Chapter 403 - Ridge of the Fallen Drake

“I’ll have the bed. You, the floor.”

Su Lianyue pronounced curtly. Without waiting for an answer, she moved to the bed, removed her socks and laid down. She turned herself around to face Xiao Chen. “I’m warning you. If you would dare to come any closer, I’ll scream. I’ll make sure I’m bringing you down with me if I drown.”

“AH!?” Xiao Chen gasped, looking bewildered. “Actually… The bed’s wide enough for the both of us…” He observed.

“Don’t even think about it!” Su Lianyue glowered and pulled her blanket over her head, stifling another shiver.

“Er… How about a blanket, at least?”

Hearing this only made Su Lianyue’s grip on her sheets tightened. “I’m afraid of the cold,” She grumbled from inside of the cocoon, “You have the pure aura of the Yang element. You’d never be cold. Hmph.”

Xiao Chen never expected to see this side of her. He stared at her dreamily, Even she has a dainty and adorable side to her as well… Su Lianyue emerged from the folds of her sheets curiously when she heard nothing from him with only her eyes popping out then she snuck back in like a frightened tortoise, “What are you thinking about!? Nothing nasty, I hope!”

“Ahem,” Xiao Chen cleared his throat. “Whatever. On the table it is. Have a good night’s sleep. I’ll rouse you at daybreak.”

“Hmph,” Su Lianyue snorted and slowly drifted off into sleep.

Moonlight penetrated the curtains and poured into the room in the wee hours of the morning, casting an eerie glow that seemed to only accentuate the cold. Xiao Chen trembled as cold air brushed up his skin. With a loud thud, he accidentally bumped the lamp off the table and it fell to the ground. Su Lianyue sprang up at once, rubbing her drowsy eyes. Softly, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Chen was formerly in deep sleep himself but the noise had roused him, sparing him from a terrible nightmare. He had found himself trapped in an icy prison-like labyrinth with no way out. In the ice, he saw the opaque figure of a woman, although he could not see who it was.

He was still feeling sore and wearied when he woke up. “It’s fine. Go to bed,” he answered hushedly and he slid back down onto the table. But the cold was growing no warmer that he was shivering so badly in the cold and the table shook faintly as if in protest.

The roughspun blanket proved poor protection in keeping out the cold and Sue Lianyue began to feel its sting as well. Unable to sleep, she heard the tremors of the table and realized that Xiao Chen was shivering. “Master Xiao. Are you feeling cold?”

“Hmm… I’m fine.” Xiao Chen stuttered a hasty reply.

An uneasy silence lulled about between them, further accentuating the cold that seemed to permeate through the windows and walls. “Please come here,” Su Lianyue whispered, “If you’re feeling cold.” She quickly turned to the inside before she could even finish, blushing furiously.

“What did you just say…” Xiao Chen muttered, wondering if he had heard wrongly. But the cold was leaving him no choice. Wobbling with knees as soft as marshmallow, he slowly limped to the bed and the sweet scent of a woman’s flesh tingled his senses.

“Ahem.” Xiao Chen cleared his throat again to mask his embarrassment while he removed his shoes and socks before he vaulted his legs up the bed. Su Lianyue clenched hard the folds of the blanket between her fingers. Suddenly, a soft Argh! came from her.

The muffled cry took Xiao Chen by surprise; he tensed and sprang up so quickly that he hit his head on the headboard. “W-what’s wrong?” He mumbled quickly.

“I-it hurts! You’re pulling at my hair!”

“Ah?!” Xiao Chen immediately drew himself away, “I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!” He laid himself down again, carefully this time. Su Lianyue’s face crimsoned into a deeper shade of red. With a shift of her shoulders, she moved deeper into the other side of the blanket, offering one half of it to Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen snuck into the blanket, feeling the warmth now seeping up his shoulders. His heart fluttered at the tender scent of the woman now lying beside him, intoxicated as if he has had too much to drink. With a flick of his finger, he sent a minuscule magic bolt that struck the fastenings that held the bed veils, lowering them and enclosing both man and woman in a small, little, and intimate space.

“Y-you’d do well to remember that this is a one-time-only arrangement! D-don’t get your hopes up for anything untoward!” Su Lianyue squeaked with a voice so unlike her own. Xiao Chen stirred under the sheets and she went on, “I’ll make sure you’d regret it if you dare try anything nasty!”

“Err… Ahem… Rest assured, lady, all shall be fine,” Xiao Chen muttered softly with a voice alien also to himself.

The cold outside the windows thickened and waxed as they dozed off with their backs against each other. They slowly stirred at first light, and the first sight they set their eyes upon made them scream with horror.

It was a sight for sore eyes; they were in each other’s arms that even their legs were interlocked like chains. She was resting her head on his chest with him hugging her tightly.

“ARGGHH!” Su Lianyue shrieked when she realized what was going on. She shoved so hard that she kicked off the bed, her anxiety driving her to the edge of tears, “YOU! HOW DARE YOU!”

“B-but… I… I…” Xiao Chen, aghast beyond any words, raked his mind desperately for any recollections of what happened in the night. He muttered in a voice only he could hear, “I heard you saying you were cold… Then I… I…” Then his voice rose, “But I swear! Nothing happened last night! I swear!”

