Chapter 154: The First Kiss
The night air still lingered heavy after Hei Long’s words, leaving Qingxue, Yuran, and Yexin to stew in silence. The moment he left, none of them moved for a long while. The tension in the Jade Hall felt alive, like the walls themselves were listening.
Finally, Qingxue was the first to break.
"...He always does this." Her voice was quiet, but sharp as a blade. "Pushes us toward the edge, then disappears."
Yexin’s laugh was soft, mocking. "And you keep running after him, don’t you? The proud ice queen, willing to melt for a man."
Yuran, however, did not rise to the provocation. She stood gracefully, smoothing her sleeves. "It doesn’t matter what either of you say. His words weren’t for you. They were for all of us. He’s telling us the same thing in different ways."
"What’s that?" Qingxue snapped.
"That he won’t choose," Yuran replied calmly. "Not yet. Not unless we make him."
Later that same night, Hei Long returned to his quarters. The doors slid open quietly, though he made no attempt to hide his presence. His cloak slipped from his shoulders, and the faint lamplight painted his features in gold and shadow.
He expected solitude.
Instead, someone was waiting.
Qingxue sat there, stiff-backed, her sword resting against the wall. Her hair was loose, falling in waves past her shoulders, a softness he rarely saw in her.
"You should be asleep," Hei Long remarked, tone flat but not unkind.
"You should stop running," she answered.
Their eyes met. His unreadable calm against her burning defiance. The silence between them stretched until Qingxue finally stood. She walked toward him, each step deliberate, her breath caught between hesitation and determination.
"You told us to show you," she whispered.
Before he could reply, she reached up—fingers trembling only slightly—and kissed him.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t tentative. It was fierce, a clash of pride and desperation, her lips pressed to his as though she were trying to carve her claim into stone.
Hei Long didn’t push her away.
When she finally broke the kiss, breath unsteady, her voice was ragged. "That’s how close I’m willing to go."
Hei Long studied her, expression still calm... but his eyes glimmered with something darker. He brushed a thumb across her jawline, the barest of touches.
"You’re still not close enough," he murmured.
Shadows in the Hall
Neither realized they weren’t alone.
From the far end of the hall, Yexin leaned against the pillar, arms crossed, a sly grin curling her lips.
"Well, well," she said, voice dripping with amusement. "So the ice queen finally cracks."
Qingxue turned, anger flashing in her eyes. "You—"
But Hei Long raised a hand, silencing her. His gaze moved from one woman to the other, deliberate, heavy.
The tension swelled again, sharp as drawn blades.
And Hei Long?
He just smiled.
The hall was silent, yet the weight of what had happened pressed down on everyone present. Hei Long’s smile lingered in the air like smoke — impossible to read, impossible to ignore.
Qingxue’s chest rose and fell quickly, her usually icy composure fractured by the boldness of what she had done. Her lips still burned from the kiss, and though her pride told her to look away, her body betrayed her — she could not stop glancing at him.
Hei Long, meanwhile, seemed unaffected. His calm gaze moved between Qingxue and Yexin, as if the escalating war between them was nothing more than an elegant play staged for his amusement.
"You think that proves something?" Yexin’s voice cut sharply, mocking but laced with something else — jealousy, perhaps. "A kiss does not win a war. And this is a war, Qingxue. You feel it, don’t you? The battlefield has already shifted."
Qingxue’s hand tightened into a fist at her side. "I don’t fight petty wars."
"Then you’ll lose before you realize the game has even begun," Yexin whispered, stepping closer.
And then, as though summoned by the tension itself, Yuran entered quietly. Unlike the others, her steps were measured, her expression calm. She took in the scene with a single glance: Qingxue flushed and trembling, Yexin smirking like a predator, Hei Long standing between them.
"...So it begins," Yuran murmured.
Hei Long’s Silence
Hei Long said nothing. His silence was a weapon sharper than any blade. The women filled the void his stillness created, their emotions rising like waves around an immovable stone.
Finally, he stepped forward, brushing past Qingxue without looking back. His presence alone pulled her breath from her lungs, and when his hand briefly touched her shoulder, it was enough to make her shiver.
