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墨書 Inktalez
In the torrential rain, the ethereal blue light refracted as I crushed the patterns of the Blood Contract in my palm, leaving tiny holes burned into the hem of my skirt by the residual Star Sand on my fingertips.
The Spirit Butterfly hovered before the spinning bronze door knocker on the rooftop, and the phosphorescent powder that fell from its wings coalesced into the Soul Lock Seal commonly used by Yang Lin. This discovery sent a chill down my spine, as memories of the Prison Character from Nine Nether Cave burned old wounds in my mind.
A scent of cedar mixed with ice lotus wafted from deep within the attic.
"The Immortal Sovereign is in the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion," announced a pageboy emerging from behind a golden nanmu screen, holding a star plate. The silver bells dangling from his earlobes resonated painfully with the Puppet silk around my wrist. "But at this moment, we have an esteemed guest..."
I tightened my wide sleeves, soaked by the rain, deliberately making noise as my celestial shoes stepped over the ground scattered with Star Sand.
The aura of Xuan Bing entwined around the door knocker cut through my fingertips. As the Blood Pearl fell to the ground, a sweet laugh echoed from within: "The Immortal Sovereign's double lotus hairpin gifted to me back then is far warmer than this ice silkworm thread."
As I pushed open the door, a gust of wind stirred the star maps scattered across the table. Xuanjade leaned against a gilded soft couch, his posture reminiscent of our first meeting.
His Xuan Colored Collar was dusted with Wang Xuan's Begonia Fragrance Powder, and his long fingers were toying with a half-broken strand of Puppet silk—an identical counterpart to that which was wrapped around my wrist.
"Your sister's Spirit Fruit has become even more translucent after being touched by dew," Wang Xuan remarked, her fingertip stained with Crimson Rouge brushing against a Jade Agate fruit on my tray. The small bell hanging from her hair danced in sync with the dragon-patterned jade clasp on Xuanjade's waist, both crafted in the same exquisite style. "Unlike some people who have to guess their husband's preferences."
I intentionally let Frost Flower bloom on the surface of the spirit fruit: "I heard that Xuanshi accidentally consumed Fire Spirit Mushroom last month; this Ice Spirit Fruit is just right for cooling." Suddenly, an Icicle at the edge of the fruit platter exploded, tearing a gash in her skirt.
Xuanjade finally lifted his gaze to me, irritation flickering in his eyes where silver dragon shadows swirled.
As Wang Xuan's gauzy veil tangled with Xuanjade's wrist, my Spirit Butterfly suddenly lunged toward the candle flame on the table.
The sparks ignited her hair ends precisely; her panicked attempts to extinguish it made even the Puppet silk around my wrist tremble with delight.
When Xuanjade extinguished the flames with a sweep of his sleeve, I caught sight of a new wound on his pinky finger seeping golden-red Blood Pearls—evidence of Curse Backlash.
"Did you find someone using illusion techniques at your post?" Xuanjade grasped my chin just as the door closed behind us. His palm's Xuan Bing aura froze my Lashfeather. "Did your upbringing as a daughter of the Feng family teach you how to be jealous?"
I stood on tiptoe and pressed my fingertip, still tinged with Ice Shard remnants, against his neck: "The third volume of Xuanshi's celestial scriptures states that when a partner goes missing at night, one has the right to search suspicious places—including their former partner's Incense Pouch." The dragon scales suddenly appearing at his collarbone made me wince; that embroidered pouch adorned with Daylily was glowing red within his sleeve.
Thunder outside split through his defensive barrier just as I seized his dark dragon pendant at his waist.
As we fell amidst swirling spiritual energy, his hand protecting my head was cut by shattered jade. The moment Blood Pearl dripped onto my lips, I tasted an icy sharpness reminiscent of Snow Melting on Green Pines in my throat.
This unexpected contact tightened the Puppet silk that had bound us for so long; pain shot through me as the Spirit Butterfly imprint on my nape revealed its Prison Character outline.
Xuanjade suddenly gripped my wrist with astonishing force; his blood-stained thumb brushed heavily against my mouth: "A Spirit Butterfly cage traded for twenty years of life? You Feng women are quite ruthless towards yourselves."
I bit down on my tongue to suppress nearly spilling secrets about Nine Nether Cave; however, the Ice Blade formed in my palm was melted into mist by his dragon breath.
As he brushed past me, still carrying a lingering scent of begonia blossoms, I suddenly noticed Star Sand clinging to the inside of his collar—precisely what Yang Lin often used to seal memories from Nine Nether Cave.
The torrential rain washed over the dragon-shaped relief on the Liuli Tile. As I pretended to adjust his collar, Fingertip stealthily hooked that strand of Star Sand.
Suddenly, Xuanjade pressed down on the back of my hand, and the dragon scales appearing on his neck revealed a pattern of Azure Purple, akin to the silk of a Puppet: "Madam, before you hide evidence next time, perhaps you should first deal with the remnants of the Blood Contract on your cuffs."
As his dragon breath coiled around my wrist, those strands of Puppet silk, eroded by the Blood Contract, suddenly began to grow wildly. I gazed at our overlapping reflections in the mirror and recalled my mother's fragmented warning—what exactly had Wang Xuan exchanged in the Light-Reflecting Mirror back then? And at this moment, what secrets regarding the survival of the Immortal Sect were concealed within the faint traces of battle on Xuanjade's body?
