The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Brother Huaixian, you are truly insatiable."

The snow on Tangxi seemed to both refuse and welcome.

"Yes, Zhizhi is right."

He Lichen responded with a soft laugh.

The kiss was initially restrained.

His lips lightly covered hers, and he deliberately slowed his breathing.

But she didn't push him away.

Instead of pushing him away, she reached out and grabbed his collar.

The moon-white crane cloak was creased deeply by her slender fingers, as if she were pulling him down from the clouds and into this scorching mortal world.

He pulled it into her palm.

His kisses gradually became more passionate.

From a superficial understanding to a deeper one.

The tongue traces and twists, with a kind of almost pious patience.

That wasn't a kiss.

It was a silent pilgrimage.

He regarded her as his goddess, offering her all his faith and desire.

At this moment, the abstinent Imperial Preceptor finally revealed a trace of his mortal heart.

Her breaths mingled with his, and they couldn't tell whose heartbeat was lasting until death.

She smelled the faint fragrance of winter plum blossoms on him. The fragrance was originally very clear and crisp, but at this moment it seemed to be intoxicated by the spring scenery of the garden, becoming lingering and tender.

She felt as if she had fallen into a beautiful dream from which she could not wake up.

"Brother Huaixian..."

She called out to him in a muffled voice, her tone as soft and sweet as melted sugar.

When those two words escaped her lips, she felt the arms around her waist tighten suddenly.

His breathing suddenly became rapid.

The warm breath brushed against her cheek, accompanied by suppressed, almost uncontrollable low breaths.

Each scald made her heart tremble.

"Weaving."

He Lichen's voice was terribly hoarse, and he tried his best to control it.

He stepped back slightly, his nose brushing against hers.

Those usually cool and aloof eyes were now veiled with a thin layer of mist, and the corners of their eyes were tinged with a light blush.

Say it again.

"Say you won't leave me. Say it again, okay?"

His voice trembled slightly, not as a command, but as a plea.

Tang Xixue raised her head and looked into his eyes.

At this moment, it is filled with anxiety and uncertainty.

It's not about control, not about certainty; it's an almost humble plea.

She suddenly felt as if her heart had been violently squeezed, the pain making her nose sting.

The moon, which is unattainable in the eyes of the world, is now looking at her with a pair of almost broken eyes, as if awaiting a judgment.

And she was the only one who could decide his life or death.

I want you.

Tang Xixue raised her hand, cupped his face, and gently brushed her fingertips across the corners of his reddened eyes.

"Brother Huaixian, listen carefully."

Each word was like a nail, driving his unease and fear into those words.

"I, Tang Xixue, want you."

"From this day forward, your starry sky will shine only on me, your horoscope will bear only my name, your—"

Before he could finish speaking, he kissed her again.

This time, we used more force and went deeper than before.

It's no longer about restraint and probing, but about possession and plunder.

He tightened his arms, pulling her completely into his embrace.

One hand was firmly gripping her lower back.

His other hand still supported the back of her head, forcing her to tilt her face up and accept all his desire.

Even through several layers of clothing, she could clearly feel every change in his body.

The celestial being, who usually sat aloof and untouchable on a high platform, was now revealing all his desires and vulnerabilities to her in a way he had never shown to anyone before.

He is both ice and fire.

Peach petals fell softly from the branches.

It fell on their intertwined shadows, and on her loose hair.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the flower branches, casting a hazy silver edge around the silhouettes of the two figures.

Like a watercolor painting that hasn't completely dried, the ink is still slowly spreading.

Time lost its meaning at this moment, and heaven and earth vanished into nothingness.

All that remained were their breaths and heartbeats.

Then, a voice came from the end of the corridor.

The sound was clear and bright, like jade striking each other, but at this moment it was as cold as if it had been quenched with ice.

"He Lichen".

The moment the sound fell, the peach blossoms on the tree seemed to tremble.

He Lichen stopped moving.

He stepped back slightly, the warmth of her lips still lingering on his lips, the undercurrent of passion in his eyes not yet completely subsided.

He turned his head and met a pair of cold, frosty eyes at the end of the corridor.

Xie Jinlian stood there.

A moon-white robe fluttered in the night wind, her silver hair was like snow, and between her brows and eyes was the unyielding ice of the Kunlun Mountains.

His hand rested on the hilt of the Butterfly Sword, his knuckles turning slightly white.

"Let her go."

Each syllable sounds as if it were crushed from the depths of ice.

He Lichen did not immediately loosen her grip.

He glanced down at Tang Xixue in his arms and gently straightened her disheveled clothes.

Then, he raised his eyes and met that chilling gaze.

The curve of her lips was as faint as a wisp of cloud about to dissipate; her voice remained cool and clear, yet carried a hint of languid contentment.

"Brother Xie, your timing is unfortunate."

"Zhizhi is having a philosophical discussion with me."

He paused slightly, his fingertips brushing against the lingering rouge on the corner of his lips.

"You'd better not disturb them."

"Discussing the Way?"

Xie Jinlian raised an eyebrow slightly, his silver hair gleaming coldly in the moonlight, and the curve of his lips was as sharp as a knife.

"What a fine debate! Is what the Grand Preceptor practices some kind of unorthodox or heretical path?"

The smile in He Lichen's eyes faltered slightly.

Xie Jinlian added the next sentence slowly and deliberately, her tone filled with undisguised sarcasm.

"This is just a war of words; if we continue, shouldn't the Imperial Preceptor prove his wisdom through his own actions?"

Tang Xixue leaned against He Lichen's chest, breathing slightly heavily. Hearing her master's words, she couldn't help but smile.

"Pfft."

She raised her shimmering, watery eyes.

The blush at the corner of her eyes had not yet faded.

He curved his lips into a smile, his voice still slightly hoarse from being moved, yet he spoke slowly and deliberately, as if savoring a freshly brewed cup of tea.

"Master, you've come at just the right time. I was just about to invite you to admire the moon together when you arrived."

A night breeze swept by, and peach blossoms fell softly from the trees.

Two pairs of eyes met on her.

One was as cold as the snow on the summit of Kunlun Mountain, the other as hot as the fire deep within the starry sky.

She stood at the boundary between ice and fire, smiling calmly.

She has always been the master of this chaotic battlefield.

"I wanted to admire the moon..."

Xie Jinlian didn't want to admire the moon in the sky, but rather the moon on earth.

"Zhizhi, what's the point of discussing the Dao? Would you like to discuss swordsmanship with your master tonight?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Xixue's pretty face instantly turned red.