The second half of the night was quiet.
Yun Yun lay in bed, her thoughts in disarray. She waited two hours, listening to the stillness, feeling the weight of gratitude pressing on her chest. She knew Ya Fei and Xiao Yixian had already returned to their rooms—each wrapped in their own quiet exhaustion.
Her fingers clenched the sheet tightly. Then, without a sound, she slipped out of bed and padded softly toward Ye Feng's door.
It wasn't locked.
None of their doors were. In this temporary dwelling, no names marked their rooms—no boundaries declared.
Yun Yun paused at the threshold. Her hand hovered midair, trembling slightly.
Then she pushed the door open.
Inside, moonlight poured in through the window, silver and pale. It illuminated Ye Feng's sleeping form on the bed—peaceful, undisturbed.
Yun Yun's breath caught in her throat.
She thought back to earlier—everything that happened. Her body had burned with that strange heat, poisoned unknowingly, nearly overcome. But she'd kept her dignity, barely. Her clothes had never been disturbed.
And through it all, Ye Feng… had remained.
"Thank you," she whispered to the silent room.
She didn't like owing favors. That was a rule she'd lived by since she first stepped onto the path of cultivation. But now—
She owed him. More than once.
Yun Yun bit her lip, eyes sweeping across the room. She lingered on his peaceful expression, then moved behind the stone table. There, with steady hands, she removed her plain outer robe, revealing skin like sculpted jade under the moonlight.
From her spatial ring, she withdrew a light-blue inner armor. It shimmered faintly—a radiance that could only come from refined, living metal.
"This is the Heart of the Sea Armor," she said softly, even though he couldn't hear her. "Forged from the core metal found inside a sixth-tier sea monster—the three-tailed blue whale. Its strength scales with its owner's Spirit power…"
She hesitated, eyes flicking toward him again.
"You've helped me more than once. Consider this my repayment."
Yun Yun folded the armor carefully, then added two scrolls beside it—one red, the other orange-gold.
"A high-level Xuan fire-attribute technique. And a mid-level Xuan movement art. These are also yours."
She stood silently for a moment, watching him breathe.
Her chest tightened.
"I've cultivated alone for so many years," she murmured. "Never thought I'd fall for someone younger…"
She bent over, pressing a light kiss to his forehead.
"Farewell, little guy."
Then her wings unfurled—soft green feathers spreading—and she soared through the open window into the sky.
Only the faint scent of flowers lingered in the room.
But the woman was gone.
—
Ye Feng opened his eyes the moment she left.
So she thought he had slept through all of that?
He scoffed.
"Talking to yourself so loudly," he muttered, rising. "Of course I heard everything."
A ripple of space shimmered—and in the sky above the waterfall chamber, just as Yun Yun glanced down one last time, Ye Feng appeared behind her like a ghost.
Yun Yun gasped. "You… you weren't asleep?"
"How could I sleep through all that monologue?" he said casually.
"You were awake the whole time?"
"Since you opened the door."
"Then why didn't you say anything?!"
"There's no rule saying I have to." He gave her a sideways glance, lips curling. "Besides… how was I supposed to know you'd try to steal a kiss?"
Yun Yun's cheeks ignited. "You—you misunderstood! I wasn't— That was just… condensation! From the ceiling! A water droplet!"
"Sure," he said, smirking. "Let's call it that."
With a flick of his hand, the items she had left behind materialized beside him. "And these?"
"They're repayment," she said stiffly. "I don't like owing favors."
Ye Feng picked up the inner armor. "Heart of the Sea Armor?"
She nodded.
"Only sixth-tier?" His brow twitched.
Yun Yun froze.
That… was her personal battle gear. Priceless. A treasured artifact from the ocean depths. And he—
"Barely worth the lingering scent," Ye Feng added bluntly.
Yun Yun's jaw dropped. Her hands curled into fists.
That "lingering scent"… he was clearly referring to her natural fragrance!
She wanted to slap him.
But—his words also suggested something else.
That to him, her scent was more valuable than even sixth-tier armor.
Her face flushed, this time for a different reason.
Ye Feng casually opened the scrolls mid-air. "Explosive Step—mid Xuan tier. Flame Art—high Xuan tier fire technique."
He scoffed. "Too low. Not even Heaven-tier. Trash."
The breeze carried the items back to her.
"…What do you mean?" she asked slowly.
"I don't like them. Take them back."
Yun Yun seethed. With a flick of her fingers, she retracted the armor and scrolls back into her ring. Her wings flared open.
"I'm leaving."
But Ye Feng blocked her again. "In such a hurry? You, the proud leader of Misty Cloud Sect, have this little patience?"
Yun Yun's lips twitched. She didn't know what was wrong with her.
She wasn't usually like this.
But maybe… maybe it was because she liked him.
"Are you cultivating wind-element techniques?" Ye Feng asked suddenly.
She nodded.
Ye Feng snapped his fingers. A long dress drifted from his storage Spirit guide.
Its surface shimmered with cyan light, marked with mysterious wind patterns. The surrounding wind elements seemed to dance around it, drawn by its aura.
Yun Yun's eyes widened.
Seventh tier?
No—eighth?
Ninth?
She wasn't a weapon appraiser, but she could feel it in her bones. This dress… was stronger than her Heart of the Sea Armor.
It was beautiful.
She reached out, touched the fabric. It was soft, luxurious, and alive with elemental power.
Her heart beat just a little faster.
She looked at Ye Feng—his expression unreadable under the moonlight.
This gift…
Was not a dismissal.
But an answer.
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