, and the light from a bead at the very tip happened to refract between his jaw and the corner of his mouth.

If he lowered his head, that glimmer of pearl light would sway onto his lip's center peak.

Tang Shuyu spoke: "I've noticed that Xiao He, you really have a great misunderstanding and illusion about True Deities."

He Zhuoming was staring at the pearl light refracted by his earrings and answered absentmindedly, "Huh? Even True Deities can't do it?"

Tang Shuyu smiled helplessly and said, "If True Deities could conjure anything out of thin air, why would they repair the Divine Palace or raise believers? Couldn't they just manufacture believers for themselves?"

"True Deities also need believers to offer worship before they can possess power. When True Deities fulfill their believers' wishes, they must also follow the laws of karma..."

He Zhuoming: "Oh! I understand this—the bigger the wish, the greater the karma you have to bear; the smaller the wish, the lesser the karma, right? Feixian told me about this."

Tang Shuyu scoffed and criticized mercilessly, "A half-full bottle teaching you an empty bottle—when you hadn't learned anything, one could say ignorance was bliss, but now that you've learned a little, you've only become more foolish."

He Zhuoming was bewildered: "Is that wrong?"

Tang Shuyu lowered his gaze to look at her. Her face was clearly full of drowsiness, but her dark eyes still brimmed with curiosity—his gaze drifted over her face for a moment, and suddenly he felt a slight itch in his palm.

He couldn't quite tell whether that tingling itch was because he wanted to pinch He Zhuoming's cheek, or because he was again affected by the remnants of the puppet.

Tang Shuyu ignored the tingling in his palm, instead using his hand to straighten her head, moving He Zhuoming's face out of his line of sight, then said flatly, "I already told you, a half-full bottle—so of course it's only half right. But there's no need for Xiao He to know these things too clearly, so knowing half is good enough."

As he spoke, Tang Shuyu casually plucked a crabapple petal that had gotten stuck in He Zhuoming's hair and tossed it away.

He Zhuoming didn't notice, struggling against her drowsiness as she wore a contemplative expression.

When Tang Shuyu pushed her back to the bedroom, He Zhuoming tilted her head up again to ask him, "Qingyun, did your earrings get longer?"

Tang Shuyu was briefly stunned, then raised an eyebrow and fiddled with his earrings. "That obvious?"

He Zhuoming: "Mm, sort of."

Tang Shuyu teased her again: "What does 'sort of' mean? Good-looking or not?"

He Zhuoming frowned, putting on a look of deep thought, her eyes still fixed on that swaying, hazy glimmer of pearl light on Tang Shuyu's cheek.

The spot of light at the very end was so close to Tang Shuyu's mouth that it made He Zhuoming think of how it would look swaying on his lips.

Tang Shuyu's mouth was perfectly shaped—from the long, pointed corners to the pronounced lip peak—more beautiful than any male lead He Zhuoming had ever seen in idol dramas.

Her thoughts jumped quickly. In her drowsy haze, she stared at Tang Shuyu's mouth for a while before finally remembering something very important.

He Zhuoming: "Hey... um, this afternoon—why did you kiss me?"

Tang Shuyu froze. The smile on his face visibly stiffened for a moment, his usually curved eyes suddenly widening, his dark pupils trembling twice within the shadow of his lashes.

Instinctively, he retorted to He Zhuoming, "I didn't kiss you."

He had only been testing how close the He Zhuoming in his dream had to get before her breath could spray onto the tip of his nose and his lips.

Hearing his denial, He Zhuoming was also stunned for a moment.

Her drowsiness dissipated, her mind snapped to clarity, and she realized what she had asked and what Tang Shuyu had answered—a rush of heat surged straight to her face, turning her entire face bright red.

Tang Shuyu reached out and pinched her cheek, feeling that her skin was scorching hot and soft, so much so that even his fingertips burned at the touch, but he pretended to be nonchalant and smiled, saying, "I was blowing into your eyes for you, wasn't I? Didn't you get ointment in your eye? What, did you think I was going to kiss you?"

He Zhuoming slapped his hand away: "I did not!"

Tang Shuyu: "Do you like me?"

He Zhuoming punched him right in the eye and shouted angrily, "Only dogs like you!"

Tang Shuyu dodged to the side, evading He Zhuoming's fist. Taking advantage of the moment, He Zhuoming shoved him outward and slammed the door firmly shut; she turned around, leaned her back against the door, slowly slid down to sit on the floor, and pressed both hands over her heart.

Her heart was still racing, burning with humiliation and indignation, and she really wanted to land a few more punches on Tang Shuyu's smiling face.

