There were several things wrong happening right now.

It was both unbelievable and acceptable to say the least. Perhaps it was easier not to address things and pretend that everything was fine, but that was something that he couldn't do.

Immortality.

Eternal life.

Exempt from the cycle of life and death.

Eternity was such a long time.

Li Yang couldn't say that he feared death because he knew what came after it—a cute Grim Reaper to take him to the afterlife. Well, forgetting that thought in an attempt to lighten the mood, he was still bothered by Bo Lifen's statement.

He was already used to the idea.. or didn't need to contemplate that much when it came to someone like Ying Yue He.

Even if the two of them were not together right now, he felt reassured when it came to her. She vowed to stay at his side and their conversation about cultivation was already made. Ying Yue He was someone who always kept her word.

Taiga and Narissa were both from long-lived races so he didn't have to worry about anything.

It was just her.

Did he really need to care that much about her to be bothered about the thought of Bo Lifen passing away? He really wasn't as callous and as stony as he seemed to be.

Li Yang gave her a look and took in the features of her face and committed it to memory. "I'd prefer to have a cup today, tomorrow and so on and so forth with you."

"What?" Bo Lifen blinked at him in surprise as a blush crawled on her face. "Are you trying to hire me as your private tea sommelier? I'm a lot more expensive than you think I am."

The two of them both knew what he was implying, but she didn't dare say it aloud.

Li Yang shook his head. historical

"A part of me wishes to urge you to reconsider your thoughts. I'm.. willing to sponsor you if you ever consider becoming a cultivator. Or at least drink the tea that increases your longevity and youth. However, if I cannot entice you to drink more of those black ocean pearls that your friend sells to you, then I will look for that offer of yours in the future."

Bo Lifen rubbed the back of her neck. "Then it means that you'll have to find me when that time comes."

"I will," Li Yang said. "And I hope that you remember me by then. Or I can remind you."

"Slow down a little," Bo Lifen waved a hand, a bit flustered at his sudden seriousness. What brought this on? "You move way too fast for someone I just slept with hours earlier. Shouldn't you be more concerned with your secretary over me?"

Li Yang lifted a brow. "Are you trying to say that I can't care for you the same way that I care for her?"

"Frankly, yes. Even if there's a harem of sorts.. there's a hierarchy you know?" Bo Lifen crossed her arms. "For example, parents always say that they love each of their children equally.. but that's not true, is it?"

Li Yang found himself nodding along. "Naturally—er, I get what you're trying to say. Even if they don't admit it aloud, there's always someone treated better."

He didn't need to think too hard about his own family to know what she meant.

"Right." Bo Lifen gave him double finger guns. "A part of my woman brain is telling me that I should get sappy and touched with all your words. Heck, I didn't know that you could be romantic with talks of today, tomorrow and yesterday, but I don't think that I matter or mean more to you than your secretary, right?"

"I think that I care for both of you deeply. It's hard to tell."

Bo Lifen placed a hand on her hip and looked at him doubtfully. "Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm just saying that if I were you, I'd be more concerned with Miss He. That's all."

"What it looks like to me is that you like to downplay yourself." Li Yang pointed out.

"No—that's not it." Bo Lifen attempted to shoo him away. "I'm just giving free advice. You should take it since I'm being generous. Even if we tell you that we're fine with things having no labels, it's a whole damn lot clearer if you do give us one. I can see that you care a lot about your secretary enough to not have dinner with me."

Li Yang didn't expect that she'd still bring that up, until now.

"Now that you mentioned it, we kind of have one."

"Huh?"

"Ying Yue He and I.." Li Yang thought about their conversation earlier at the island and considered that was a start to a relationship as any. He asked and she confirmed it back then. "She called me her boyfriend earlier."

"Oh, did she?" Bo Lifen stared at him. She thought about the secretary still on the deck and felt a twinge of something she couldn't name. Melancholy? Bittersweetness? Grimness. It was along those lines. "That's as bright as day as a label. Not 'kind of' for your information—it's a relationship compared to us being fuck buddies."

"...And that's how you see me?" Li Yang raised a brow at her. It was slightly amusing to hear Bo Lifen say it aloud.. but what else could they have been? He was surprised to have her label it in the first place.

"Well, it's not like you actively courted me or anything. You were gone for nearly a year too. Where did you even go?" Bo Lifen asked and then quickly looked away. "I mean, you could keep it to yourself if you want. You don't have to tell me anything, I'm not your girlfriend."

It really did seem like Bo Lifen was selling herself short. He always thought that she was a confident woman assured of herself, but right now, it was a little cute seeing her a bit hesitant about their standing.

"Unluckily for you, I do want to say it." Li Yang smiled a little. "Let's just say that I travelled into another world."

"Huh?"

"Another plane or realm of existence?" Li Yang didn't exactly know why he admitted it to her, but it was nice talking about it and just being honest. He still needed to explain about the harem to Ying Yue He, whereas Bo Lifen just seemed to have taken it all in stride.

One's upbringing certainly helped out to a large extent.

"...Right." Bo Lifen stared at him. "I want to believe you and I'm trying to do that. But the way you phrased it reminded me of my younger brother who watches anime. Did you get isekai-ed or something?"

"If you want to use that term, then yes. Basically that."

"I have a lot of questions."

"We have time."

—-—-

Author's Note: Phew. I need to step up my author game again after everything, hopefully the chapter is still nice? I'm starting to feel a bit too nitpicky about my writing again and feel like the quality drops if I just aim to write everyday. Quality control is hard. Pushing quantity too is what I want to do, without it being filler. A WN coin is approximately 0..02 cents if I remember. Feels funny getting stressed over it ;-;