Chapter 154 | Cool, Aloof Fairy Reborn: I’m the One Captured by the Heroine

Bai Qingxue took the greasepaper package and rested it on her lap.

She looked down at the neatly stacked wheat cakes, her gaze lingering for a moment on their golden-brown edges and the fine cracks on their surface, as if confirming their shape and thickness.

Then, Bai Qingxue picked one up, pinched the edge with her fingertips, and broke off a corner.

The wheat cake broke with a tiny, crisp sound, and a few crumbs fell onto her sleeve.

Bai Qingxue did not brush them away, simply continuing to hold the piece of wheat cake between her fingertips.

Lu Xueqing leaned back against the stone wall, tilting her head to watch her.

She had originally just spoken on a whim.

She hadn't expected Bai Qingxue to actually take it, much less actually feed her.

In fact, Lu Xueqing had already prepared three or four lines in her head to smooth things over.

For instance, “Forget it, I was just teasing you,” or “I'll do it myself, I'll do it myself,” and the like, ready for when Junior Sister Bai coldly stuffed the greasepaper package back into her hands.

After all, Lu Xueqing knew Bai Qingxue's temperament; for an intimate gesture that bordered on overstepping, Junior Sister Bai would most likely refuse with silence or simply place it within her reach for her to feed herself.

Yet, while Lu Xueqing was still lost in thought, Bai Qingxue's hand reached out.

The corner of the wheat cake was held between her fingertips, offered perfectly centered, neither too high nor too low—just at the right height for Lu Xueqing to reach by simply bowing her head.

Lu Xueqing dazed for a moment.

Bai Qingxue's hands were slender and clean, with slight calluses on her knuckles from gripping her sword, her nails neatly trimmed.

The morning light filtered down from the narrow opening above the rift valley, landing on her fingertips and making her fair skin look even more pristine.

Looking at the fingers extended before her eyes, Lu Xueqing completely forgot the three or four lines she had prepared.

All those face-saving excuses, teasing remarks, and measured words suddenly turned into a blank void, like sand swept clean by the wind, leaving nothing behind.

Lu Xueqing lowered her head and took the corner of the wheat cake from Bai Qingxue's fingertips.

As she took it, Lu Xueqing's lips brushed against the pad of Bai Qingxue's finger in an imperceptible touch.

It was an incredibly light touch, like a single snowflake landing on a fingertip, melting away before it could even linger.

Bai Qingxue's fingers did not move.

She did not pull back or tremble, simply holding steady until Lu Xueqing had taken the wheat cake before withdrawing her hand.

Her wrist bent at a gentle angle, her fingers naturally relaxing as they paused for a beat in midair before resting back on her lap.

Then, she lowered her head, picked up the wheat cake with the missing corner, and began to break off a second piece.

Bai Qingxue's movements were very focused, as if she were performing an incredibly important task.

Lu Xueqing chewed the wheat cake, the aroma of wheat spreading in her mouth.

Although the edges of the wheat cake were somewhat hard from being stored for so long, a subtle sweetness emerged after she chewed for a while.

Lu Xueqing swallowed the bite of wheat cake and saw that Bai Qingxue had already broken off the second corner, holding it between her fingertips as she waited.

“Junior Sister Bai,” Lu Xueqing could not help but call out.

There were no excess emotions in those light-colored eyes. She simply waited quietly for her to speak, like a frozen lake whose surface remained undisturbed no matter what happened on the shore.

“Have you ever fed anyone else before?”

Bai Qingxue fell silent for a moment, then shook her head.

“Then, have you ever been fed by anyone else?”

She shook her head again.

Immediately after, Bai Qingxue offered the second corner of the wheat cake.

Her motion was exactly the same as before. Lu Xueqing opened her mouth to accept it, but this time, her lips lingered on Bai Qingxue's fingertips for a fraction of a second longer.

It was only a split second longer, brief enough to be written off as an accident, yet long enough for Bai Qingxue to feel the warm breath brushing over her finger pad.

Lu Xueqing's lips were soft. Pressed against Bai Qingxue's cool fingertips, the difference in temperature was exceptionally distinct at that moment.

Bai Qingxue's movement in withdrawing her hand did not change at all, but after pulling back, her fingertips curled slightly, tucking into her palm.

Chewing her wheat cake, Lu Xueqing caught the slight curl of Bai Qingxue's fingertips out of the corner of her eye, and the corners of her mouth could not help but twitch upward.

She swallowed the wheat cake in her mouth and deliberately said in a slightly nitpicking tone, “Junior Sister Bai, break it into smaller pieces. Chewing such a large chunk is too much work.”

Hearing this, Bai Qingxue lowered her head and broke the remaining corner in her hand in half.

After breaking it, Bai Qingxue looked at the pieces and selected a smaller one to offer.

Seeing the excessively small piece of wheat cake, Lu Xueqing could not help but chuckle.

There was a hint of mischief in her laughter, but it was mostly filled with pure joy.

