The rising sun tinged the Elevated Valley of the Phoenix with soft shades of gold and pink, dissipating the night mist as if the world itself were awakening from a melancholic dream. The lake, still calm as a mirror, reflected the surrounding mountains, and the air carried a renewed freshness, mixed with the subtle scent of dew and wildflowers.
Feng Xue'er had spent the rest of the previous day and the entire night there, alone with her pain. The tears had fallen incessantly, like a fine and silent rain, until exhaustion overtook her. She curled up by the water's edge, her knees against her chest, her phoenix dress crumpled and damp, crying for Big Brother Yun, for the life she had lost, for the uncertain future that awaited her. Now, the next morning, she was still there, sitting in silence, her red and swollen eyes fixed on the horizon, as if trying to find the strength to face what would come next....
Ren Zu appeared in the valley without fanfare. He had spent the night drinking wine with Hei Jiayue, and with the new day arriving, it was time to leave, as he had promised Xia Qingyue; he would return in two days to Frozen Cloud Asgard. His steps were light, almost inaudible on the soft moss, as he walked toward the girl by the lake.
"Hmph... Just look at her, master..." Hei Jiayue murmured in his mind, her voice laced with a sour tone that she tried to disguise as indifference: "So delicate, so beautiful like a lotus flower in a pure lake. And you... you don't stop looking at her as if she were the only star in the sky. You're interested, aren't you?"
The jealousy was palpable in every word, like a subtle flame burning behind her tsundere arrogance. Ren Zu showed no external reaction; his face remained impassive, a perfect mask of noble tranquility. Internally, however, he rolled his eyes, a mental gesture of amused exasperation.
"Jealous..." he thought, directing the words straight to her mind, with a tone that was dry and affectionate at the same time. Ignoring the rest of her chatter, which continued to grumble about how "That little girl doesn't even come close to an empress like me," he proceeded, focusing on what mattered.
As he approached, Ren Zu stopped at a respectful distance.
"Good morning, Xue'er..." he said, his voice soft and low, like the murmur of a morning breeze.
Feng Xue'er startled at the sudden appearance, her entire body tensing like a taut string. She lifted her head quickly, her blue eyes blinking in surprise, her heart pounding in her chest. For an instant, the valley seemed to spin around her, but she composed herself quickly, wiping away the last tears with the back of her hand and standing up with grace, though her legs still trembled slightly.
"G-good morning... husband...." she replied, the word coming out hesitantly, but with a timid sincerity that colored her cheeks a soft pink. It was the first time she had called him that, and the sound echoed in her own mind like something strange, but inevitably real.
She felt her own heart tighten, not exactly from shame, but from a bitter strangeness, almost absurd, as if the universe were mocking her. In such a short time... she had lost Big Brother Yun, someone who, without realizing it, had become an essential part of her life. Although nearly three years had passed, because she had been in a coma, it felt like it had been yesterday; to make matters worse, when she awoke from the coma, she hadn't had time to process everything, as she woke up seeing the Divine Phoenix Empire being crushed before her eyes by an impossible force. She saw her father bend his knees. She saw the pride of generations unravel like ashes in the wind. She saw everyone receive that cruel mark that condemned them, while she, alone... was "spared" because she was the wife of the man responsible for all of it...
Honestly, she hadn't had time to process any of it. The entire night had been just tears, mourning, and a suffocating emptiness that seemed to tear at her chest every time she remembered Yun Che's name. She cried until she was too weak to lift her head, until her body seemed to no longer exist, leaving only that insistent, heavy pain that wouldn't go away. That's why, when saying "husband," she almost felt like she was betraying someone... or perhaps betraying herself. And yet... she knew there was no choice. She knew that word represented an inevitable destiny, imposed on her from that moment onward.
And even so... when the word came out, her face flushed, not from happiness, but from instinct, from feminine shyness, from involuntary shame at calling such a perfect man her husband.....
The worst—or perhaps the most confusing—part was that she couldn't hate him. Because she understood his motivations and knew it was her father's fault for offending him; in the Profound Sky Continent, where all that mattered was the strongest fist, this was common, even though she didn't know much about that world due to being overly protected by her father, she understood that nature. Her "husband" had been kind compared to what others would do if offended. Even more so when remembering that he let her go to her favorite place, gave her time to grieve.....
