Even he himself found these words absurd when they came out.
Xu Zhuohua stared at the icicles that had formed in the cracks of the stone steps, a bitter feeling rising in her throat. It turned out that the tenderness hidden in her smile was her unique privilege.
The image of the stern, iron-fisted general in history books now overlapped with the tender-eyed boy in her memory, stinging her eyes.
"Honestly, I really want to ask you, how exactly did you win over Cheng Muyun? How did you manage to warm up someone who's as cold as ice? Tell your second brother about it!"
Xu Zhuohua didn't reply, and walked away thinking.
In Cheng Muyun's heart, there is a locked room and a room full of flowers.
Xu Zhuohua had always stayed in the greenhouse, never having seen the outer room or gone into the locked room.
For Xu Zhuohua, Cheng Muyun was no longer just a few lines in a history book; he was a multifaceted and profound person.
Cheng Muyun never instilled negative energy in Xu Zhuohua. Every time he was in front of Xu Zhuohua, he was like a robot returning to its base station to recharge.
There was no fear of the power going out at any moment, only peace of mind, so he had endless patience for Xu Zhuohua.
Therefore, Xu Zhuohua was never afraid that Cheng Muyun would leave him; he gave himself enough confidence.
But it was this heavy responsibility that forced Xu Zhuohua to confront the nature of their relationship.
She was terrified that she was the one who would push Cheng Muyun into a fire pit.
The person who kills Cheng Muyun could be an ordinary citizen he has always wanted to protect, or an ally, but it absolutely cannot be Xu Zhuohua, who has liked Cheng Muyun since high school!
Therefore, Xu Zhuohua must ask Master Yunxu for clarification.
The White Cloud Temple appeared gracefully at the end of the stone steps. Xu Zhuohua leaned on her knees, panting heavily, with fine ice crystals clinging to her eyelashes.
A cold wind swept past the eaves, carrying ice shards, and a slender figure stood beneath the crimson wall—his gray Taoist robe was washed until it was white, and the patches were layered like withered lotus leaves. The whisk in his arm was so sparse that the bamboo handle was visible.
Beneath the boy's nose, which was red from the cold, his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.
His clothes fluttered in the wind, but he still stood tall, like an ancient pine tree rooted in the blue brick ground.
Xu Jixin raised his hand and beckoned, "Hey, young Taoist priest, we're here to see Taoist Master Yunxu. Could you please go in and announce our arrival?"
Before Xu Jixin could finish speaking, the young Taoist priest spoke up, his clear voice piercing through the mist: "May I ask if the visitors are Xu Jixin and Xu Zhuohua, the second young masters of the Xu family from Baoci Town, Dongzhou?"
Xu Jixin added, "Yes, Second Young Master Xu Jixin and Eldest Miss Xu Zhuohua."
The young Taoist priest bypassed Xu Jixin and walked directly to Xu Zhuohua. "Miss Xu, Master Yunxu has been waiting for you for a long time. Please come in with me."
Xu Zhuohua was taken aback. "Has Daoist Yunxu been waiting for me for a long time?"
The young Taoist priest nodded. "Master Yunxu said that Miss Xu will come on the coldest day before the snow melts, so we are waiting at Baiyun Temple."
Xu Zhuohua paused, realizing that today was indeed the coldest day.
Xu Jixin nudged Xu Zhuohua's shoulder, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
The young Taoist boy took out his whisk and blocked Xu Jixin's way, saying, "During the period of seclusion, no one may enter without an invitation."
Xu Jixin's eyes widened. "It's so cold, you want me to wait outside?"
The young Taoist priest did not reply, but pushed open the vermilion gate of Baiyun Temple and invited Xu Zhuohua in.
Xu Zhuohua looked at Xu Jixin apologetically and handed him the hand warmer. "Thank you for your hard work, Second Brother. I'll be right out."
Following the young Taoist priest into the warm room, the warmth, along with the scent of sandalwood, wafted towards us.
Xu Zhuohua took off the scarf covered with frost flowers, and his gaze pierced through the rising steam, immediately spotting Master Yunxu sitting cross-legged on the central futon.
His white silk Taoist robe was spotless, his long silver beard reached his knees, and the ivory hairpin in his hair gleamed with a warm luster, making him appear otherworldly.
With a white beard and white Taoist robe, his hair was tied up in a bun with an ivory hairpin. His face was weathered, yet he still possessed a dignified and handsome appearance, exuding an awe-inspiring presence.
Hearing the noise at the door, he suddenly looked up, a smile spreading across the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, his white eyebrows trembling slightly with the movement: "Xu Zhuohua, are you still familiar with using this body?"
Suddenly, the flames in the charcoal brazier beside him shot up, casting the cloud patterns embroidered on his Taoist robe on an intermittent glow, as if they were the hidden secrets in his words.
Xu Zhuohua's neck, still damp with a thin layer of sweat as she stepped into the warm room, instantly tensed. Master Yunxu's words were like a frost-covered dagger, piercing straight into her heart.
A chill surged up from the depths of my bones, as if I had been thrown into the bottom of a frozen river in the twelfth lunar month, the biting cold spreading through my veins to every part of my body.
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