His hands were folded neatly behind his back, posture relaxed as if the earlier battle had not rattled him in the slightest.
"You're very protective of him," he remarked smoothly, his eyes flicking toward Xian Yu's amulet. "That talisman is rare. Others might say you're spoiling him."
Ling Yu's gaze slid to Shen Ming, cold and cutting. "Let them say it. I don't answer them."
Shen Ming's smile twitched, but he recovered quickly. "I admire your decisiveness. The others… well, they've stopped pressuring you thanks to my intervention, but don't think their resentment has disappeared. Hatred festers quietly. It may resurface when you least expect it."
Ling Yu arched a brow. "Then I'll cut it down when it does."
The bluntness of her words made Shen Ming's eyes glimmer with something darker, envy, perhaps, or fascination. But he quickly smoothed it over with another smile, the picture of harmless gentleness.
"Of course. I wouldn't expect anything less from you."
