Chapter 10: The Fusion of Ice and Fire

Jingnan Prince Manor

Bai Shuangshuang sat in the courtyard outside Zhao Qingyue’s room, watching the maids and doctors bustling back and forth.

A bitter taste lingered in her mouth.

Everyone had something to do.

Only she was like an outsider.

She couldn’t help with anything, had no tasks to complete—just sat in the yard, staring into space.

‘Why did she do it?’

Bai Shuangshuang murmured under her breath.

On the way back, Qingluan had explained it to her.

It turned out Zhao Qingyue had suffered from a condition called Constitutional Coldness since childhood.

This condition meant Zhao Qingyue couldn’t handle cold things—either by touch or by eating—like that bowl of Iced Osmanthus Jelly.

If she did, her entire body would be wracked with chills, as if she’d fallen into an ice cellar.

It could last half a day, or even several days.

On ordinary days, Zhao Qingyue even had to drink a specially concocted strong spirit every now and then to keep her body warm.

‘You think I wanted to drink that? It’s a special brew. I have no choice.’

A sentence flashed through Bai Shuangshuang’s mind.

What Zhao Qingyue had said that day on horseback—it wasn’t a lie after all.

And that, in fact, was what bothered her the most.

A person who could travel a thousand miles.

A person who could endure drinking such strong liquor as a daily necessity.

A person who always seemed to be calculating something.

Someone like that—would her self-control really be so poor?

Would she really put herself in such danger just to satisfy a craving for something cold?

No.

She wouldn’t.

Then what was she doing it for?

An answer flickered through Bai Shuangshuang’s mind.

‘To make you happy.’

She felt as if something was stuck in her throat.

It was a sudden, slightly heavy kindness.

And that, in truth, was what made Young Hero Bai most uncomfortable.

In the Cultivation World, she was used to trickery and deceit.

Even among her fellow disciples, she had few genuine friends.

But this Zhao Qingyue—who had never had any contact with her before—seemed to truly treat her like a friend.

Bai Shuangshuang felt like someone who had been lurking in a dark cellar for too long, suddenly bathed in blinding sunlight.

It was warm, but she didn’t know how to handle it.

“Miss wants you to come over.”

Qingluan had appeared beside her without Bai Shuangshuang even noticing, startling her.

“Me?”

She raised her right index finger and pointed at herself.

‘I can help? Really?’

Still, she followed Qingluan and pushed open the door.

The air inside the room was noticeably colder than outside, as if someone had placed a block of Millennium Cold Ice in there.

Zhao Qingyue lay in bed, wrapped in layers of quilts—so many that they still couldn’t hide the trembling of her body.

A group of maids stood around her, each wearing a helpless expression.

This wasn’t the first time they had encountered this situation.

Every time, it had to be endured by the Commandery Princess herself.

Whether it was medicinal soup or stoves, none of these internal or external remedies ever worked.

“Shuangshuang…”

Zhao Qingyue poked her head out from under the covers and called out.

Her voice trembled.

She was clearly in great pain.

“I’m right here.”

Had it been a few days earlier, Bai Shuangshuang would have stayed silent.

But now, she answered.

“I feel terrible…”

Zhao Qingyue stretched a hand out from under the blanket.

It looked like an unconscious plea for help from someone suffering.

Bai Shuangshuang froze, then instinctively grabbed the other girl’s wrist.

A bone-piercing chill exploded from that wrist and rapidly spread through Bai Shuangshuang’s entire body.

“Let go—you’ll freeze yourself,” Zhao Qingyue said, shaking her arm to break free, but this time Bai Shuangshuang held on tight.

“What are you doing?! Let go! Miss’s Cold Affliction is at its peak—you’ll catch the chill and turn into an ice cube!”

Qingluan, standing nearby, panicked.

Yet she was astonished to find that she couldn’t pull Bai Shuangshuang’s hand away…

Feeling the cold energy spreading through her meridians, a bold idea flashed through Bai Shuangshuang’s mind.

She would draw all this cold energy into her Dantian.

Under normal circumstances, doing so would be suicide.

But she was different.

She remembered that inside her Dantian, there was something capable of burning souls and annihilating Spiritual Energy.

And sure enough, the cold energy that entered her Dantian was like ice meeting a hot iron—it melted away instantly.

Bai Shuangshuang could almost hear the sizzling sound of ice and fire clashing.

That indescribable thing seemed to have been activated.

