The mountain wind roared upward from the abyss, whipping Ye Lan's long hair into disarray and setting her robe to snapping like a battle flag.She stood beneath the moonlight, spine straight, cold and unyielding as a drawn blade. Around her, red and white qi coiled and clashed, like two restless dragons threatening to tear her apart from within.
Across from her, Luo Mingyao approached step by step.Her white robe gleamed like freshly fallen snow, silver eyes glowing faintly beneath the cold moon. Her expression was calm—so calm it was almost merciless. Each step she took landed squarely against Ye Lan's guarded heart.
"You…" Ye Lan's voice was low, carrying an edge of pressure. "You said I am the key?"
Luo Mingyao halted three paces away, her gaze deep as an ancient well."Yin and yang within one body—such a thing appears once in a hundred lifetimes. If left unchecked, they will tear you to shreds. If harnessed, they will tear open a door."
Ye Lan's brows darkened, spirit energy flickering at her fingertips."And if I kill you here and now?"
The moon fell silent.The wind howled sharper.
"You may try," Luo Mingyao replied, unflinching. "But the moment you strike, the forces inside you will turn upon you. You would not last three breaths."
A dangerous smile touched Ye Lan's lips, her eyes glinting with cold steel.All her life, others had looked upon her as an aberration. Never had anyone dared to speak so bluntly. Yet even she could not deny the truth—her qi was already tearing at itself, barely held at bay. Without that fleeting touch of moonlight earlier, she might already have been consumed.
She drew a slow breath, forcing her energy down, and asked, her voice sharp:"What do you want?"
"The complete Jade of the Mystic Moon," Luo Mingyao said, her tone light but resolute. "It lies beneath the Northern Snow. Without it, you will not survive seven days."
Ye Lan's eyes narrowed. She remembered the broken shard of jade she once found—the very shard that awakened the Mystic Moon Sutra."So. You intend to use me."
"You and I simply take what we each need," Luo Mingyao answered calmly.
The wind cut between them like a frozen blade. Silence pressed harder than sound.
At last, Ye Lan turned her back, hair streaming wild in the gale. Her voice, though steady, was edged with frost."I trust no one."
Behind her, Luo Mingyao's voice flowed, calm yet unyielding."Without me, you would not even reach the Northern Snow."
Ye Lan's step faltered. Her fingers curled tight. She loathed being cornered—yet could not deny her current weakness. After a long pause, a cold laugh slipped from her lips."…Very well. A temporary alliance."
Silver eyes glimmered faintly in the dark as Luo Mingyao watched her back, a light too subtle to name.
——
The night deepened. Clouds swallowed half the twin moons.
Ye Lan withdrew her qi into her core, but her breath still wavered. Luo Mingyao moved to her side and extended a hand."Let me steady it."
Ye Lan shot her a frigid glance, but in the end did not refuse.
From Luo Mingyao's palm, moonlight poured—cool, fluid, like water. It seeped into Ye Lan's body, and for a fleeting moment the raging frost and fire within her calmed. The tearing pain ebbed, and her chest, for the first time in years, knew stillness.
Her heart wavered.
Abruptly she opened her eyes, slashing the moonlight aside with a sweep of her hand."Enough."
Luo Mingyao lowered her gaze, voice quiet but steady."What you resist is not my power, but your own hesitation."
Ye Lan's eyes hardened. She answered with silence.
——
They descended the mountain, one before the other.The path lay in silence, wind their only companion. Ye Lan walked ahead, her back straight, cold and untouchable; Luo Mingyao followed at a measured distance, never too close, never too far.
Inwardly, Ye Lan warned herself: This woman is too dangerous.Yet the fragile balance in her chest forced her to admit—if she wished to continue cultivating the Mystic Moon Sutra, Luo Mingyao was indispensable.
Moonlight fell upon them both, their shadows overlapping briefly on the stone path—before slowly parting once more.