Leng Xue's POV
"I thought I abandoned fire.
But he made it wait for me."
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Location: Southern Ice Jade Peaks — Isolation Chamber
She was meditating when it hit her.
Not a sound.
Not a name.
Just a single breath—
drawn from far too deep, and filled with everything she tried to forget.
Leng Xue's eyes snapped open.
But she wasn't panicked.
No.
She was angry.
And something deeper than that.
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The ice around her had always been silent.
Until now.
It cracked.
With no motion from her.
Because inside her chest, the Sutra fragment she once sealed away…
awoke.
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"He gave it to someone else."
"He let another woman see the part of him that was meant for…"
She didn't say it.
Because she couldn't.
Because even now—her body responded.
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Her Body Betrayed Her
Her legs trembled beneath her robes.
Not from weakness.
From heat.
Her inner meridians, normally calm and disciplined, began to throb—and she knew why.
She wasn't just spiritually linked to him.
Her desire was.
"Even now, my Qi trembles because of his body inside hers."
She could feel the rhythm.
Not clearly—
But enough to imagine.
The movement.
The gasps.
The claiming.
And the worst part?
Her name wasn't on his lips.
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She bit her lower lip until it bled.
"So that's what I gave up… when I chose strength alone."
"But he's still mine… even if he doesn't know it."
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Ice Cannot Forget Flame
She stood.
The chamber shattered behind her.
A snowstorm followed her into the sky — one that shouldn't have been possible in the Southern region.
And as she flew toward the Ember-Threaded Pavilion where he now lay...
She whispered:
"Let her have his body."
"But the next time he breaks... it'll be because of me."
"I won't ask. I won't wait."
"I'll take him."
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