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[HSRGSS] Chapter 45: Perfectly Balanced, as All Things Should Be
🕑 Added 2025-07-19 00:07:41 +0000 UTC"Twenty years have passed, and your tea-brewing skills have left a deeper impression on me than even your Abundance power."
Yueyu's voice was pleasant, her gaze meeting Lucian's eyes boldly.
"You know, this Yaoqing's specialty tea—only you can bring out such a clear and lingering sweetness, Lucian."
"Well, you enjoy drinking it, so I naturally got better at making it." Lucian responded calmly, a trace of gentle helplessness flashing in his eyes.
"Got better at making it? Fufu..."
Yueyu gave a soft laugh, her fox tail swaying gently behind her. She leaned forward slightly, as if trying to catch the deeper meaning in Lucian's words.
"After twenty years of fighting side by side and sharing life and death, does all of that, in your eyes, count as just 'got better at making it'?"
Having spent all these years together, Yueyu believed she knew this man very well—especially since every time she was injured, he was always the one there to treat her.
Among all her memories, what Yueyu remembered most was the time when she had almost been pulled into a black hole. Back then, to rescue her, Lucian had risked his own life, rushing forward without hesitation and throwing her into a safe zone.
Even for an Emanator of Abundance, being swept into a black hole meant almost certain death, yet Lucian had still been willing to risk his life for her.
Yueyu, as a normal woman, had naturally developed a special feeling for him after experiencing something like that.
And as the years passed, that feeling had only grown stronger.
Yueyu's fingertips brushed lightly along the rim of the teacup Lucian had just set down, the motion intimate and natural.
But at that moment, a gust of wind carrying sharp fighting intent suddenly swept into the courtyard.
"Brother! I brought you a present!"
Feixiao strode in, her fluffy white fox ears twitching in the sunlight, a victorious joy lighting up her face as she carried a rare bundle of flowers known as snow lotuses, still glistening with dew.
In that instant, Feixiao noticed how close Yueyu was to Lucian, almost leaning against him, and the way her fingertips brushed the teacup was very suggestive.
Feixiao's steps paused almost imperceptibly, and a sharper light flashed in her emerald eyes.
In the next moment, Feixiao walked straight up to the stone table and set the snow lotuses down with a crisp *Pa!* in front of Lucian, shattering the earlier intimacy with the sound.
"Brother! They say this herb only blooms once a century, growing on the steepest northern ice cliffs! I saw how rare it was, so I picked it for you!"
Feixiao's voice rang out clear and bright, impossible to ignore as she casually placed herself between Yueyu and Lucian, blocking their line of sight.
Now, Feixiao had already fully grown up.
After years of tempering, she carried the aura of a general, yet in front of Lucian, she still seemed like the young girl from years past, with a certain cuteness.
Seeing Feixiao's action, Yueyu's long eyes narrowed, her laziness gone and replaced by a flash of danger.
Yueyu slowly pulled her hand back and sat up straight, but her fox tail tensed a little.
"Well, Feixiao, you sure are thoughtful, but Lucian has never liked you taking risks just to get this thing." Yueyu lifted her teacup, sipping elegantly, but her gaze turned sharp. "Just like this tea—temperature, timing, state of mind—all must be just right. You can't rush it."
"Rush it?"
Feixiao raised an eyebrow, like a startled young beast, then turned to Lucian.
"Brother! Tell me, do you like snow lotuses? Aren't they way more interesting than that... that bland tea?"
Feixiao asked Lucian in a tone that carried a trace of grievance and stubbornness, then grabbed an empty cup, filled it with piping hot tea in one quick motion, and pushed it in front of him, as if to say 'I can do this too!' with a burning gaze, openly possessive in a way unique to the young.
"Remember? When I was little, out on that wild planet, the first herb you taught me was the snow lotus! You said it was the toughest one!"
Hearing Feixiao's words, Yueyu chuckled softly before speaking up.
"Oh? So a life-saving favor and twenty years of friendship still can't beat childhood memories, huh?"
Yueyu spoke like a teasing elder, but if one listened carefully, there was a hidden edge in her tone.
