533: Chapter 533 A Beautiful Moonlit Night

The sun set behind the western mountains, and the bright moon rose in the east.

The Peach Forest pool lay at the end of a flat expanse of land, flanked by two low, gentle hills that faced each other like the earth's slightly raised embrace.

Between the two hills, the land narrowed into a vertical, slender waterway; that was the entrance to the pool.

The water in the channel was dark and shrouded in mist, making it hard to see clearly. Vaguely, one could make out a large boat moored there, its prow upturned, showing a shadowy silhouette through the thin fog.

The moonlight was perfect.

Ling Hao turned to look at Yu Zhaohua. Her silver-white hair shimmered with a cold luster under the moonlight, and her ice-blue eyes reflected a myriad of sparkling ripples.

He reached out and pointed toward the pool: "The moonlight is perfect. How about a boat ride?"

Yu Zhaohua followed his gaze and nodded.

The two boarded the large boat one after the other.

Ling Hao picked up the oar and weighed it in his hand: "Do you know how to row?"

Yu Zhaohua looked at the oar in front of Ling Hao and shook her head.

"Then I will teach you."

Ling Hao sat down behind her, wrapped his arms around her sides, and placed the oar into her hands.

Ling Hao's chest pressed against Yu Zhaohua's back, his chin resting in the hollow of her shoulder, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe: "First, grip the oar, then stroke it back and forth; the boat will naturally move. Give it a try."

Yu Zhaohua followed his instructions, gripping the handle of the oar and tentatively rowing back and forth twice.

Ripples of fine silver light spread out beneath the blade of the oar. Sure enough, the large boat slowly began to move, its prow gently parting the mist as it glided forward.

The boat moved forward slowly, the bottom grazing the fine sand at the bottom of the water, making a faint rustling sound.

"Look, isn't it moving?"

"Mm."

Yu Zhaohua found it somewhat novel, so she instinctively quickened her pace, and the boat sailed straight along the channel toward the entrance of the pool.

Upon reaching the pool entrance, the large boat suddenly halted, as if blocked by something underwater, causing the hull to tilt slightly.

Ling Hao scanned the water surface; he guessed what was happening. The obstruction underwater was soft yet firm.

It was too much sand accumulation; the boat had run aground.

"Don't move, I'll handle it."

Ling Hao leaned forward slightly and grabbed Yu Zhaohua's hand. With a forceful push of the oar into the undercurrent, the large boat surged forward, successfully passing through the narrow gap and sailing into the open pool.

Yu Zhaohua let out a muffled grunt.

Ling Hao looked down and saw that her knuckles, gripping the gunwale, were slightly white, and a faint red mark had appeared on the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry," Ling Hao said, reaching out to gently cover the back of her hand, "I used too much force just now; I didn't notice your hand."

Yu Zhaohua looked down at the red mark and shook her head: "It's fine. I can endure this much pain."

As the boat entered the pool, the blade of the oar splashed a few droplets, which fell onto the water's surface and shattered into a crystalline spray.

The boat moved forward, and the few peach blossoms dislodged by the hull at the entrance remained on the surface, spinning gently with the ripples. After staining the water red, they gradually sank into the dark depths.

Ling Hao set the oar aside, wrapped his arms around Yu Zhaohua's waist, and lay down with her.

The boat rocked gently with the ripples, like a fallen leaf resting on silk.

"No need to row now," Ling Hao said, "The boat is in the pool; let's just let it drift with the wind."

Yu Zhaohua leaned back against him, her silver-white hair spreading across his lapel: "Mm, I'll listen to you."

The night breeze blew from the depths of the Peach Forest, carrying the subtle fragrance of petals and the dampness of water vapor, gently brushing against the hems of their clothes and the tips of their hair.

The large boat drifted slowly with the wind, the prow lightly tapping the water, splashing up tiny silver ripples that spread out in circles, only to vanish silently under the moonlight.

