43: Chapter 43 Struggle

He looked down at the hand Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was holding; her fingers were still trembling slightly, and her knuckles were turning white from the prolonged exertion.

"Her mental energy consumption is greater than anyone else's," Shen Xun'er continued, her tone remaining calm. "Frost Seal: Thousand-Mile Frost is a high-level spell, and it causes a severe overdraft of mental energy. I told her to go back and rest, but she said it wasn't necessary. Hua Jieyu prepared a spiritual medicine for mental energy recovery for her; she drank it, and then came right back."

"Came back?"

"Back to watch over you." Shen Xun'er looked into Wang Sheng's eyes, moonlight flowing within her almond-shaped eyes. "From this morning until now, you have been in a coma for nearly ten hours. She has been sitting here for ten hours."

Wang Sheng opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"You don't need to feel guilty." Shen Xun'er seemed to see through his thoughts and gently patted the back of his hand. "It was her own choice. You cannot stop a Frost Mage from doing what she has decided to do; you should know that from experience."

Wang Sheng gave a wry smile. Indeed, he understood that too well. Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was the type of person who, once she decided on something, couldn't be pulled back even by nine Savage Beasts.

"Shen Xun'er…"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Shen Xun'er's almond-shaped eyes curved, filled with tenderness in their crescent-like arc.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you for not," Wang Sheng said, weighing his words, "not…"

"Not being jealous?" Shen Xun'er finished for him, a flash of mischief in her almond eyes—the cleverness that only the class monitor Shen Xun'er possessed, seeing through everything yet treating it with gentleness. "I'm not an unreasonable person."

She paused, extended a finger, and gently brushed the stray hair from Wang Sheng's forehead, the motion as natural as if she had done it a thousand times.

"Besides," her voice lowered, soft enough that only the two of them could hear, "the man I like being liked by others just goes to show that I have good taste, doesn't it?"

Wang Sheng looked into her almond eyes; those eyes held the silver-blue of moonlight, the warm yellow of spirit fire, his own reflection, and something deeper than any emotion—the composure and generosity that only a woman who is truly confident in herself possesses.

He reached out and took Shen Xun'er's hand; her hand was warm and soft, her fingers long and fair, with the lingering warmth of Moonlight Blessing still on her fingertips.

"Your taste is certainly good," he said. "Otherwise, why would you have chosen me?"

Shen Xun'er let out a giggle and quickly covered her mouth, her gaze subconsciously sweeping toward the sleeping Frost Mage Lin Shiyun, afraid of waking her.

That small gesture moved Wang Sheng more than any sweet words.

The night deepened.

After casting the last round of Moonlight Blessing, Shen Xun'er left the large tent, leaving a gap in the curtain before she went. Moonlight spilled in through the gap, painting a silver-blue ribbon of light inside the tent, like a quiet river flowing from the top of the tent to the edge of the bed.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was still asleep.

Her silver-white eyelashes were like two crescent moons, her breathing shallow and even.

The hand she held of Wang Sheng's did not loosen in her sleep; instead, she gripped it tighter, as if it were her only anchor to this world.

Wang Sheng did not sleep.

He lay quietly, watching the Savage Beast crystal core on the tent ceiling emit a soft, dim light.

Occasionally, he turned his head to look at Frost Mage Lin Shiyun; the ribbon of moonlight happened to fall on her profile, her silver-white hair shining like snow in the light, her ice-blue pupils hidden behind her eyelids, her lips slightly pursed—not in the cold, stern way she usually did, but in an unconscious, gentle biting of her lip, like a child searching for a sense of security in their sleep.

Her eyelashes fluttered gently for a moment.

Wang Sheng did not move.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's breathing rhythm changed slightly, shifting from a shallow, even pace to a slightly deeper, deliberate breath.

Her fingers tightened involuntarily in Wang Sheng's palm for an instant, and then, as if realizing something, she let go abruptly.

She woke up.

Her ice-blue pupils slowly opened in the moonlight, like two ice lakes illuminated by morning light—first dazed, then confused, and finally panicked.

She discovered she was holding Wang Sheng's hand.

Even worse, she realized she had fallen asleep leaning against his bedside.

The worst part was that Wang Sheng was lying on his side, looking at her.

"You," Frost Mage Lin Shiyun pulled her hand back as if scalded, springing up from the low stool.