"Lucian, would you say our twenty years of 'flawless cooperation' count as a 'bond'?"
Yueyu deliberately stressed 'flawless cooperation' and 'bond,' her eyes challenging as she looked at Feixiao. At the same time, her slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, a habit when she was thinking or putting pressure on others.
In an instant, the air in the courtyard grew tense.
Two pairs of beautiful eyes, both as sharp as hawks, locked onto Lucian as if invisible sparks were crackling in the air.
At this moment, the camaraderie of twenty years was suddenly torn open by a raw, more private emotion.
Lucian's gaze swept calmly between the two women before settling on the cup of scalding tea and the bundle of snow lotuses. Even without deliberately releasing his powerful aura, the very air in the courtyard seemed to cool.
Lucian slowly reached out—not for the hot tea, nor the snow lotuses, but instead his fingers lightly brushed the back of Feixiao's hand that trembled with excitement, then gently tapped Yueyu's fingertip resting on the table.
"Snow lotuses are pure and proud." Lucian's voice was low and magnetic, carrying an undeniable, calming force as he turned to Feixiao with a faint smile. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness—every bit of it."
Seeing Feixiao's tense shoulders ease, Lucian shifted his gaze to Yueyu, his eyes deep and steady.
"For twenty years, this tea has been brewed with trust and savored as friendship. It has already become a part of me."
Hearing this, Yueyu's taut fox tail gradually relaxed, the corners of her mouth lifting in a satisfied arc.
At last, Lucian picked up Yueyu's cup of perfectly warmed tea, then gently took Feixiao's cup of scalding tea.
Clink!
As the two cups touched each other, they let out a clear chime.
Oddly, Feixiao's scalding tea immediately mellowed, the steam no longer harsh.
"Competing, huh?"
Lucian's lips curved into a faint, all-seeing smile as the dignity and gentleness of an Emanator of Abundance were now fully on display.
"You know, this courtyard can actually hold both the coolness of snow lotuses and the warmth of tea."
Anyone with a brain would know Lucian's implied meaning.
Lucian's words simply meant 'I want both.'
In this kind of situation, just like the previous rivalry between Seele and Bronya, Lucian believed that following Thanos's wise words—'Perfectly balanced, as all things should be'—was the best and wisest choice.
Rather than choosing one of them—which would not only make the relationship between them awkward or even torn, but also cause a lot of drama later on—if he could and had the capability to take both and be happy together, then why not?
Still smiling, Lucian pushed the now perfectly matched cups of tea toward each woman.
Yueyu and Feixiao both paused, staring at the gentle steam rising from the two cups, then looked at Lucian's calm, deep eyes—eyes that seemed to see through everything and hold the world.
Soon, both Feixiao and Yueyu revealed a flash of embarrassment and realization.
Yueyu was the first to raise her cup, regaining her composure as an Arbiter-General, though her cheeks flushed slightly red.
"You're right... It was we... who lost our cool..." Yueyu glanced at Feixiao, her eyes part reproach, part amused resignation.
Feixiao also picked up her tea, the fire in her eyes dying down, replaced by a complicated emotion.
"Who's competing, anyway..." Feixiao lowered her head and muttered quietly as her fingers tightened on the cup.
She truly regretted agreeing to bring this green-haired foxian back then, all for the sake of a little extra resources.
At this moment, the setting sun stretched the trio's shadows, while the aroma of tea mingled with the cool scent of snow lotus. A silent battle between women, when faced with deep bonds, became nothing more than a helpless sigh and a shared understanding.
In the end, the courtyard grew peaceful once again, with only the curling steam from the tea lingering, telling a story far deeper and more complicated than mere rivalry.
Ding-Ding!
Suddenly, an urgent call alert from Yueyu's communicator, known as the jade abacus, shattered the peace.
What was a jade abacus?
Simply put, it was a device in the Xianzhou Alliance that functioned like a personal computer or smartphone.
As Yueyu answered, the urgent call turned out to be from the Xianzhou Alliance.
[General, the Abundance forces have regrouped! As of now, the roaming planet Ketu Mirage has been revived and is advancing toward the Fanghu!]