He continued explaining hopelessly about how their clothes were still intact which attested to both their dignities preserved and nothing inappropriate had taken place. But it did little to calm Su Lianyue’s shaky nerves now bucking like a wild stallion. Her cheeks were flushed red, he saw before he saw her slamming a pillow into him.

He raised a hand just in time to shield himself from the flying pillow and raised a finger at once to gesture for silence. “Shhhh…” There was no telling if anyone could be listening, with or without the magical sound barriers.

Su Lianyue’s cheeks were still rosy and her breath racing and her chest pumping for breath. I must have been a fool, she mused, Or it must be the accursed cold that addled my mind… How could I have called a man to share my bed! Dread crept up her shoulders although it was gone just as quickly as it came. I should be thanking the stars that nothing had happened…

Xiao Chen peered at her wordlessly. He sighed a breath of relief finally when he saw her regaining her composure. But he could not quite shake off the sweet breath from the woman when he found himself hugging her and found the sensation insatiable.

“Juniors,” a male voice called from outside just then, “Are you up and ready?”

Xiao Chen quickly signaled for her to be quiet before he dispelled the magical barrier. With his True Qi to disguise his voice, he barked at the door, “Yes. We’ll be there in just a minute!” And he scrambled to disguise himself.

With a night’s rest behind her, Su Lianyue was looking more refreshed and renewed. She put on her shoes and weaved a spell around her face and changed back to Han Yu’s appearance.

They went out once they were ready and felt the chilly morning air belting at their faces. The other two acolytes who came with them were already waiting for them at the yard and Xiao Chen smiled benignly, “Good morning, Seniors.”

The other pair of fellow orderlies of theirs looked as Xiao Chen and his companion filed out together and acknowledged his greeting with a curt nod. “And a good morning to you too, Juniors,” one of them smiled in return. But the smile quickly waned into a frown as they sniffed into the air. Why was there a whiff of female scent coming from the room?!

Xiao Chen quickly feigned a cough and shut the door. He swiveled to face them and steered the subject away from the olfactory oddity, “Has Senior Shen Qing got out?”

“Yes. Senior Shen Qing came by to inform us that he still has business to attend to here. We are required to return first.”

“Of course.”

The four left the yard and were led by two other orderlies of the Internal Sect down the slopes of the Summit of Mystics before they continued on their own back to the Tai Yin Cavity. As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain that the Tai Yin Cavity resided within, Su Lianyue gave Xiao Chen a knowing look. Xiao Chen quickly caught the gist and said, “We’ll see you later, Seniors.”

“And why is that?” The two acolytes turned to face them with puzzled looks.

Xiao Chen hastily thrust his finger to nowhere in particular, mumbling hurriedly, “We’ll be going this way. The way is shorter here.”

“Ah, I see. Very well. Good fortunes to you both and may we meet again!”

Xiao Chen waited until the two were out of sight before he looked at Su Lianyue who stared back at him. With no need to maintain their disguise, they reverted back to their own appearance and began tracing their way back towards the Summit by following their memory, reaching the Summit when the sun was almost down.

“Shhhh…” Xiao Chen raised a finger to his lips. “We’ll follow the plan we’d made that night in the cave. We’ll move in at midnight,” he whispered.

Night came swiftly and cast a dreary blanket of darkness and creepiness across the entire Summit. The night’s mists and fogs came not long later and so came the stabbing chill.

The time has arrived, Xiao Chen realized and he looked at Su Lianyue who looked back. With a tacit signal, they crept towards the foot of the Summit and found the two sentries guarding the way up. Fatigue and complacency, the bane of any watcher’s duty. The pair of sentries were yawning sleepily when Xiao Chen and his companion charged, and all they saw were dark figures, two of them, before they were taken down quickly.

The two sentries were merely drugged and would wake up in no time. But they would be none the wiser about any intruders as Xiao Chen used a magic that removed their memories before continuing uphill with Su Lianyue. They reached the Chamber of Chills they arrived at yesterday, the first waycastle of the Summit where members of the External Sect are received. The actual stronghold of the Internal Sect perched further uphill.

Under the cover of the night and the shadows of the landscaping, they darted quickly up the slopes like a pair of apparitions, adroitly avoiding the heavy patrols.

They reached the Ridge of the Fallen Drakes before long. The Ridge housed the next waycastle after the Ridge of Chills whereupon the Chamber of Chills sat, having a stronger military presence to guard the passage up to the main stronghold.

But to the surprise of the intruders, the grounds and terrain seemed oddly familiar to them. They ducked into a thick coppice for cover and waited for a group of patrolling sentinels captained by a warrior of the Nascent Soul Realm to pass by. As they hid patiently, Su Lianyue whispered, “The flint I gave you, do you have it with you?”

Xiao Chen nodded a tacit response. “Good,” Su Lianyue remarked, “Go to the Elders’ chambers to steal the pass. I’ll go to the Rock. Remember, you have only one hour. The patrolling guards here change every hour so make sure that you’re not been seen lest we’ll never be able to make it out alive.”

“Be careful,” Xiao Chen nodded grimly. Su Lianyue looked deeply into him, “You too. Elder Long possesses powers of the later stages of the Nirvana Realm. Don’t be reckless.” With a dip of her head and a kick of her heel, she disappeared into the night.

Xiao Chen watched her back melting into the darkness. Then he waved his hand and conjured a flint. The very same that Su Lianyue had given to him when they first met.