He didn’t think of anything as he chased after Lin Ji’an.

"You cannot escape!" Lu Jianheng activated his Cloud-Stepping Boots. He soared over the herb patches, closing the distance in seconds.

He landed in front of her, cutting off her path.

"Caught you!" Lu Jianheng reached out to grab her shoulder.

Ji’an skidded to a halt. She reacted instinctively. She grabbed his outstretched arm, pivoted on her heel, and used his own momentum against him.

’Dough-Kneading Flip!’

She hauled him over her shoulder.

But Lu Jianheng was stubborn. As he went airborne, he grabbed onto her sash.

"Whoa!"

They both went down.

It was a tangle of limbs, white robes, and gray cloth. They tumbled down a small grassy slope, rolling over each other, ground, sky, ground, sky.

They came to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

Lu Jianheng was on his back. Lin Ji’an was straddling him, her hands pinned to his chest to break her fall.

Silence.

The birds chirped. The wind rustled the leaves.

Ji’an blinked, looking down.

Lu Jianheng was beneath her. His hair was messy, covered in flour. His chest was heaving. And his face... his face was turning a shade of red that rivaled the Crimson Fire Roots in Ji’an’s bag.

They were very close.

Ji’an could feel the hard muscle of his chest under her hands. Lu Jianheng could feel the weight of her body, surprisingly light, yet firm, pressing against his hips.

He stared up at her. At her flushed cheeks. At her lips, which were parted in surprise.

’What is this feeling?’ Lu Jianheng panicked. ’My heart rate is elevated. Is it anger? It must be anger. He threw flour at me. He stole my herbs. He is sitting on me.’

But why didn’t he want to push him off?

"You..." Lu Jianheng whispered, his voice cracking. "You are heavy."

"And you are pointy," Ji’an retorted, realizing his sword hilt was digging into her knee.

She scrambled off him, standing up and brushing herself off.

"Look, Young Sword Lord," Ji’an said, trying to regain her composure. "This has been fun. A real bonding experience. But I think I hear the guards coming."

It was a lie, but it worked. Lu Jianheng sat up, looking around frantically. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Guards?"

While he looked away, Ji’an activated her Shadow-Step (learned from watching Wangchen).

"Bye!"

She bolted into the dense forest, moving faster than a rabbit.

Lu Jianheng stood up. He didn’t chase her this time. He stood in the middle of the herb garden, covered in flour and grass stains.

He touched his chest where her hands had been. The warmth lingered.

He looked in the direction she had fled.

"A cook..." he muttered. "An Outer Disciple cook who can block my Cloud-Parting Slash."

He looked down at his sword. There was a tiny, barely visible scratch on the flat of the blade where the spatula had hit.

A slow, complicated smile spread across his face. It was the smile of a man who had found a new puzzle. A new obsession.

"He called me rigid," Lu Jianheng whispered, his eyes narrowing. "He said my form was messy."

He scoffed, dusting the flour off his sleeves with an aggressive flick.

"Arrogant brat. I will find him. I will find him, and I will force him to duel me properly. With real weapons."

He paused, a blush creeping up his ears again.

"...and maybe I will make him cook that soup he was talking about."

He turned to walk back to the Inner Sect, his stride purposeful. He didn’t realize that he was humming. Or that he had completely forgotten to report the theft.

.

.

.

Back in the safety of the Outer Sect Kitchen, Lin Ji’an leaned against the door, gasping for breath.

"That... was close," she panted.

She checked her bag. The basil, the scallions, the fire roots, all safe.

[System Alert: New Character Relationship Unlocked!]

[Lu Jianheng (Sword Lord).]

[Current Status: Interested / Rival / Confused.]

[Note: You have successfully caught the attention of the Tsundere Young Sect Lord. Prepare for "accidental" encounters.]

Ji’an groaned, sliding down the door to sit on the floor.

"I just wanted basil," she whined to the empty kitchen. "Why do these Protagonists have to be everywhere? Can’t a guy commit petty larceny in peace?"

She looked at her Black Iron Spatula. It had a new dent in it.

"Sorry, old friend," she patted it. "But hey... at least we got the ingredients."

She stood up, her mood brightening instantly as she thought about dinner.

"Tonight’s menu: Basil Chicken with a side of... avoiding the Sword Peak at all costs."

She walked to the stove, oblivious to the fact that she had just triggered a flag that would bring the Sword Lord knocking on her kitchen door sooner than she thought.

***

A few days later,

The secret waterfall located in the deepest, most neglected ravine behind the Outer Sect Kitchens was, in Lin Ji’an’s expert opinion, the only good thing about this entire mountain.

It was a secluded paradise. The water cascaded down a fifty-foot drop of mossy rock, pooling into a basin of crystal-clear, freezing water that was perfect for cultivating, or, in Ji’an’s case, for escaping the greasy reality of being a glorified lunch lady.

"Finally," Ji’an sighed, sinking into the water until it lapped at her chin.

She had stripped off her gray servant robes, leaving them in a pile on a dry rock. The Yin-Yang Void Locket hummed warmly in her spiritual sea, maintaining the illusion of a slender, flat-chested male physique even in her naked state.

The water was biting cold, but to her Five-Grain Constitution, which ran naturally hot like a furnace, it felt like heaven.

She closed her eyes, letting her head tip back against the smooth stone edge.

"No work. No Sword Lords. No Protagonists with sparkle filters. Just me, a bar of lavender soap, and the ambient noise of nature."

She picked up the bar of soap, a luxury item she had crafted herself using rendered boar fat and wild lavender, and began to lather her hair.