Time flowed in dead silence.
No one knew how much time had passed—perhaps two hours, or perhaps five.
Zhang Mingyuan finally moved.
He stiffly raised his hand, touching the side of his face that had been slapped, and then touched his lips.
Only now did he realize, in hindsight—how on earth had he dared to kiss that tigress?
Inside the bedchamber, the profound ice had already receded, leaving behind only a room full of desolation and a faint, lingering cold fragrance that belonged to Su Jinxue.
With a flicker of his body, Zhang Mingyuan turned into a beam of light and rushed out of the Myriad Snow Palace.
...
In the Eastern Territory, inside the Spring-Return Valley, it was as warm as spring all year round. Nestled between two mountains stood an elegant pavilion with an open, sweeping view.
Outside the pavilion, a spiritual spring babbled softly, its banks covered with all kinds of nameless exotic flowers and herbs that wafted a refreshing, soul-soothing fragrance.
A young girl dressed in a light green skirt sat bored on a stone stool in the pavilion, her slender, fair legs swinging back and forth in the air. She looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, her eyes bright and cunning, carrying a mischievous, childish air that did not match her status as a master healer.
This person was none other than the Valley Master of the Spring-Return Valley, Bai Lumian.
Just as she was feeling bored, the temperature of the surrounding air suddenly plummeted.
Specks of crystalline snowflakes drifted down, accompanied by a familiar cold fragrance.
A snowy-white, solitary figure suddenly appeared in the pavilion.
Bai Lumian blanked for a moment, and then joy welled up in her bright eyes. She hopped off the stone stool and ran over to the person in a few quick steps.
“Little Xue, you're here?”
She approached with a grin, but then immediately pulled a face on purpose, wearing a strange and teasing expression.
“Wait, that's not right. How do you have the time to visit me? Aren't you busy playing love-hate games with that nemesis of yours who's also your captive and Sword-Bearing Attendant?”
However, the expected reaction of Su Jinxue being provoked into embarrassed anger did not happen.
At this moment, on Su Jinxue's stunningly beautiful face, which was usually frozen for ten thousand years, was an extremely complex, conflicted expression that Bai Lumian had never seen before.
Her delicate eyebrows were tightly knitted together, and within those red eyes that had once looked down upon all living beings was a thin layer of watery mist, her cherry lips bitten hard by her pearly white teeth to leave a faint mark.
She looked exactly like a young wife who had suffered an immense grievance.
Bai Lumian's heart skipped a beat, and her mouth fell open in an 'O' shape.
Su Jinxue's very first words were shocking:
“Lumian, I want to kill Zhang Mingyuan!”
“Huh?!”
Bai Lumian was completely dumbfounded.
...
On the other side.
Zhang Mingyuan flew aimlessly through the sea of clouds. By the time he snapped out of it, he found himself in the northern plains territory, high in the sky above the Taixu Sacred Ground.
The moment he stopped, ripples appeared in the space before him, and a figure dressed in a moon-white Daoist robe with a transcendent, sage-like demeanor leisurely stepped out.
“Oh, what a rare guest.” The newcomer held a fly-whisk, a playful smile on his face.
“I thought you were busy at the Myriad Snow Palace, playing games like ‘Sacred Lord rearing’ or ‘captive pet roleplay,’ so busy that you couldn't tear yourself away. Who would have thought you'd have the leisure to visit my Taixu Sacred Ground?”
Lingxuzi started teasing him mercilessly the moment they met.
But contrary to expectation, Zhang Mingyuan's usual rebuttals and even more venomous counterattacks did not come.
At this moment, Zhang Mingyuan's brow was furrowed, his eyes filled with complexity, and his lips pressed into a tight, straight line.
“Old Xu,” he sighed deeply, “I think... I did something terrible.”
“Oh? What is it?” Lingxuzi raised an eyebrow, sensing that something was off.
Zhang Mingyuan warily scanned their surroundings. “There are too many eyes and ears here. Let's go to your ‘Boundless Realm beyond the Heavens.’ Otherwise, I won't dare speak.”
In the blink of an eye, the two had changed locations.
Here, the sky and earth merged into one. Beneath their feet was a vast, churning sea of clouds, and above their heads was an upside-down, boundless river of stars. The immortal spiritual energy was so dense it was almost tangible.
The two sat opposite each other at a stone table, upon which a pot of Enlightenment Tea, shimmering with Dao charm, had already been brewed.
“Speak, then. What is so mysterious?” Lingxuzi poured him a cup of tea.
“First, swear to the Heavenly Dao... No, swear to the Great Dao,” Zhang Mingyuan said with a solemn expression. “This matter must absolutely not reach a third pair of ears.”
Lingxuzi was startled.
This setup... This was a monumental piece of gossip! It was absolutely the kind that would make the front page of 《Secrets of the Immortal Sects》!