The Blood Pearl seeping from his fingertip slowly crystallized into a shape resembling an ice lotus, perfectly aligning with the array pattern sealed within my spiritual platform. I concentrated Fingertip's frost against the dragon scales at his collarbone, and the ice crystals refracted tiny silver lights.
As Xuanjade's Adam's apple moved, I distinctly saw three shallow golden Claw Marks lingering on his neck—scorch marks that only appeared due to Xuanjie's Evil Exorcism Curse Backlash.
"Wang Xuan's Nine Turns Linglong Steps have indeed improved quite a bit." I deliberately used Ice Blade to pry open his slightly ajar Lapels, where the star patterns beneath the Xuan color brocade glimmered with an eerie red light. "Even the Xuantian Soul Locking Spell is being used; it seems you've truly been angered by the Immortal Sovereign's hospitality?"
Xuanjade suddenly grasped my wrist holding the blade, and as his dragon scales brushed against my skin, a fine stinging sensation arose. He lowered his gaze and tightened his Lapels, but paused for a moment at the ties: "She merely came to retrieve an item stored in the Xuanji Pavilion." Suddenly, Star Sand scattered around the gilded soft couch levitated into the air, forming a half-blooming snow lotus in his palm. "Like this one."
I recognized it as the Soul-Settling Lotus that my mother had gifted to Yang Lin years ago. The ice crystals shattered between my teeth as I stepped over the ground covered in Star Sand: "The hospitality of Xuanjie Immortal Lord is indeed more considerate than rumored." A spiritual butterfly suddenly burst from my sleeve, fiercely pecking at the Fragrant Powder left on his garment.
Xuanjade's fingertip wound suddenly burst open, and a golden-red Blood Pearl dripped onto the snow lotus, transforming into a familiar sealing Incantation within my spiritual platform. He casually wiped away the bloodstains: "It seems that the Wind Clan's mind-reading technique is not just talk."
The sound of rain pounding against the Window Lattice suddenly became muffled. I stared at the glimmering Star Sand inside his collar: "Next time you send guests off, remember to change your clothes; this Xuanyun brocade has absorbed the burnt scent of Fire Spirit Grass." The Puppet silk unexpectedly wrapped around his waist belt uncontrollably; at that moment when the dragon-patterned jade buckle perfectly overlapped with Wang Xuan's golden steps, a metallic sweetness surged in my throat.
Xuanjade suddenly gripped my nape; as his dragon breath brushed past my earlobe, it carried the bitter fragrance of ice lotus: "Madam, being so wary makes it seem like..." His Fingertip grazed over my hair where Frost Flower melted away. "Are you jealous?"
I reversed my hand and pressed Ice Blade against his heart; however, at that moment, the spiritual butterfly seal ignited in flames. His light laughter reverberated through his chest as cracks formed at the blade's tip: "The Immortal Sovereign may have forgotten that Wind Clan women excel at..." Ice Blade suddenly exploded into frost mist; seizing this opportunity, I bit down on his rolling Adam's apple. "Is Jade and Stone Burn Together."
The silver dragon phantom in Xuanjade's pupils abruptly opened its eyes; his hand gripping my waist nearly dug into my bones. As we plunged into the swirling star map array, his bloodied thumb pressed against my lips: "Do you want to know why I sent her away?" Dragon breath enveloped me with Snow Cedar Fragrance invading my mouth. "Because..."
Thunder outside split open his unfinished words as I tasted the bitter remnants of Star Sand on his Tip of the Tongue. The Puppet silk wove into a dense net around us while the spiritual butterfly seal and dragon scale patterns intertwined to create an eerie totem.
As he brushed his palm over the seal at the back of my neck, I suddenly heard my mother's shattered voice echoing in my mind—"The Star Sand of the Nine Nether Cave will devour your true heart..."
"Will I see her again?" I turned my head to avoid his lips pressing down on me again, yet my fingertip honestly tightened around his loosened clothing.
The ice lotus unfurled its petals in the torrential rain, reflecting the frost-like severity in his brow even more starkly.
Xuan Yu suddenly pressed a dragon-patterned jade buckle into my palm, the surface still bearing the scorch marks of Wang Xuan's Fragrant Powder: "The cycle of cause and effect has its own certainty." His fingertip, where a wound had suddenly burst forth, released a Blood Pearl that formed into chains, binding our wrists together. "Like now."
As I pulled away from Zhi Guo, I tore off half of his sleeve, and the azure purple curse marks winding beneath the dark gold dragon pattern startled the spirit butterfly into colliding with the glass lamp.
Yet Xuan Yu had already draped in starry mist stood by the door, the rain soaking his Xuan color garments into deep ink: "Feng Yao." This was the first time he called me by name. "The puppet's threads are too tight; be careful of backlash."
As the bronze door of Linghuan Xian Pavilion thundered shut behind me, I stared blankly at the melting Star Sand in my palm.
That hint of cedar mixed with the fragrance of ice lotus lingered at my cuffs, while new cracks inside the dragon-patterned jade buckle oozed a dark red Blood Pearl that shared its origin with the Nine Nether Cave Star Sand.
In that fleeting moment when the torrential rain began to ease, a crisp sound of shattered star plates echoed from deep within the attic.
I traced the unhealed bite mark at the corner of my lips and suddenly recalled how Xuan Yu's kiss had revealed a silver dragon's phantom claw hidden within the starry mist—where there should have been dazzling reverse scales now lay shrouded in an eerie gray haze.
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