Ling Ye did not answer, only casting her a glance that seemed to say, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Nanshan did not feel disappointed; instead, she happily wrapped her arms tighter in his outer garment.
In the biting wind and snow, the sweet fragrance of flowers and fruits became even more pronounced.
“What kind of incense did you use? It smells so good,” she tried to make conversation.
Ling Ye, sitting quietly eight steps away, looked at her through the snow curtain and replied, “I didn’t use any incense.”
“But your clothes smell sweet,” Nanshan said, sniffing a few more times.
Seeing her intrusive actions, Ling Ye frowned, “You…”
“Mm?” Nanshan tilted her head.
Ling Ye sighed, “Forget it.” As she said, she was just a rule-breaking mortal girl.
“… You aren’t secretly cursing me in your heart, are you?” Nanshan asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” Ling Ye replied expressionlessly, “If you’re unhappy, just return the clothes.”
“I won’t. You’ll freeze to death,” Nanshan huffed.
Ling Ye ignored her and quietly observed the changes in the clouds above.
The barrier of Muyi Lake was special; only those within the barrier could see the traces of the seal moving.
Those outside had to explore bit by bit, and if they were lucky, they might find it in a moment. If they were unlucky… the bottom of Muyi Lake was boundless, and it would take quite a bit of time.
“What are you thinking about?” someone suddenly asked.
“I was thinking,” Ling Ye slowly began, “the seal of Muyi Lake has only one lock, and it is still facing outward.
Those outside can break the seal but cannot easily find it, while those inside can see the location but cannot convey it outside.
If it weren’t for someone being bewitched by the snake…”
“If it weren’t for someone bullying me, a weak mortal, throwing me into the water, and another person who wouldn’t save me, clearly unwilling to break off the engagement yet forcing me to be the bad guy, the seal wouldn’t have been broken,” Nanshan said seriously, resolutely refusing to be swayed by his logic.
Ling Ye snorted coldly, about to say something more when he saw her sneaking closer.
“What are you doing?” he asked, frowning.
As soon as Nanshan realized she had been discovered, she quickly took a few big steps to his side: “I’m borrowing your body to block the wind.” Ling Ye: “…”
Night seemed to fall in an instant; the sky that had just been azure turned pitch black, and the vast wilderness was illuminated only by the white snow.
The temperature continued to drop, and Nanshan quickly found that the outer garment was no longer enough.
The cold seeped in everywhere, turning her face pale and her joints numb with pain.
It was too hard to endure, truly too hard.
Suddenly, Nanshan remembered the fire bed in her room, which her father had specially built for her after working as a mason in the city for half a year.
The bed made of bricks, with dry wood burning underneath, would warm the entire room.
Every year when it was time to use the fire bed, her friends would bring firewood, the girls would squeeze onto the bed, and the boys would sleep on the ground, sleeping through the entire winter.
If she had no spiritual bones and had been a healthy child from birth, she should be lying on the fire bed at this moment.
Nanshan shivered, suddenly realizing she had almost fallen asleep just now.
She rubbed her face, feeling a bit more awake, only to see the bright red at the corner of Ling Ye’s lips.
“You…”
“What?” Ling Ye raised his eyes.
Nanshan pointed at his lips: “You’re hurt?”
Seeing that she dared to bring up that matter, Ling Ye’s expression immediately turned cold: “Thanks to you.”
“… I wasn’t talking about the wound I bit,” Nanshan said, speechless, “You have blood at the corner of your lips.”
Ling Ye paused slightly, raised his hand to wipe the corner of his lips, and indeed found a smear of red on his fingertip.
“Told you I wasn’t lying,” Nanshan said, raising her hands in surrender as he continued to stare at the red.
Just as her words fell, Ling Ye suddenly collapsed onto the ground, the already frozen snow causing a bruise on his forehead.
“Ling Ye! Ling Ye…”
Nanshan’s anxious voice reached his ears, but Ling Ye only felt it was noisy.
He wanted her to close her mouth and be quiet for a while, but the words stuck in his throat and he couldn’t say them, so he simply let her continue.
This time, in the struggle with the seven-legged snake, he had indeed been a bit overconfident, leading to the old ailment of his spirit palace, which had not relapsed for many years, now showing signs of re-emerging.
His body ached, and he felt exhausted; all he wanted was to sleep a little longer.
When he woke up again, the first thing he saw was a messy braid and a small hair whorl.
Ling Ye blinked slowly, and when he realized what was in his arms, his back stiffened.
Nanshan noticed he was moving and immediately lifted her head, her face lighting up with joy: “You’re awake!”
Ling Ye instinctively tried to sit up, but Nanshan pressed him back down: “It’s hard to get a bit of warmth; don’t move around.”
Ling Ye: “…”
It was only at this moment that he truly saw the situation before him—
He was lying on the ground, Nanshan was sprawled on top of him, and the outer garment he had given her was tightly wrapped around both of them.
“These snowflakes are so strange; they aren’t cold at all during the day, but freeze solid at night.
Once they harden, even body heat can’t melt them, and instead, they warm the frozen surface.
The snow you’re lying on is warm; it’s the warmth we’ve managed to create together. You mustn’t move, or it will all be for nothing.”
As Nanshan spoke, every inch of her body pressed tightly against Ling Ye, the vibrations from her chest transmitted through the soft fabric.
