But soon, Bai Qingxue pushed that thought down.
She closed her eyes again, adding another layer of spiritual power to wrap around the ice lotus.
The dark red patterns lingered on her shoulder, temporarily stopping their crawl toward her collarbone.
She could only grit her teeth and wait quietly.
As for whether the restriction would pass or Bai Qingxue would reach her limit first...
She didn't know which would come first.
Suddenly, an extremely light footstep sounded outside the door.
Bai Qingxue snapped her eyes open.
Before she could speak, the door was pushed open.
Moonlight flooded in from outside.
A figure stood on the threshold.
Unsurprisingly, it was Ning Qinghan.
She still wore the dark outer robe from the day, but the sash was loose, hanging haphazardly off her shoulders as if it hadn't been tied properly—or as if she didn't care at all.
Beneath it was a moon-white inner robe, its collar open wider than ever before.
The first button was undone, revealing her collarbone.
The second button was also undone, exposing a small patch of skin below.
The third button hung precariously, on the verge of coming undone.
The moonlight hit that exposed skin, making it glow white. Below the collarbone was a tiny mole, like a drop of pale ink on rice paper.
Ning Qinghan didn't hesitate.
She stepped over the threshold, treading on the pool of moonlight on the floor, and walked straight toward Bai Qingxue by the bed.
The hem of her robe swayed in the moonlight, and the patch she had stepped on gathered again behind her.
Ning Qinghan reached Bai Qingxue and stopped.
She looked down at Bai Qingxue sitting on the bedside. Bai Qingxue looked back at her.
Moonlight shone from behind Ning Qinghan, silvering her silhouette. Her face was hidden in the shadows, her expression unreadable, but her eyes were visible.
And that mole below her collarbone sat right on the boundary between light and shadow, flickering in and out of view.
Ning Qinghan's gaze fell on Bai Qingxue's exposed left arm.
The dark red patterns were entrenched there, crawling from wrist to shoulder, stopping just below the collarbone.
The patterns emitted a faint dark red glow in the moonlight, like dying embers.
They were still moving and writhing, like countless tiny snakes sealed beneath the skin, struggling and churning.
Ning Qinghan watched the patterns, then slowly knelt before the bed, facing Bai Qingxue eye-to-eye.
Her knees hit the bluestone floor with a dull thud.
Ning Qinghan reached out and grasped Bai Qingxue's right hand.
Bai Qingxue's right hand was currently gripping the bedframe tightly, veins bulging on the back of her hand.
Ning Qinghan's fingers covered hers, prying them open one by one.
Her movements were swift, like unwrapping something tightly bound, yet she paused after each finger as if letting Bai Qingxue's hand adjust to the feeling of being released.
Bai Qingxue's fingers were ice-cold.
The heat was burning fiercely in her meridians, yet her extremities were as cold as ice—though in Ning Qinghan's eyes, she seemed like a normal person.
Ning Qinghan turned Bai Qingxue's hand over, palm up.
Ning Qinghan glanced at the crescent marks in the palm, then held Bai Qingxue's wrist and pulled it forward.
Straight toward her own chest.
Bai Qingxue's fingers touched the exposed skin below Ning Qinghan's collarbone.
The temperature at her fingertips was warm—the natural warmth of Ning Qinghan's body.
But to Bai Qingxue's freezing fingers, that warmth felt almost scorching, like pressing a hand against the outer wall of a stove that had been burning all night.
Bai Qingxue's fingers curled uncontrollably, wanting to pull back.
But Ning Qinghan wouldn't let her.
She pressed Bai Qingxue's hand against her chest.
Just like that, Bai Qingxue's palm pressed against Ning Qinghan's skin, her thumb and forefinger hooked just below the collarbone, her five fingers spread across her heart.
Beneath Bai Qingxue's fingertips was Ning Qinghan's heartbeat.
Bai Qingxue's palm could feel the slight curve beneath the skin and the vibration of the heart.
The vibration was light but distinct, each pulse traveling from her palm through her fingers to her mind.
That warmth was like a tiny stream, slowly flowing into Bai Qingxue's cold meridians.
The back of Bai Qingxue's hand rested against the edge of Ning Qinghan's inner robe collar, her knuckles touching that third, half-undone button.
She could feel another patch of skin on the other side of the button, hidden by the cloth, but a thin warmth seeped through the gap, washing over her knuckles.
Then Ning Qinghan let go of Bai Qingxue's wrist and used both hands to cup the hand pressed to her chest.
Her fingers interlaced over the back of Bai Qingxue's hand, locking tightly in the gaps between fingers, as if anchoring something.
Her thumb pressed against the space between Bai Qingxue's thumb and index finger, while her other four fingers slotted into the gaps.
A surge of pure spiritual power gushed from Ning Qinghan's chest, pouring through Bai Qingxue's palm into her meridians.
In Bai Qingxue's dantian, that warm spiritual power wrapped around the frantically spinning ice lotus. Just like before, just like last time, everything returned to normal.
Bai Qingxue's breathing slowed from ragged to steady. The scorching sweat on her forehead finally stopped flowing, coalescing into a few drops at her temples, hanging precariously.
The heat that had churned in her dantian for over an hour was finally suppressed.
But Ning Qinghan didn't let go.
Then, Bai Qingxue heard Ning Qinghan speak.
Her voice was soft, like a whisper before sleep.
“It’s alright,” Ning Qinghan said.
Her lips were very close to Bai Qingxue's ear, so close that her breath brushed against the auricle.
The breath was warm, carrying a faint scent of tea.
It was the lingering taste of the tea they had drunk under the old plum tree that day.
Bai Qingxue could feel her lips moving as she spoke, almost touching the edge of her ear, but never quite making contact.
“I’m not your Senior Sister.”
“I’m a demonic enchantress.”
“Demonic cultivators don't recognize debts owed by the righteous path.”
Ning Qinghan paused. Moonlight leaked through the tear in the window paper, illuminating her face.
Bai Qingxue finally saw her expression. She wasn't smiling, nor was she crying. If one had to describe it, it was probably calm.
“So...”
Ning Qinghan pressed Bai Qingxue's hand firmly against her chest.
Beneath her palm, Bai Qingxue could feel the heart beating violently under the skin.
Ning Qinghan looked down at Bai Qingxue.
The moonlight shattered into tiny silver fragments in her eyes, each one reflecting Bai Qingxue's image.
“With me, you don't need to carry any burdens.”
“No guilt, no repayment, no need to think about the future.”
Ning Qinghan leaned closer, her forehead almost touching Bai Qingxue's.
There was only a finger's width of distance between them. Their breaths mingled, indistinguishable from one another. Bai Qingxue could see the silver fragments in Ning Qinghan's eyes trembling, like water stirred by the wind.
“I'm ready. Do whatever you want to do. It’s okay.”
Bai Qingxue's eyelashes fluttered.
Moonlight fell on her lashes, casting a dense, fine shadow on her eyelids.
Now, even that shadow couldn't help but tremble.
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