In the end, they never finished that jar of three-hundred-year-old Demon Spirit Wine.
Lin Chen could not remember after which cup he had set his goblet down. He only remembered that the look in Xidi's eyes had changed.
There was no longer a trace of teasing or testing in those pink eyes. They were as still as moonlight falling over a deep pool, holding only a tipsy yet utterly genuine light.
She put down her goblet without a word and leaned toward him. Her fingertips rested on his cheek for a moment, as though she were making sure the man before her was real.
Then she kissed him.
Deep in the night, the crystal lamps beneath the covered walkway went out on their own.
Moonlight covered the entire terrace. Across the purple plains, the glow of spirit grasses washed over the distant hills like a silent tide.
For a while, all words lost their meaning.
At that moment, Xidi's innate seductive power shed every layer of deliberate artifice, turning into a more primal, more genuine heat that enveloped them both.
She pressed against him, her fingers laced through his, as though she wanted to knead him into her very flesh and bones.
In the darkness, Lin Chen could hear Xidi's breathing rising and falling like the tides.
Suddenly, she gave a low laugh beside his ear, her voice husky and languid from the wine. "You lost... you didn't finish that cup."
Lin Chen did not answer. He only tightened his arms around her.
Xidi curled up in the Creator God's embrace like a cat that had finally found where she belonged, and drifted into a deep sleep.
When Lin Chen opened his eyes, dawn had not yet fully broken. A pale, fish-belly white tinged the purple sky, and the morning