After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

Dusk on the seventeenth day.

Cang Yao remained seated on the rock, her arms wrapped around her knees, her chin resting on her knees, her eyes fixed on the road leading to the village entrance.

She has stopped shouting.

During those seventeen days, she hurled every curse word she could think of—"Stinky Lin Chu," "Big liar," "I'm never talking to you again"—she shouted each one loudly, as if the louder she shouted, the more likely that person would appear from the end of the road.

But the road remained empty.

"Stinky Lin Chu," she muttered again, her voice hoarse.

Then she heard footsteps.

Very lightly, very quickly, the soft rustling sound of footsteps on fallen leaves traveled down the hillside.

Cang Yao stopped moving.

She turned around abruptly and saw a person standing on the hillside.

A long, light blue robe, the hem of which was gently lifted by the wind.

His hair was a little messy, his face was covered in dust from his journey, and there were a few grass seeds stuck to his cuffs.

But he stood there, looking at her, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Cang Yao's eyes immediately reddened.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say "You're back," but her throat betrayed her, and only a muffled sob came out.

He forced down the sour taste, rubbed his eyes hard with the back of his hand, then straightened his face and raised his chin high.

"What are you doing here?"

Her voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against a stone, with a slight nasal tone, but her tone was stiff.

Lin Chu walked down the hillside, her steps slow but steady.

"I'm back."

Cang Yao stood still.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, turned her face to the side, and only showed him the back of her head.

"So what if she's back? What's it to me?"

His voice was still hoarse, and when he said "What does it have to do with me?", the last syllable of his voice trembled involuntarily.

Cang Yao hugged her arms even tighter.

Lin Chu walked up to her and looked down at her.

From this angle, Cang Yao's eyelashes were wet, the tip of her nose was slightly red, and her chin was trembling slightly.

She turned her face away so forcefully, as if she wanted to snap her neck.

But she kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, glancing at him briefly before quickly looking away.

"You cried," Lin Chu said.

Cang Yao suddenly turned around and stared wide-eyed.

Her eyes were already bright, but now, with tears streaming down them, they shone like shattered stars scattered on the ground.

"I wasn't crying! It's just—the wind was too strong!"

Lin Chu glanced at the willow tree beside her.

The bare branches drooped quietly, without a breath of wind.

Cang Yao was clearly aware of this as well.

Her face flushed instantly, from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears, her whole face as red as a boiled shrimp.

Enraged, she raised her hand and punched Lin Chu in the chest.

This punch was delivered with considerable force, causing Lin Chu to stagger back half a step.

"You, you, do you know how long I've waited for you!" Although Cang Yao's voice was hoarse, her aura suddenly burst forth.

"Seventeen days! A full seventeen days! You said you'd come back when the leaves turned yellow, but the leaves have been yellow for ages! They're almost all fallen! Look!"

She pointed at the bare willow tree, her voice rising higher and higher, becoming increasingly aggrieved.

"You lied to me! You said you'd be back in a month or two! It's been over two months! I've been waiting here for over two whole months!"

She punched him again, but this time with much less force.

"I thought something had happened to you, I thought you had fallen, I thought you had been captured by bandits, I thought you—"

Her voice suddenly choked, and she couldn't continue.

She sniffed hard, tears welling up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"I thought you weren't coming back."

He spoke these words very softly, with a strong nasal tone, as if they came from the bottom of his heart.

Lin Chu stood there, looking at her red eyes.

He suddenly remembered what Aunt Wang had said to him when he passed the village entrance: "You're finally back! That girl has been waiting for him under that willow tree by the stream every day for the past few days, and she won't listen to anything I say."

I waited for a full seventeen days.

He took a step forward and reached out to grab her shoulder.

Cang Yao struggled for a moment, but couldn't break free, so she gave up and lowered her head, refusing to look at him.

"Something went wrong," Lin Chu said. "After the exam, the county magistrate invited us to dinner, which delayed us quite a bit on the way. It was my fault."

Cang Yao lowered her head and asked in a muffled voice, "Did you pass the exam?"

"I passed the exams. I passed both the preliminary and advanced levels."

"Then I..."

Cang Yao raised her head, a hint of happiness in her eyes, but her face remained tense, and the corners of her mouth turned down.

"Well, I wasn't very happy either."

Her lips were supposed to turn downwards, but they involuntarily curled upwards.

She quickly tried to suppress her smile, but it was too late; the smile had already slipped out of her eyes.

"It's your business if you get accepted, it has nothing to do with me." She turned her face away. "Anyway, you've made me wait for so long, I'm still angry."

"Yes, you should be angry."

"I'm extremely angry."

"Um."

"The kind that can't be coaxed."

Lin Chu looked at her tense little face and chuckled softly.

He took something out of his sleeve and handed it to her.

It's a candied hawthorn skewer, wrapped in oil paper, with bright red hawthorn fruits coated in a glistening sugar coating.

