"I will know when I meet them." She said, and Jiang, next to her, pressed her closer. "Anyway, I need to get back dressed, and then we need to head to my brother's." She smiled and then threw a dress over herself. 

Something between them was still awkward, and Tang Yin was sure that it would not change back to how it was all that soon. If she were honest with herself, she didn't want to think about it too much either. Not with the somehow strange feeling of being as she was right now, with a new ring that was tied to a promise. 

A promise of protection and of revenge that had been edged into her soul, as a price for the power she now gained. 

She shoved all the awkwardness down. 

"Sure. Although..." He quieted for a moment. "I cannot accompany you to Wuhun City or the Spirit Hall, where the competition is held. There are too many Titled douluo there, and while I can hide from most of them at this point, it will not work with all of them," he said, and Tang Yin nodded. It was dangerous for a spirit Beast to walk straight into a den of Douluo. 

"I understand," she mused for a moment. "I will head inside alone." She said, and Jiang's hand tightened on her arm. 

"I don't really feel comfortable with you being there. I cannot protect you from afar." He said, and Yin looked at him. "I'd prefer if your brother would come visit outside of the city." 

"I will be fine. I can protect myself," she said. "And I want to see San fight if possible if it works out. He is going to kick ass I am sure."

Her mind flashed back to the image she had seen of his more adult self. 

"I know that." Jiang stepped backwards. "But I am still not comfortable knowing you are in a dangerous place where I can do nothing to protect you." 

"Jiang." She leaned her head against his chest. "Thank you for your worry. But I will be fine. I am fairly strong. Tell me another fourteen-year-old who is as strong as I am and not my brother. If it relieves you. I am certain that Uncle Jian will be there with Seven Teasures. I cannot imagine them missing such an important event."

Jiang wanted to object, and Tang Yin knew he had a point, but right now, she did not really want to listen, and, as a matter of fact, she looked forward to a bit of distance from him for the first time in her life. 

She changed, throwing a dress over her wet clothing before spreading her wings and jumping off the ledge, flying towards the exit of the forest. Jiang was behind her, cursing as he headed after her. "At least recover properly, I can fly us the way out of the forest." He argued, and feeling the cold still lingering in her bones, the exhaustion, and the weariness that came with almost being suffocated, she nodded. Wanting to have some distance from him and being foolish by trying to get far in this state, just because of it, were two different matters. 

Jiang took his dragonic form, and she landed on his back. The clothing she had thrown over herself was slightly wet, but she was unbothered. Instead, she settled on Jiang's back, enjoying the sun that hit her skin, closed her eyes, and meditated. 

Going inside herself was a weird occurrence; she had never done it quite like this. Then she was standing on top of water, and beneath her, the millennium carp were swimming. 

"Why did you do it?" She asked it. 

Silence. 

"I did it because the dragon was right. If the moon god leaves us, then we will need an heir, someone to carry on his legacy. Even though you are like a patchwork, you were chosen. I merely decided to put my lot in with you for the future. I was planning on dying either way. In this attack, when they came to the pond, they killed my mate. She was much younger than I, and I was not strong enough to protect her. They had a douluo, and my kind is not very warlike or skilled in battle; we were easy pickings with their combat power." 

"So you did it to avenge our loved one." She muttered. 

"Yes." The Carp answered. 

"He is a bitter one."

Suddenly, she heard another voice. A more familiar one. Turning behind her, the snake-like wyvern was cracking open an eye. "But then I cannot blame him. Losing one's chosen mate is always hard."

Tang Yin nodded. 

"You should treasure the boy." The Carp pointed out suddeny.

"I agree for once." The wyvern agreed. "Be angry but not too much with that dragon of yours, he is a very sincere one."

"Am I getting relationship advice from you right now?" 

"Yes." Both answered simultaneously. "Listen to your elders, on occasion it pays off, but you young ones never listen properly. Now let us rest, go back where you should be." 

"I will, but one request, could you two maybe tone down the age of your rings, make them appear like a thousand or ten thousand years old?" She asked them. 

"Haven't I always done so?" The wyvern asked her, and she noted the agreement of the Carp as well before leaving and opening her eyes. The sun was now far down, almost touching the horizon; it was dusk. She had been gone longer than she expected. 

"Jiang, we should have a break." She said, and the dragon beneath her lowered his flight. She stretched out her wings and joined him as he was now in his human form alongside her, heading to the ground. In the distance, the first light of human settlement was visible. As they hit the forest ground, they began preparing their camp for the night. 

It was routine, a thing they had done so often at this point that no speech was necessary. Unlike usual, where the two of them chatted, they now silently set up camp and ate their dried jerky and food.