Of course she didn't like Tang Shuyu, but how dare he not like her!

The very thought made her angry!

Outside the door, Tang Shuyu pinched his still-burning fingertips and thought about knocking to call He Zhuoming, but his arm rose and then stopped; he thought of the question she had just asked him, and a strange restlessness stirred in his heart.

Tang Shuyu had plenty of other worries: the damaged Divine Palace, the unfinished assembly, and that dangerous puppet whose karma had crossed the line...

But none of those things were enough to make him feel truly rattled—except Xiao He. Xiao He was simply a huge nuisance!

Xiao He's chatter was annoying, her slow wits were annoying, her constant inability to tell him and the puppet apart was annoying, and her saying "Only dogs like you" was annoying too...

Hadn't she also said something about being mommy's little dog? Wait—so "Only dogs like you" meant "I like you"?

Tang Shuyu leaned his back against the door, his expression gradually turning grave. He unconsciously replayed every word He Zhuoming had said, every flustered and angry expression she'd made.

Then, to his astonishment, he realized that his mind, which was normally not good at remembering things, could clearly recall every image related to He Zhuoming. Even when he used He Zhuoming as an anchor to recall, he truly remembered burning a wooden plaque once.

He also remembered that when she discovered he'd faked his death, she'd been angry with him for an entire day.

...Which was more serious—faking death or faking a name and identity?

This was a question that required careful consideration.

Tang Shuyu sat outside the door thinking, and it wasn't until he heard He Zhuoming's breathing inside steady into a calm rhythm that he pushed the door open and went in.

The door could be locked from the inside, but for Tang Shuyu, all doors were the same whether locked or not—they could be pushed open at will.

No lamp was lit inside the room. In the hazy darkness, He Zhuoming was curled up on her side wrapped in her blanket.

Tang Shuyu walked to the edge of the bed and crouched down, resting his chin on his bent knees, quietly watching He Zhuoming's sleeping face; even in sleep, her cheeks were rosy, a patch of cheek flesh squeezed out by the pillow.

Tang Shuyu watched for a while, couldn't help but smile, and reached out to gently poke the patch of cheek flesh pressed out by the pillow.

It was soft and smooth to the touch, so much so that Tang Shuyu really wanted to pinch it—but he held back, afraid of waking He Zhuoming.

He thought to himself: Xiao He really isn't that smart.

Why not just admit she liked him? Toward people who liked him, Tang Shuyu was always lenient and generous. As long as Xiao He admitted she liked him, he would definitely be more tolerant and kind to her.

As he thought about it, the smile on Tang Shuyu's face faded again, and he grew a little dissatisfied: Xiao He acted like she liked him very much, but in reality, she couldn't even tell the difference between him and the puppets.

Any puppet, as long as it put on a slight disguise in front of her, she would truly believe it was Tang Shuyu himself... no, not even Tang Shuyu.

She still called him Lin Qingyun all the time now.

It was fine before, but now there was a real Lin Qingyun in the Divine Palace.

Tang Shuyu's fingertip traced from the girl's sleeping cheek all the way to her hair, his eyes narrowing slightly, a clear expression of displeasure surfacing on his face.

He let out a cold snort, rummaged through the clothes draped over the chair nearby, found He Zhuoming's coin purse, and opened it—copper coins began rolling down Tang Shuyu's sleeve, and before long, a handful of copper coins filled his palm, just the exact amount He Zhuoming had poured into the offering room during the day.

After pouring that handful of coins back into He Zhuoming's purse, Tang Shuyu shook the purse, looked at the pitifully few assets inside, and casually grabbed some silver pieces that could make change from the offering room and tucked them in.

*

He Zhuoming discovered that worshipping the Earth Immortal really worked!

Yesterday she'd offered incense to the Earth Immortal, and last night when she slept, she truly didn't have nightmares anymore!

Not only did she not have nightmares at night, but when she woke up in the morning, He Zhuoming saw her schoolbag and wooden sword neatly arranged on her bedside table.

She jumped off the bed, and in surprise and excitement, opened her schoolbag to check, finding all her textbooks and comic books inside, and even her math test paper that had been shredded to pieces was there too.

Seeing the math test paper, He Zhuoming was briefly delighted for two seconds, but then quickly fell into a subtle disappointment because every single question on the paper was left blank.

Ah well, Earth Immortal, you really didn't have to be that effective...

Sighing mournfully as she stuffed the test paper back into the depths of the schoolbag, He Zhuoming couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Tang Shuyu was nowhere to be found. After He Zhuoming finished breakfast, she pretended to ask Li Shui very casually and offhandedly—Li Shui smiled and said, "I'm not entirely sure of the Music Master's whereabouts. He's probably gone to supervise the craftsmen repairing the palaces."

