The cold bit into Chen Yue’s hands and feet.
Dressed in nothing but a thin robe, she could feel the frost gnawing at her skin.Her fingers were numb, her face reddened by the freezing wind.
I’m cold.
Too cold.
My hands… I can barely feel them anymore.
Kneeling in the snow, she trembled uncontrollably.
The summit was merciless, swept by violent winds that seemed eager to throw her into the abyss below.Snow crunched beneath her knees.
Even the slightest movement felt like torture.
Standing before her, the young man walked slowly across the snow barefoot.
His footsteps were silent.
Almost unreal.
As though the cold itself could not touch him.
How can he walk like that?
As if the snow doesn’t affect him at all… When he reached her, he crouched down.
With a sudden movement, he grabbed her face.
His dark eyes studied her with a burning intensity that was almost unbearable.
Her heart lurched.
Her breath caught in her throat.
He leaned so close that she could feel his warm breath against her skin, a violent contrast to the frozen air surrounding them.
Blushing despite the cold burning her cheeks, she placed her hands over his to push him away.
He was far too close.
Dangerously close.
But suddenly, his grip tightened.
His powerful fingers dug into her flesh.
“Let go…” she whispered, her voice trembling with pain and fear.
He released her immediately, a rough sigh escaping his lips.
Rising abruptly, he lifted his face toward the dark clouds above and shouted: “So this is the one you sent to free me, Mother?!
This is the one you chose?!” His voice echoed across the mountain, powerful and heart-wrenching.
Chen Yue shivered.
That cry was not merely anger.
It was raw pain.
Betrayal.
What is he talking about?
Who is his mother?
Exhausted, she struggled to stand.
Her legs buckled beneath her.
She had to steady herself against an icy rock, the freezing surface biting into her palms.
I have to stay standing.
Don’t fall.
Don’t let him see… He turned back toward her.
His gaze burned with fury and contempt.
Slowly, he approached her again, locking eyes with hers.
The distance between them shrank, filling the air with electric tension.
“Mother chose you… but I did not.
You are not worthy of me,” he spat coldly.
The words struck her like slaps across the face.
Not worthy?
Not worthy?!
Something inside her shattered.
All those years of mistreatment, humiliation, rejection… everything resurfaced at once.
She clenched her fists.
A fragile yet fierce flame ignited within her eyes.
She straightened herself, swaying slightly, but remained standing.
No.
Never again would she allow herself to be looked down upon.
“And who do you think you are?!” she shot back, her voice vibrating with unexpected strength.
“I don’t know who your mother is, and I have no desire to meet her.
Least of all you!
You’re free now, so let each of us walk our own path!” She turned away and walked off with uncertain yet proud steps.
Every step was a victory against the pain, against the cold… against him.
I am not weak.
I am not worthless.
“You should watch your tongue…” he said in a low, dangerous voice.
She stopped instantly, her back stiffening.
“If only you knew… who I truly am.” Behind her, he stood there with his arms crossed, imposing and overwhelming.His shadow stretched across the snow before her like a giant beast.
Chen Yue could feel his presence behind her — immense, crushing.
A heavy silence settled between them, broken only by the wind whistling through the frozen trees.
She refused to turn around, unwilling to give him the satisfaction.
I don’t care who you are.
I’m leaving.
Eventually, they parted ways.
Chen Yue headed toward the village far below the mountain.
But before she could reach it, she had to cross the vast forest stretching along the mountainside — dark, silent, and endless.
Snow began to fall softly, slowly covering their footprints, as though the mountain itself wished to erase all memory of their meeting.
The snowflakes settled upon her hair and shoulders, melting against her feverish skin.
Struggling through the forest as the snowfall grew heavier, she moved forward with trembling steps.
The cold pierced deep into her bones.
Rubbing her arms endlessly only created the illusion of warmth.
Keep going.
Keep walking.
You can’t stop.
Her numb, bare feet screamed in agony with every step.
