13 Snowfall

The snow fell heavily, blanketing everything in white. The streets of Lanya City were unusually quiet. Jiuwu walked steadily, watching her footprints imprint softly on the ground like clouds.

With her left hand holding Xuanyi’s, and her right hand clutching freshly roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, she brightened as they passed a tailor’s shop. Tugging Xuanyi inside, her eyes sparkled.

“Oh my, it’s been so long since I’ve seen such a pair of young master and miss with such vibrant complexions. You two truly make a perfect match,” the shopkeeper’s wife greeted them warmly.

Perfect match? Jiuwu’s lips curled into a subtle smile.

Xuanyi appeared indifferent, his expression cold and distant.

The woman studied them intently, unable to look away.

“You seem unfamiliar here, probably from out of town? You’ve come to the right place. Our tailor shop is one of the best in the city for style and craftsmanship. Take a look around and see if anything suits your taste.”

Jiuwu followed her gaze and immediately fixed her eyes on a deep purple robe hanging behind the counter. The robe’s cloud-pattern embroidery was exquisite and intricate, high-profile yet neither ostentatious nor cumbersome.

Still, it was difficult to imagine such a garment fitting Xuanyi.

Yet for some reason, Jiuwu felt it was perfect. She looked at Xuanyi, her gaze becoming distant and dreamy.

“What are you looking at through me?” Xuanyi squeezed her hand instinctively.

Her eyes rested on him, unfocused, drifting as if seeking something beyond him.

Startled, Jiuwu snapped back to reality.

Looking through him… to what?

Perhaps the perfect fit she sensed wasn’t with the Xuanyi before her now, but with the elder brother from many years ago, before they had become strangers.

Xuanyi pressed his lips, masking the cold gleam in his eyes. He was puzzled by his earlier confrontation with Jiuwu.

If she were truly seeing beyond him to someone else, it wouldn’t bother him—in fact, it would be a good thing. With that thought, a deep crease formed between his brows.

“Senior brother, I’ve always been looking at you,” Jiuwu said earnestly. Maybe it was her serious expression and the slight hurt from being misunderstood that made the bitter feeling in Xuanyi’s heart vanish.

Jiuwu shook their entwined hands and looked at Xuanyi expectantly. “Senior brother, what do you think of that one?” she asked, pointing to the purple robe.

Too flashy, Xuanyi thought expressionlessly.

Seeing his face, Jiuwu smiled gently. “Then, how about—”

Before she could finish, Xuanyi nodded. “It’s fine.”

Jiuwu’s lips curved again, and she pointed to a bright red robe.

Xuanyi frowned slightly. “Also fine.”

Joyfully, Jiuwu ran to the counter, pointing at various robes of different colors and styles. “This one, this one, this one… wrap them all up!”

She looked back at Xuanyi, hopeful. “Senior brother, is that okay?”

This time Xuanyi didn’t even bother to reply, just nodded slightly and went to the counter.

Jiuwu watched him take off the fine white jade pendant at his waist and hand it to the attendant.

“What are you doing, senior brother?” she asked, taking the jade from the servant.

The attendant asked cautiously, “Our hall supports barter. Are you going to pay?”

Jiuwu removed the pouch of coins from her waist and tossed it into the attendant’s arms.

Xuanyi looked at her. “Why use your money for my clothes?”

Jiuwu jiggled the jade pendant between her fingers. “Who said I’m using my money? My money is for buying your jade pendant.”

She took the packaged robes and mumbled as she walked away, “Besides, the money you gave me isn’t mine…”

Born once in the mortal world, suddenly thrust into a strange illusion, it was natural for her to overthink material things. Young Xuanyi noticed her unease and devised a simple yet effective solution.

He hid silver coins in her playbags, in the pockets of every robe, inside golden curtain tassels, extravagant necklaces, vases in her room, magical tools, even framed calligraphy and paintings. For a time, every item Jiuwu touched jingled with coins.

Things she had once begged for in vain in the mortal world now filled every corner of her dwelling on Wuwang Peak.

Having seen and possessed so much, she grew indifferent, no longer fearing poverty or ridicule.

