No lamp was lit in the quiet room.
Moonlight leaked in through the window lattice paper, casting a pale, bluish-white glow across the floor.
Bai Qingxue sat cross-legged on the stone bed, her eyes half-closed as the ice lotus slowly rotated within her dantian.
At the same time, the pattern on Bai Qingxue's wrist flared with heat once again.
It could not be described as painful.
It was merely a persistent, dull warmth, as if someone were pressing their fingertips gently against her skin.
Bai Qingxue's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but she did not open her eyes.
Since returning from the Northern Region, this restriction had flared up from time to time.
Sometimes once every few days, sometimes several times a day.
There was no pattern, no warning.
She had asked Liu Ningshuang, who told her, “The restriction is adapting to its new host.”
Since it was of no great concern, Bai Qingxue put it out of her mind.
She had always been this way; she would set aside things beyond her control, letting them settle on their own.
Just as Bai Qingxue was thinking this...
...the restriction flared with heat once more.
This time, it was slightly heavier than before. It was no longer a gentle touch, but a firm press.
The burning sensation spread from her wrist, climbing up her forearm along her meridians like a slender, warm snake slithering beneath her skin for a brief moment.
Bai Qingxue opened her eyes.
Her gaze pierced through the dimness of the quiet room, landing on the doorway.
Ning Qinghan was standing there.
She was barefoot, wearing a faded grayish-blue Daoist robe. Her long hair was loose, with a few strands draping over the side of her face.
It was impossible to tell when she had arrived, or how long she had been standing there.
The moonlight fell upon her, casting a long, thin shadow across the floor.
Their eyes met in the moonlight.
The glance was incredibly light.
So light, it was like two flower petals drifting on the water's surface, brushing edges by chance before quickly parting again.
Bai Qingxue did not speak, and Ning Qinghan remained silent as well. The quiet room was absolutely still, save for the wind rustling the leaves of the old plum tree outside the window.
“You felt it?” Ning Qinghan said.
Bai Qingxue looked at her. “Yes.”
Ning Qinghan walked through the half-open door and came to a stop beside the stone bed.
She lowered her head, gazing at the dark red patterns on Bai Qingxue's wrist.
The patterns stretched from her wrist bone to the middle of her forearm, gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
Ning Qinghan watched them for a moment, then looked up at Bai Qingxue.
“You must have realized by now that the restriction is allowing us to perceive each other,” Ning Qinghan said to Bai Qingxue.
Bai Qingxue looked at her and said calmly, “Perceive what?”
“Location. Emotions.” Ning Qinghan paused. “...And perhaps other things.”
Hearing this, Bai Qingxue looked down at the patterns on her wrist.
“Emotions?” After a moment, Bai Qingxue spoke again. “You can feel my emotions?”
“Only a tiny bit,” Ning Qinghan replied. She reached out, pinching her thumb and index finger together to show a minuscule gap.
Bai Qingxue looked at her hand and said nothing, waiting for Ning Qinghan to continue.
“Your mood... seems a bit off? Is there a problem with your cultivation?” Ning Qinghan did not look at Bai Qingxue as she spoke, keeping her eyes on the moonlight filtering through the window lattice paper.
Bai Qingxue fell silent for a long time.
Ning Qinghan was right.
Bai Qingxue's cultivation of late had indeed been slightly off.
On the surface, everything seemed normal.
The ice lotus spun freely, and her spiritual power was even more condensed than before.
But ever since she parted with Lu Xueqing last time, Bai Qingxue's cultivation speed had slowed down.
Though the change was minuscule, almost impossible to detect without careful examination...
...Bai Qingxue's spiritual sense was intimately familiar with every single trace of spiritual power in her body.
Therefore, she could naturally feel that the growth of her spiritual power was slightly slower than before.
This tiny difference would likely be ignored by anyone else.
But for someone whose heart was usually as still as water, it was enough to raise alarm.
After all, she cultivated the 《Mystic Frost Heavenly Heart Art》.
Severing all emotions and desires, keeping her heart as still as water.
This was the technique she had cultivated for over a decade.
From the day she entered the sect, the True Lord had told Bai Qingxue that the hardest part of this technique was not the cultivation itself, but guarding one's heart.
If the heart stirs, the spiritual power will stagnate.
If emotion arises, the Dao will recede.
Bai Qingxue had always cultivated it exceptionally well.
