Chapter 29 - Second World-11.

Qiao Zhi lay on the wooden bed, her gaze fixed on the papered ceiling above. In the soft glow of the lantern's light, she replayed every moment of the past few days—how she had stumbled into Gu Yangjin's path at that unexpected moment; how, almost instantly, their journeys had intertwined. She recalled the way they had traveled side by side afterward, how each shared laugh and narrow escape had drawn them closer faster than she ever thought possible. In her mind, she walked through the memory of Gu Yangjin's quiet surprise when Qiao Zhi accepted the invitation to stay. She saw again the neat corridors of the courtyard house, the pale lavender blossoms drifting above a small stone pathway, and most vividly, the bathhouse's warm steam swirling around their shoulders as they bathed in companionable silence.