I took another bite, "Fine, fine, you're so stingy."
As night fell, the hall of Muxue Mountain Villa was brightly lit with candles, illuminating the snowy night with its splendor.
Mu Yanxue, dressed in red with a wedding gown embroidered with a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, smiled sweetly; she and Tong Mian Sha bowed to each other hand in hand.
Looking at the masked figure, I realized that even the masked demon seemed to have become quite handsome.
Shen Ran walked up to her, took out a jade hairpin from his sleeve, and replaced the purple hairpin on Mu Yanxue's head. He smiled and said, "This is for you."
His palms were wrapped in white gauze, and bloodstains seeped through them.
Mu Yanxue lowered her eyes and did not look at him.
The guests were noisy and clinking glasses, which masked the heartache in his eyes.
As the newlyweds entered the bridal chamber, Shen Ran, holding a wine glass in one hand, stared intently at Mu Yanxue's retreating figure. Even after she and Mian Sha had walked far away, he still smiled faintly, then tilted his head back and drained the wine in his glass.
Lou Xiyue picked up the wine pot and walked towards Shen Ran, clinked glasses with him, and said, "Brother Shen, I'll drink with you."
Shen Ran raised her glass to him, indicating, "Let's go out for a drink."
In the stillness of the night, the crescent moon hangs like a hook.
After the banquet ended, I saw Lou Xiyue and Shen Ran sitting on the cliff where we had watched the sunrise, their robes slightly lifted, drinking together.
Lou Xiyue's gaze fell on me, and she winked at me, "Come on over."
I approached and saw that Shen Ran's jade-like cheeks were flushed slightly, his expression sluggish with intoxication. The smell of alcohol permeated the air as he propped his cheeks up and drank until the wine was gone.
A flute melody drifted from Mu Yanxue's bridal chamber. Shen Ran stopped what he was doing and remained silent until the music ended. The lights in Mu Yanxue's room were extinguished, and the manor fell silent once more.
Shen Ran frowned, then grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and threw it forcefully down the cliff. The snowball shattered before it even hit the bottom.
"west Yue, I have matters to attend to at my residence. Yun Shuang and I will be descending the mountain tonight, so I must take my leave now. Until we meet again." He left these words behind and turned to depart. I watched his blue robe disappear into the night.
I grabbed a handful of snow and played with it in my palm, sighing, "Love always hurts people."
Lou Xiyue was drinking when she looked up and called out to me, "Xiao Xiang."
"Um?"
He stared at me intently and slowly said, "Do you want to tell me why that face looks exactly like yours?"
I paused, having been so busy watching the beautiful woman and the beast finally become a couple, and so busy watching the refined young master's sorrowful expression, that I had completely forgotten about this matter. This really left me somewhat at a loss.
I gave a dry laugh, "Haha... Actually, actually..."
Lou Xiyue calmly tilted his head to examine me, then reached out and pulled the black cloth off my face. I quickly covered my face with my hands. Lou Xiyue narrowed his long eyes and moved closer to me, close enough that I could feel his breath. He chuckled lightly, "So—you're a woman."
His dark eyes shone brightly, and a faint aroma of wine wafted through the air.
I solemnly replied, "Yes, your master is a woman."
Lou Xiyue said slowly and deliberately, "This isn't something too shameful to be ashamed of, you don't need to hide it."
Seeing that Lou Xiyue was very calm and composed this time, I couldn't help but ask in bewilderment, "Aren't you surprised at all?"
He took a sip of his drink, raised his long eyebrows, glanced at me, and said calmly, "I'm surprised."
"Then why didn't you show any surprise?"
Lou Xiyue looked at me. "How do you want me to express it?" He lightly touched my forehead with his fingertips and whispered, drawing out the last syllable, "Hmm—?"
I turned my face away and said to him in a serious tone, "I think you should call me Master from now on. Xiao Xiang is what my Master calls me."
Lou Xiyue ignored me and asked, "How did you end up with that mask?"
So I told him this somewhat thrilling and suspenseful story, a story that would break your heart and bring tears to your eyes. I asked Lou Xiyue, "Don't you think Lin Yi is amazing?"
Lou Xiyue was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "When Shen Ran saved Mu Yanxue, he was struck in the chest by Feng Wuying's palm. Their skill levels were vastly different, so he was bound to die."
I asked him, "Then how did he survive?"
Lou Xiyue shook her head, "I don't know, perhaps Mu Yanxue transferred her internal energy to him."
I recalled Shen Ran's words from yesterday. He and Mu Yanxue had shared a bowl of bamboo shoots in the swaying shadows of the mountain forest, healing each other's wounds together. However, even though she was willing to use her internal energy to heal him and to stay with him in the mountains, she was unwilling to laugh and talk with him, to tie his hair and paint his eyebrows with him, until they were old and frail.
I asked Lou Xiyue, "Will Shen Ran regret it?"
Lou Xiyue said, "No way."
I sighed, “Ultimately, it’s because he didn’t love her deeply enough. He hasn’t reached the point where he would give up everything for the person he loves.”
Lou Xiyue picked up a small pinch of snow, placed it in her palm, and it gradually melted, turning into ice crystals.
He sighed, "Whatever Manor Mu wants, Shen Ran will give it to her. I'm just afraid she doesn't want anything."
Shen Ran was willing to shelter her from the wind and rain, to risk his life for her, and to accompany her from the blooming of flowers to their withering; yet he was unwilling to wear that mask for her.
A breeze blew by, and I tightened my cloak.
Seeing this, Lou Xiyue reached out and placed his hand in my palm. Warmth seeped in, and he then applied pressure to the meridians in my palm a few times. I immediately felt as if a fire was burning in my heart, and it was very warm.
After a while, I asked him, "Didn't you say that day that I would only feel warm if I held your hand the whole time? But I don't feel cold now."
He jokingly said, "It's not good to hold hands all the time; it's improper for men and women to be intimate."
I stood up, smoothed my clothes, and said, "It's late, let's go back."