She had torn pieces from her robe and wrapped them around her feet to lessen the icy bite of the snow.
Every breath she exhaled turned into white mist.
The torn fabric left streaks of blood across the pristine snow.
But she could no longer feel the pain.
Only the cold.
Night had already swallowed the mountain.
Everything around her looked the same: dark tree trunks, shifting shadows, branches bending beneath the weight of snow.
She felt as though she were walking in circles, trapped inside a labyrinth of silent trees.
Where is the village?
Where am I…?
She had been walking for hours.
Her legs trembled violently.
Her vision blurred from time to time.
I can’t die here.
Not like this.
Not alone in this forest.
Something disturbed the silence.
Whispers.
Soft murmurs surrounding her from every direction.
As though invisible beings were watching from afar, waiting for her to collapse.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She tried to ignore the voices, but they seemed to draw closer, slipping between the trees like murmuring wind.
“Calm down… it’s nothing…” she whispered shakily.
But deep down, she knew something was following her.
She could feel eyes on the back of her neck.
Presences moving within the darkness.
Don’t look back.
Keep walking.
Her frozen legs refused to move.
Yet stopping was impossible.
She had to reach the village.
She had to survive.
The moon rose high into the sky, pale and radiant, illuminating the forest with cold silver light.
Moonbeams filtered through the snow-covered branches, painting silver shadows across the ground.
She lifted her eyes toward the heavens.
For a fleeting moment, that pale light felt like a promise — as though the moon itself was offering her a fragment of hope.
The moon… It’s so beautiful.
But suddenly, her legs gave out.
She collapsed to her knees in the snow, gasping for breath.
Her hairpin loosened, allowing her long black hair to spill over her shoulders.
Her hands dug into the snow as anger flooded her chest.
“No… not now…” she whispered brokenly.
I’m almost there… The village must be close… Just a few more meters, perhaps.
But the exhaustion, the cold, the pain… everything blurred together.
Her body finally gave in.
She collapsed onto the frozen snow.
I’m sorry… I can’t go on anymore… Nearby, only a few steps away, lay a half-frozen lake.
Her hand rested near the edge, touching the icy water.
The moon reflected upon its surface like a shattered mirror of light.
Then the water beneath the ice trembled.
Something moved in the depths.
A shape slowly emerged.
A supernatural being, translucent and soaked in pale moonlit water.
Its liquid-shadow arms stretched toward her, icy fingers reaching dangerously close to her face.
This is the end… I’m going to die… She no longer had the strength to scream.No longer had the strength to move.
Her eyes slowly closed.
She surrendered herself to death.
But before the creature could touch her, a silhouette appeared between them.
Him.
He had returned.
His gaze was dark, deep, incandescent.
The lake creature let out a silent shriek upon recognizing him before dissolving into thousands of shimmering snowflakes drifting gently through the air.
The creature vanished as though it had never existed.
He walked toward Chen Yue while snowflakes floated around them.
Raising his eyes toward the moon, he seemed to draw strength from it for what he was about to do.
Slowly, he bent down beside her.
His fingers brushed against her frozen face, gently moving strands of hair away from her skin.
When he lifted her into his arms, the tip of his nose brushed softly against hers.
So cold.
So fragile.
Her eyes barely opened.
Their breaths mingled within the freezing air.
An unreal silence suspended time itself.
“You… came back…” she whispered so faintly he could barely hear her.
He stared at her for a long moment, intensely, as though he were truly seeing her for the first time.
Something changed in his gaze.
An unexpected softness.
A fleeting vulnerability.
Then, without another word, he vanished as suddenly as he had appeared.
Carrying her in his arms.
Leaving behind the sleeping forest, the frozen lake, and the moon shining above them — silent witness to their intertwined destiny.
Within his embrace, she finally felt warmth.
A warmth that chased away the cold.
A warmth that pushed back death itself.
And before consciousness abandoned her completely, she understood that an irreversible bond had just formed between them.
New chapters every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 🖤