So well, in fact, that she believed she was a natural fit for this technique.
But recently, Bai Qingxue had discovered that beneath the still water, something seemed to be stirring, and her cultivation had slowed down as a result.
What surprised her slightly, however, was that Ning Qinghan could actually sense her emotions through the restriction.
What did this mean?
Bai Qingxue pulled back her thoughts, looking up at Ning Qinghan.
Ning Qinghan stood beside the stone bed, the moonlight catching her shoulders and washing out her faded grayish-blue Daoist robe.
Gazing at Bai Qingxue, Ning Qinghan spoke with a faint smile:
“Perhaps I can help you.”
Bai Qingxue looked at her, a rare trace of confusion surfacing in her light-colored eyes.
“How?”
Ning Qinghan looked back at her. Under the moonlight, something gleamed faintly in her deep black eyes.
“Dual cultivation.”
Ning Qinghan uttered the two words.
At this, Bai Qingxue's fingers twitched slightly.
Her gaze fell upon Ning Qinghan's face, lingering for a brief moment before instinctively drifting slightly downward—so naturally that perhaps even Bai Qingxue herself did not realize what she was looking at.
Of course, Ning Qinghan's collar was buttoned up properly. The faded grayish-blue Daoist robe covered her collarbones, leaving nothing to be seen.
Bai Qingxue quickly withdrew her gaze.
She paused, taking a rare moment to carefully choose her words. “The kind... between a man and a woman?”
Ning Qinghan looked at her, a hint of amusement in her smile. “Of course not.”
Bai Qingxue nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Ning Qinghan immediately followed up.
“The Demonic Sect has specific techniques for this.”
“Dual cultivation can also be performed between women. It shares the same principles as dual cultivation between a man and a woman, where spiritual power is mutually aided and meridians are connected. Only the pathways for circulating spiritual power are different.”
Ning Qinghan paused. “If you are willing, I can let you look at the technique.”
“?”
Bai Qingxue lowered her head, looking at the patterns on her wrist.
The words “dual cultivation” swirled in her mind once more.
It was not that Bai Qingxue did not know what dual cultivation was.
Whether from the novels she had read in her past life, or the harmony of yin and yang described in the scriptures of her sect in this life, she had some understanding of it.
She had simply never imagined it would have anything to do with her.
And she had certainly never expected a woman to stand before her, proposing dual cultivation with her in such a matter-of-fact tone.
“Are you sure?” Bai Qingxue asked.
Ning Qinghan's eyelashes fluttered, and something flickered in her deep black eyes, gone too quickly to be caught.
“Naturally.”
Ning Qinghan looked at Bai Qingxue and said, “After all, the restriction is a matter between the two of us, not just one. Besides...”
She paused.
The moonlight fell on her profile, softening her features.
“Ever since we were in the Northern Region, haven't I caused you quite a bit of trouble?”
Ning Qinghan's gaze lingered on the patterns on Bai Qingxue's wrist for a brief moment. “If you are willing, I am certainly open to it.”
Bai Qingxue stared at Ning Qinghan for a long time before finally speaking.
“We will see.”
Ning Qinghan nodded and said no more.
She turned around and walked out of the doorway, her bare feet padding against the cold floor.
When she reached the door, she looked back.
“Bai Qingxue.”
“Yes?”
“If you make up your mind, let me know. I have the technique right here, so don't worry.”
With that, Ning Qinghan stepped over the threshold and walked out.
Her footsteps gradually faded, disappearing down the corridor.
Bai Qingxue sat on the stone bed for a moment, then lay back down.
The moonlight leaked in through the window lattice paper, falling upon her silver-white hair like a thin layer of frost.
Bai Qingxue looked down, gazing at the patterns on her wrist.
Right now, they lay quiet against her skin, no longer flaring with heat.
Bai Qingxue closed her eyes. The ice lotus slowly rotated within her dantian.
At this moment, Bai Qingxue was pondering a question.
If, as Ning Qinghan had sensed, her cultivation had indeed encountered an issue because of the 《Mystic Frost Heavenly Heart Art》...
...did that mean...
...that in a place she had not noticed, desires she had never paid attention to had been born?
When exactly had that little fish, hidden deep beneath the still pool, swum inside?
Bai Qingxue closed her eyes once more.
The moon was as cold as water.
Yet her heart was not at peace.
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