However, most of the sugar coating had broken, some parts were flattened, and sugar residue was stuck to the parchment paper, making it look quite unappealing.

Cang Yao's gaze fell on the candied hawthorn, and her eyes widened slightly.

"What is it?"

"Candied hawthorns," Lin Chu said. "I bought them in the county town. I originally wanted to bring you another gift, but I was in such a hurry when I left that I only had time to buy these on the roadside."

He handed the candied hawthorn forward a little more, the sugar coating gleaming warmly in the setting sun. "It's just that it got crushed on the way here, so it doesn't look very nice."

Cang Yao reached out and slowly took the candied hawthorn from him.

She held it in her hand, turning it over and over several times. When she saw the broken sugar crumbs and the flattened hawthorns, her lips finally stopped drooping.

"You brought this all the way here?"

"Um."

"Didn't you buy anything else?"

"there is none left."

Cang Yao held the half-broken candied hawthorn in her hand, lowered her head, and whispered, "Lin Chu, you idiot."

But she couldn't suppress the smile on her face.

She took a small bite of the broken sugar coating, the sugar crumbs sticking to her lips, glistening.

The sweetness melts in your mouth; it's the simplest and most direct kind of sweetness.

She finished eating the candied hawthorn and carefully tucked the bamboo skewers into her sleeve.

Then he raised his head again, and the expression on his face was no longer angry.

But I still tried to appear serious.

"Alright. I'll forgive you for the sake of the candied hawthorns."

Lin Chu looked at her and suddenly felt that she should say something.

But he wasn't good at saying those kinds of things, so he just reached out and placed his hand on her head.

Cang Yao did not dodge.

She obediently let him hold her down, squinted her eyes, then raised her hand, removed his hand from her head, and held it with both of her hands.

Her fingers were cool, but her grip was tight.

"Don't make me wait this long next time."

Lin Chu remained silent for a while.

He felt the warmth of Cang Yao's fingers, the strength of her grip, and the natural dependence in her tone.

But some things have to be said, even if you don't want to.

"Cangyao".

"Um?"

"Next spring, I will make another trip to the capital."

Cang Yao's hand stiffened for a moment.

Lin Chu felt the temperature of her fingers suddenly drop a little.

He continued, trying to keep his voice calm: "The imperial examination is in early summer. The capital is far away, so I need to set off early. This time it may take several months."

He looked into Cang Yao's eyes and said earnestly, "When the time comes, don't wait here every day like you did this time."

As Lin Chu spoke, a strange emotion welled up inside her.

To take the imperial examinations and gain official rank.

He entered the imperial court as an official.

These words are simple to say, but extremely difficult to do.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was vast, and scholars from all over the country were as numerous as fish crossing a river. The imperial examination was like a single-plank bridge for thousands of soldiers.

How much of my success in passing the provincial examination was due to luck?

If you pass the imperial examination, you may be able to become an official in the capital, starting from the bottom and climbing up step by step.

He didn't know how high he could climb, nor how long the journey would take.

But he knew one thing: Cang Yao was a demon, and the Book of Myriad Realms had asked him to help her transform into a dragon.

He was just a mortal who couldn't cultivate.

A mortal from another world who will leave sooner or later.

The Book of Myriad Realms clearly states that most of his memories in this world will be sealed away once he returns to reality.

He didn't know when he would go back, or how much he would remember by then, but he knew that day would come sooner or later.

All he could do was climb up as quickly as possible while he was still there.

Perhaps I can help Cangyao when I reach a higher position and greater power.

Help her truly gain a foothold in this world, and help her walk the long and arduous road to success.

It has nothing to do with whether it's a task or not.

He just... wanted to help her.

Do more while he's still here.

These thoughts swirled in Lin Chu's mind, but in the end he only said one sentence: "The imperial examination is very important, I have to go."

Cang Yao lowered her head and remained silent.

Silent for a long time.

The stream flowed gurglingly, and the setting sun cast long shadows of the two people.

Then Cang Yao released his hand.

She took two steps back, and her expression changed.

It wasn't the same coquettish or feigned angry expression as before, but something else entirely—the light in her eyes gradually dimmed, and the curve of her lips disappeared little by little.

"You just got back." Her voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the sound of the stream. "Why are you already thinking of leaving again?"

Lin Chu opened her mouth.

Cang Yao didn't give him a chance to speak, and shook her head vigorously.

"Stinky Lin Chu."

Her eyes reddened again.

"I'm never talking to you again!"

After saying that, she turned and ran.

They weren't running towards the village, they were running into the woods.

Her footsteps were unsteady, rustling the fallen leaves under her feet.

Only the stream was still flowing gurglingly.

Lin Chu stood there, gazing at the dark woods, for a long time.

He looked down at his hands.

The coolness of her fingers still lingered in my palm.

Slowly clench your fist, as if you are holding onto a promise that was never finished.