"What's wrong?"
Li Zhonglou noticed his strangeness, and Yue Hai answered readily.
"I might be heartbroken."
Pfft! The tea he had just taken spurted all over Black Blade's face. Li Zhonglou stared in astonishment at the dejected Yue Hai.
"Have you been in love before?"
"Wasn't I just now?"
Yue Hai rolled his eyes and continued, "Although we never officially became a couple, I don't think I'll ever see her again in this lifetime. Isn't that heartbreak?"
He said this with a melancholic expression, making Li Zhonglou unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Black Blade and Hai Yan wore confused expressions.
"Brother Li, what's going on?"
Li Zhonglou quickly waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, it doesn't concern you. Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you."
To change the subject, Li Zhonglou introduced them to each other. Then, Black Blade extended his hand to Yue Hai.
"Hello, brother."
Yue Hai extended his hand as well, but he simultaneously asked something surprising.
"Hello, can you teach me how to get a girlfriend?"
This time, Black Blade was stumped. He and Hai Yan had mutually fallen for each other; it wasn't as if one pursued the other. They simply got together naturally, as if it were destined.
If he had any skill in wooing women, he wouldn't still be single after all these years of wandering.
Of course, as a man, he couldn't admit this, so Black Blade could only cast a pleading look towards Li Zhonglou.
To his surprise, he saw an understanding in Li Zhonglou's eyes.
"Go along with it!"
Although there was no verbal communication, Black Blade understood Li Zhonglou's meaning. Despite his confusion, he followed Li Zhonglou's cue and stammered,
"Um, well, we can talk about it later."
However, his words made Yue Hai's eyes light up.
"Great! Then it's settled!"
Heh, Black Blade could only offer an awkward smile. Li Zhonglou then turned his attention away from them and called Hai Yan aside.
"I've sorted out the company matters, but with your current state..."
Anyone could see that these two were in the throes of new love, so Li Zhonglou was unsure of Hai Yan's current attitude.
"Ah, it's fine, I can start working anytime! I need to earn money!"
Li Zhonglou looked at Hai Yan with surprise, not expecting her to be so sensible. However, this was no longer just his affair. So, Li Zhonglou looked at Black Blade hesitantly and asked, "Then him..."
At that moment, Black Blade saw them both looking at him and stood up directly.
"Brother Li, you're talking about Hai Yan starting work, right? It's fine, Hai Yan told me about it, and I support her working."
Li Zhonglou nodded, then playfully teased Black Blade, "You agreed so readily, are you trying to live off her?"
Although this was said in jest, Li Zhonglou had his own concerns. Despite being his subordinate, Li Zhonglou didn't know Black Blade well when it came to relationships. Black Blade was a mature man in his thirties, while Hai Yan was several years younger. Li Zhonglou worried that Black Blade was just playing around.
After all, Hai Yan's past experiences weren't exactly pleasant. If she were to suffer heartbreak as well, the blow would be more than doubled.
"Brother Li, why would you think that of me! I, Black Blade, believe most in principles and loyalty in my life. Abandoning someone after starting a relationship is absolutely impossible for me!"
Black Blade's expression changed, and he quickly declared his stance before patting his chest to make a promise.
Li Zhonglou walked up to him, smiled, and patted his shoulder, "Why are you so nervous? I was just kidding."
Black Blade then muttered with a hint of grievance, "Who jokes about things like that? What if Hai Yan misunderstands?"
The sight of a grown man acting like a coy girl made Hai Yan cover her mouth and chuckle, while Li Zhonglou rolled his eyes.
He then stopped paying attention to Black Blade.
"Then Hai Yan, you can come to the company tomorrow, and I'll have Zhou Tong arrange things for you."
"Okay, Brother Li."
Li Zhonglou nodded and left Black Blade's hideout with Yue Hai.
"Brother Li, where are we going now?"
Li Zhonglou glanced at Yue Hai, "What, are you in such a hurry to seek advice from others?"
Yue Hai's face immediately flushed, and he quickly denied it, "No, no, I was just asking."
Li Zhonglou chuckled, "No need to explain further, your thoughts are all over your face."
Yue Hai was greatly embarrassed.
However, Li Zhonglou's expression suddenly turned serious. "These next few days are a bit special. Stay by my side for now. After these days pass, I won't restrict you from going wherever you want."
His body hadn't fully recovered yet, so he naturally needed a skilled protector by his side. Once his body recovered and he could perform soul fusion at any time, he wouldn't need Yue Hai to stick by him constantly.
Yue Hai had no objections to this.
He had no time limit for coming out this time. As for Li Zhonglou's mention of returning to the mountains to see his master, he wasn't in a hurry at all. What he looked forward to most now was finding Black Blade and learning about Li Zhonglou's脈潛功法 (Mài Qián Gōngfǎ - Pulse Concealing Technique).
Therefore, for Yue Hai, it didn't matter whether he stayed with Li Zhonglou or Black Blade.
Afterward, Li Zhonglou led him to find Yu Ke.
They met at Yu Ke's rented room. She clearly had just woken up or had been staying at home, still wearing her pajamas. Li Zhonglou hadn't anticipated this, so when Yue Hai made eye contact with her, they both let out involuntary screams.
Bang!
The door was heavily shut again, and Li Zhonglou, feeling speechless, turned to see Yue Hai.
"It's understandable for a young girl to be shy and scream, but why are you screaming too, you big man?"
"You can't say that. Haven't you heard of 'do not look at what is improper'? That's impolite."
Li Zhonglou's face suddenly showed surprise. He wondered if this guy hadn't been educated, how could he know these traditional etiquette rules?
However, he quickly answered his own question. He remembered that Yue Hai left the village periodically. Although the village didn't have schools, these etiquette rules were passed down orally from the elders. It wasn't surprising that Yue Hai would learn them.
They waited outside the door for about ten minutes before the door opened again. Yu Ke had changed her attire and looked quite refined.
"If you didn't open the door soon, I would have broken it down."
Li Zhonglou rolled his eyes at her, but Yu Ke acted as if she hadn't seen it, smiling sweetly as she invited them in.