Because her movement was too sudden, the stool tipped backward, and she lost her balance.

Wang Sheng reached out quickly and caught her wrist.

"Careful."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun stumbled but didn't fall as he pulled her, yet this position caused her body to lean forward, half-kneeling by the edge of the bed, so close to Wang Sheng that they could feel each other's breath.

Moonlight spilled in from the gap in the curtain, landing on her silver-white hair like a moonlit forest covered in ice and snow.

Her ice-blue pupils were breathtakingly beautiful at this distance; deep within them was an icy blue cold light, but beneath that cold light was a thin layer of panic and shyness, like a warm current surging beneath the ice.

The neckline of her mage robe opened slightly due to her forward-leaning posture, revealing her long, fair neck and a stretch of skin bathed in moonlight, like a layer of silver-blue gauze draped over white jade.

Tall and slender, her figure half-kneeled by the bed, her waist as slim as a willow branch, yet the curves below her waistline were still stunning beneath the mage robe, like an ice sculpture outlined by moonlight, every curve exquisitely proportioned.

Her face flushed.

It wasn't just a slight blush, but a crimson red spreading from her earlobes down to her neck, as if burned by fire.

A Frost Mage blushing has a suffocating, contrasting beauty; her usually cold-as-ice face now resembled a snow peak melted by a spring breeze, revealing the tenderness and fragility hidden beneath, like a cherry blossom in first bloom.

"How long have you been awake?" Her voice struggled to maintain its coldness, but the end of the sentence uncontrollably rose in pitch—the guilty conscience of someone caught red-handed.

"A while," Wang Sheng answered honestly, but he didn't say how long "a while" was.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun quickly stood up straight, putting distance between them.

Her hands were crossed unnaturally over her chest—a subconscious action when she was nervous, like raising an ice wall to protect herself.

"Your injuries,"

"Much better. Shen Xun'er's Moonlight Blessing is very effective."

"That's good." Frost Mage Lin Shiyun turned her head away, her silver-white hair scattering like snow in the moonlight. "I'm leaving now."

She turned to leave,

"Shiyun."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's footsteps halted.

She didn't turn back, but her shoulders tightened slightly, like a small beast that had been called out, wanting to run away but unable to take that step.

"Thank you." Wang Sheng's voice was very soft, so soft it was almost drowned out by the night wind outside the tent, but every word was as clear as runes carved into ice.

"Thank you for freezing the Rhino King on the battlefield, thank you for holding me, and thank you for watching over me all day."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's shoulders were trembling slightly.

"You're welcome." Her voice was squeezed through her teeth, every word sounding like clashing ice cubes. "I am a member of the tribe, and protecting the Chieftain is…"

"You aren't doing it because I am the Chieftain." Wang Sheng interrupted her.

Silence.

The sound of water from the Lingxi River drifted from outside the tent, like a whisper of the night.

"You didn't sit there for ten hours just because I am the Chieftain." Wang Sheng's voice held no questioning, no pressure, only a quiet warmth, like moonlight shining on an ice surface. "Shiyun, you can lie to yourself, but you cannot lie to me."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's back stiffened.

Her silver-white hair hung down in the moonlight like a snow-covered pine branch—silent, beautiful, and precarious.

She slowly turned around;

there was moisture in her ice-blue pupils.

It wasn't tears—a Frost Mage's tear ducts were probably as uncooperative as their mouths.

But her eye rims were indeed red, with a faint pink circle around her ice-blue pupils, like a crack opening on an ice surface, revealing a warm color from within the gap.

"Wang Sheng, don't be so narcissistic." Her voice was still cold, but that coldness was no longer a coldness that kept people at a distance; it was a weak defense that she herself could barely keep up. "I just… just thought that if you died, the tribe would be in a lot of trouble."

"Hmm, so you watched over me for ten hours."

"Yes."

"And held my hand."

"…That was because your hands were cold, and I was helping you warm them up." She froze herself after saying this.

A Frost Mage's hands were colder than anyone's; how could she help someone else warm up? This excuse was so terrible she wanted to slap herself.

Wang Sheng didn't laugh at her.

He just looked into her eyes, the moisture in her ice-blue pupils shimmering in the moonlight, like stars reflected in an ice lake.

"Shiyun."

"What?"

"You don't have to deny it."