A surge of warmth erupted from her Dantian, spreading in reverse through her limbs and burning away all the cold energy.

Thus, Bai Shuangshuang’s body became a battleground between cold and warmth.

One moment she felt like she had fallen into an ice cellar.

The next, she was in a steaming furnace.

But Bai Shuangshuang didn’t hate the feeling.

In fact, she thought it was… enjoyable?

Yes.

The back-and-forth clash of the two currents felt like it was gradually purging the Residual Toxins from her meridians.

That pleasant, light feeling was slowly returning.

After all, this was a Red-Gold Flame.

Ordinary cold energy couldn’t stand against it.

Soon, the warm current gained the upper hand, flowing back out through Bai Shuangshuang’s wrist and into Zhao Qingyue.

The other girl’s arm visibly transformed from a pale, blue-tinged cold back to a healthy, rosy color.

Everyone in the room stared in shock.

The manor had summoned countless strange experts over the years—Alchemists, Doctors, Cultivation Masters—and none of them had found a solution.

This little maid the Commandery Princess had picked up was miraculous.

But whether Zhao Qingyue was too frozen to circulate her meridians, or simply didn’t know how, the warm current lingered around her arm without spreading further.

In desperation, Bai Shuangshuang gritted her teeth, threw back the covers, and crawled inside.

Then she pressed herself against Zhao Qingyue, the two of them tangled together.

Zhao Qingyue, held in her arms, let out a comfortable sigh and instinctively burrowed deeper into Bai Shuangshuang’s embrace.

Her icy fingers clutched the fabric of Bai Shuangshuang’s chest.

Her cheek pressed against the warm skin, where she could clearly hear the steady heartbeat.

The cheeks that had been pale and bloodless slowly flushed with a light pink.

Her long eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings.

Both of them had broken out in a light sweat.

Their sleeping clothes clung to their skin, outlining the soft curves of the girls’ bodies.

Their breaths intertwined, warm air brushing against each other’s skin.

Bai Shuangshuang could feel Zhao Qingyue’s heartbeat—weak at first, then steady, finally settling into a reassuring rhythm.

The temperature under the covers kept rising, filled with an ambiguous, indescribable atmosphere.

She didn’t know why her face was red.

She was just saving someone. Why did it feel like a secret rendezvous?

“So warm…”

Zhao Qingyue mumbled drowsily, her voice soft enough to melt into water.

“Mmm… it really is…”

Bai Shuangshuang’s mind was also a bit fuzzy.

She answered without thinking, not even realizing her face was red all the way to her ears.

For the first time, the two of them agreed on something.

“Ahem—”

Qingluan couldn’t take it anymore.

She coughed loudly, snapping the stunned maids in the room back to reality.

She put a hand to her forehead, her tone helpless and a little exasperated.

“What are you all staring at? Get back to work! If anyone breathes a word about what happened today, watch your tongues!”

The maids held back their laughter, lowering their heads and filing out.

But at the door, they couldn’t resist sneaking one last glance at the two girls tightly embracing on the bed, their eyes gleaming with gossip.

Only when the door was gently closed did Bai Shuangshuang snap back to reality.

She jerked away from the blanket as if burned, nearly rolling off the bed.

“I—I-I didn’t mean to!”

She turned her face away, her ears burning red.

She couldn’t speak for a long time.

Zhao Qingyue, meanwhile, had regained some energy.

She gave Bai Shuangshuang a lazy look, a weak smile curving at the corner of her lips.

“Didn’t mean to… So it was on purpose?”

“Shut up!”

Qingluan stood at the door, watching the two on the bed.

She shook her head helplessly.

She remembered a few years ago, how Zhao Qingyao used to curl up in Zhao Qingyue’s arms, holding her sister’s hand and saying, “Don’t be afraid, big sister. Qingyao is here.”

But Qingyao had still left.

When the Imperial Court’s people set her up and killed her, she was only fourteen.

The Prince knew who was responsible.

But he had to grit his teeth and swallow the bitterness.

Rebellion?

That would have played right into the Imperial Court’s hands.

Zhao Qingyue had endured for three years.

She never mentioned her sister in front of anyone again, as if she had forgotten everything.

But Qingluan knew that almost every night, she would go sit in Zhao Qingyao’s old room.

She wouldn’t say a word.

She would just sit there.

Now, the way she looked at Bai Shuangshuang—it was exactly the same as how she had once looked at Zhao Qingyao.

Qingluan sighed softly and gently closed the door.