[ Flashback ]
The ritual called for only one hundred steps. Yet today, those steps felt weightless, for the usual display of soaring through the air—skipping the stairs by the grace of spiritual power—was forbidden. To do so would be to show a lack of humility toward the divine.
"Shall we begin our journey?" Lìngxi asked.
He stood poised before the temple's ascent. Behind them, four senior cultivators—two from the Mèi Rén sect and two from the Lannie sect—stood ready with a grand, ornate palanquin. The throne was wide enough for two, a symbol of the unity between their clans.
"Yes… I know. There is nothing new about the rules, is there?" Kage ou replied. His tone was casual, yet it carried an undercurrent of unshakable confidence. A small smirk twitched at his lips. His dark eyes, lined with a faint, daring red, looked as though they could set the surrounding woods ablaze with a single glance.
"Unless I, or perhaps you, choose to do the same old things in new ways?" Kageon added.
Lìngxi paused, a soft, thoughtful expression crossing his features. He tilted his head back slightly, his hands folded neatly behind his back. As he turned, his royal blue eyes—resembling deep pools of starlight—met Kage Ou's black gaze. Those eyes were sharp, yet they held the stillness of a sky just before the first snowfall.
With a fluid motion, Kage Ou removed his A Mìan—his ceremonial tasseled hat—and leaned in with a satisfied, faint smirk, as if he had just successfully stolen something precious.
Lingxi's gaze followed Kage Ou's hands with a silent intensity, like a child trying to track the erratic flight of a butterfly.
Kageon's men stepped back as he tucked the hat away. "Well then… let us start this new chapter of our lives, and our friendship, together," Kageon said, his voice smoothing out like a formal proposal.
"Accepted by the Dàozǔ of Mei Rén… as always," Lingxi answered, his smile widening by a fraction.
He turned toward the kneeling cultivator to take his own A Mìan, but Kageon's hand shot out, blocking his path mid-air. Their skin almost brushed—a ghost of a touch—but Kage Ou was careful. He knew Lingxi's boundaries better than anyone; he halted just before the contact became a breach of comfort.
Kage Ou's fingers tightened slightly around the hilt of his sword. "I meant that for today—on this holy day and our friendship anniversary—I want to honor the ritual, but with a twist. Think of it like calling poison 'venom'; the essence remains, but the delivery is different."
Lingxi's gaze softened fully. At that moment, a heavy bronze bell echoed through the mountain air—a resonant reminder to take the first step.
Two cultivators approached, kneeling on one knee as they offered the traditional hats once more. The black-and-gold jade of Kage Ou's headpiece caught the light, fierce and glossed like his own burning spirit. In contrast, the royal blue and silver jade of Lìngxi's pulsed with a soft, steady rhythm.
Lìngxi proboly recalled Kage Ou's promise to be his "right hand" today, and a faint, pensive smile touched his lips. He saw Kage Ou's expression soften in return, the sharp lines of his face yielding to a curious, almost confused warmth.
A sharp, cold wind swept past, hugging them tightly and sending their robes fluttering behind them like heavy silk wings. Lingxi gripped his sword hilt—not out of aggression, but with a gentleness that suggested he was listening to the words Kage Ou had yet to speak.
Kageon froze for a heartbeat. He realized Lingxi was over-analyzing him again, looking for ethical frameworks where Kage Ou only had impulses.
His hand went unconsciously to his own throat and the hilt of his sword, where the shadow-owl Xiao spirit stays.
The owl's eye blinked from the hilt, sensing the comfortable tension. Kage Ou cleared his throat, his face heating slightly despite the mountain fog and the mist of the Mèi Ràn domain.
"You didn't understand what I meant, Lìngxi? Have you already forgotten our conversation halfway through the walk?" Kageon straightened his posture, looking hopelessly awkward.
"No… you are simply more tangled than a snake's tail," Lingxi answered.
"It wasn't even that tangled!" Kage Ou countered, trying to save his pride. "You're just overthinking things."
Lingxi blinked, his focus sharpening. "Then what was it?"
Kage Ou sighed. He didn't understand how Lingxi could master the most complex spiritual arts yet struggle with a simple sentiment. But perhaps that was the beauty of it. "Forget it. Let's just move forward, shall we?"
Lingxi nodded, his expression yielding. "I haven't refused, have I?"
The throne was lowered. It was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, intended to carry both sect leaders up the hundred steps. But as Lingxi moved to board, Kageon didn't join him. Instead, he stepped to the side, acting as a gentleman might, helping Lingxi ascend.
"You?" Lingxi echoed, confusion coloring his voice.
The other cultivators exchanged bewildered glances. Kage Ou was not known for manual labor; he rarely walked if he could fly, let alone during a grueling ritual.
"I?" Kageon repeated with a wink.
Then, with an effortless display of strength, Kage Ou stepped into the place of a bearer. He hoisted the second side of the throne onto his shoulder.
The sudden shift in weight caused the three seasoned cultivators on the other corners to stumble momentarily before they could stabilize the heavy wood.
Lingxi's breath hitched. His hand flew to the handle of the throne to steady himself, his silk sleeve fluttering and brushing against Kageon's lashes. Kageon's eye fluttered shut at the touch—the fabric felt like skin.
The smile he wore now held a meaning far deeper than any of the symbols in Lingxi's philosophy textbooks.
Lingxi looked down, his blue eyes searching Kageon's. A lock of his white hair fell forward over his shoulder. "You… will carry it too?"
It felt too symbolic. Too intimate. A gift that weighed more than the wood and gold of the throne.
"I have always carried you," Kageon answered, his voice dropping to a register that made Lingxi's heart thrum against his ribs. "What is wrong with doing it today in a more… special way?"
Lingxi cleared his throat and sat back, pulling his sleeve up to hide the lower half of his face.
Kage Ou tilted his head, trying to peek at the expression his friend was hiding.
"Unexpected… but not unwelcomed," Lingxi finally said, sitting straight and looking toward the temple gates.
Kage Ou looked forward as well, a huff of pride escaping him as he adjusted the beam against his shoulder. He felt a silent eagerness, a call to the others to begin the ascent.
"That's just who your Kage Ou is," he said. The tone made Lìngxi's breath catch, watching him through the fringe of his white lashes.
Kage Ou barked a command to the others. "Boys, do you need an invitation to move?"
"Yes, Kùmsūn!" they shouted, snapping into a disciplined march.
Lingxi exhaled slowly, finally allowing his back to rest against the silk cushions.
"Careful," he murmured. He genuinely feared Kageon might trip in his bravado and take them both down the stairs.
Kage ou rolled his eyes. "Your concerns are never misplaced, are they?"
Lìngxi looked at him again—that specific look that got under Kage Ou's skin, cold at the edges but warm at the center. "Don't make me resort to target practice again," he warned softly, his hand resting on his sword hilt as a reminder of their earlier duels.
"Alright, alright, Master Lìngxi … please calm down," Kage ou said, fighting back another smirk. "Your right hand is perfectly concerned about your health."
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Thank you for 100 collections!!
Honestly, I didn't expect to bring this chapter so fast—especially with only a month left before my final exam. But you all deserved a gift for this tiny family of 100 ♡
Also, I have some sudden but exciting news to share.
Before the main remake version of this book, you'll get another novel—a behind-the-scenes story.
You'll see someone else trying to be them. As an actor. It'll give you a peek into their world, and also show them as somebody else—like real-life actors stepping into their roles.
I hope you'll love this too!!