"I'm sorry."
Liu Sumeng woke to a strange scene. Yuan Xuelan was hunched over him and there was the ghosting feeling of fingers in his hair.
He squinted, half asleep, and was struggling to get his bearings. At first, he thought he was dreaming. An embarrassing tired groan came out as he forced the tiredness away. But Yuan Xuelan was still there watching over him.
Liu Sumeng sat up. Had he slept in too long? A light wave of panic shot through his veins. "What time?"
But Yuan Xuelan was strangely quiet and was slow to reply, "It's morning."
When he looked around he saw that it was quite bright. Early morning had long passed, although Huo Tang was still asleep on the pillow.
Liu Sumeng got up at once, "We should go."
But then paused when Yuan Xuelan failed to answer. Liu Sumeng felt eyes on him even when he wasn't speaking or looking at the younger cultivator.