Moreover, there was that inevitable attraction, growing more intense, like snow falling slowly over wounded land. Every time she looked at him... the pain in her chest lessened, as if the world became distant for a second, as if his face pulled her consciousness to a quieter, safer place... and that scared her. Because she was still in mourning. Because she still loved someone. And yet... her heart seemed incapable of avoiding being drawn to Ren Zu, as if her own soul had already begun to recognize in him someone impossible to ignore.
Ren Zu observed her for one more instant, and then his perfect lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile, too light to match someone like him.
"I thought..." he said, in a calm and even vaguely amused tone: "That you would call me Big Brother Ren... or something like that."
Feng Xue'er's face grew even hotter, and she looked away by reflex, as if the lake could hide her shame. But, contrary to what the shyness suggested, her words came out with a soft firmness, a kind of delicacy that didn't back down.
She shook her head.
"No... We... we are future husband and wife. So... I prefer to call you... husband..."
Inside, that phrase had a bitter taste. How could she call him the same way as her Big Brother Yun? That's why she opted for "Husband"; it was also a way to remind herself of her current situation.
Ren Zu simply shrugged, completely unconcerned.
"As you wish," he said, simply. Then he looked around, and his voice took on a definitive tone: "It's time for us to go."
Feng Xue'er's body stiffened slightly. Her heart, which was already broken, seemed to tighten once more, as if reality were finally coming to collect its price.
"Go...?" she asked, almost in a whisper. "To where exactly?"
Ren Zu raised an eyebrow, as if that question were amusing.
He tilted his head slightly.
"Didn't I tell you?"
Feng Xue'er opened her mouth... and closed it. She really didn't remember him saying anything about it.....
But she didn't need to respond; Ren Zu continued speaking with the same usual tranquility, as if announcing a stroll.
"We're going to the Extreme Ice Snow Region of the Blue Wind Nation."
As soon as she heard that, Feng Xue'er murmured the name to herself, in a low tone, almost nonexistent.
"...Extreme Ice Snow Region..."
Her eyes wavered. Her gaze became empty for an instant, as if she had been pulled into a well of memories, and that sadness returned, growing, threatening to swallow everything she had just tried to hold back....
Ren Zu noticed.
Without saying anything first, he simply extended his hand... and placed his palm on her head with gentleness.
A warm and gentle touch.
"I heard you like snow quite a bit," he said casually, diverting her attention from the internal sadness to him standing in front of her.
Feng Xue'er shuddered at the touch and blinked in surprise, both at the gesture and his words. The warmth of his hand was unexpected, but comforting. She nodded slowly....
"I..." Her voice faltered a bit. "Yes. I like it... Big Brother Yun... had promised to take me there... three years later."
As she said that, her throat tightened, and her chest seemed to collapse inside. The pain became so strong that she almost recoiled, almost curled up... but Ren Zu stayed there, firm, keeping his hand on her head, stroking gently, alleviating any bad feeling in her heart through his touch. He sighed, a low sigh, strange, almost as if something in him also found it... regrettable.
"It's a shame he can't fulfill that," Ren Zu said, too direct to be cruel and too calm to be consolation. He stared at the horizon for a moment, then looked back at her: "But I can."
The words were simple, but they made Feng Xue'er's heart confused, disordered, like snow falling on embers: impossible, contradictory, beautiful, and destructive at the same time.
She raised her eyes to him, still moist, still fragile.
"Why..." she asked, hesitantly: "Why are you going there? It's not... just for my sake... right?"
Ren Zu let out a minimal laugh, as if that were obvious.
"Of course not," he replied casually. "I'm also going to settle some matters with Frozen Cloud Asgard. And I'm going to fetch my other wife. She's there."
Feng Xue'er felt a silent shock cross her mind.
Another wife...?
Ren Zu, on the other hand, showed nothing beyond the same cold pragmatism.
"After that..." he said calmly: "We'll head to the Illusory Demon Realm."
