The Frost-Eater's shoulders finally cleared the coffin crack. The tunnel air turned sharp and cold, like every breath had tiny needles in it. The gold-black eye stayed open, watching Wei Chen's throat like it was hungry for the sound of his "yes."
Lin Xue kept her palm pressed hard on Wei Chen's chest, right over the black sun brand. Frost sealed the crack tight. Wei Chen's heat pushed back from the inside, steady but strained, like a sun being held under a lid.
The monster's shadow hand reached again for Wei Chen's neck.
Wei Chen couldn't speak. Not freely. Not without permission.
The mouth-seal vow was working. Lin Xue felt it like a tight ring around his voice. Every time a wrong word tried to rise, his jaw clenched and the vow bit it dead.
Wei Chen's eyes met hers, rough and urgent.
Lin Xue grabbed his face with both hands and forced him to look only at her. "Chen Wei," she whispered, "stay real."
Wei Chen's throat jumped, but no "yes" escaped. He swallowed hard and mouthed her name without sound.
Lin Xue's heart pounded. She leaned in and kissed him—slow, deep, steady—because touch still made reality hold. Wei Chen kissed her back like he needed it to breathe. His arms locked around her waist and pulled her close, keeping her cold body pressed against his heat.
Wei Chen pulled back just enough to ask with his eyes.
Lin Xue understood. She asked clearly, "Do you want me to stop?"
Wei Chen shook his head fast.
"Then hold me," Lin Xue whispered.
Wei Chen tightened his grip, and his roguish grin flickered for a heartbeat—naughty even now—like he wanted to tease but couldn't.
The Frost-Eater shifted forward another inch, sliding out of the crack like a rule stepping into a room. The shadow hand snapped toward Wei Chen's throat again.
Lin Xue moved with him, keeping her palm sealed over his chest-brand. She turned her head and hissed at the monster, "You don't get his mouth."
The monster's eye blinked slowly.
Then it whispered, using air that wasn't air, "Say… go."
Lin Xue's blood went cold.
Because it knew the new rule.
Wei Chen stiffened. His eyes widened slightly, warning her without words.
Lin Xue swallowed and shook her head. "No."
Su Mei's black-eyed body stepped closer at the same time, calm and quiet. She reached for Wei Chen's chest again, fingers aiming for the brand, like she wanted to pry the door open with her nails.
Lin Xue snapped, "Stop!"
Su Mei didn't stop.
Wei Chen's jaw clenched. He flicked his fan toward Su Mei's wrist, but she caught the blade again like she didn't feel pain. Her black eyes stayed empty, and her hand kept reaching.
Lin Xue's wrist mark throbbed where the law-thread used to bite. The cut thread was gone, but the bond rope still felt thin and sore inside her mind, like it might snap if the monster pulled hard enough.
Wei Chen leaned close to Lin Xue's ear, breath hot on her skin. He couldn't speak, so he did the only thing he could.
He pressed a warm kiss to her jaw.
Then another, lower.
Lin Xue shivered, cheeks burning, because even here, even now, his heat felt like a claim she chose. "Idiot," she whispered, but she didn't move away.
Wei Chen looked at her with that shameless spark in his eyes, and she almost laughed from pure stress.
The Frost-Eater's shadow hand shot forward again.
This time it didn't go for Wei Chen's throat.
It went for Lin Xue's mouth.
A thin strip of cold shadow whipped toward her lips like it wanted to steal her voice.
Lin Xue's eyes went wide. If it took her voice, it could force "Go." It could unlock Wei Chen's mouth and make him speak wrong.
Wei Chen moved like lightning. He pulled Lin Xue into his chest and turned his shoulder to block the shadow strip. Cold slapped his neck, and he hissed, but he kept her safe.
Lin Xue clutched his robe, trembling. She grabbed his face and whispered, "Chen Wei… you protected me first."
Wei Chen's eyes softened.
Lin Xue kissed him again—deep, hungry, steady—because she needed to keep him human. Wei Chen kissed her back, and his hands tightened at her waist like he was anchoring his soul to her body.
Lin Xue pulled back, breathless, and asked, "Do you want me to stop?"
Wei Chen shook his head again, desperate.
Lin Xue's cheeks burned. She leaned in and whispered right at his lips, "Then stay with me."
The Frost-Eater hissed like it hated warmth. The eye narrowed, and the shadow shoulders pushed fully into the tunnel. The crack behind it stayed open like a wound.
Su Mei's black-eyed hand finally touched the edge of Wei Chen's black sun brand through Lin Xue's sealing palm.
The brand pulsed hard—hot, then cold—like it was being pulled from both sides.
Lin Xue gasped and pressed more frost, but the seal shook.
Wei Chen's throat tightened as the monster whispered again, closer now, "Say… go."
Lin Xue shook her head, teeth clenched. "No."
The monster's shadow hand lifted and grabbed Lin Xue's wrist, right over her mark. Cold slammed into her arm. Her Frozen Heart Curse screamed in excitement. For one terrifying moment, Lin Xue's own body wanted to obey the cold. Her lips parted without permission.
Wei Chen saw it. Panic flashed in his eyes.
Lin Xue forced herself to breathe. She pressed her forehead to his, fighting her curse with his heat. "Chen Wei," she whispered, "stay real."
Wei Chen's eyes begged her.
He needed to strike.
He needed to burn.
But he couldn't speak. He couldn't command. Not until she unlocked him.
Lin Xue's hands trembled on his face. Her voice broke. "If I say it," she whispered, "you promise me you won't let it steal your name."
Wei Chen nodded hard.
Lin Xue swallowed, heart hammering, and asked one last time, "Do you want me to say it?"
Wei Chen nodded again—yes, chosen, clear.
Lin Xue took a shaking breath and shouted the word like a weapon.
"GO!"
The vow snapped open like a lock turning.
Wei Chen's mouth filled with heat and power in the same instant.
He inhaled—
And the Frost-Eater's eye flared bright, thrilled, like it had been waiting for this exact sound.
Because the moment Lin Xue said "Go," the black sun brand on Wei Chen's chest pulsed—
and opened a hair wider.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.