He put away his teasing attitude, solemnly raised four fingers, and swore to the heavens:
“I, Lingxuzi, swear upon my Dao Heart to the Great Dao. Unless external karma causes it to leak, I will never speak a single word of what Zhang Mingyuan tells me today! If I violate this oath, may my dignity as a man shrink by two and a half inches!”
As soon as the words fell, a mysterious force of law descended from the void, sealing the oath.
Only then did Lingxuzi pick up his teacup and take a leisurely sip. “Can you speak now?”
Zhang Mingyuan finally felt at ease. He looked left and right, and even swept his divine sense over the entire Boundless Realm beyond the Heavens to confirm no one was around before lowering his voice:
“I forced a kiss on Su Jinxue.”
“Pfft—!”
The top-grade Enlightenment Tea that Lingxuzi had just taken into his mouth, before he even had a chance to savor it, was sprayed entirely onto Zhang Mingyuan's face.
“W-What?! You, you, you... you forced a kiss on Su Jinxue?!”
“What?! You were force-kissed by Zhang Mingyuan?!!”
In the pavilion of the Spring-Return Valley, Bai Lumian jumped straight up from the ground.
She pointed a trembling finger at Su Jinxue, her expression even more terrified than if she had seen a ghost.
Su Jinxue's brow furrowed even tighter, the killing intent in her red eyes almost condensing into substance.
“Ahem...” Seeing this, Bai Lumian immediately reined in her shock and forced herself to calm down, putting on an air of righteous indignation.
“That scoundrel is simply too detestable! Absolutely out of his mind!”
However, her mind was already in absolute turmoil. Her inner shipper was screaming wildly and rolling all over the floor in pure joy!
Oh my god! A forced kiss! It was actually a forced kiss! This fellow Zhang Mingyuan is way too brave!
Even 《108 Ways to Handle Your Nemesis》 didn't have such a thrilling move!
“What is my Little Xue's status?” Bai Lumian lamented with a look of deep distress while celebrating wildly in her heart.
“She is the sole descendant of the Myriad Snow Palace across the ages, the only Red Dust Immortal in this world!”
“What kind of trash is that Zhang Mingyuan?”
“He's just some wild brat who crawled out of who-knows-where!”
“He only got incredibly lucky, climbing up from a low-level rogue cultivator to a position where he can barely catch my Little Xue's eye!”
“I want to kill him,” Su Jinxue coldly interrupted her “performance.”
“Cough!” Bai Lumian was nearly choked to death by Su Jinxue's simple and violent train of thought.
Kill him? If you kill him, what am I supposed to ship?
Seeing that the cold aura around Su Jinxue was growing heavier and heavier, as if she would rush over to Zhang Mingyuan and tear him into pieces the very next second, Bai Lumian hurriedly stepped forward and hugged her tightly.
“Oh, my Little Xuexue, don't be angry, don't be angry. It's not worth getting mad over someone like him.”
Bai Lumian pulled Su Jinxue's delicate body into her embrace, gently patting her back in a soothing tone.
Her body exuded a refreshing fragrance of vegetation, which was always comforting to smell.
“No more anger, no more anger, be good...”
She comforted her softly, her palm gently stroking Su Jinxue's smooth, long hair. “Since he dared to bully you, we can't just let it go. But killing him directly is too easy on him, and it makes our Little Xue look narrow-minded.”
In her embrace, Su Jinxue's body was still stiff, but that overwhelming killing intent had lessened considerably.
Seeing this, Bai Lumian's eyes darted around as a plan formed in her mind.
She coaxed Su Jinxue into sitting down, then leaned close to her ear, lowering her voice to a mysterious tone, like best friends sharing secrets, and began to scheme.
“Listen to me, Little Xue. To get even, we have to ruin his reputation and make him regret ever crossing you! We'll do this and that, and then we'll do this other thing...”
“Will... that really work?”
In the Boundless Realm beyond the Heavens, Zhang Mingyuan wiped the tea from his face and asked with some hesitation.
“Trust me, it'll definitely work!” Lingxuzi beat his chest, spit flying as he analyzed.
“What does a woman like Su Jinxue care about most? Her reputation!”
“Now that you have dirt on her, it's equivalent to grabbing her by the throat! We have to strike while the iron is hot and turn our defense into offense...”
Listening to Lingxuzi's lengthy speech, Zhang Mingyuan's brow relaxed at times and furrowed at others.
Finally, he slapped his thigh.
“Alright then! Since things have come to this, we can only do it this way!”
Meanwhile.
In a pitch-black, freezing, and boundless void.
Nian'an, who had been forgotten for who knew how long, was curling up in a corner, shivering as she hugged her knees.
“Waaaah... Is anyone there?”
“Someone please let me out!!!”
“Lord Immortal... Nian'an will never dare to do it again... waaaah...”
Only a dead silence answered her.
Rate on N.U.
