Lin Xue's hands were on the glowing lotus lines, and the thin crack in the wall was breathing coffin-cold air into her face. Inside that crack, a gold-black eye watched her like she was already owned. The voice that came from it sounded like Wei Chen, but it wore his sound the way a liar wears a mask.
"Open wider," it purred. "He's waiting for you."
Lin Xue's throat went tight. Her curse surged in panic, frost spilling from her sleeves. For a second she almost believed the voice, because it knew how to press on her fear in the exact shape of love.
Then she felt it—another pulse from deeper inside the crack. Hot. Angry. Real. Like someone slammed his shoulder into the dark to push the monster back.
And she heard Wei Chen's true voice again, ragged and human.
"Lin Xue… close it!"
Lin Xue's breath shook out of her. "I can't," she whispered, staring at the crack. "If I close it fully… I lose you."
The Frost-Eater's eye blinked slowly, pleased, as if it loved that sentence.
Lin Xue's wrist mark flared warm, then weak, then warm again. The bond rope inside her mind flickered like a candle in wind. She grabbed her wrist hard, like she could keep it alive with force.
"Chen Wei," she whispered into her palm. "Say my name. Stay real."
The crack whispered back at once, too smooth. "Lin Xue."
Lin Xue's stomach dropped. She clenched her jaw. "No," she said, sharper. "Not like that."
She pressed her forehead to the cold wall, just beside the crack, and forced herself to breathe slow. She hated begging. She hated shaking. But she hated losing more.
"Stop means stop," she whispered, like she was speaking to fate itself. "And I choose… to save him."
The lotus runes brightened, reacting to her Yin like a living thing. A thin seam of light crawled wider, then paused, as if waiting for the rest of her choice.
The Frost-Eater's voice softened. "You can have him," it whispered. "Just open."
Lin Xue lifted her head, eyes hard as glass. "If I open," she said, voice low, "I open for him. Not for you."
Her cheeks warmed as she said it, because the truth felt too close to her skin. Her body remembered his heat. Her mouth remembered his kiss. Even now, her pulse picked up like it wanted him to be real in her arms again.
"Focus," she scolded herself.
Then she did the thing she never would have done in front of anyone.
She whispered to the bond like it was a person. "Chen Wei," she said, quiet and fierce, "do you want me to open the bond deeper?"
Her wrist mark warmed suddenly—hot enough to sting.
Lin Xue's breath caught. It felt like an answer.
But she still spoke the rule, because rules kept monsters out. "If you want it," she whispered, "give me a real sign. Not a fake voice."
The bond rope flared warm again, and a second pulse hit the crack from inside—hard, like a knock. Not words. Not sweetness. Just stubborn life.
Lin Xue swallowed. "Okay," she whispered. "I choose this."
She bent closer to the lotus center, where the runes were brightest. The air there felt strange—like a mouth waiting for a kiss. Her pride screamed at her to stop. Her fear screamed at her to run.
She didn't.
Lin Xue pressed her lips to the cold stone.
It wasn't a romantic kiss. It was a seal kiss—choice turned into action. The lotus runes flashed blue-white, and the crack widened another finger's width.
Cold poured out.
The Frost-Eater's eye brightened.
Lin Xue didn't pull away. She whispered against the stone, voice shaking but clear, "Chen Wei. Anchor to me."
Her wrist mark burned gold.
Heat answered from the other side—Wei Chen's heat—rushing through the crack like a hand reaching for her chest. It hit her curse and made it hesitate. The pain in her ribs loosened, just a little, like her winter finally heard a fire it trusted.
Lin Xue gasped and grabbed the wall to stay standing. "Yes," she whispered, breathless. "That's you."
A shadow tried to slide in with the heat, but Lin Xue reacted fast. She slammed her palm onto the lotus lines and pushed frost into them—not to close the crack, but to shape it.
"Only him," she whispered. "Only his heat."
The crack narrowed again, turning into a thin channel instead of an open mouth.
The Frost-Eater's voice snapped, angry now. "Selfish."
Lin Xue's cheeks flushed. "Yes," she hissed. "I am."
Her wrist mark pulsed, and for one heartbeat it felt like Wei Chen's fingers touched her skin from inside the mark—like a phantom hand tracing her wrist. Lin Xue shuddered, not from cold this time. Her breath hitched, and she hated herself for it.
"Idiot," she whispered, but her voice was soft.
She leaned in again, closer to the crack, and whispered, "Chen Wei… talk."
A rough whisper came through, strained like he was fighting something while speaking. "Ice Queen… you're stubborn."
Lin Xue's eyes stung. "You're alive," she breathed.
"Barely," Wei Chen rasped. "Don't open wide. It's right here."
Lin Xue stared at the gold-black eye in the crack. "I see it," she whispered.
Wei Chen's voice tightened. "Listen. I need your anchor. Stronger. Say my name like you mean it."
Lin Xue's cheeks warmed hard. She swallowed. "Stop means stop," she whispered, because even now she needed the rule to hold her steady. Then she said it, clear and fierce, "Chen Wei. I choose you."
The bond rope flared bright.
For a breath, the Frost-Eater's eye blinked back like it was burned.
Lin Xue felt Wei Chen's heat surge stronger through the channel. It wrapped around her curse like a blanket. Her ribs stopped stabbing for one precious moment.
She exhaled, shaky. "Good," she whispered. "Now give me your hand."
Inside the crack, something moved. A hand appeared—Wei Chen's hand—pushing through the thin channel of light. His fingers were scraped and bruised, but real. Lin Xue's breath caught so hard it almost hurt.
She reached out.
The moment her fingers touched his, her whole body lit up like a string pulled tight. Heat and frost hummed together, sweet and sharp. Lin Xue's cheeks burned, and her eyes fluttered for one heartbeat as her curse quieted under his touch.
Wei Chen's voice came through, low and rough. "Do you want me to pull?"
Lin Xue swallowed. "Yes," she whispered. "Pull. Now."
Wei Chen's fingers tightened around hers.
And then a black shadow wrapped around his wrist from inside the crack—thin as thread, hungry as law.
Wei Chen cursed. "It grabbed me!"
The Frost-Eater's eye widened, pleased.
Lin Xue's heart kicked. She tightened her grip on Wei Chen's hand and whispered through clenched teeth, "Say my name. Stay real."
Wei Chen's voice strained. "Lin Xue!"
"Again!" she demanded, tears bright now.
"Lin Xue!" he shouted.
The bond rope flared—
and the crack widened on its own, like the tunnel was choosing to open.
Cold breath poured out.
The gold-black eye came closer.
And Lin Xue realized the truth too late: the gate wasn't asking for a seal anymore.
It was taking one.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
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