The Jiu Ling Palace welcomed its first summer of the year. As the accumulated snow from throughout the year melted, it revealed a touch of tender green that should have existed in the snow-covered ground.
However, as soon as night fell, the melted snow would re-congeal. Heavy snow fell at night, and winter and summer seasons alternated day and night. This strange and eerie weather was chilling.
A wave of cold swept through the river pool of the Wei Yang Palace. The lotus flowers that bloomed during the day instantly turned into ice sculptures. An icy chill that seeped into the bones pervaded the entire Jiu Ling Palace, instantly gilded with a layer of silver frost.
Fortunately, Ye Ziling had prepared in advance, changing into a white fox fur padded blanket at night and covering herself with a thick duvet.
She never liked fox fur before, but now she could not let go of it.
In the middle of the night, she dreamt that Sister Bi was scolding her fiercely in the Underworld, calling her heartless, accusing her of disregarding sisterly affection, and extending her claws to her neck. Hatred surged from her eyes, and she tightened her grip on her neck with fierce force.
A sense of suffocation welled up in her heart.
The candlelight flickered unsteadily in the hazy mist. She could not see Bi Luo’s ferocious and distorted expression clearly, only hearing her voice grow fainter and fainter, eventually disappearing without a trace.
Ye Ziling sat up, seizing two unfamiliar wrists and pinning the person onto the bed. She quickly took out a silver hairpin from under the pillow and pressed it against the person’s neck.
As the silver hairpin touched the young man’s neck, the cold sensation made him tremble all over, his Adam’s apple bobbing twice.
Seeing Shen Yan’s face clearly, Ye Ziling ruthlessly pushed him off the bed.
“Bang–”
The young man’s back hit the hard floor, and he could not help but let out a muffled groan of pain. Then, he straightened up and knelt below the bed.
The fear on his face had not yet subsided. Like a lamb being led to the slaughter, the roots of his ears were redder than he could bear.
Ye Ziling’s worst expectation was that Ling Xi, that persistent and lecherous vagabond, would climb into her bed in the middle of the night. Little did she know there would be something even worse.
“Presumptuous.” Ye Ziling spoke sternly, pulling a corner of the quilt to drape over her shoulders. She cast a cold glance at the person below the bed, the killing intent in her eyes intensifying. Her tone was colder than the surrounding air.
“Palace Master, forgive me. It’s snowing outside, and I was worried you would catch a chill. I specifically brought two padded blankets.”
Shen Yan was wearing a fox fur coat, his clothes neatly arranged and intact. Beside the bed lay two neatly folded padded blankets, seemingly indicating he was not lying.
However, she could feel that this body seemed to be strongly resisting something, which was why she had suddenly woken up from her dream.
This body was indeed strange. When it was close to other men, it resisted strongly. Only when it was close to Ling Xi did it do the exact opposite.
She had previously issued an order that disciples were not allowed to step into the Wei Yang Palace. Apart from Mu Heng, not even the attending disciples were kept, and she had set up a ward. How did this boy get in?
Due to the cold weather, the young man’s face appeared purer than the white snow. His long eyelashes fluttered gently, like butterfly wings about to take flight. He knelt with an innocent expression.
The more she looked, the more familiar this face seemed, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
“Speak, how did you get in?” Ye Ziling asked word by word, her voice as cold as if it came from hell.
“I walked in,” Shen Yan murmured with his head bowed, his eyes drifting, his expression nonchalant.
Ye Ziling’s eyes curved as she chuckled, covering her mouth. “Walked in?”
If it were that simple, why would he be so evasive?
“Tell me, how did you walk in? This ward I set up, unless one’s cultivation is stronger than mine, it cannot be broken. If your cultivation had reached such a level, would you beg me to take you as a disciple?”
The young man looked up, his dark eyes meeting Ye Ziling’s. He pursed his lips slightly, his expression calm.
Instead of answering, he asked, “Is the Palace Master’s attribute ice? If it merges with the surrounding environment of the same attribute, the ward will break on its own.”
Ye Ziling was slightly taken aback.
It seemed there was such a saying.
“Leave,” she ordered coldly.
Shen Yan left the Wei Yang Palace as instructed.
