The thin crack in the coffin wall was real now.
It ran across the stone like a black lightning line, and every time it spread another hair, the runes on the tunnel walls flickered like frightened eyes. Dust drifted from above. The air tasted like cold iron.
Then the wall shuddered again.
Not a knock.
A push.
Lin Xue's spine went stiff. "It's coming in," she whispered.
Wei Chen didn't answer right away because Su Mei's black-eyed hand was still pressed to his chest, right on the black sun brand. The moment her fingers touched the crack, his brand pulsed hard, and the shadow talon that had grown from it thickened, sharpening like a real weapon.
The talon turned toward Lin Xue's wrist mark.
Hungry.
Lin Xue hissed and jerked her wrist back, pain flashing through her arm as the law-thread tightened. The bond rope inside her mind flickered thin, like a string about to snap.
Wei Chen grabbed Su Mei's wrist with both hands and snarled, "Stop."
Su Mei didn't stop.
Her calm black eyes stared into his like she was watching him from very far away.
The copy of Lin Xue smiled sweetly from the blue-lit tunnel ahead. "Your word lost weight," it murmured. "How sad."
Wei Chen's jaw clenched. He snapped his fan open and struck Su Mei's forearm, trying to knock her hand away. Her body moved like stone. His fan bounced.
The shadow talon lunged for Lin Xue's wrist mark again.
Lin Xue reacted fast. She stepped in close, pressed her palm onto Wei Chen's chest over the brand, and shouted like a command carved into ice. "Black sun—stop!"
For one heartbeat, the talon froze mid-air.
Wei Chen sucked in a breath. He leaned close to Lin Xue's ear, voice rough and shameless even in fear. "You ordering my chest like that…" he whispered, "you're going to make me forget the monster."
Lin Xue's cheeks burned. "Focus," she snapped, but her hand didn't leave his chest.
Wei Chen's eyes dipped to her lips, then back to her eyes. "Do you want me to stop talking?" he asked, low and clear.
Lin Xue swallowed. The tunnel was cold. The danger was loud. And still, his voice did that thing to her. "No," she whispered. "Just… do something."
Wei Chen nodded once, serious now. He looked at the cracking coffin wall behind them, then at the shadow talon, then at Lin Xue's fractured wrist mark.
"I can burn the door," he said, voice tight. "But if I burn too hard… I might burn myself."
Lin Xue's eyes sharpened. "Then don't burn alone," she whispered.
Wei Chen looked at her. "I need a living cold seal," he said quietly. "I need you on me—right on the brand—holding the edges shut while I burn the middle."
Lin Xue's breath hitched because she understood what that meant. Skin-close. Heat and frost pressed together. Their bond used as a lock.
Wei Chen didn't move until he asked, "You choose this?"
Lin Xue's throat worked. Fear trembled in her chest, but she didn't look away. "Yes," she whispered. "I choose."
Wei Chen's hand slid to her waist and pulled her against him, chest to chest. His heat wrapped around her like a cloak. Her frost rose instinctively, not attacking him, but matching him. Their energies hummed tight, intimate, dangerous.
Wei Chen tilted her chin up. "Do you want a kiss?" he asked softly. "For anchor."
Lin Xue nodded once, small and desperate. "Yes."
Wei Chen kissed her—slow, deep, steady. Lin Xue clutched his collar and pulled him closer, trembling, not forced—chosen. The kiss wasn't about pleasure only. It was about staying real in a place that wanted them fake.
Wei Chen pulled back just enough to ask, "Do you want me to stop?"
Lin Xue shook her head. "Don't stop," she whispered. "Hold me… and seal it."
Wei Chen's roguish grin flashed for a heartbeat. "Bossy," he murmured.
Lin Xue pinched his side hard. "Idiot."
Wei Chen winced, then moved fast. He turned and pressed Lin Xue back against the cold wall, pinning her there—not rough, but firm, using his body to shield her from Su Mei and the copy. His hand slid under her robe's collar just enough to find skin at her shoulder, warm fingers on cold flesh.
Lin Xue shuddered. Her cheeks burned. "Chen Wei…"
Wei Chen's voice dropped. "Say my name," he murmured. "Stay real."
"Chen Wei," Lin Xue whispered. "Stay with me."
Wei Chen kissed her throat once—quick, hot—then guided her down and across his chest as he sat on the stone floor. He pulled her into his lap, turned her so her palm stayed pressed over the black sun brand. Her cold body was now a shield over his door.
Wei Chen asked again, very clear, "You still choose this?"
Lin Xue's eyes held his. "Yes," she whispered. "I choose."
"Good," Wei Chen murmured, and pressed a kiss to her wrist mark—right on the fracture—warm and sealing. Lin Xue's breath hitched. The bond rope flared bright for a heartbeat, resisting the law-thread's bite.
Then Wei Chen inhaled and let Nine-Suns fire rise.
Not wild. Shaped.
Golden heat pushed into the crack under Lin Xue's palm, while her frost held the edges tight like a ring. The shadow talon hissed and jerked as if light was burning it from the inside.
Su Mei's black-eyed hand trembled against Wei Chen's chest. For the first time, her fingers hesitated.
The copy's smile thinned. "Careful," it murmured. "If you seal it completely, the key breaks."
Wei Chen ignored it. His mouth found Lin Xue's again—deep and steady—because he needed her to feel chosen, not used. Lin Xue kissed him back, breathless, her palm never leaving his brand, her frost never letting go.
Wei Chen broke the kiss just enough to whisper, "Don't let the cold win."
Lin Xue's voice trembled. "Then don't let the heat explode."
Wei Chen's grin flickered. "You're really enjoying telling me what to do."
Lin Xue's cheeks went red. "Just… obey."
Wei Chen's eyes darkened, and he answered like a vow, "Yes."
This time it was his yes. His choice.
The crack in the brand tightened.
The shadow talon smoked and shrank by a hair.
Then the coffin wall behind them split wider with a sharp grinding snap.
A line of darkness opened like an eye.
Cold poured in—so cold it made Lin Xue's curse sing.
Lin Xue gasped, body shivering as her Frozen Heart Curse surged, excited, trying to answer the Frost-Eater's call.
Wei Chen felt her tremble and grabbed her tighter. "Lin Xue," he said urgent. "Look at me."
Lin Xue forced her eyes to his. "Chen Wei…"
"Say my name," he ordered softly. "Stay real."
"Chen Wei," she whispered. "Stay with me."
The darkness in the cracked coffin wall moved.
A gold-black eye appeared in the split.
Watching.
Smiling.
And inside Wei Chen's chest, under Lin Xue's sealing palm, something breathed back—cold and pleased—like the door recognized its master.
Su Mei's black eyes widened slightly.
And the copy of Lin Xue whispered, delighted, "Now… the two doors meet."
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
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