47: Chapter 47 Sharing Heartfelt Feelings

"Wang Sheng," her voice was muffled in his shoulder, with a sobbing tone and nasal inflection.

Her long silver hair scattered over his shoulders and chest like flowing moonlight.

"Wang Sheng, I... I was taught since childhood that showing weakness is losing, that emotions are a flaw, something that cannot be exposed... I cannot like anyone, liking someone is failure..."

"But you liked someone anyway." Wang Sheng's hand gently stroked her back.

His palm felt the curve of her slender waist beneath the Frost Mage robes; it was as soft as a willow branch, yet displayed surprising resilience in its trembling.

Her back was as cold as jade, but under the warmth of his palm, it was warming up inch by inch, like a warm current beneath an ice sheet that had finally found an opening.

"I, I don't know when it started..." her voice grew smaller, muffled in his shoulder like a curled-up little beast.

"Maybe it was when you handed me orange juice at the New Year's party, maybe it was when you helped me carry my luggage.

Maybe... maybe even earlier... the first day of freshman military training, you stood under the sun for three hours without collapsing, and I thought at that moment, this person is amazing..."

"I was as black as charcoal back then."

"No, you weren't," she reflexively retorted, then realized what this retort implied, and her face turned even redder.

Her long silver hair couldn't hide the crimson spreading to her earlobes. The Frost Mage's blushing appearance had a breathtaking contrast of beauty.

Usually as cold as frost, her face was now like a snow-capped peak melted by the spring breeze, revealing the tenderness and fragility beneath, like a budding cherry blossom.

Wang Sheng looked down at her. Her forehead was pressed into his shoulder, and her long silver hair spread over his chest like snow.

The neckline of her Frost Mage robe was slightly open due to her leaning forward, revealing a slender, fair neck and a patch of skin moistened by the morning light, as if a layer of golden gauze covered white jade.

Her slender waist trembled slightly in his arms, but the curves on her chest were still stunning even in this posture, like an ice sculpture outlined by the morning light, every curve perfectly exquisite.

His palm slid slowly from her back to her waist. The skin under his palm was like chilled white jade, cold and delicate; the thin-as-gauze fabric of the Frost Mage robe couldn't block the warmth of his palm.

His fingers pressed gently into the hollow of her chest curve, a position like a curve designed by the Creator, just enough for his fingertips to sink in—no more, no less.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's body jolted as if electrocuted.

"Where, where are your hands!"

"Waist," Wang Sheng said, his expression unchanged. "Your waist is very slim."

"Nonsense! The body fat percentage of a Frost Mage is naturally low. Let go!"

"No."

"Wang Sheng, you...!"

Her fist hammered his chest, not with much force, like a kitten scratching an itch.

The Frost Mage's fist, like her mouth, was uncooperative; while she said "Let go," the fist landed so lightly it was like acting coquettishly.

Wang Sheng looked down at her face. The tears in her ice-blue pupils had not yet dried, looking like a pair of water-washed ice sapphires in the morning light, clear and beautiful.

Her nose was slightly red, like a frost-bitten strawberry, and her lips were pursed, with shallow tooth marks she had bitten herself on her pale pink lips, resembling a rose petal covered in frost in the morning light, making one want to reach out and touch it.

He reached out and wiped away the last tear on her cheek, his fingertips grazing her cold cheek like writing a line of text on an ice surface.

"Frost Mage Lin Shiyun."

"What..." her voice was muffled, her long silver hair covering most of her face, but it couldn't hide the crimson spreading from her earlobes to her neck, like a peach-red patch illuminated by the warm sun on a winter snowfield.

"You don't have to pretend anymore from now on."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's eyelashes trembled.

A drop of moisture still clung to her long silver eyelashes, like a tiny diamond in the morning light.

"In front of you," her voice was very soft, so soft that only the two of them could hear, "I don't need to pretend."

She raised her head, and her ice-blue pupils met his gaze.

Those eyes were no longer the cold, distant frost, no longer the defensive, tsundere guard, but a clarity and openness like an ice lake after thawing, finally reflecting the entire sky.

Deep within her ice-blue pupils, the cold light receded, and warmth welled up, like an ice field illuminated by the spring sun, breathtakingly beautiful.

Wang Sheng lowered his head.

His lips gently pressed against her forehead.

It was cold, like kissing a snowflake. But that snowflake rapidly warmed under his lips, as if a flower had bloomed on the surface of the ice.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's body stiffened for a moment, then slowly, like ice turning into water, she softened completely. Her forehead pressed against his lips, her hands wrapped around his waist, and her long silver hair scattered over his shoulders and chest like flowing moonlight.

She closed her eyes.

Her ice-blue pupils hidden behind long silver eyelashes, the corners of her mouth, for the first time, curled up slightly.

Not a cold sneer, not a bitter smile, not a tsundere pursed-lip, but a true, heartfelt smile, like a flower revealed after the ice and snow had melted.

"Wang Sheng."

"Hmm?"

"...You are not allowed to get hurt from now on."

"Okay."

"And you are not allowed to make me guard you for ten hours again."

"Okay."

"And you are not allowed to let other girls guard you."

"...That one,"

"No means no!" her fist hammered him again, a little harder this time, but still like a kitten scratching an itch, "You can only let me guard you!"

Wang Sheng smiled, a smile like the winter sun, welling up from his chest and blooming on his lips.

"Okay, only let you guard me."

The news spread through the Bright Tribe faster than the Beast Tide.

By that afternoon, the whole camp knew. When Frost Mage Lin Shiyun came out of the Chiefs Tent, her face was as red as a tomato, her long silver hair was as messy as if blown by a blizzard, and the neckline of her Frost Mage robe was crooked.

Most importantly, she didn't have a cold face, didn't put up an ice wall, and didn't even say "Who wants to marry you."

She just hung her head, walked quickly back to her own tent, and stayed in the tent for an entire afternoon without coming out.

Zhao Linger was the first to approach Shen Xun'er. The Spirit Sound Master had sharp ears and heard the sounds of cultivation coming from Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's tent from far away.

The spiritual power fluctuations of the Frost Spell were at least thirty percent stronger than usual, a sign of spiritual power surging after intense emotional fluctuations.

"Sister Shen Xuner," Zhao Linger blinked her big eyes and whispered, "Is Sister Frost Mage Lin Shiyun..."

Shen Xun'er stood by the Lingxi River, her moon-white priest robe like silver armor in the afternoon sun, her long black hair cascading to her waist like a waterfall.

She held a bowl of spiritual medicine soup prepared by Hua Jieyu, the corners of her mouth curved like two warm crescent moons.

"She's fine." Shen Xun'er's voice was as soft as the breeze, moonlight swirling in her apricot eyes, "She just... the ice has melted."

Zhao Linger tilted her little head to think, then burst into laughter. The Spirit Sound Master's laughter was as crisp as a silver bell, echoing by the Lingxi River.

"Then the Chieftain better be careful," she covered her mouth, her eyes curving into crescent moons, "When the ice melts, it becomes water, and water is much more powerful than ice!"

Shen Xun'er looked at Zhao Linger's mischievous appearance and couldn't help but reach out to rub her little head. Zhao Linger's hair was soft, like the fur of a small animal.

"You," Shen Xun'er's apricot eyes curved, "When it's your turn, let's see if you can still watch the fun like this."

Zhao Linger's face turned red instantly, two blushes appearing on her doll-like face, looking like a completely different person from her usual carefree self.

She let out an "Aww" and ran away, her petite figure like a startled little rabbit by the Lingxi River.