Ye Ziling was a light sleeper. Once woken up at night, it was difficult for her to fall asleep again.
Wearing a snow-white fur cape, she walked out of the palace and gazed at the vast expanse of swirling snowflakes, her mood complicated.
When no one was around, she found herself unconsciously playing with the snow on the ground. By the time she realized it, she had already rolled a handful of white snow into a ball in her palm.
She looked at the crystal-clear snowball in her palm and could not help but lower her head and smile. Her smile was like a snow lotus blooming on an ice mountain, eclipsing the sun, moon, and stars.
A gust of wind blew, ruffling a few strands of her dark hair at her temples. She slightly tilted her head, her dark hair flying in the wind.
Suddenly, she felt someone watching her from behind. She turned around and met a piercing gaze.
The owner of that gaze was Ling Xi.
Her smile froze instantly.
Ling Xi stood in the snow, his snow-white fox fur setting off his heroic and handsome demeanor. His deep, sea-like pupils became even more profound, making him unfathomable.
He curved his lips into a smile and walked towards her slowly.
When he arrived at Jiu Ling Palace today, the weather was scorching hot. At night, it was heavy snow. This weather was just like him, sometimes smiling like the warm spring sun, and sometimes like a vast ice glacier.
Capricious and unpredictable, changing seasons, making people unable to understand him.
She watched him approach step by step until his figure was completely enveloped in shadow.
“Miss Ye, you seem to be in high spirits,” Ling Xi said softly, his voice deep.
He stood in the snow, his fair skin and the silver fox fur complementing each other, making him look both elegant and noble, yet also somewhat incongruous.
“Young Scholar Ling is not sleeping, but out in the snow in the middle of the night?” Ye Ziling replied indifferently, not looking at him.
Ling Xi’s smile deepened, the meaning in his eyes difficult to fathom. “This is called appreciating the snow.”
Ye Ziling ignored him and walked towards the sleeping quarters, coldly leaving behind, “Then suit yourself.”
A soft chuckle suddenly reached Ye Ziling’s ears. She stopped and, upon turning around, saw Ling Xi’s claw almost landing on her hair bun.
She lowered her gaze, saw a mischievous glint in his eyes, and then sidestepped, avoiding his outstretched arm.
Ling Xi’s eyes flickered with amusement as he continued to advance. He extended a palm, and a gust of wind whistled forth, bringing with it a biting cold wind that ruffled the stray hairs on her forehead.
Ye Ziling’s gaze sharpened. She lightly tapped the ground with her toes, spun, and jumped to dodge his attack.
Unexpectedly, he blocked her arm. With a surge of strength, he almost spun her into his embrace.
The two of them paused slightly.
A warm touch landed on her side bun. Ling Xi reached out and removed a withered leaf from her hair bun.
Taking advantage of his moment of distraction, Ye Ziling kicked out. He tilted his head to avoid it and, following suit, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. Her steps became unsteady. Just as she was about to grab something to steady herself, she accidentally touched a mechanism on the rockery, and the stone slab beneath her feet suddenly collapsed.
Ye Ziling lost her balance and leaned backward. Just as she was about to fall, Ling Xi, with quick hands, grabbed her wrist.
Her body hung in mid-air. Rubble and accumulated snow rolled down beside her. The deep pit below was bottomless, and the sound of falling stones was long in coming.
The depth of this hole exceeded her expectations. Even more frustrating was that the opening seemed to possess a strong suction force, and she felt her body being pulled down by this inexplicable power.
She tried her best to use her immortal power to resist, but Ling Xi, holding her wrist, had no immortal power around him, so she could only rely on his wrist to remain suspended in the air.
“Hold on to me.”
Ling Xi uttered the three words in a low voice, the smile on his lips gone. He tightly grasped her wrist.
Ye Ziling had no choice but to grit her teeth and grip his arm, using his strength to climb back onto the ground.
Just as she was about to climb up, a vine emerged from the abyss. The two were entangled by the vine, and their bodies were suddenly pulled into the deep hole.
At this moment, a young man in a blue robe, wearing a fox fur coat, slowly stood behind the rockery, a dark smile curving his lips.