14: pure snow girl

Lin Luo placed the packed lunch he brought back on the dining table at Kirisu Mafuyu's home.

"The food is here, remember to eat it. The instant noodles are confiscated," he said succinctly, looking at Mafuyu, who was curled up on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket with only her head showing.

At this moment, Kirisu Mafuyu's feelings toward Lin Luo were so complex they were almost exploding. From her trash-filled house being cleaned, to the suspicion of being seen naked (dream? reality?), to the social death misunderstanding in front of others just now... In just a short day or two, her cold teacher image and dignity as an adult woman she had maintained for years seemed to have shattered into pieces before Lin Luo. She just wanted to be alone right now to avoid any interaction that might make her "lose her head."

"I-I understand... Thank you," her muffled voice came from under the blanket, not daring to meet his eyes at all.

Seeing her ostrich-like behavior, Lin Luo knew she needed some space to process everything. After confirming her aura was stable and her body was indeed recovering quickly, he tactfully left.

"Call me if anything happens."

Back in his own apartment, Lin Luo quickly immersed himself in cultivation, organizing the spiritual energy that had recently increased.

His spiritual sense spread out naturally like mercury flowing on the ground; this was his daily cultivation habit. However, this time, an unusually chaotic, eerie cold aura, like a blizzard, suddenly burst into his perception.

He remembered that the newly moved-in Yukino Mifuyu lived there. But at this moment, her aura was extremely unstable, as if something inside her body was out of control.

Lin Luo's figure flickered, and he appeared outside that apartment door. He didn't even need a key; with a slight movement of spiritual power, the lock was undone. Pushing the door open, a biting cold air rushed toward him, and the scene in the living room made him pause slightly.

Yukino Mifuyu no longer looked human, revealing the pure true form of a Snow Woman. Her long ice-blue hair spread like a waterfall over the condensed frost, and her skin was more translucent than snow. She was curled up in the center of the tatami, with spiderweb-like ice crystals spreading beneath her, the wooden floor making faint cracking sounds due to the extreme cold.

Her eyes were tightly closed, her long lashes frosted with tiny ice beads, and her beautiful brows were furrowed in pain. The demonic power around her surged uncontrollably like a bursting dam, turning the entire living room into a snow-covered Secret Realm.

Lin Luo was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but facepalm.

(Could the medicinal effect of that Ice Fruit have been too strong?)

He recalled how he usually ate those fruits as snacks, then looked at the Snow Woman on the ground with an overloaded demonic power; his expression became very subtle.

(Is this... over-nourishing?)

Lin Luo quickly walked to Yukino Mifuyu's side and pressed his palm down. A gentle spiritual power barrier instantly expanded, firmly locking the uncontrolled, overflowing cold air within the barrier. He shifted the circulation within his body, and his originally neutral and peaceful spiritual power quietly transformed into a more refined and gentle cold energy, slowly flowing into the Snow Woman's body.

His spiritual sense followed closely, probing into her meridians. This investigation made him frown—the cultivation path here in Japan was indeed crude. Although the ice-cold power in her body was naturally strong, it only operated according to primitive instincts, messy and disorganized. No wonder a single fruit sent her into a deep sleep to digest it.

While Lin Luo focused on smoothing out those rampaging cold currents, slowly guiding the spiritual power toward her Dantian and Qi Sea to construct a preliminary energy cycle, he didn't know—

Yukino Mifuyu's consciousness was awake.

In her gray consciousness space, which seemed shrouded in wind and snow, a tiny Chibi Snow Woman was staring with wide ice-blue eyes, her Soul body blushing a pale pink.

(He, he, he... His hand! How can it be pressed... against that place!)

The Chibi Snow Woman watched the "Lin Luo" outside as his palm pressed against her lower abdomen (Dantian). Although she understood he was helping her, the real sensation and the flowing warmth (relative to her low temperature) made her squirm restlessly in her consciousness space like a shy silkworm. She covered her face with her hands but couldn't help peeking through her fingers.

(Ugh... How am I supposed to face him! He's clearly helping me, but... it's so embarrassing!)

She looked at Lin Luo's focused and calm profile, feeling that domineering yet gentle power methodically organizing her Origin. A sense of unprecedented security intertwined with extreme bashfulness, making her consciousness body almost emit steam.

Outside, Lin Luo was completely unaware of all this, still single-mindedly acting as her "emergency doctor." He only felt that the Snow Woman's Origin power was gradually becoming docile under his guidance, and the progress was quite smooth.

Feeling that the rampaging cold air in Yukino Mifuyu's body had been smoothed out and the preliminary energy cycle had been constructed, Lin Luo breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to withdraw his spiritual sense.

However, he noticed that the Snow Woman's physical body still showed no signs of waking up; her breathing was as steady as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.

(Could it be that the consumption of her Origin was too great and she needs more time to recover?)

Lin Luo hesitated for a moment, worried if there was some problem at the level of her consciousness. Out of caution (or rather, a certain straight man's concern), he steeled himself and controlled a wisp of spiritual sense, carefully probing into that gray consciousness space—just wanting to confirm if her state of consciousness was okay.

Just as the tendril of his spiritual sense broke into that space—

*Buzz!*

An indescribable sensation, as if the Soul had been brushed by the softest yet most direct feather, accompanied by a faint gasp like a thin flute that only the Soul could perceive, suddenly snapped back.

Lin Luo: "!!!"

As if he had been burned, he instantly yanked his spiritual sense back, his expression becoming extremely colorful.

(She was actually awake?!)