Lu Xueqing opened her mouth to take it, and this time, her lips did not touch Bai Qingxue's fingers. She merely nipped the tiny piece of wheat cake with her teeth. As her tongue swept over it, she tasted the rich wheat flavor, along with the faint, lingering scent of frost and snow from Bai Qingxue's fingertips.

There was only one wheat cake left.

Bai Qingxue broke the last one in half, holding one half to Lu Xueqing's lips and placing the other half on her own lap.

The half placed on her lap was positioned very neatly, as if it had been set aside on purpose.

Lu Xueqing swallowed what was in her mouth and tilted her head to look at the half on Bai Qingxue's lap.

“You take a bite too.”

Bai Qingxue shook her head.

Yet, Lu Xueqing did not give up.

She reached out to pick up that half of the wheat cake, shifted closer to Bai Qingxue, and squatted down to meet her gaze at eye level.

Due to her movement, a section of the white bandage on her left shoulder peeked out from beneath her collar. She paid it no mind, simply holding the wheat cake to Bai Qingxue's lips, deliberately drawing out the end of her sentence in a slightly coaxing tone: “Junior Sister Bai~”

Bai Qingxue looked at the half-piece of wheat cake before her, then at Lu Xueqing.

Lu Xueqing squatted before her, a bruise from yesterday still visible on her temple, a few shards of ice caught in her hair, and the bandage on her shoulder stained with seeping blood.

Yet her eyes were incredibly bright, carrying a soft smile as she stubbornly held the wheat cake to Bai Qingxue's lips. Her posture was not that of an injured senior sister, but rather like a fox that had caught a fruit and refused to let go.

Bai Qingxue looked at her for a breath.

Then, she parted her lips and took a tiny bite.

It was an incredibly small bite, so small that the wheat cake in Lu Xueqing's hand barely looked chipped.

Bai Qingxue's teeth lightly clicked against the edge of the wheat cake, and she pursed her lips, holding the tiny bite in her mouth.

After chewing twice, she swallowed. Then, she reached out and gently pushed Lu Xueqing's wrist away, her palm pressing against her wrist bone with negligible force.

“That's enough.”

Bai Qingxue's tone was flat, and her movement to push her away was clean and efficient.

Seeing this, Lu Xueqing did not press further.

She stuffed the remaining large piece of wheat cake into her own mouth, her cheek puffing out slightly, and swallowed after a few bites.

Afterward, using her spiritual power, she folded the greasepaper bag along its original creases and handed it back to Bai Qingxue.

“Keep it safe. You have to feed me again next time.”

Hearing this, Bai Qingxue paused for a beat in the middle of taking the greasepaper bag.

“I'm just teasing.” Lu Xueqing curled her lips, her tone light as she smoothed over her own words. “Next time, once my hand is healed, I'll do it myself.”

Bai Qingxue put the greasepaper bag back into her storage bag and lowered her head to tie the opening.

Her fingers were very nimble, wrapping the drawstring around twice to tie a tight knot, then smoothing out the folds around the opening and flattening the corners.

Only when everything was properly packed away did she look up.

“Senior Sister Lu.”

Bai Qingxue's voice came from behind her, clear and steady, like the frozen stream deep within the rift valley.

Lu Xueqing was just about to stand up, but she turned back upon hearing this.

Bai Qingxue had already stood up, holding the Frost Moon Chant in her hand.

The morning light shone from behind her, outlining her silhouette with a faint golden edge, her plain white Daoist robe fluttering slightly in the wind.

Bai Qingxue stood straight, the jade flute at her waist reflecting a warm, gentle luster in the light.

She looked at Lu Xueqing, her lips parting slightly as if weighing her words.

Something swirled slowly in those light-colored eyes, like deep, unfathomable undercurrents beneath a sheet of ice.

“Yesterday,” Bai Qingxue said, “thank you.”

Lu Xueqing blinked.

The times Bai Qingxue said thank you could be counted on one hand, and each time, it was as brief as reading an official document.

But this time, Bai Qingxue did not turn away immediately after saying thank you, nor did she rush to do something else.

She stood in place, holding the Frost Moon Chant, her gaze resting on Lu Xueqing.

“The way you guarded me,” Bai Qingxue paused, “was very reliable.”

Bai Qingxue did not speak these words any slower than her previous ones, yet every single syllable felt carefully weighed, landing neither too heavily nor too lightly, just enough to leave a small echo in one's heart.

Having said this, Bai Qingxue turned around.

She held the Frost Moon Chant horizontally before her and began to wipe the flute. Her movements were as focused and meticulous as ever, rubbing her sleeve against the instrument from head to tail, wiping every inch over and over again.

The jade-like body of the flute gleamed brightly in the morning sun, casting reflections on her chin that swayed gently with her movements.

Bai Qingxue's spine was perfectly straight, her shoulders level, her sleeves swaying slightly in a small, steady rhythm as she wiped. There was not a single wasted motion, and she did not look back.

It was as if her words from just now had been nothing more than an ordinary statement.

Lu Xueqing looked at her back, and the corners of her mouth curved upward.