And upon hearing that, Feng Xue'er truly understood that the valley... that lake... that last piece of peace was just the final farewell to a life she would never have the chance to live again.
Ren Zu noticed, with a single glance, what she was feeling at that moment.
When she was younger, Feng Xue'er was chosen to be the successor of the Phoenix God, the residual soul of the Phoenix left in the Divine Phoenix Empire. She was kept isolated from everyone throughout her life by her father, to the point that not even her own brothers were allowed to see her. She wasn't permitted to leave home, even under protection, which made her inexperienced in worldly and personal matters.
Since her father was very protective of her, she had her own place outside the Divine Phoenix City, where only a few people could enter, called the Phoenix Perching Valley, which was where they were at that moment, meaning that this was the place where she had spent most of her life; obviously, it would bring feelings even to the most "hardened" heart, which was not the case for the young girl so pure and innocent before his eyes.
So he said nothing.
Because, at that moment... words would just be noise.
He simply raised his right hand, casually, like someone brushing away an invisible nuisance, and the space in front of him cracked.
CRRRAAACK-!
The air shattered like glass under impossible pressure. Black and silver lines appeared in the void, like fissures in a celestial mirror. The very fabric of the world opened an elegant and silent wound, revealing a dark, deep interior that seemed to lead anywhere under the heavens.....
Ren Zu looked at Feng Xue'er.
"Come, Xue'er...." His voice was simple and direct.
Feng Xue'er took a deep breath. Her fingers trembled slightly as she gripped the hem of her phoenix dress, but there was nothing she could do. She was Ren Zu's wife at that moment, no longer just the princess of the Divine Phoenix Empire; her duty was to accompany him wherever he went. She turned a bit pale, but took a step and entered the "cracked space"; as soon as she entered, she gave one last look back over her delicate shoulder. Looking at the place where she had spent her entire life and knowing she would hardly see it in the future, a single tear rolled down her perfect face, slow and silent, shining like crystal in the rising sun.
The cracked space closed....
Then Feng Xue'er finally turned around; when she turned, a sudden cold ran through her body like an icy kiss. She blinked instinctively... and, in the next instant, the world changed.
The green of the valley disappeared.
The humid, floral air was replaced by a cold, pure, and clean breeze that seemed capable of washing away the pain in her heart and the memories....
Feng Xue'er stood completely still.
Before her was a sky of clear, infinite blue, like a mantle of celestial glass. Towering mountains rose in the distance, covered in brilliant snow, so white it seemed like solid light. Delicate flakes fell slowly, dancing in the wind with silent grace, as if the world itself were praying in the form of snow.
The ground beneath her feet was a white and soft carpet, untouched, as if no one had ever stepped there.
And around... there was a scenery so beautiful it seemed like a dream.
Ancient pines, heavy with snow, formed natural paths. Dark rocks emerged from the white like islands in a silent sea. A narrow, crystal-clear river ran nearby, partially frozen, reflecting the sky like a polished blade. Small blue flowers sprouted between the ice, like fallen stars refusing to die....
Feng Xue'er took a step forward and walked a few steps, completely absorbed by the scene she was contemplating. As if afraid it would disappear if she breathed wrong.
Her blue eyes sparkled, not with tears this time... but with childish fascination, an enchantment so sincere it couldn't be faked. She extended her hand slowly, like a child touching something sacred, and let the flakes fall into her palm.
A small, involuntary smile... bloomed on her lips.
"...Snow..."
The word came out in a whisper.
She knelt down and touched the white ground with her fingers, feeling the icy softness, the delicate texture she had always imagined since she saw it once when she was thirteen years old. And in that instant... as if the snow were an ancient magic, all the sadness was drowned by feelings difficult to explain....
Standing up, Feng Xue'er began to walk faster, her long sleeves dancing, her phoenix dress contrasting with the surrounding white like a flame within winter. She spun lightly, watching the flakes fall, the sky, the mountains...
And then, as if she had forgotten the weight of the world, she laughed softly, gently, genuinely.
"This is snow.... snow!"
Both her hands incessantly caught the falling snowflakes as she jumped joyfully in the snow, as if she were a fairy who had found a home. Her happiness seemed to have even affected the atmosphere, as the breeze became even gentler.