The tailor’s wife leaned against the doorframe, watching the two figures walk away. “They truly are a perfect match. Such a pity—flowers fall with intent, but the flowing water is unfeeling.”

The attendant stood beside her. “I don’t think so. Look at that young master. He seems cold, but he’s been holding the lady’s hand the whole time.”

The woman looked where he pointed. The beautiful girl laughed happily, brushing snowflakes off the young master’s clothing. The dignified young master frowned but instinctively held the girl’s hand, still wet from the snow.

Seeing that cold gaze, perhaps even he had not noticed how natural the gesture was.

Knowing Xuanyi’s aversion to cold, Jiuwu pressed a crumpled snowball close to him. Annoyed, Xuanyi snatched it away and placed it on her head.

Jiuwu found new amusement, walking stiffly to keep the snowball balanced, her big apricot eyes glancing upward now and then, making for a comical sight.

Xuanyi’s lips twitched involuntarily, and he looked away.

“Senior brother, I feel dizzy…”

She said this just as his cold palm brushed her eyelids. Moments later, the glare of sunlight no longer made her eyes ache.

“You’re amazing, senior brother—handsome and knowledgeable,” Jiuwu praised, remembering Aunt Liu’s advice to always flatter him.

Xuanyi snorted lightly. “Foolish.”

Jiuwu tossed the snowball off her head and hugged Xuanyi’s arm, leaning in to smell him. “Senior brother smells so good—better than snow.”

What kind of metaphor was that? Xuanyi glanced sideways at her.

Jiuwu went on without hesitation. “You always smell clean, but last night, you smelled even better, especially when you were about to… um…”

Before she finished, Xuanyi covered her mouth with his hand.

In the wind and snow, the red flush at the corner of Xuanyi’s eyes bloomed like plum petals, growing deeper. He held back for a long moment before muttering, “How inappropriate.”

Jiuwu’s eyes flickered. She hadn’t lied—senior brother really did smell nice, especially later when her hands grew numb and she almost fell asleep, thinking she had entered the Snow Lotus Pool of the Ten Thousand Trees Sect.

Xuanyi had never met anyone like Jiuwu, so shameless and unembarrassed; even the most private matters could be spoken of so plainly and casually.

And yet she wore an innocent expression as if to say, “What’s wrong with me?”

As he released her, Xuanyi was struck by a mouthful of snow. The culprit ahead laughed in a way that made his teeth itch.

He bent down, the hem of his new fur coat brushing snowflakes that fell like salt grains. He scooped up a handful of snow.

His brows knitted, feeling their childish chase somewhat immature, but…

He really wanted to teach her a lesson.

Before he could move, Jiuwu walked straight up to his chest, arms outstretched, her bright eyes curved like crescent moons. “Senior brother, I’m ready.”

Xuanyi’s hand trembled; a small amount of snow slipped into her collar, chilling her so she shivered.

Jiuwu’s body heat was higher than most, so the snow quickly evaporated into mist. Her hair at the temples stiffened like ice threads. Curious, she touched them until Xuanyi draped the warm coat over her shoulders.

Without a word, Xuanyi fastened the coat at her neck. Jiuwu, like a little ball of fluff, leaned against him. “Senior brother, aren’t you cold anymore?”

“I never fear the cold,” he replied. He just disliked the long, unchanging winter.

Jiuwu inhaled the cool, crisp scent unique to Xuanyi and looked up at him. His dark eyes reflected the pale blue ribbon fluttering in the wind. She murmured, “Senior brother, I think I can’t see anymore.”

Before she could say more, Xuanyi pulled her along by the collar. “Shut up. I don’t glow.”

A wide smile blossomed on Jiuwu’s lips, her eyes bright with joy.

Not far away, among withered trees, a pair of eyes stared fixedly at the two. Though childlike and innocent, their gaze was tainted with a strange blood-red hue. A small figure stood with bloodied hands hanging down, crimson dripping from the mouth.

Behind him lay a dozen corpses dressed in official garments, each with a hollow, bloodless hole in the chest.

He greedily watched the two figures in the snow, swallowing hard.