Ling Ye’s back grew tenser, and he almost pushed her away several times, but each time Nanshan stopped him in time.
“I told you not to move,” Nanshan complained, “Do you want to freeze to death here?”
Ling Ye took a deep breath, deliberately ignoring the soft rise and fall against him: “Aren’t mortals supposed to be cautious about the differences between men and women?”
“What differences? Where’s the difference?” Nanshan looked around expectantly.
Ling Ye: “…”
“I didn’t see anything; are you trying to fool me?”
Nanshan, not finding any differences, returned to his chest with a hint of disappointment.
Ling Ye could no longer tolerate it: “I meant the distinction between men and women!”
“Ah, that,” Nanshan suddenly understood, “That is indeed taken seriously. A man from the neighboring village had an affair and was drowned in a pond…
I know what you’re trying to say, but given the current situation, do you have any other options?”
Ling Ye frowned and fell silent.
“Alright, since you’re my fiancé, I’ll let you take advantage of me a bit,” Nanshan said in a tone of concession.
Ling Ye couldn’t help but laugh in anger, just about to say, “Who is your fiancé?” when a gust of wind blew by, and he quickly closed his mouth. “Ling Ye.”
Ling Ye turned his face away.
“Ling Ye.”
Ling Ye still ignored her.
“Ling Ye, Ling Ye, Ling Ye…”
“What is it?” Ling Ye finally spoke.
Nanshan: “Talk to me.”
Ling Ye closed his eyes, about to refuse, but Nanshan tugged at his clothing: “Just say something, for the sake of the Shenyue Pearl.”
Hearing this, Ling Ye’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Did your father say anything when he gave you the Shenyue Pearl?”
“He did,” Nanshan’s face was pressed against his clothing, vaguely feeling the warmth from him.
If she weren’t afraid of him turning against her, she would have liked to bury her face in it, “He said this thing can protect me, as long as I wear it, you won’t harm me.”
“Is that all he said?”
Nanshan raised her head, resting her chin on his chest: “What else should he have said?”
Ling Ye lowered his gaze, barely able to see her eyes. After a moment of silence, he looked away: “Nothing.”
“… Your expression tells me there must be more,” Nanshan was not easily fooled.
Ling Ye’s expression remained unchanged: “If you want to chat, change the topic.”
Nanshan was quite perceptive: “Alright, let’s change the topic… Why do you hide the fact that you’re very powerful?”
Ling Ye: “… Change to another one.”
“Why did you get seriously injured back then?”
“Next…”
“That’s already the third one; isn’t it a bit rude to ask for another?” Nanshan interrupted, speechless.
The weather was quite cold, and neither of them felt sleepy.
They were too close together, and if they didn’t say anything, it would indeed be even harder to endure.
Ling Ye remained silent for a long time before finally saying, “I was too reckless during my cultivation and inadvertently gave rise to a heart demon.
To prevent the heart demon from consuming my mind, I had to forcibly redirect all my spiritual power to resist it.
In the end, I was on the brink of death, and it was my father who expended most of his cultivation to save me.”
Nanshan didn’t quite understand but cleverly distilled the main information: “Why did you give rise to a heart demon?”
Ling Ye remained silent.
Nanshan: “Is it because you didn’t want to tell the immortal uncle about your powers because you were afraid he would worry you might give rise to a heart demon again?”
Ling Ye still did not speak.
“Alright, let’s talk about something else. When you were unconscious just now, you kept mumbling something about ‘the time has come.’ What does that mean?”
Nanshan repeated those four words, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable, “You didn’t see the black and white impermanence in your dreams, did you?
Like the king of hell calling you to die at midnight and not letting you live until dawn?”
Ling Ye quietly stared at the pitch-black night sky, momentarily zoning out.
Unfortunately, before he could drift too far, a small hand reached out from his outer garment and gently pressed against his face.
Her hand was cool, and Ling Ye’s face was icy.
When the cool hand touched his cold face, he surprisingly felt warmth.
He paused slightly, just about to ask what was wrong, when Nanshan, who had been worried that the warmth would disappear, had already sat up, leaning on his chest and looking at him, even the cold wind that blew between them did not make her shrink back.
“Ling Ye, you need to talk to me more,” she looked steadily into his eyes, seeming quite troubled, “In this kind of weather, falling asleep is very dangerous.”
The fierce wind howled, and even though the night sky was clear, snowflakes still splattered around.
Ling Ye stared blankly at her, his lips moved a few times, and after a long while, he finally found his voice: “… It’s time to eat.”
“Mm?” Nanshan didn’t understand.
Ling Ye: “I’m used to having three meals a day like mortals.”
“… That’s a good habit.” She had thought it was about the black and white impermanence, but it turned out he just wanted to try everything. Nan
Nanshan tugged at the corner of her lips and then leaned back into his embrace, “What do you usually eat?”
Ling Ye: “Ordinary dishes.”
“What did you eat last time?”
“I forgot.”
A brief silence was filled with the sound of the wind. Ling Ye took the initiative to speak: “What else do you want to ask?”
“Anything?”
“Depends on what you ask.”
“Alright,” Nanshan bit her finger, “You can definitely answer this question.”
“What is it?”
“Ling Ye.”
“Mm.”
“Why is your heart beating so fast?”
Ling Ye: “…”