"It's really snow.... so cold, so beautiful."
She exclaimed contentedly in excitement, each sound she made like the sweetest music in the world. Immersed in the snowflakes and a thin layer of recently accumulated snow, she looked up as happiness bloomed on her smiling face, as if she had released all her joy unrestrainedly in the snow.
Ren Zu followed a few steps behind, in silence; he said nothing and simply observed the girl before his eyes, her figure reflected in his dark pupils.
And at that moment, Feng Xue'er turned to him without realizing it, as if it were natural to share that vision with him. Her eyes were alive and bright, showing an indescribable innocence and purity.
"This place is even more beautiful than I imagined..." she said, almost voiceless, as if afraid to disturb that peace.
Ren Zu replied calmly:
"I'm glad you liked it."
Feng Xue'er nodded vigorously, as if it were too obvious.
"I loved it!" she confessed, and the sincerity was so innocent it seemed like a truth etched into the world: "I only heard about 'snow' from my noble brothers, but I never saw it before. Snow has never fallen on Divine Phoenix City before, but when I was thirteen years old, a great snowstorm suddenly fell over Divine Phoenix City. That was when I finally realized how beautiful snow was. The sky floated with white snowflakes, making me feel like I was in another world, and when the snowflakes landed on my body, they were like beautiful fairies..."
"That was the happiest and most exciting day of my life; it was like having a beautiful dream. But very quickly, the snow melted. After that, I always wished for snow, but never saw it again. Noble Father said that only the north of the Divine Phoenix Empire has winter, where people can see snow. But Noble Father told me several times that before I turned twenty, I wasn't allowed to leave the Divine Phoenix Sect..."
She took a few more steps, letting the snow cover the tips of her shoes, and then stopped, looking at her own footprints... as if they were proof that this dream was real.
Feng Xue'er continued staring at her own footprints for a few seconds, as if memorizing the proof that this dream really existed... and then, suddenly, as if remembering something too important to ignore, she quickly turned her face to Ren Zu.
Her eyes shone with that rare kind of light that only appears when someone feels truly happy.
"H-husband..." she said, hesitant at first, and then the word came out more naturally, smoother than before, without the same bitter weight. "Thank you..."
She lowered her head slightly, as if it were an instinctive bow... but also as if trying to hide how much it affected her.
"Thank you for... for fulfilling my wish."
Her voice became low, almost shy.
Without her even realizing or knowing the reason, in her heart, a new layer of snow began to fall, silent, inevitable, gradually covering the old pain with something new... something she still didn't understand, but could no longer ignore.....
Ren Zu stared at her for an instant.
And, unlike before... he smiled softly.
And, under the white light of the snow and the clear sky, that smile seemed... to pale any concept of beauty; everything lost its colors before that soft curve on his perfect lips.
Feng Xue'er froze for half a second.
Her heart skipped a beat.
And, in a ridiculously feminine and involuntary way... her cheeks flushed.
A delicate pink appeared on her face as if painted by winter itself.
Ren Zu noticed, and the corner of his mouth curved a bit more, as if he found it discreetly interesting.
"If you like it here..." he said, with the same absolute calm as always, as if commenting on the weather, "...then I can bring you more times."
The words were simple.
But, for Feng Xue'er, they sounded like the sky opening again.
She widened her eyes.
"...More times?"
Ren Zu shrugged, indifferent as if it were obvious.
"Yes, I can come to the Profound Sky Continent whenever I want and come here too; with my current power, crossing space is something quite simple...."
Feng Xue'er stared at him as if afraid he would take it back, as if she were a child hearing she could live inside her own dream.
Then, slowly... she opened a smile. A smile so clean, so pure, so innocent, that it seemed to dissolve the world around.
"Really...?" she asked, almost not believing her own voice.
Ren Zu nodded, curtly.
"Really."
And that was enough.
Feng Xue'er couldn't hold back the emotion that was blooming in her heart; that enormous sadness she felt before, drowned by going to the place she most desired to visit, seemed slowly to be frozen by the soft snow that began to fall in her heart....
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