Chapter 136: Chapter 136: Do not look at me like that

"I was only startled."

His ears lifted more.

"And you have to ask next time."

Hu Baiyu nodded so fast that his white hair shifted over his shoulders.

Lin Huahua hesitated, then asked, "Do you understand?"

He nodded again, then carefully lifted one hand and pointed to her lips, then to himself, then tilted his head, his eyes so earnest that Lin Huahua nearly lost the ability to stay normal.

She swallowed. "Are you asking now?"

Hu Baiyu nodded.

Then, as if afraid she would regret giving him permission, he quickly raised one finger.

Lin Huahua blinked. "Only once?"

He froze, glanced at her lips, then very slowly raised two fingers.

Mu Qingyi’s hand paused over the bowl he had been wiping for the third time.

Lin Huahua’s face heated. "You are bargaining now?"

Hu Baiyu shook his head with innocent speed, but his ears betrayed him by standing even straighter.

He tapped his chest, pointed at her, then carefully held up both hands as if presenting something precious.

Lin Huahua understood.

I will treasure it.

Her anger melted so badly she almost wanted to scold herself.

Mu Qingyi turned away slightly, pretending to clean something that was already clean, though the corner of his mouth had lifted. This was their conversation now, silent and strange and somehow more intimate because every movement mattered.

Lin Huahua looked at Hu Baiyu’s face, at his hopeful eyes, at the way his lion ears stood forward with nervous excitement, and her heart softened again.

She leaned down and kissed him first.

Only for a short moment.

A very short moment.

But Hu Baiyu’s whole body reacted as if she had given him the moon.

When she pulled back, he stared at her with such open happiness that she had to look away again. "Do not look at me like that."

He touched his own eyes, then pointed at her, then made a tiny helpless shrug.

I cannot help looking.

Lin Huahua’s ears twitched. "You are becoming more and more bold."

Hu Baiyu shook his head.

Then he touched his heart again, pointed at her, and signed slowly with careful fingers.

Only with you.

Lin Huahua’s heart squeezed.

For a while, they stayed like that, with her still sitting on him and his hands now resting lightly near her waist, not gripping, only keeping her steady. Their conversation continued in small touches and signs. He asked if she was still cold by brushing two fingers over her wrist and then pointing toward the fire. She shook her head. He asked if her feet still hurt by lightly tapping the air near her ankle and looking at her face. She shook her head again, though he narrowed his eyes slightly because he did not fully believe it. She asked if his shoulder hurt from the merman’s scratch, and he shook his head at once, far too quickly, which made her frown.

"You are lying too," she said.

Hu Baiyu looked away.

"So you can lie, but I cannot?"

He lowered his head in shame so quickly that Lin Huahua laughed softly and touched his cheek. This lion was just too cute. "I am teasing you."

He leaned into her hand at once.

Like a real lion.

Like a giant dangerous beast who had decided that her palm was the safest place in the world.

The sight made Lin Huahua’s chest feel warm and full, but the warmth also brought the question that had been sitting quietly in her mind for a while.

She had noticed it from the moment she realized he could not speak. At first there had been too much happening, too many injuries, too many misunderstandings, too much embarrassment, and she had not known how to ask without hurting him.

But now, with the cave quiet, Mu Qingyi giving them space, and Hu Baiyu looking at her with so much trust, she finally let the question slip out.

"Baiyu," she said softly, "were you always mute?"

The change in him was instant.

His whole body stiffened beneath her.

His lion ears, which had been soft and forward a moment ago, flattened against his hair. His hands near her waist stopped moving. Even his breathing changed.

Lin Huahua noticed immediately, and guilt struck her so hard that she almost climbed off him at once. "I did not mean it badly," she said quickly. "I was only asking. If you do not want to answer, you do not have to."

Hu Baiyu did not move for a long moment.

Because in the past, this question from Lin Huahua would never have been gentle.

The old her had used his silence like a knife.

She had criticized him for it, mocked him, called him useless when he could not speak fast enough to explain himself, and sometimes punished him for not answering even though she knew he could not.

So when the new Lin Huahua asked, even with that soft worried face, the old fear still rose inside him first.

But then he looked at her. This Lin Huahua was not laughing. She was not impatient.

Her ears were drooping because she was worried she had hurt him, and her hands rested on his chest lightly, as if she was ready to move away if he wanted space.

So Hu Baiyu slowly lifted his hands.

Lin Huahua held her breath. He touched his throat first. Then he shook his head. Not always.

Lin Huahua frowned gently. "You were not always mute?"

He nodded.

Her eyes widened a little. "Then what happened?"

Hu Baiyu looked down at his own hands.

For once, his expression became uncertain.

Then he lifted both hands again and signed slower than before, his fingers moving with care and his eyes lowered as if he was trying to pull old memories from a place he did not like touching.

I do not know.

Lin Huahua stared at him. "You do not know?"

He shook his head. Then he touched his throat, touched his head, and closed his eyes for one breath before opening them again.

Lin Huahua understood it in pieces.

Something happened.

He did not remember clearly.

Or perhaps he remembered only pain and silence.

Her heart twisted.