"Snow Fairy, aren't you afraid Qingxuan will come after you for telling me all this?"
"I am, but I'm more afraid of someone spending his whole life searching for an answer, only to never realize that it was written into his very first step."
Lin Shisan said nothing more. He stood there in silence for a long time, long enough for the sobbing of the night wind through the snow pine branches to reach him from outside the Ice Chamber, long enough for the cold light from its vaulted ceiling to lay a thin layer of white frost on his shoulders. Then he turned and walked toward the entrance.
Zi Yuner followed him, reaching out to squeeze his hand as he crossed the threshold.
Her fingertips were warm, carrying a warmth unique to the Dragon Clan that seeped through his palm into his meridians, dispelling some of the chill.
The Ice Chamber's door slowly closed behind them. The night wind rushed into Lin Shisan's face, stirring the loose hair over his forehead. Standing at the top of the stone steps, he looked up at the cold moon on the horizon, more than half obscured by thin clouds. A dark red halo tinged the edges of its light, as though something had stained it. He raised his hand and pressed it against the spot between his brows where the mark had already vanished. His palm rested against his skin, feeling its icy touch.
Qingxuan, the Immortal Alliance's law enforcement elder, the man who had ordered Lin Qingxuan killed. Feng Nansheng had carried out his command, Bai Ziyin had covered for him, and Han Yansong had been forced to back down by him. And he, Lin Shisan, was the one pushed onto this Immortal Path by their guilt and schemes.
"Shisan."
Zi