"And one more thing I should remind you of: the Corrupted Deity brought many evil spirits when it caused chaos, and they're currently being held temporarily at the end of the steps. For your safety, please don't go near the steps."

He Zhuoming was taken aback: "The steps at the end of the corridor?"

Li Shui kept her smile: "Yes, those steps."

Li Shui's smile was as gentle and beautiful as always, but for some reason, He Zhuoming felt like she had undergone some kind of change compared to before.

What kind of change was it?

That feeling flashed vaguely through He Zhuoming's mind, but she couldn't grasp the specific thought, only sensing a foggy, muddled sensation as if she were falling into mist.

After breakfast, He Zhuoming asked Li Shui for a clean empty food container, packed two pieces of each of her favorite breakfast dishes, and headed out to find Xu Feixian.

She had been lingering near the main hall before, so He Zhuoming hadn't had much sense of the destruction of the Divine Palace. But once she stepped out of the main hall's perimeter, she immediately realized it—

Because the palace complex in the east had indeed suffered a great deal of damage. Most of the walls had been toppled, and many of the palaces were missing a corner here, a pillar there, looking as if they might collapse at any moment.

Many laborers in coarse hempen clothes were repairing the ground under the direction of attendants, laying bricks and setting up pillars, with a busy scene everywhere.

Every place He Zhuoming passed, she couldn't help but take a few extra looks at the person leading the group. She kept feeling that as she walked, maybe Tang Shuyu would suddenly jump out from somewhere and strike up a conversation with her.

Actually, He Zhuoming didn't really want to see Tang Shuyu right now. If they bumped into each other, she would remember the question she had asked him last night—and then be so embarrassed and ashamed she'd want to explode.

But she also really wanted to know what Tang Shuyu was doing now, what he was thinking, whether he would still remember what happened last night... whether he would think she was conceited.

Most importantly—he wouldn't think she had a crush on him, right!

Lost in her wild thoughts, He Zhuoming unknowingly walked all the way to Xu Feixian's residence.

Fortunately, Xu Feixian was uninjured. She said that when the chaos broke out, she immediately returned to her room, locked the door tightly from the inside, and pasted dozens of warding talismans on it.

Although someone did come knocking midway, Xu Feixian just sat on her camphor wood platform with her eyes closed, fumigating herself and her blade, paying no attention to who was outside the door.

So she had made it through this ordeal safely.

He Zhuoming pushed the food container toward her and said, "You didn't even ask who was knocking? What if it had been me?"

Xu Feixian answered coldly, "If it were ordinary spirits or monsters causing trouble, I'd willingly take my blade out to save people. But if chaos erupts in the Divine Palace of a True Deity, then even if it were my own father at the door, I wouldn't open it."

He Zhuoming was shocked: "How can you be like that!"

Xu Feixian said, "You'd better learn to be like this too. A Corrupted Deity who dares to cause trouble in a True Deity's home—killing us would probably be easier than crushing an ant."

He Zhuoming didn't quite agree with Xu Feixian's view, but she didn't argue—after all, it wasn't a matter of principle like murder, robbery, gambling, or drugs; it was normal for friends to have different opinions and preferences.

Xu Feixian glanced at the girl slumped over the table, her face clearly written with 'I have something on my mind,' and spoke up: "I was just about to ask you—are you suffering from heatstroke? Why is your face so red?"

Hearing this, He Zhuoming cupped her own cheeks and felt them.

Xu Feixian said again, "Can you tell if your face is red just by touching it?"

So He Zhuoming went to look for a mirror, picked up Xu Feixian's bronze mirror, and looked at her reflection, seeing that both her cheeks were as red as a burning sunset cloud.

She didn't know it was because she'd been thinking about Tang Shuyu. She pressed her palm against her cheek and rubbed it twice, saying, "It's because of the heat, I guess. The sun's really strong today, and I walked here... mm."

Since the mirror was already there, He Zhuoming sat down and took Xu Feixian's comb to do her hair.

Usually, the maidservant who delivered breakfast would help her comb her hair too, but today Li Shui hadn't even mentioned combing her hair, so He Zhuoming had forgotten about it as well.

But after combing just a few strokes, He Zhuoming suddenly noticed something odd—she leaned closer to the bronze mirror and pulled a strand of hair from beside her ear: this lock of hair had, for some reason, been tied into a tight knot.

It didn't look like natural tangling. He Zhuoming stared at the mirror for a long time, and no matter how she looked at it, it seemed like someone had deliberately tied that knot.