Dark Fire
Time spent inside the bamboo house feels as if it's soaked in honey, or as if you're walking on thin ice.
After that out-of-control kiss, something was shattered completely. Jiu Che no longer hid his gaze; his icy eyes often reflected Qi Yuan's image, carrying a tenderness and possessiveness he himself was unaware of. He would naturally hold her hand, and when she drew near, his fingertips would entwine with a strand of her hair.
Qi Yuan indulged this intimacy, even intentionally guiding it. She enjoyed seeing him lose control because of her, enjoyed seeing the flame of "desire" ignited for her in his clear eyes. This gave her a twisted sense of satisfaction, as if proving her control over this pure soul.
However, whenever the night is deep and quiet, and Jiu Che falls into a deep sleep due to his injuries and exhaustion, Qi Yuan gazes at his peaceful sleeping face, her fingertips lightly tracing his delicate outline. At that moment, the thorn in her heart called "reason" would resurface, pricking her painfully.
Although she had carefully concealed the aura of the demon realm's treasure, it was not without its flaws.
The fox clan elders weren't fools; the rapid recovery of Jiu Che's injuries would surely arouse suspicion.
And then there's the "Tracing Shadow Glass Heart" that I've yet to obtain...
"What are you looking at?" A deep, sleepy voice sounded. Jiu Che had woken up sometime earlier and was quietly watching her. Moonlight streamed through the bamboo window and fell on his face, incredibly soft.
Qi Yuan quickly suppressed all his emotions, and a lazy smile appeared on his lips: "It's so cute to see His Highness drooling in his sleep."
Jiu Che's ears turned slightly red, but instead of shyly avoiding her as usual, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, gently resting his chin on the top of her head, his voice filled with a satisfied sigh: "Nonsense."
Leaning against his warm chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, Qi Yuan's body stiffened for a moment. This unguarded intimacy filled her with both longing and immense fear. She felt like she was dancing on the edge of a cliff, knowing full well that the next step might lead to an abyss, yet still captivated by the dazzling scenery before her.
"Your Highness," she suddenly spoke, her voice muffled in his arms, "If one day you discover that I am not what you see... what will you do?"
Jiu Che tightened his grip on her arm, remained silent for a moment, and then whispered, "The one I know is the one right in front of me." His answer avoided hypothetical scenarios, focusing only on the present moment.
Qi Yuan's heart felt as if it had been gently bumped by something, a mixture of bitterness and warmth, a complex and indescribable feeling.
The me before me?
If you knew how much blood these hands are stained with, if you knew my motives for approaching you were impure...
She closed her eyes and stopped thinking about it.
After their injuries stabilized, they returned to Tingxueyuan.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal, yet it was completely different. Jiu Che indulged her even more, almost to the point of being completely obedient to her. As for Qi Yuan, while enjoying this special treatment, he also felt the more subtle scrutinizing gazes coming from all directions.
Especially the white-haired elder; during their several "chance encounters," his seemingly cloudy old eyes swept over her, giving Qi Yuan the illusion that he could see right through her. She had to hurry up and act.
The opportunity soon arrived. Jiu Che, having just recovered from his previous serious injuries, needed to regularly visit the sacred altar to consolidate his immortal essence and eliminate any remaining hidden injuries from the gentle power emanating from the "Tracing Shadow Glazed Heart".
On this day, as Jiu Che prepared to go to the altar again, Qi casually fiddled with an inconspicuous wooden bracelet on her wrist—a magical artifact that she had painstakingly crafted the night before, capable of concealing divine consciousness.
"Is Your Highness going to the altar today?" She stepped forward and straightened his already neatly arranged clothes, her tone carrying just the right amount of dependence and curiosity. "Can I... go with you? I've never seen what the Holy Land looks like before." She looked up, her eyes full of hope. "It would be nice to just see it from the outside."
This is an extremely presumptuous request. How can celestial servants be allowed to approach the sacred altar?
Looking into her eyes, which shone with the same light as that night at the Starfire Festival, and recalling the passionate kiss in the bamboo house, the ice of principle in his heart melted once more. He knew it was against the rules, yet he couldn't refuse the expectation in her eyes.
“…Okay.” He heard himself say, “But you can only stay on the outside, you can’t get close to the barrier.”
"Yes!" Qi Yuan nodded immediately, his smile bright.
As she followed Jiu Che step by step toward the floating palace shrouded in seven-colored light, she could feel the wooden bracelet in her sleeve slightly warming. Her divine sense, like the finest spider silk, silently probed into the depths of the altar under the cover of the bracelet.
It's getting closer...
The heart of crystal, like a reflection of light, is inside.
Jiu Che, walking ahead of her, was completely unaware of this. He simply felt that bringing her to see the most important sacred ground of his clan made it seem as if the distance between them had taken another step closer.
He didn't know that what he had personally introduced into the Holy Land was not the noisy stars he had imagined, but rather the abyssal dark fire that was about to bring destruction.
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