The smile welled up from the depths of her eyes, first lighting them up before slowly spreading to her brows, finally settling on her lips, impossible to hide.

Yet there was also a hint of bittersweetness in that smile, the kind of ache that rises in one's heart when being cared for.

Why?

Why is it that even when treated like this by Junior Sister Bai, I still don't feel satisfied...

She clearly should have felt satisfied to be treated this way by Junior Sister Bai.

The same Junior Sister Bai who had always shut her out in the past was now sitting right in front of her, breaking the wheat cake into small pieces and feeding them to her mouth one by one.

Was this not enough? Why was she still not satisfied?

Lu Xueqing chewed the wheat cake, the rich wheat flavor melting in her mouth and giving off a subtle sweetness.

Lu Xueqing swallowed it, looking at Bai Qingxue's lowered eyelashes as she bent her head to break the second corner, and the thought she had suppressed earlier surfaced once more.

It was not enough.

Far from enough.

She wanted more.

Yet, looking at the Bai Qingxue before her, Lu Xueqing could only quietly hide away all her desires in the depths of her heart, like concealing a stone picked up from an ice field, washed bright by melted snow.

Lu Xueqing placed that stone in the softest corner of her chest, keeping it close to her heartbeat, letting it warm up bit by bit in hopes that it might melt.

But this stone was not made of ice...

“Let's go, Junior Sister Bai.” Lu Xueqing propped herself up with her sword to stand, brushing the shards of ice off her Daoist robe. “Let's find another place. Since you've just broken through, we should find a spot with abundant spiritual energy to stabilize your cultivation.”

Bai Qingxue tucked the Frost Moon Chant back into her waist and nodded.

She turned and took two steps toward the inner side of the ledge, then suddenly stopped.

Her footsteps halted, and the rustle of her clothes quieted down.

Bai Qingxue stood in place, her back to Lu Xueqing.

A few strands of her light-colored hair were blown by the morning wind, shimmering with a silver-white luster in the light.

“Senior Sister Lu.”

“Yes?”

Bai Qingxue fell silent for a breath. In that brief moment, the wind of the rift valley swept between them, carrying away a few ice shards, the mist, and the last traces of the morning chill.

“The wheat cakes,” her voice was very soft, like the first winter snowflake landing on water, so light it seemed it might be scattered by the wind, “I'll bring them for you next time as well.”

With that, she continued forward. Her pace was neither fast nor slow, the distance of each step identical to the last, her spine still perfectly straight as the Frost Moon Chant swayed slightly at her waist with her movement.

Lu Xueqing stood in place, watching the plain white back walk a few steps away before she finally registered the words.

“Alright,” Lu Xueqing called out to Bai Qingxue's back, her voice carrying a hint of greedy delight, the end of her sentence rising as if responding to an incredibly precious promise.

“Then it's a promise—you have to feed me next time too.”

Bai Qingxue did not reply.

But she did not deny it either.

Just like that, the plain white figure continued forward, her steps never faltering, her shoulders perfectly steady.

Only after Bai Qingxue had walked a few steps away did the Frost Moon Chant tied to her waist tremble slightly.

Perhaps it was blown by the wind, or perhaps it was not.

The mist above the rift valley had cleared a bit by now, revealing a sliver of azure sky.

The morning light poured down through the gap, landing on the short distance between them and making the ice crystals covering the ground gleam brilliantly, as if someone had paved the ledge with shattered silver.

In the distance, birds chirped, and deep within the rift valley, unknown spirit herbs glowed faintly from the rock crevices.

The silvery stream at the bottom of the valley shimmered under the morning light, its clear, pleasant gurgle sounding like someone tapping a jade chime with their fingertips.

The ice flowers on the ledge had not yet melted.

The thousands of tiny ice crystals that had condensed around Bai Qingxue during her breakthrough were currently blooming on the gravel beside her knees, crystal clear and refracting subtle rainbows in the morning light.

Lu Xueqing quickened her pace by two steps to catch up with Bai Qingxue.

However, she did not walk side-by-side with her, but fell half a step behind, glancing sideways at Bai Qingxue's profile.

In the morning light, Bai Qingxue's profile remained as cool and distant as ever, her expression showing no excess emotion.

Yet Lu Xueqing felt that there was a tiny, subtle curve at the corner of her lips.

Lu Xueqing withdrew her gaze and clasped her hands behind her back, her steps growing a bit lighter.

She suddenly felt that from this journey into the mystic realm, she had gained something else besides her increased cultivation.

At the same time, Lu Xueqing silently resolved to prepare more snacks in her storage bag from now on.

Who knew when those snacks might come in handy?

After all, she knew that Junior Sister Bai did not dislike sweets either, did she?

Following that, Lu Xueqing could not help but wonder:

If Junior Sister Bai grew accustomed to eating the snacks she brought, would there come a day when she did not proactively bring them out, and Junior Sister Bai would stop in her tracks, turn her head, look at her with those light-colored eyes, and ask: