The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

The moonlight was like silk, its clear radiance filling the courtyard.

He Lichen turned his head slightly to the side.

Dewdrops and pearls, frost and snow on high mountains—the words people use to describe him are always cold.

But at this moment, the tips of my ears seemed to be raging like wildfire, spreading all the way to the side of my neck.

That touch of pale red is the first stroke of cinnabar spreading on the plain white Xuan paper, the first wisp of spring water quietly flowing beneath a snowfield frozen for a thousand years.

The celestial being's descent into the mortal world likely began with this very color.

And she was the one who wrote it.

"That's a fact, of course."

He met her misty gaze directly.

"I never lie."

The moment their eyes met, a tree of dazzling blossoms bloomed freely in those eyes that were usually as white as snow falling on a thousand mountains.

Each petal trembled gently in the wind, telling of those unspoken, profound heart-fluttering feelings that were deeper than the star trails.

"Zhizhi is my wife."

"It was my journey to the mortal realm, to attend a starry feast."

"It was true before, it is true now, and it will be true in the future."

He raised his eyes, and the ancient, silent starry sky in them suddenly felt warm.

"This is not a statement. It is the will of my heart."

His voice was more solemn than any vow.

"On my natal chart, every tribulation is inscribed with your name, and I can't bear to erase it."

It was clearly the coldest tone, yet it was inexplicably scorching.

Like a cluster of eerie flames burning in the snow, cold and heat coexisted contradictorily within him.

Beneath the surface of abstinence, desire is slowly awakening inch by inch within the very bones.

"Yeah?"

Tang Xixue's lips curved upwards, her smile resembling a begonia quietly blooming in the dark night.

She raised her hand, her fingertips gently touching his heart.

Through the thin layer of snow-white fabric, she could clearly feel the powerful and rapid throbbing beneath.

"But I'm not Brother Huaixian's wife yet."

Her finger drew a tiny circle on his heart, the touch as light as a feather brushing across water.

But that slightly cool touch stirred up a tidal wave within him.

"Brother Huaixian, are you so sure?"

She tilted her head, her peach blossom eyes sparkling with a mischievous glint, like a little raccoon who had stolen a fish but was pretending to be innocent.

"What if I run away? What if..."

Tang Xixue deliberately dragged out the last syllable, watching his pupils contract slightly, before slowly uttering the last few words.

"What if I don't want you anymore?"

This was meant as a joke, with a hint of playful laughter at the end.

But as soon as she spoke, she saw the darkness in He Lichen's eyes suddenly gather.

Like dark clouds pressing down, like surging tides.

That was a storm she had never seen in his eyes before—deep, turbulent, almost tearing that cold, aloof shell to shreds.

The usually composed and unflappable Grand Preceptor was now even losing his composure in breathing.

He suddenly reached out and grasped the hand she had placed on his heart.

It's not about holding it lightly, it's about gripping it tightly.

He feared that if he let go, she would slip away through his fingers like a ray of moonlight.

"Weaving."

He Lichen's voice finally showed emotion, no longer as calm as before.

Like a string that has been stretched for too long, it was finally plucked by her fingers and could no longer maintain its perfect curve.

"If you try to run away, I will chase you. I will chase you to the ends of the earth, to the very edge of the Milky Way."

If you don't want me...

He leaned down slightly, his usually aloof eyes now only inches from hers, a hidden undercurrent of suppressed emotion surging within them.

"Then I will keep waiting. Waiting for you to change your mind, waiting for you to look at me once."

His voice was hoarse and low.

"Ten years or a hundred years, it doesn't matter. I've already waited this long, so I don't care how many more lifetimes I have to wait."

He looked down at her, his eyes filled with a mixture of darkness and tenderness.

"But I won't let go. Zhizhi, I can't do it. Even if you call me obsessive, call me crazy, I'll accept it."

He chuckled softly, a laugh tinged with self-deprecation.

"Everyone says that the Grand Preceptor is untouched by worldly affairs, but they don't know that I have simply poured all my worldly thoughts into you alone."

"I am yours. I belong to you alone."

When He Lichen said those four words, the blush on the tips of her ears had spread to the side of her neck, like white jade infused with the glow of the sunset, like red plum blossoms blooming in the snow.

But he stubbornly finished speaking.

You can't leave me.

He lowered his head, his forehead gently touching hers, their breaths mingling.

"I'm afraid I'll really go crazy."

His voice was as soft as a sigh, yet as heavy as a shackle.

Tang Xixue's heart skipped a beat at that moment.

She saw herself reflected in those usually aloof eyes.

It's not a reflection, but a mark etched into the very marrow of one's bones.

She had seen too many different sides of He Lichen.

Aloof, ascetic, composed, and unassuming.

He is the national teacher revered by all under heaven. He sits upright on the cloud platform, overlooking all living beings. He never loses his composure, never panics, and is never swayed by anything.

But at this moment, he has shed all pretense and armor.

He presented her with his burning, trembling heart, hidden beneath layers of ice and snow, without reservation.

It's as if it's saying, "Zhizhi, look, it's jumping so fast for you. Do you want to accept it?"

With utmost devotion, I waited for her to catch me.

"Fool."

Tang Xixue said softly.

Her voice was as pure as the first snowflakes, white when they fell on the branches, and warm when they melted in the palm of your hand.

She stood on tiptoe and put her hands on his shoulders.

"How could I not want you?"

"It's not that the mountains and rivers are inherently colorful, but that they become poetry the moment you see them."

Her breath brushed against his lips, carrying the sweet fragrance of a newly blossoming crabapple. She gently pressed her lips to the corner of his.

"Brother Huaixian, it's official. You've been mine for a long time."

It was a light kiss.

As light as moonlight brushing against a flower stamen.

"I've plucked this star from the sky. From now on, it will shine only on me."

Her lips were as soft as clouds; a gentle touch would send them drifting away.

Ke Helichen did not ask her to step back.

His arms tightened instantly, encircling her waist and pulling her into his embrace.

Her back pressed against a pillar in the corridor, the cool jade pendant sending a slight chill through her clothes.

But the person in front of me was burning hot, like a ball of fire.

Cold and heat exploded simultaneously on her body, like a crack suddenly appearing in the ice, from which lava surged forth.

"not enough."

He Lichen's voice was low and hoarse.

The two words were uttered from his lips, each syllable like a piece of jade polished by sandpaper.

There is a deadly sexiness in its roughness, and a danger of losing control hidden in its restraint.

That was the first sigh uttered by the banished immortal as he fell into the mortal world.

It was the crisp sound of ice breaking.

It was the final silence before the avalanche.

"Zhizhi...Brother Huaixian wants more."

He Lichen's hand slid from her waist to the back of her neck.

Long, slender fingers ran through her hair and gently supported the back of her head.

The movement carried an irresistible sense of control.

It wasn't coercion, it was an invitation.

It was a message to her that at this moment, he could not turn back, and she could not escape either.

Then, he lowered his head.

That gentle kiss turned into a lingering, passionate kiss.

When his lips covered hers, Tang Xixue felt as if she were enveloped by a warm galaxy.

That was He Lichen's scent, clear and crisp, carrying the cool fragrance of plum blossoms in early winter.

But it became scalding hot the moment it touched her.

Like a cluster of eerie flames secretly hidden in the snow, beneath its icy exterior lies a temperature hot enough to melt a person.