Even Xiao Lin was surprised when he made the invitation. Gu Xiaoyue had stared at him for over a minute before finally nodding in agreement.
Xiao Lin did not place too much hope on it, and he was quite surprised when he got Gu Xiaoyue’s answer. He immediately reacted happily, throwing away the worries about the fortress’s defenses and immediately changing before leaving with her.
After the various supplies were distributed from the warehouse, Xiao Lin had naturally gotten a new set of armor. However, the orcs only had two kinds of armor: chain armor and heavy armor, which were both on the heavier side. Xiao Lin had picked chain armor, and he still had not fully grasped the capabilities. It was not too cumbersome to wear, but it was still excessive for just a simple walk.
The sun had just come out, so it was still not that hot. The cool sea breeze was very relaxing, and the remnants of the amphibious battle had long been washed away by the tides.
The two of them walked toward the sea, occasionally bumping into some fellow students. Everyone knew not to bother each other, since relaxing times like this was hard to come by, which made everyone treasure them a lot.
The silence caused the atmosphere to be a bit awkward. As Xiao Lin was looking for a topic of conversation, Gu Xiaoyue opened her mouth first, her voice clear and cool, “I’ve actually never actually seen the sea in my entire life.”
“Oh, I’ve actually never seen it either. I lived in a landlocked city, and I was quite the shut-in back then. I would always be stuck at home during the holidays. Didn’t even bother to travel.”
“My sister liked the sea a lot. You know she likes to draw. Back when she was young, she would always draw the sea, but she would never tell me about it.”
Gu Xiaoyue sighed. “She probably did not want to cause me any trouble. She knew her legs would be an issue, and back then, I would travel all over the world to find a way to cure her, so I would spend long periods of time away from home. I would always find the best maids and housekeepers to look after her before I left, but I knew I made her feel very lonely. I knew it, but I pretended I didn’t.”
The image of Gu Xiaoyue’s sister popped into Xiao Lin’s head. She seemed to be completely different from Gu Xiaoyue’s cold demeanor. That cute and active girl did not have a shred of sadness in her, even though she could not walk. Her positivity when facing life was something that left a deep impression on Xiao Lin, even though he had only met her once.
Seeing that Gu Xiaoyue had some regrets about it, Xiao Lin tried to console her, softly saying, “You two have such a good relationship with each other. I know that Gu Chengyun doesn’t blame you.”
“I know. She’s never blamed me for anything. The two of us had relied on each other since we were young, so we learned to be strong for each other. We know that no one will help us if we’re weak.”
Xiao Lin suddenly realized how Gu Xiaoyue developed her strong and individualistic personality, but he was quite unsettled. Why was Gu Xiaoyue suddenly telling him all that? He did not know what to say, and Gu Xiaoyue did not look like she was looking for any sympathy.
Thinking about what her sister had said before, Xiao Lin was more and more drawn to the two siblings. They were not the only two sisters who only had each other to rely on in the world, but the two of them were a special case. Their family was incredibly rich, being able to donate millions to the art academy. However, the two of them had extreme illnesses, despite never lacking money.
When Xiao Lin thought about Gu Xiaoyue only having two years left in her life, he could not imagine anything else causing it but her health. Thinking about it further, their parents probably abandoned them after discovering they both had illnesses that were extremely hard to manage. After that, they probably left a large sum of money for the siblings out of guilt.
Xiao Lin did not want to bring it up directly, but Gu Xiaoyue diverted the topic to her parents by herself. “To be honest, I’d never met my mother since I was young, and I can count the memories of my father on my fingers.”
Despite bringing up such sensitive topics, Gu Xiaoyue maintained her calm voice and demeanour, not showing a shred of sadness, but Xiao Lin could not help but ask, “Don’t you hate them?”
Gu Xiaoyue shook her head. “I did initially, but I slowly numbed myself to the feeling. My parents are basically nothing to me. I can take care of myself and my sister. They aren’t needed in my life.”
Gu Xiaoyue suddenly stopped on the beach, looking into the horizon before sighing. “Lately, I could not help but start to hate them again. Chengyun had always been lonely. I really don’t know how she would get on with her life without me by her side.”
Xiao Lin finally guessed what Gu Xiaoyue wanted to say, so he stopped and raised his voice slightly to show his discontent. “I reminded you earlier to not forget to buy Lifewater, but you didn’t listen! I refuse to believe that you don’t even have a thousand points to get it with your skills! Even if you don’t care about your own life, you still need to consider what your sister would feel!”
Gu Xiaoyue fell silent.
Xiao Lin took a deep breath, feeling like he had overstepped his boundaries. No matter how angry or frustrated he was, it was all in the past, so he softened his tone, “However, there’s no point in regretting it now. You shouldn’t be too down on the fact that you can’t buy any Lifewater during the examination. The exam might be a bit harder this time, but the defensive measures we currently have in place are quite good. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise!”
Xiao Lin beat his chest as he said that. It did not matter that he was not too confident toward the examination; he refused to show weakness in front of her.
Xiao Lin’s words were faced with no reply as Gu Xiaoyue gazed quietly into the sea, softly speaking after a long while, “Even if we get through this, there is still the next time, and the time after that. You once told me I could not guarantee that I would leave every exam unscathed no matter how skilled I was, and I do agree with you, which is why I use every single second of free time I have on training.”
Xiao Lin had always thought that Gu Xiaoyue was too confident in her skills, so it was strange to hear that, “Then why do you keep refusing to buy Lifewater?”
“I did buy it before. I bought a bottle from the very first batch the school released.” Gu Xiaoyue then turned around, a wan smile on her fair face. “It was useless. That bottle of Lifewater did not raise my lifespan at all!”