"This is as far as the unauthorized personnel like me can go without triggering the old man’s alarms again."

Wangchen stopped. He looked at the barrier, then back at her. The reluctance in his eyes was so potent that it almost made Lin Ji’an pity him.

"You are leaving," he stated, the words flat and cold.

"I’m not leaving the planet, just the mountain," Ji’an rolled her eyes, though her tone was gentle. She reached into her spatial bag and pulled out a large, lacquered bento box.

It was heavy. She had spent the last two nights perfecting the recipe.

"Here," she shoved it into his chest. "I made these. Crystal Osmanthus Jelly and Red Bean Mochi. The jelly has cooling properties to help with your Ice Root, and the Mochi is... well, it’s just tasty."

Wangchen took the box. He held it as if it were a holy relic.

"You made this... for me?"

"Who else? The snowmen?" Ji’an huffed, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. "Listen, Wangchen. I know today was... a bit messy. That troublesome princess was a nightmare. But you handled it well. You didn’t kill her. That’s a huge growth compared to before."

She stepped closer, reaching up to adjust the collar of his white robe, which had been ruffled during the standoff.

"But you need to focus," she said softly, her eyes searching his. "Elder Qin is right. If you want to protect others, you need to be strong. Brooding about idiots like the Princess won’t help."

Wangchen looked down at her. He felt her fingers brushing against his neck as she fixed his collar. The warmth seeping from her fingertips felt electric against his cold skin.

"I am not brooding about her," Wangchen whispered. "I am thinking about you, Young Master. You were wet and cold in the air, and I failed to take care of you as I promised to your father."

"It’s fine, I already dried off!" Ji’an laughed, dropping her hands. "See? Good as new. Now, take the sweets. Share them with your Master if you want, actually, don’t. He looks like he’d criticize the sugar content. Eat them all yourself and don’t starve."

The wind picked up, swirling snow around them. It was time to part ways. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Wangchen," Ji’an said, her expression turning serious. "I need to tell you something. I won’t be able to visit for the next two days."

Wangchen’s grip on the food box tightened. The air around him dropped a few degrees.

"Why?"

"I’m entering closed-door cultivation," Ji’an lied smoothly.

In reality, the System had unlocked a new "Virtual Kitchen Simulator" that allowed her to practice recipes for 48 hours in a time-dilated space to level up her [Culinary Dao].

She needed to master the "Nine-Turn Golden Soul Soup" before the Sect Tournament, and she couldn’t do that with interruptions.

"My cultivation... it’s at a bottleneck," she improvised, looking solemn. "After seeing you today... I realized I’m too weak. I can’t just rely on my spatula. I need to meditate. Seriously meditate. For forty-eight hours. No visitors. No distractions."

She looked at him with pleading eyes. "You understand, right? I want to be strong too. So I can stand next to you without getting soaked in a pond."

Wangchen stared at her.

He hated it. He hated the idea of not seeing her for two days. Two days felt like two centuries in the lonely, freezing cave.

But her words struck a chord.

’So I can stand next to you.’

She wanted to be strong for him. Just as he wanted to be strong for her.

The tightness in his chest loosened slightly. If it weren’t for her cultivation, he couldn’t be selfish. He couldn’t clip her wings just because he wanted to keep her in a cage.

"Two days," Wangchen repeated.

"Two days," Ji’an confirmed. "I promise. As soon as I’m out, I’ll come find you. We’ll have a feast."

She took a step back, ready to activate her Shadow Step and dash down the mountain before the awkwardness set in.

"Well then! Study hard! Don’t freeze the world when I’m not here! Bye!"

She turned on her heel.

"Wait."

Wangchen’s voice was low, but it commanded attention.

Ji’an stopped. "Hm?"

She turned back around.

Wangchen had placed the food box on a flat rock. He walked toward her. His movements were fluid, deliberate, and predatory in a way that Ji’an, in her haste, completely missed.

He stopped in front of her. He towered over her now, his height having increased slightly with his bone-refining cultivation.

"You promised, Young Master," he said softly.

"I did," Ji’an nodded. "I never break a food promise."

Wangchen didn’t speak. He reached out and took her right hand.

Ji’an froze.

’Handshake? A bro-fist? What is he doing?’

His hand was cold, his fingers long and elegant, calloused from the sword. Her hand was smaller, warmer, smelling of spices.

He didn’t shake it.

Slowly, keeping his dark eyes locked onto hers, he lifted her hand. He turned it slightly so the back of her hand was facing upward.

Then, he lowered his head.

Ji’an’s breath hitched in her throat. Time seemed to stop.

She watched, paralyzed by confusion and a sudden, thundering heartbeat, as Xie Wangchen pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

It wasn’t a quick peck.

His lips were cool and soft. He pressed them against her skin with a reverence that bordered on worship.

He lingered there, breathing warm air against her knuckles, his eyes fluttering shut for a brief second before opening to stare up at her through his lashes.

The sensation sent a jolt of electricity straight up Ji’an’s arm and exploded in her brain.

’What. The. Hell!!!’

It was a gesture out of a romance novel. It was a knight pledging fealty to his queen. It was... incredibly intimate.

Wangchen pulled back slowly, but he didn’t let go of her hand. His thumb brushed over her knuckles, giving them a caress.