She accepted the influx without emotion, simply feeding it back into her reserves.
Meanwhile, the scavengers battled lesser monsters on the way back. A few second-tier wolves leapt from the brush, their eyes glowing with hunger. Ling Yu dispatched them with clean, efficient movements, her blade sinking into skulls without pause. She let the others hack and slash clumsily at stragglers, her focus always half on protecting Xian Yu.
Shen Ming moved at her side more often than before. Whenever danger appeared, he tried to shield her or offer food and water. But Ling Yu neither accepted nor rejected him outright; she simply let his efforts slide off her like water over stone.
It drove him mad.
His smile never faltered, but his eyes grew tighter, darker. Every time Ling Yu played with Fluffy, stroking the little fox's soft fur, laughing faintly when it nuzzled her cheek, Shen Ming's hands clenched imperceptibly at his sides.
