The Ice Temple in the Mountains
“Trivia: It is a temple entirely made of ice, believed to be magically constructed from the creator’s deep cultivation. Muxue Yan erected the temple in loving memory of his beloved late wife, Ao Yun. His descendants believed this temple to have consisted of
Xiyu realised her emotions were taking over her and remembered to keep up her pretence of the icy-cold witch.“You… healed me,” she repeated coldly. “How did you do it, Young Master Zhan?”
(Hours later)"Young Master Zhan."
When she woke up again some hours later, Dongyue was asleep in the corner while curled in a ball. She didn’t know how torturous it was for a pampered young master like him to be subjected to such conditions of living like a servant since her life as a proprietress and a Muxue descendant was much of a struggle.
Her eyes glistened with the sensuality of her magic. They had already been in the Ice Temple for three days straight, and she had lost count of the date. But why was her need arising again? Was the fifteenth of the lunar month near?Wait, they were inside a strange place that likely had a time of its own, she t
“Xiao Tian, how did you know that Muxue Yan is the key to us leaving this place?” Dongyue asked his friend.Xiao Tian chuckled and pointed to the book in front of him, where the title of the book was written in a not-so-ancient script, “Secrets of the Ice Temple”. Xiao Tian further revea
The red vials opened with a pop as Dongyue removed their caps. Xiyu understood the risk, identifying the vials carefully with her magic. She immediately confirmed that the potions contained within had health-improving properties, but it was not tellable if somebody had tainted the concoctions at any point.
Staring at Dongyue with her eyes dazzling in the luminance of the room, Xiyu hesitated. Dongyue just held her close to him.“We shouldn’t spend too much time here,” he advised. “The creatures may still be at large, and we have yet to find our way around the temple.”
Eventually, everything stopped whizzing around and came to a total standstill. Xiyu’s intuition told her that the teleportation had succeeded, and they were all now in a different room. In comparison to the darker room earlier, this room was brighter and had lighter tones to its walls and floors, giving rise to hope. She marvelled at the magic of the platform, having never come across such a contraption.
It felt like only yesterday they had come to Xuancang Mountains. Now, it was time for the couple to bid their goodbyes to the structure, that would always remain a mystery to Zhan Dongyue. Save for making a few final arrangements, the three of them, along with Xiao Tian, were prepared to seal the temple and return to the island. Xiyu was mindful of how long it had been since she had left the island into the portal that led into the Xuancang Mountains. She missed her lands and her people, but a question remained in her mind. Would they ever be able to return to Xuancang again, if they wished? “Is everything ready?” Xiyu asked Dongyue. She noticed how forlorn he had been after she had revealed the truth of how the bulls had treated their companions. However, there was nothing much he could do at this point, and Yan had already decreed for the bulls to be executed for treason some days ago. “Master is still by Goddess Ao Yun’s coffin, bidding his goodbyes,” Comm
As with the announcement the other day, drums sounded again to assemble them at the hall of Muxue Yan’s chambers. By now, Xiyu was beginning to realise her biological father had regained most, if not all, of his lost powers. Her ‘mother’ had often told her stories of how the chained man in the mountains had met his demise.Now that she thought of it, what had those tales, that she had heard so clearly even from others, said? The chained man had been betrayed by his kin. Though she was unclear of the identities of the people who had gone against him, she knew their combined powers had to be akin to his, or even more powerful to overwhelm him. She would never fathom the pain of betrayal.Beside Yan, Dongyue was her only kin now, having forged the union of a soul and ritual bonding along with marriage. The union would strengthen their ties in time to come, and if they performed dual-cultivation, they could work their ways to become an unparalleled pair.&
Dongyue slipped her out of her garments readily. He took her by the hand, leading her to the end of the room. He pulled on a small hidden lever in the Temple to reveal an unseen exit. This exit, surprisingly, took them into another room, a bathroom. It had not occurred to her how he had found out about this room’s existence, or why Muxue Yan needed to build a bathroom in his temple. As an extension of his mind and wishes, bricks and earth did not make the structure, but the power he had come to own after being corrupted by evil.
Everything was faint when Xiao Tian opened his eyes. It was like he was reliving his nightmare. The first time, he had been a swordsman, practising the arts in the solitude of the mountains, when they were all assaulted by a group of masked invaders. His master was nowhere to be found, and his martial brothers were massacred.They had been murdered over gold and a f
“Xiyu, are you alright?” Dongyue appeared concerned.She was looking blankly at the walls of her rooms, still absorbed by Yan’s words earlier. She had come to appreciate that in Muxue, marriage was more of an obligation rather than due to love. She saw the same for the other residents of the island. Wang Xi’er had been offered to Hanshan in marriag
Hours later, Xiyu found herself standing, now in a bright commemorative red dress, in an assembly as Yan made his speech majestically from a stage. Dongyue was beside her, similarly dressed in a red matching suit. Now that her spellcasting abilities were restored and her health back to almost her usual self, she appeared striking. Red appeared to accentuate her snowy-white skin.
It was a wondrous feeling for her.Dongyue’s gaze never left hers, deeply immersed in the mystery behind the galaxy of emotions within her dazzling supernovas. Like in the ritual chambers, she lost all sensation of pain, allowing him to wrap her intimately around his larger torso.
Ritual (continued)Dongyue knew from what he had read that within minutes he would temporarily relinquish control over his own body, submitting to the call of desire. He had no idea what that meant, but possibly that was what Xiyu was going through at the moment. He looked at her, and his chest throbb
“Xiyu, Xiyu. You must not sleep,” Dongyue strived to speak emotionally, confused by all what was going through him now. His eyes were now streaked with tears; the connection was weak. She was in imminent danger. Pain shot through his abdomen, mirroring what she was going through at the same time.Xiyu was unconscious but shivering badly, with beads of cold swe