"We'll rest by the seaside tonight, okay?"
Lin Xiao's gaze grew even stranger. "You can't even handle the current temperature, and you want to rest by the sea?"
"It should be better on the ground." Ju Zi completely ignored Lin Xiao's look, her eyes faintly excited as she gazed at the ground below. "I've heard that ordinary people live near the Ice Sea coast. If even they can live here, we're just resting for one night—it shouldn't be a problem."
"Right, let's look around to see if other people are living nearby. The fact that people here can live in this area must have something to do with where they live. If we stay in their homes, we shouldn't be afraid of the cold, right? We're soul engineers, after all."
If Lin Xiao hadn't still been able to communicate with Yi Lai Ke Si in his mind, he would almost suspect he had fallen into some kind of illusion.
A few days ago, when Ju Zi came to find him, though her expression was complicated, she was still largely the Ju Zi he knew.
Yet ever since they set out this time, it was as if she had become a different person. Sometimes he could sense she was hiding something, and other times she seemed overly optimistic, making her completely unpredictable.
After flying along the coastline for a while longer, the two of them actually spotted a small fishing village. Though it wasn't large in population, every house was built exceptionally sturdy.
Lin Xiao didn't know much about architecture and couldn't discern the specific intricacies, but buildings that could adapt to a place like this were likely the culmination of countless generations' accumulated experience.
The two didn't land directly near the village. They found a secluded spot to touch down before walking along the path toward the village. Before they even got close, some people curiously peeked out at them.
Lin Xiao swept his gaze around and didn't detect any traces of other soul masters. Ju Zi, however, was quite outgoing and walked straight up to them.
"Sorry to bother you. We've come from far away, and it's getting late. Would it be right if we rested here for one night?"
The villagers who heard Ju Zi's words all looked at those around them, yet no one stepped forward to respond.
"Forget it, let's go." Lin Xiao stepped forward and spoke softly.
"Stay." Lin Xiao's words seemed to have been heard by the villagers, and finally, a deep, resonant voice rang out. "It's so late—if you go out again, you'll freeze."
As the voice fell, a tall, burly man pushed through the crowd and stepped forward. He was wrapped tightly in clothes, making it impossible to clearly see his appearance or age, but judging from his build, he was likely a native of the Sun Moon Empire.
"My house doesn't have many people. If you don't mind, you can stay with me."
"Thank you!" Ju Zi glanced back at Lin Xiao and took the lead in walking toward the village.
Lin Xiao truly couldn't figure out what Ju Zi was trying to do. Frowning, he followed behind.
The wind inside the village was much gentler, though it was still far from warm. The man walked ahead and suddenly let out a soft sigh. "You two should be soul engineers, right?"
"Was it that obvious?" Ju Zi glanced at her own attire.
"With an ordinary person's stamina, if you had walked here on foot, I would've seen you from the village long ago. As for those rich enough to buy mounts, they wouldn't come to a place like ours. Just now, I saw a flying soul tool pass overhead—it must've been you two."
"Though our place is remote, we're not completely cut off from the outside world. Soul engineers have come here before." Seeing Ju Zi's somewhat surprised expression, the man quickly averted his gaze and added another explanation. "Watch your step. This is my home."
As he spoke, the man led Lin Xiao and Ju Zi through the courtyard gate. The courtyard wasn't large. Only one room looked relatively intact; the other rooms were missing doors and windows, and through the gaps, they could see piles of miscellaneous items and some frozen sea fish.
The moment they entered the room, Lin Xiao noticed a painting hanging on the wall directly facing the door. There were no lights in the room, so they could only vaguely make out a person fighting a sea soul beast.
Directly below the painting was a long table with what seemed to be offerings, though they had only been placed there a short time ago and were already frozen solid.
"This is...?"
Lin Xiao suddenly asked.
After returning indoors, the man, or rather, the young man, no longer covered his face. He didn't appear to be much older, at most around the same age as Lin Xiao.
Following Lin Xiao's gaze, he also looked at the painting on the wall.
"This was hung here by my grandma. She says it's to worship the Sea God and pray for my safety when I go out to sea. It's just that it never works."
"Don't talk nonsense." A scolding voice suddenly came from the inner room. "Saying such things in front of the Sea God will bring punishment. Hurry and apologize to the Sea God!"
"Sorry, my grandma isn't in good health and can't handle the wind." The young man said this, then shouted toward the inner room, "I got it."
With a helpless sigh, he still followed the old woman's words and bowed in reverence.
Sea God?
Lin Xiao carefully examined the painting on the wall again. The person referred to as the "Sea God" only occupied a small portion of the image, while the massive sea soul beast took up most of the canvas.
"Where did this painting come from?"
"I don't know about that. According to my grandma, this painting is older than she is."
Lin Xiao didn't ask further and simply nodded.
"Sorry, you two are soul engineers, and my home really doesn't have anything decent to offer."
"No worries. We already ate before coming, and we don't need to sleep. Just give us a place to shield from the wind." Ju Zi responded while looking around.
"You've seen our humble home." Hearing this, the young man also felt a bit embarrassed. "If you don't mind, you can rest here. I'll go squeeze in with my grandma."
"We're the ones intruding." Lin Xiao smiled and nodded, watching the man enter the inner room. Soon, a low murmur came from inside, as if he were explaining something to his grandmother.
Lin Xiao's expression turned serious again. He turned to look at Ju Zi, who was already sitting to the side.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Do you think I'm being a bit willful?"
Lin Xiao didn't respond, but his silence was answer enough.
"I just want to be willful like an ordinary girl, just this once." The joy in Ju Zi's eyes had completely vanished, as if she had returned to the Ju Zi that Lin Xiao was familiar with.
"I've always wanted to see what the sea is like. I also want to experience the life of an ordinary person, to imagine a life where my mom and dad didn't die."
"I want to, like in the stories my dad told me, blow the sea breeze with... with someone, and cook for him with my own hands."
Ju Zi's voice trembled. "But after this, it'll never be possible again. I will become the Crown Princess, I will become the Empress of the Sun Moon Empire, but I will never become the person I imagined as a child."
"And for all of this, I don't even know who to hate."
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