Chapter 46

The raging, eerie wind abruptly stopped.

The flickering lights stabilized instantly.

The crashing sounds from the kitchen disappeared.

The wildly fluttering curtains seemed to lose their strength, drooping softly and returning to calm.

In just a few seconds, the villa's living room, which had felt like a ghost town, returned to calm. Only the bright lights remained, along with Lin Yang and the others, huddled behind the sofa, still shaken and panting heavily, and Lu Xiao, who stood in front of them, equally shaken but trying to remain calm.

Everything happened too fast, and ended even faster. So fast that one might wonder if the horrific scene just now was merely a collective hallucination.

Only the frosted glass door in front of Zhuohua proved that what had just happened was not an illusion. The hideous black cracks on the door panel had not completely disappeared, but had solidified into a grayish, burnt mark. At the center, where her fingertip had pointed, was an extremely small but exceptionally clear pale gold circular mark, emitting a faint yet pure aura.

Zhuohua slowly withdrew her hand. The golden light at her fingertips had faded. She looked at the door, her eyes calm and undisturbed, as if she had merely brushed away a speck of dust.

The thick, inky core of resentment in the audio-visual room, along with its dissipating "tentacles," had completely vanished under the divine power of the "Cleansing Seal," leaving only a cold, deathly silence and the scent of dust.

She turned around and looked at the few young people in the living room who looked like they had just been pulled out of the water, their faces pale and their eyes vacant. Finally, her gaze fell on Lu Xiao.

Lu Xiao was also looking at her, his eyes filled with shock, admiration, and an indescribable, almost reverential light, but the fear he used to have was gone.

In those few short seconds, he witnessed firsthand a terrifying power beyond mortal comprehension, and saw how the person beside him effortlessly erased it with absolute power. Lu Xiao's understanding of Zhuo Hua's abilities was once again refreshed.

"Is...it's alright?" Li Mu asked cautiously, his voice trembling as he peeked out.

"Hmm." Zhuohua responded lightly and walked to the center of the living room. Her gaze swept over the scattered beer cans and snack bags, and she frowned slightly. She said to Lin Yang, "The source of the resentment in this house has been removed. However, this place is yin and was once a place of confinement. The energy field is turbid and it is not suitable for living here for a long time. Let's move out."

"Move! Move right now! I don't want to stay in this awful place for another minute!" Li Mu nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. After what had just happened, he would be willing to burn the villa down rather than move it!

Zhuohua walked up to Lu Xiao. Lu Xiao subconsciously reached out to take her hand, but felt a very faint chill from her fingertips, even more so than usual.

His heart tightened: "Hua Hua? Are you alright?"

"It's alright." Zhuohua shook her head; dispelling that negligible trace of foul air was as easy for her as breathing. Looking at the undisguised worry in his eyes, the ripples in her heart seemed to widen further.

She reached out and gently took his warm hand in hers, wrapping her cool fingertips around his fingers as if drawing warmth from him, or as if silently soothing him from the shock he had just experienced.

"Go home?" She looked up at him, her voice very soft.

Lu Xiao felt the slight coolness of her fingertips and her proactive closeness; the fear and lingering apprehension he had felt earlier were instantly washed away by a surge of warmth. He gripped her hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, the reassuring warmth of his palm radiating from hers, and nodded emphatically: "Yes! Let's go home!"

Watching the two interact so oblivious to everyone else, and then looking at Zhuo Hua's indigo Taoist robe that seemed to radiate holy light, and at the undisguised love and dependence in Lu Xiao's eyes, Li Mu suddenly felt that his earlier fright wasn't so scary after all.

He was even a little dazed: was this fairy sister who could purify evil spirits with her bare hands and the woman in front of him who would take the initiative to hold her boyfriend's hand and need him to warm her hands... really the same person?

Zhuohua didn't linger any longer and took Lu Xiao's hand, heading towards the door.

"Sister Zhuohua! Wait!" Li Mu quickly got up and took a few steps after her, his face full of gratitude. "Thank you so much this time! You saved my life! If you need anything in the future, just let me know! I, Li Mu, will never hesitate!" He patted his chest and promised.

Zhuohua didn't stop walking, only leaving behind a faint sentence: "Mind your own business. Don't go looking for unclean things." Before the words were finished, the two figures had already disappeared outside the villa gate that had been closed again.

Li Mu, Lin Yang, and the others were left in the bright living room, looking at each other in disbelief. They stared at the frosted glass door with its gray cracks and gold marks, and then at the villa that had returned to peace. It was as if they had been in another world.

"Young Master Lin, I'm following you from now on!" Li Mu put his arm around Lin Yang's shoulder, his face full of flattery. The other two were the same; what they had seen today was truly beyond their worldview!

"Yeah, yeah, if it weren't for Young Master Lin carrying some exorcism talismans, we'd all be done for. Hehe, Young Master Lin, could you introduce us? I'd like to buy a few to carry around too."