Moments later, the brightly smiling girl turned her head. Her delicate features twisted into a terrifying expression of murderous intent as she silently commanded, “Go away.”

The child trembled at the wickedly marked pupils, then fled without looking back.

Jiuwu withdrew her gaze and quickly returned to her usual cheerful self. She pointed toward a nearby tavern. “Senior brother, let’s go there!”

…

Inside a private room at the tavern, Jiuwu resumed her antics.

Xuanyi silently watched the wound on her left shoulder, his brow twitching. “Your injury—hasn’t it healed?”

Jiuwu shook her head, confused. “No, it hasn’t.”

The system beside them mercilessly exposed the lie: “Liar! It had healed, but you tore it open again yourself.”

Jiuwu ignored the system and leaned weakly in her chair, dropping her chopsticks. “Senior brother, I’m hurt and can’t move…”

“But it’s your left hand that’s injured,” Xuanyi said quietly.

He stared at the wound, feeling strangely pained.

Jiuwu hesitated, then pitifully said, “My left shoulder’s pain spread to the right shoulder now. It hurts so much, senior brother. You wouldn’t just watch me starve here, would you…”

The system teased slyly, “You’re a cultivator, you won’t starve. Even I can see your little tricks. The male lead would never…”

Its words were cut short.

The system watched as Xuanyi picked up a piece of crispy roasted duck and brought it to Jiuwu’s lips. “Eat.”

For reasons unknown even to himself, Xuanyi had grown accustomed to her abnormal behavior. Though he knew she was a madwoman who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals, the sight of the reopened wound stirred his heart.

Jiuwu glanced proudly at the system and happily ate the duck.

Aunt Liu’s advice to “pretend to be weak” truly worked.

“Senior brother, I want that too,” Jiuwu said, pointing at almond crisps.

The sweet aroma made her eyes narrow with delight. “Senior brother, you’re amazing. This almond crisp is as sweet as you.”

The system, drooling over the almond crisp, shuddered at her words.

What’s so great about almond crisps? And the male lead sweet? Talking to an ice cube like that—doesn’t your heart ache?

Soon, the system realized it had jumped the gun. Jiuwu kept praising Xuanyi while coaxing him to feed her this and that, occasionally slipping in words that sounded like confessions.

“This mint water is so good—refreshing and cleansing. Drinking it makes me like senior brother even more…”

“Senior brother, the fish meat you picked has no bones at all. No wonder everyone in the sect adores you; even the smallest things you do so well.”

“This stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork is ordinary, but if senior brother fed me, I could eat a few more bites.”

At first, the system thought the male lead was as reserved as it was, showing slight discomfort.

But later…

No, the male lead actually fed her!

The meal lasted nearly an hour. After leaving the tavern, Jiuwu dragged Xuanyi through the streets of Lanya City for a long time before returning to the peak.

In the following days, by day, Jiuwu seemed inexhaustible, either dragging Xuanyi over mountains for hide-and-seek or going down the mountain to find local specialties and alleyway taverns. Her shoulder wound healed and reopened in a cycle that made the system cringe, but Jiuwu seemed to enjoy it.

The system could not understand why Jiuwu’s constant antics were simply to “pretend to be weak” before Xuanyi.

Until one evening, Jiuwu sat alone at the cave entrance, head bowed, earnestly writing in a small notebook:

Senior brother dislikes greasy or spicy foods; he does not like sweets.

Cold dishes of shredded bamboo shoots, lightly boiled oil-heart vegetables, mung bean rice cakes, pumpkin and lotus root soup… barely palatable.

Senior brother cannot drink alcohol. A sip reddens his face; a cup clouds his mind; two cups require someone to carry him away.

Senior brother likes mint water from Lancheng taverns, bitter tea from South City’s Three Tails Alley, vegetarian wontons from the first shop on the left of the city gate, and fragrant toon noodles from Anhe Restaurant…

Snow began to fall again on the horizon. Jiuwu folded the unfinished notebook and tucked it into her bosom, then dashed excitedly into the cave. “Senior brother, let’s build a snowman later!”