Su Qinglan sat on the stone bed, staring outside the cave. Her eyes were half-open, calm but distant.
She hadn't spoken a word since they returned.
Suddenly, a shadow moved beside her. Xuan Long stepped closer, and, without saying anything, he wrapped his long arms around her from behind.
She blinked in surprise and looked up at him silently, as if asking what he was doing.
But he said nothing.
Instead, he gently lifted her up and settled her on his lap. He guided her face to rest on his shoulder. One hand patted her back; the other stroked her hair slowly.
"Are you sad?" he asked in a deep, quiet voice.
Su Qinglan shook her head slightly. "No… I'm not."
But Xuan Long only smiled faintly. His fingers lightly tickled her scalp as he kept petting her hair. "You're very silent," he said softly. "That means you're sad."
She sighed, her voice low. "I'm not sad… I just feel… strange."
