Complete silence blanketed the surroundings.
Standing at the center of the storm, Ruan Fu said nothing.
She kept her head down, her thick eyelashes casting delicate shadows beneath her eyes, looking as though nothing happening around her had anything to do with her.
Time ticked by, second by second, and none of the three spoke.
Finally, An Bei broke the deadlock.
“You know I won’t allow it.” He scoffed coldly, stepping forward to firmly shield Ruan Fu with his own body.
Looking up, his ice-blue eyes clearly reflected his younger brother’s current, fragile state.
“Why?” An Rui grabbed his arm, raising his voice in a bewildered demand.
“Why can you tolerate other males but not me?
I’m your brother!
For all these years, I’ve never asked you for anything.
Can’t I just have this one thing?”
From childhood to adulthood, he had never disobeyed An Bei in any way.
Initially, he had even wanted to give up; he had never intended to fight for her.
But An Bei’s attitude was so stubbornly rigid.
In his own way, he was forcing An Rui to fight, forcing him to demand answers.
By the time he finished speaking, An Rui’s voice was hoarse and his body trembled slightly.
Those few words had drained him of all his strength.
An Bei coldly pulled his arm free.
He looked calmly at his brother, then wrapped an arm around Ruan Fu’s shoulders.
His stance was crystal clear.
Parting his thin lips, he coldly spat out a single word: “No.”
Just like that, he pronounced the end of this negotiation.
Watching the retreating figures of An Bei and Ruan Fu walking shoulder to shoulder, An Rui felt an overwhelming bitterness rising in his throat.
Without a second of hesitation, his lower half shifted into a serpentine tail, and he lunged toward them.
The sharp sound of air tearing behind him made An Bei pause.
Without even turning his head, he simply raised a hand slightly, and his own serpentine tail lashed out to pin An Rui’s firmly to the ground.
Even using every ounce of his strength and gritting his teeth, An Rui could not break free from that emerald tail.
“You can’t beat me, so just give up.” Dropping those words, An Bei led Ruan Fu away, gradually fading from An Rui’s sight.
They walked for a long time before An Bei finally stopped.
Ruan Fu could clearly feel the beads of sweat seeping from his palms.
At the very least, he wasn’t as calm as he appeared.
An Bei tilted his head up to gaze at the bright, pure moonlight in the sky, then suddenly turned to look at Ruan Fu.
“Sit with me for a while?”
Not waiting for her answer, he sat down on the grassy ground.
His usually stern and aloof profile was surprisingly tinged with a hint of vulnerability.
Staring at the altar in the distance, he suddenly spoke.
“Don’t you have anything to ask me?”
“Hmm?” Ruan Fu paused, caught off guard, before replying without holding back.
“What would I have to ask you?
Isn’t this an issue between you two brothers?
What does it have to do with me?”
Hearing her words, An Bei suddenly started laughing.
“But we fought because of you, didn’t we?”
“No, you fought because there are underlying problems between the two of you.
It has nothing to do with me.
Even if it were someone else, you’d still argue.
So drop the ‘because of me’ excuse.” Ruan Fu curled her lips.
She wasn’t about to inexplicably take the blame for their fraternal discord.
Turning her head to look at An Bei, she realized he wasn’t angry at all.
Instead, he radiated a faint trace of excitement.
She wondered if he was a masochist at his core.
Shaking her head to toss the inappropriate thought aside, she listened as An Bei began to speak slowly beside her.
“Not long after An Rui was born, our parents died in an accident.
I was the one who raised him and took care of him.
“When he was little, his innate talent was low, so he couldn’t avoid being bullied by our clan members.
Back then, I hadn’t secured my position yet.
Afraid of causing me trouble, he always shouldered everything on his own to keep me from worrying.
“Later, after I secured the position of Clan Leader, I ruthlessly dealt with everyone who had bullied him.
I protected him so he would no longer get hurt, so he could grow up carefree.
“Rather than calling him my younger brother, it’d be more accurate to say he’s my son.
That’s why I…”
He rambled on, as if peeling back all the layers of his past and putting them on full display for Ruan Fu.
But she had absolutely no desire to listen.
She didn’t care about their past, and she cared even less about their relationship.
From the very beginning, all she needed was their protection, so their history meant nothing to her.
Still, Ruan Fu forced herself to stay awake and listen.
The more she listened, the sleepier she became, until she couldn’t help but lean her head against An Bei’s shoulder.
Hearing the calm, steady sound of her breathing, An Bei finally realized that Ruan Fu had fallen asleep.
Looking at her sleeping face, he chuckled softly and finished his sentence just to himself.
“…That’s why there’s no way I could accept you as our wife.”
An Bei sighed.
Carefully sliding his hand between his shoulder and her head, he gently supported her as he stood up.
Then, scooping her into a bridal carry, he headed toward his own cave.
He tucked Ruan Fu snugly beneath animal pelts.
Raising his hand, a wisp of black mist shot into the vines clinging to the cave walls.
The vines immediately grew wild and thick, weaving together to securely enclose her.
Only then did An Bei feel at ease, turning around to leave.
He was completely oblivious to the slight fluttering of Ruan Fu’s eyelashes behind him.
Later that night.
An Bei stepped into An Rui’s cave.
The ground was littered with shattered pottery shards.
His younger brother still had the same rotten temper as always; whenever he was upset, he loved to smash things.
Kicking aside the fragments blocking his path, An Bei glanced over and saw that the food on the table had been eaten clean.
A helpless smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
He walked over to the side of An Rui’s bed and reached out to touch his back.
An Rui turned over and sat up.
He lifted his eyelids to shoot An Bei a cold glare, then remained stubbornly silent.
Crouching down, An Bei grabbed his brother’s injured arm.
He took out the medicine bottle he had brought specifically for this and carefully applied the ointment.
During this entire process, neither brother said a word.
It wasn’t until the wound was freshly bandaged that An Bei cleared his throat.
“Do you really like her that much?
Does it have to be her?”
“When I first met her, I just thought she was pure and cute.
Later, I realized our situations were very similar, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for her.
And then, eventually…” An Rui paused, looking up at him with a dead-serious expression.
“Brother, is it that she isn’t good enough, or…?”
“Originally, I wanted to find you a good female and watch you marry and have children.
But you just had to set your heart on her, and I…” An Bei let out a weary sigh.
“I couldn’t accept sharing her with you, so…
that’s why I tried to talk you out of it again and again.
But now I can see clearly that you’re dead set on her.”
“Brother.” An Rui grabbed his arm just like he used to when they were kids, his tone turning affectionate and pleading.
“There’s nothing wrong with this.
It means you and I can stay together forever.”
“Maybe you’re right.
I’ll try to slowly accept it.”
Hearing An Bei’s words, An Rui instantly perked up with excitement.
Scarcely daring to believe it, he repeatedly asked for confirmation, “Brother, do you really mean it?”
An Bei nodded.
Originally, he never would have accepted it under any circumstances.
But just now, after pouring his heart out over there, he felt like it wasn’t such a big deal after all.
Besides, on the Tianbei Continent, this was an incredibly normal occurrence.
Furthermore, given Ruan Fu’s personality, if it weren’t An Rui, it would inevitably be someone else.
He’d much rather it be An Rui.
An Bei patted his brother’s shoulder.
“She’s resting in my room right now.
I have matters to attend to tomorrow, so you can escort her back.”
An Rui threw his arms around An Bei, his face practically overflowing with joy.
“Brother, you’re the best.”