The stars hung very low, as if within reach. The galaxy stretched across the Peach Forest, and the starlight fell onto the pool, shattering into thousands of flowing silver fragments.

As the two lay there, Ling Hao wrapped his hands around Yu Zhaohua's waist, his palms pressing against the slightly warm skin of her lower abdomen through the fabric.

Yu Zhaohua's back was pressed tight against Ling Hao's chest. She could feel the steady heartbeat of the person behind her transmitting through the layer of clothing.

Beat by beat, deep and resolute, as if it would never stop.

When Ling Hao's breath brushed past the back of Yu Zhaohua's ear, she tilted her head slightly, her hair brushing against his lips.

"Hmm?"

Yu Zhaohua suddenly frowned slightly.

Ling Hao sensed the person in his arms tense up slightly, and his movements paused.

"What is it?"

"The moonlight is too bright."

She turned her face away: "It's blinding."

Ling Hao looked down and happened to see a peach blossom petal clinging to her sweat-dampened collarbone.

The pale gold on the edge of the petal had somehow been dyed with a faint rosy hue, like the crimson revealed inside a newly bloomed peony, which vanished into the shadow of her collar as she turned her face.

Ling Hao reached out, plucked the peach blossom petal, placed it in his mouth, and tasted it for a moment. He suddenly laughed: "Sweet and salty..."

Before he could finish, a strong wind suddenly swept across the pool, causing the Peach Forest to rustle loudly. The large boat lurched, and the hull tilted to one side.

Yu Zhaohua lost her balance and instinctively leaned forward, grabbing the cold front gunwale to steady herself.

Ling Hao's hands promptly wrapped around her waist, pressing her firmly beneath him.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a bit numb from lying down for so long. It's good that you acted..."

Ling Hao lowered his gaze, quietly watching the person beneath him.

After the wind and waves subsided, the large boat had somehow stopped in the center of the pool.

Tiny whirlpools began to appear on the surface of the pool, rotating and rising from the depths, as if something were surging underwater.

A crimson glow slowly flowed out from the crevices at the bottom of the pool, illuminating the area around the large boat.

Ling Hao gently raised his hand, and a soft spiritual energy radiated from his palm.

Countless peach blossoms that had been dormant at the bottom of the pool surged up from the dark depths, each petal trailing a wisp of pale golden light, shimmering faintly.

When the peach blossoms rose to their sides, they hovered and swirled. Thousands of petals surrounded the boat, turning the entire surface of the pool into a flowing sea of flowers.

The moonlight and the crimson glow cast their shadows onto the water, forming overlapping silhouettes that flickered in and out of existence.

In the quiet heart of the pool, a crimson glow emerges; ten thousand floating petals cast slanting, overlapping shadows.

"Is it beautiful?"

"Beautiful."

Yu Zhaohua gazed at the peach blossoms floating in the sky, her ice-blue eyes reflecting countless moving points of light, like a falling galaxy.

She turned her head to look at Ling Hao.

She was merely someone indifferent to romance; why was this person willing to spend so much time and do so many things that she considered meaningless, just so she could comprehend romance?

She was indeed curious about this thing called romance, but only out of curiosity—whether it existed or not, wasn't it all the same to her?

Perhaps only after she could truly feel romance would she know the answer.

Or perhaps, the answer itself wasn't important? She recalled Yu Linglong's previous teasing: "What 'flaw in the state of mind'? It's clearly that the man hasn't arrived yet."

Had her inability to make a Breakthrough to the Void Refinement Stage really been related to this?

Now that he had arrived, she didn't seem to be looking forward to that Breakthrough to the Void Refinement Stage as much anymore.

Amidst the sky full of peach blossoms, Ling Hao looked around, then lowered his head to look at her, a gentle smile hanging on his lips: "A beautiful moonlit night with flowers. Shall we continue? The night is still long."

With her silver-white hair spread across the boat, Yu Zhaohua wrapped her arms around Ling Hao's neck and pulled him toward her chest.

"Yes."

"Today is the first day..."