Lin Yang said smugly, "Then I need to ask Sister Zhuohua for permission. You can wait for her reply."

Outside the villa, a cool mountain breeze blew. Lu Xiao held Zhuo Hua's slightly cool hand tightly, feeling the warmth gradually returning to her palm. His heart was filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and a deeper love and reverence for the person beside him.

"What...what was in there just now?" he couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

Zhuohua gazed ahead, the city lights below the mountain resembling a reflected galaxy. Her voice was exceptionally clear in the night breeze, carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible, human sentiment.

"Just a pitiful person. His obsession runs too deep, he's trapped in his own thoughts, hurting himself and others."

She paused, turned her head to look at Lu Xiao, the moonlight illuminating her beautiful profile, and there seemed to be something else in her usually calm eyes. "So, Lu Xiao, while you're alive, don't hold back what you want to say or do."

Her words seemed to have a hidden meaning, yet also seemed like a casual sigh. Lu Xiao's heart skipped a beat at her words. Looking at her face so close to his, at the warmth in her eyes that was finally no longer out of reach, a thought sprouted like a tender bud breaking through the soil, growing wildly.

He stopped, and Zhuohua stopped as well, looking at him with some confusion.

Lu Xiao took a deep breath; the mountain breeze, carrying a coolness, filled his lungs, but it couldn't dispel the burning heat in his heart. He turned around to face Zhuo Hua, his eyes filled with an unprecedented seriousness and fervor, as if he wanted to etch her image into the depths of his soul.

"Hua Hua." He spoke, his voice tight with nervousness, yet incredibly clear and firm, "I..."

He had so much to say. He wanted to tell her how scared and heartbroken he was when he saw her walking alone towards that door; he wanted to tell her how relieved he felt when she took his hand.

He wanted to tell her that no matter if she was a goddess or an immortal, he only wanted to be the one who could always stand by her side and warm her hands; he wanted to tell her that he pondered the phrase "for you a thousand times over" every day, because that was exactly what he wanted to say to her...

However, all the words that came to mind ultimately boiled down to a clumsy yet fervent declaration:

"I will work harder in the future! I will work hard to act, work hard to earn money, and work hard to be worthy of you!" His cheeks were flushed, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness, filled with the sincerity and determination unique to a young man. "Although you are very powerful, even a god... I will definitely catch up with you! I will become very, very strong, strong enough... strong enough to protect you!"

He spoke his last sentence with a hint of uncertainty, yet with unusual firmness.

The night breeze ruffled their hair. Zhuohua looked at him quietly, at this mortal who was as insignificant as dust in the eyes of gods and demons, who had used all his courage and sincerity to make such a "presumptuous" promise to her.

Protect her? The God of War from the divine realm?

What a ridiculous, yet...heart-warming declaration!

At this moment, the ice-bound divine bones, frozen for hundreds of thousands of years, clearly emitted the sound of melting, flowing water. The sound was subtle, yet incredibly real.

She suddenly smiled.

It wasn't a faint, fleeting smile, but a clear smile, like an ice lotus blooming. In the moonlight, her eyebrows curved, the coldness faded, leaving only a pure, warm radiance, breathtakingly beautiful.

She raised her other hand, without using any divine power, simply like an ordinary lover, gently brushing away the stray hairs that had been ruffled by the wind from his forehead with her cool fingertips. The movement was incredibly gentle.

"Fool." Her voice was soft, tinged with a hint of helplessness, but mostly with a sweet indulgence. "It's fine as it is now."

The moonlight, like water, flowed over their clasped hands, and also over the undisguised tenderness in Zhuohua's eyes. Looking at her smile and listening to her words, Lu Xiao felt the whole world brighten and warm up. He smiled foolishly, gripping her hand tightly as if holding the entire world in his grasp.

The ice within the divine bones was melting rapidly, and warm, mortal blood was flowing anew in the body of the God of War, which had been dormant for far too long.

Okay, this is a chapter filled with sweet and down-to-earth moments from the photoshoot:

At five in the morning, the city was still asleep, and the suburbs where the film studio was located were shrouded in the deep darkness and chill of the night. The hotel room was completely silent, with only the faint white noise of the humidifier.

Lu Xiao's biological clock was as precise as if it were wound up; the alarm clock only vibrated slightly before he immediately opened his eyes, his gaze quickly clearing in the darkness. He quietly turned off the alarm clock, turned his head, and looked to his side.

On the soft bed, Zhuohua curled up on her side, most of her face buried in the fluffy down pillow, only her smooth forehead and a few strands of black hair showing.

The usual aloof and otherworldly demeanor, as if untouched by worldly concerns, had vanished, replaced by an unguarded, childlike serenity. Long eyelashes cast deep shadows beneath her eyes, and her breathing was even and long.

Lu Xiao couldn't help but smile. Who would have thought that the charismatic, powerful figure on set, who could obliterate evil spirits with a flick of his finger, was actually a "mortal" who needed to be coaxed out of bed and had a terrible temper when he woke up?