Snowflakes drifted through the air, and the cold wind dislodged petals, which landed on the glinting, white blade.
Ye Luan lowered her eyes to the chilling blade, pondering for a long moment. She then bent slightly, picked up the saber, and toyed with it in her hand.
"If I kill you, will the people here let me go?"
Her voice was as cold as the sky.
Xiao Chi Zhan said, "No one will harm you."
Ye Luan gripped the saber, remaining motionless for a while.
Her fingertips scraped along the blade with a sizzling sound.
"One day, I will kill you."
"This King awaits."
The words spoken in the past reverberated in her ears like thunder, causing a slight ringing.
Ye Luan felt a numb ache in her heart.
She quietly gazed down at the man on the ground. Though his eyes were undeniably icy, a thin mist seemed to form within them.
She had once vowed to kill him, so why was she hesitating now?
She couldn't help but mock herself with a curl of her lips. She was truly insane.
"Luan Luan."
Hearing his voice, Ye Luan snapped back to reality.
Holding the saber, she slowly crouched down, staring directly at him.
Having stood through a whole night in the bitter wind and heavy snow, he was covered in a layer of white frost, yet his gaze was stubbornly fixated with a morbid intensity.
He would not let her go.
But without him, Xie Bei Han would have no qualms, and she would fall into another cage.
"Luan Luan, you can't bear to?"
He looked up at her, his crimson pupils flickering with hope.
Ye Luan's hand, gripping the saber, trembled slightly.
After a moment, as if to confirm something, she pressed the blade against his heart.
"Xiao Chi Zhan, if this saber goes in, you will die."
"I am willing to die by your hand."
The north wind blew more snow, bringing waves of cold.
Ye Luan looked at him with a cold laugh. "You once said you would make me willing to die. Now, it is you who is willing to die."
Xiao Chi Zhan laughed, a chilling sound.
"Yes, I am willing."
The air fell silent.
Ye Luan circled the blade against his chest, again and again. The fabric of his clothes was torn, the threads severed, yet he remained, letting her manipulate him as she pleased.
Her dark pupils were fixed on him, unblinking.
After a long while.
"Xiao Chi Zhan, I won't kill you. Let me go, and let's stop this entanglement. You be your prince, live your life of wealth and status, and I'll live mine—"
Before she could finish, he laughed.
He reached out his pale, cold hand and gently touched her cheek, his voice filled with stubbornness.
"Luan Luan, how can one who is addicted easily let go? Even in death, they must be locked by one's side."
A chill shot up from the soles of her feet to her heart.
Ye Luan looked at him, remaining silent for a long time.
Xiao Chi Zhan, his body stiff and cold, leaned forward and embraced her, his voice deep and tinged with a twisted excitement.
"Luan Luan, in this game, neither of us won, did we?"
The bleak, desolate wind, mixed with snowflakes, struck Ye Luan's face. She blinked, looking up at the clear blue sky, her expression unreadable.
Silver-white snowflakes descended from the sky. From afar, the two figures kneeling in the snow seemed to be coated in a layer of frost.
-------
Xiao Chi Zhan had been exposed to the snow all night; his body could no longer bear it.
He tightly hugged the maiden in his arms, his head feeling heavy and his voice weak.
"Luan Luan, I love you. Unless I die, you can only be mine."
As Ye Luan was held by him, her grip loosened, and the saber clattered to the ground.
She remained silent.
It was only when she realized he had fainted that she truly came back to her senses.
"Xue Ren."
She called out softly, and behind her, an assassin suddenly appeared.
Xue Ren looked at the prince slumped on Ye Luan's shoulder, hesitant to approach.
"Miss Ye, the Prince has fainted. Please help him up and send him back to his room."
"Come and help him yourself."
Ye Luan said, then pushed Xiao Chi Zhan away and stood up.
Xiao Chi Zhan's body slumped backward into the snow, as if wanting to merge with the ground.
Xue Ren looked at the scene stiffly, disbelief etched on his face.
"The Prince will kill us if he knows we touched him."
Ye Luan uttered an "oh" and turned to leave.
Xue Ren pursed his lips and quickly ordered someone to find Li Qiong Yu.
As soon as Li Qiong Yu arrived, he saw Xiao Chi Zhan lying in the snow and gritted his teeth in anger.
He strode forward, dragged the man up, and pushed him into Ye Luan's room.
"Quick, come and check on him. There's something else to do later."
Ye Luan stood calmly by the tea table, drinking tea, her expression serene and indifferent as she watched the man who had been laid on her bed.
"He won't die."
Li Qiong Yu helplessly rubbed his forehead. "It was his fault for giving you the Buddha's Heart Powder. He's admitted his mistake, hasn't he? Please spare him and quickly attend to him. If he really falls ill, those who want to kill him won't miss this opportunity."
They couldn't leave the mountain or find a doctor.
Ye Luan remained silent, sipping the coarse tea.
Seeing her silence, Li Qiong Yu suppressed his impatience and instructed Xue Ren to ask the people at the temple if there was a doctor.
"Yes."
A cold stillness permeated the room.
Li Qiong Yu roughly wiped Xiao Chi Zhan's face with a handkerchief. Standing in the snow for a whole night in winter, what a suicidal lunatic. It made him furious.
"If you want him to die faster, then continue to torment him."
A clear, cool voice came from behind him. Li Qiong Yu's movements halted. He turned back and sighed.
"Ye Luan, he truly loves you. If you are willing to guide him, he will surely change."
Ye Luan crossed her arms and let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Why should I forget the humiliation I've suffered in the past to redeem him?"
Stung by her words, Li Qiong Yu's voice became somewhat stiff, leaving him speechless.
Ye Luan ignored him, took a pill from her pouch, pried open the mouth of the man on the bed, and roughly stuffed it in.
Li Qiong Yu watched her actions, his eyes narrowing slightly. After a moment, he chuckled aloud.
His unrestrained and arrogant face broke into a bright smile, the lamplight accentuating his proud features.
"Ye Luan, you've developed feelings for him."
Ye Luan's posture as she leaned over the bed stiffened slightly, her bright and luminous face showing a hint of distress.
"Do you know what he experienced in his youth? Do you know why the Youzhou slave-training grounds were burned down, resulting in over ten thousand deaths?"
The voice from behind seemed to be constantly reminding her of the ignoble emotions stirring in her heart. Ye Luan interrupted him sharply.
"These things, I don't want to know, and you don't need to tell me."
Li Qiong Yu, seeing the anger and embarrassment in her eyes, surrendered.
"Alright, alright, I won't say it. However, it's quite chaotic outside, so you shouldn't go out tonight."
He said, then glared at the unconscious man on the couch with annoyance and rolled his eyes.
"As for him, let him lie here with you for now. It's better than me having to clean up his corpse if he dies. Besides me, no one else cares about him."
The door slammed shut, and the room was plunged into darkness.
Ye Luan did not look at the man on the couch again. She went to eat her vegetarian meal, wandered around outside for a while, and then returned to her own courtyard.