"Don’t confuse victory with proximity," Hei Long said at last, his voice low, steady. "The closer you stand, the harder it is to see me clearly."
Then he left the hall, his cloak swaying like the passing of a shadow.
The Confrontation
The moment he was gone, the fragile balance shattered.
"You think you’re the first to touch him?" Yexin sneered. "Do you believe he hasn’t allowed such things before? You only dared to take what he permitted. That’s not love, Qingxue — that’s indulgence."
Qingxue turned on her, fury burning in her eyes. "And you? You hide behind words and illusions, afraid to step forward. At least I act."
"Enough."
The command was soft but absolute. Both turned to face Yuran, whose serenity now cut like a blade. She stood between them, her presence anchoring the storm.
"You’re both blind. Hei Long isn’t a prize to be fought over. He is... more than that. And if you treat him like some possession, you’ll lose him entirely."
Qingxue bit her lip but said nothing. Yexin only laughed.
In the Shadows
What none of them realized was that Hei Long had not gone far. From the shadows beyond the hall, he lingered — listening, watching.
The conflict was inevitable. He knew it. He had set it into motion.
And yet, when Qingxue had kissed him, there had been a flicker of something even he hadn’t expected. A spark he would not admit, not yet.
His eyes narrowed.
"...Not close enough," he repeated under his breath.
And with that, he vanished into the night.
The palace gardens glowed beneath lantern-light, shadows weaving through hedges of plum blossoms and jade pavilions. The air smelled of rain and earth, the silence broken only by the rustle of silk and the distant chirp of cicadas.
Hei Long stood at the center of it all — immovable, deliberate. He had not summoned them, and yet they came, one by one, drawn into his orbit like moths around an eternal flame.
Qingxue’s Boldness
Qingxue arrived first, her robes white as moonlight, her hair glistening with dew. She still burned with the echo of their kiss. Her eyes darted toward him, then away, uncharacteristically unsure.
"You left without answering me," she said, voice sharper than she intended. "Do you regret it?"
Hei Long turned, gaze calm. "Do you?"
Her throat tightened. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to say no. Instead, she remained silent, and the silence betrayed her more deeply than words could.
Yexin’s Provocation
Then came Yexin, draped in violet silks that shimmered as though alive. She smiled, slow and dangerous.
"Still pretending this is not a game, Qingxue? He hasn’t chosen you. He hasn’t chosen any of us. Not yet." She turned to Hei Long, her gaze hungry. "But perhaps tonight?"
Qingxue bristled. Hei Long said nothing. His silence forced the tension to grow until it threatened to split the night itself.
Yuran’s Stillness
Last came Yuran, in midnight blue, her steps measured, her expression unreadable. She looked not at Hei Long, nor at the others, but at the sky above — a thousand stars glittering coldly.
"You should not fight here," she murmured, her tone more plea than command. "But... perhaps it cannot be helped."
Her words did nothing to cool the fire. Instead, they framed it.
The Escalation
Qingxue stepped closer. "If he allows me near, it’s because he trusts me."
Yexin laughed, rich and mocking. "Or because he wants to see what you’ll do with proximity. Don’t mistake a test for a promise."
Yuran finally turned, her eyes glimmering. "You’re both wrong. Hei Long does not test. He decides. Always."
Hei Long finally spoke. His voice was calm, but his words cut like blades.
"You speak of choice as if it belongs to you. It doesn’t."
The three froze.
"You do not choose me," he said. "I choose what to keep."
For a long moment, only the night wind answered.
Sparks of Something Dangerous
And then, slowly, Hei Long extended his hand — not to one of them, but to the garden path.
"Walk with me."
All three moved at once.
Their shoulders brushed as they tried to remain closest. Qingxue trembling with restrained passion, Yexin smirking at her rival’s unease, Yuran quiet but burning with unspoken devotion.
Hei Long walked between them, a storm contained within a man. Every step he took drew them deeper, until the garden itself seemed to hold its breath.
The night was long, and the sparks between them promised to ignite into something none of them could control.