(This yokai... Since her consciousness was clear, why didn't she say a word?!)

Only now did Lin Luo realize the problem—direct contact at the Soul level was thousands of times more sensitive and private than physical contact! Even that momentary touch just now was no different from a naked "Soul-to-Soul gaze," or even more... Almost at the same moment his spiritual sense withdrew, on the tatami, Yukino Mifuyu's long eyelashes trembled violently a few times, and then she suddenly snapped her eyes open.

In those ice-blue eyes, the original coldness was gone, replaced by an irrepressible, thick bashfulness, like fresh snow dyed by the glow of dawn, along with a trace of panic and watery light from having just recovered from that extremely sensitive contact. She subconsciously raised her hand to cover her slightly parted lips; her cheeks, ears, and even her fair neck were rapidly flushing crimson at a visible speed.

The two of them looked at each other.

The air seemed to freeze, leaving only a silent awkwardness and a certain indescribable, subtle atmosphere lingering.

Lin Luo opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but found that any words at this moment seemed pale and powerless.

"You..."

Lin Luo was so embarrassed he didn't know what to do, but a wisp of crisp and sweet fragrance suddenly swirled around his nose, like plum blossoms quietly blooming in the snow, completely different from the pure cold air he had felt before. This scent... He suddenly realized something and looked at Yukino Mifuyu in disbelief.

No way?! Just because of that Soul contact earlier?

Yukino Mifuyu clearly noticed the change in herself as well; that strange fragrance was indeed emanating from her body. This made her even more ashamed, her ice-blue eyes glistening with watery light. She subconsciously pressed her legs together, wanting to curl up, but Lin Luo subconsciously pressed her shoulder, preventing her from succeeding.

"You..." Lin Luo spoke, his voice sounding somewhat low and husky. He looked at her crimson cheeks and slightly moist eyes; that face, carved like ice and snow, was now dyed with the color of arousal, possessing a breathtaking beauty.

Yukino Mifuyu turned her face away, not daring to look at him at all. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's and carried a sob: "No... it's not something I can control..." The aura and emotions of the Snow Woman tribe, especially those related to lustful desires, were closely linked. That Soul-piercing touch just now was too strong a stimulus for her, directly triggering her most primitive instinctive reaction.

Lin Luo looked at her shy and helpless state, smelling the increasingly dense cold fragrance in the air that seemed to lure one into sinking. His Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily. His hand, which was originally on her shoulder, felt his fingertips warming up slightly.

The atmosphere instantly became incredibly ambiguous, and the air seemed to thicken. The icy coldness and the charming warm fragrance intertwined, enveloping the two of them in an isolated Small World full of temptation.

Lin Luo's gaze involuntarily fell on her slightly parted, glistening lips.

Lin Luo suddenly pulled his hand back as if burned by that wisp of fragrance, retreating two steps. He felt his cheeks burning, and his heart was beating incredibly fast.

"Th-that... Since you're awake, you should be fine!" His speech was rapid, and his eyes were darting around, not daring to look at the figure on the tatami emitting that alluring scent again. "I've already organized your power for you. Get some rest. I-I'll be going now!"

After saying that, he moved toward the door almost with his arms and legs in sync, his movements as stiff as a marionette. When he reached the entrance, he almost tripped over the backpack he had casually placed on the floor earlier to set up the barrier.

*Bang!*

The door was closed somewhat hurriedly, making a sound that wasn't too heavy.

In the apartment, only Yukino Mifuyu remained, curled up on the tatami where the frost hadn't completely melted. Listening to the somewhat messy footsteps outside quickly fading away, she subconsciously hugged her knees tightly and buried her burning face deep inside.

In the air, that crisp and sweet fragrance did not dissipate for a long time.

Lin Luo almost fled in panic.

He walked quickly through the corridor, and it wasn't until he returned to his own apartment and closed the door that he leaned against the door panel and let out a long sigh of relief. The air seemed to still be lingering with that crisp and seductive cold fragrance, and his mind was constantly replaying the scene from just now—

Ice-blue hair spread across the crystal-clear frost, the girl's curled figure outlined in soft curves under her thin Kimono. What was most fatal were those ice-blue eyes shrouded in mist, like melting snow water, with three parts shyness and seven parts helplessness, the corners of the eyes dyed with a moving thin red. When that trembling "it's not something I can control" sounded in his ears... Lin Luo shook his head violently, trying to dispel these images, but felt his ears burning even more. He subconsciously touched his nose, his fingertips seemingly still retaining the cool and delicate sensation from touching her shoulder through the fabric.

"What is all this..." he muttered to himself, his tone carrying a few hints of helpless frustration, yet the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled up into a tiny arc.

Meanwhile, in the apartment next door.

Yukino Mifuyu was still sitting curled up on the tatami, the ice crystals slowly melting around her. She buried her burning cheeks between her knees, her exposed ear tips a translucent red. The collar of her Kimono had loosened slightly at some point, revealing a section of her fair and elegant neck. She gently bit her lower lip, those full lips becoming even redder and more alluring from being ground by her teeth due to the previous tension.

The special cold fragrance from when the Snow Woman was aroused had not yet completely dissipated in the air, winding around her body faintly. She raised her hand, her fingertips gently gently brushing the spot on her shoulder where Lin Luo's palm had pressed; there seemed to be a trace of heart-pounding warmth remaining there.

She buried her burning cheeks even deeper into her knees, her slender toes subconsciously curling under the hem of her skirt. The entire room was so quiet that only her slightly hurried breathing and some silently growing, charming reveries remained.