Chapter 8

Yun Che navigated the dimly lit corridors, his steps echoed softly against the stone walls.

Each step seemed to carry the weight of his thoughts as he retreated to the solitude of his chambers.

With a determined pace, he approached the door, his hand reaching out to push it open.

The door creaked softly, yielding to his touch as he stepped into the room, the cool air of seclusion enveloping him like a comforting embrace.

As he surveyed the room, his eyes fell on the lone figure sitting in the dim light, bathed in shadows cast by the flickering candles.

The figure's presence seemed to add an eerie stillness to the air, their silhouette a haunting contrast against the backdrop of the silent chamber.

He lifted his head and looked at the figure, Xia Qingyue, sat on the bed with her eyes closed, a serene expression gracing her features.

Her graceful posture exuded a quiet elegance, and the soft glow of the moonlight streaming through the window illuminated her delicate features, casting a gentle radiance upon her.

Yun Che hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to break the silence that hung between them like a veil.

It was quiet, the dim candlelight flickered across her face, adding a bewitching mystical feel that one could not possibly resist.

Yun Che walked towards the corner of the room and settled on the wooden floor 

Reluctant to endure another painful visit to the hospital, he opted to not approach her. 

Meanwhile, Xia Qingyue remained seated on the bed, her eyes closed in serene contemplation.

Yet, a subtle chill emanated from her demeanor as she cast a cold glance in Yun Che's direction before closing her eyes once more, leaving him to ponder the enigmatic depths of her gaze in the flickering candlelight.

Yun Che's small courtyard only had one housing, leaving him with no alternative but to stay within its confines, especially on this auspicious occasion regarding his wedding. 

Despite the intimacy of the moment, Xia Qingyue remained in bed with the same aloof demeanor as before, exuding an air of noble elegance even in her seated position.

Her gaze, though directed towards Yun Che, held a distance that seemed impossible to breach.

With a voice as faint as a whisper, she issued a decree, "You are not allowed to be within five steps from me."

Her words further underscored the gulf between them, commanding him to maintain a distance of at least five steps.

Bewildered by her command, he struggled to reconcile his desire for closeness with the inexplicable barrier she had erected between them.

Yun Che rubbed his chin in contemplation, surveying the limited space of the room with a furrowed brow.

With only a bed, a reading table, an eating table, and two cabinets occupying the cramped quarters, options for sleeping arrangements were scarce.

Yun Che retreated to the corner farthest away from her, determined to uphold his sense of dignity despite the circumstances.

With a heavy heart, he closed his eyes, the weight of unfulfilled desires bearing down on him.

Here he was, on his this night, married to a woman of unmatched beauty, yet unable to indulge in any of the customary intimacies that typically accompanied such an occasion.

It was a cruel twist of fate that left him silently resigned to his corner, grappling with the bitter irony of his situation.

The red candlelight danced across the transformed room, casting a soft glow that lent an air of fleeting beauty to the otherwise tense atmosphere.

The two figures, lingered in a prolonged silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

One perched on the edge of the bed with an air of quiet contemplation, while the other remained huddled in the corner.

In the stillness of the room, the only discernible sound was the faint rhythm of their breathing, a rhythmic reminder of their shared solitude.

He opened his eyes and raised his left hand to look at the center of his palm. In the darkness, he could still feel the Sky Poison Pearl.

In Azure Cloud Continent, with only the power of the Sky Poison Pearl, he alone stirred the world's wind and storms, but also incurred the wrath of the entire Azure Cloud Continent...

The Sky Poison Pearl had fused with his body to become a part of him, and he could hardly feel the presence of its usual toxicity.

He had overdrawn the Sky Poison Pearl's power, and its poisonous powers ran dry... Overdrawing and exhausting are two different concepts. If exhausted, it could slowly recover.

However, overdrawing directly depleted the source of the power, making it perhaps virtually impossible to restore it to its original strength. 

Today's Sky Poison Pearl, languished with only the most rudimentary abilities in detoxification, refinement, and fusion. With its potent strength depleted, it served as a vessel for storage.

With his Profound Vein rendered useless, he found himself relegated to the sidelines of importance in the small city he called home.

The bitterest pill to swallow was the stark realization that he couldn't even consummate his marriage with his own wife, robbed of the very ability to fulfill the most intimate aspect of their union.

In his eyes, this was a challenge well within his grasp, for he was the heir to a lineage of medical prowess passed down by a revered saint. 

Every problem has a solution, and every ailment can be healed. To Yun Che, the notion of an incurable affliction was nothing more than a reflection of the healer's own limitations.

Contemplating the path to repairing his Profound Vein, Yun Che had mulled over this dilemma incessantly. 

He had partially repaired them but not fully, to obliterate his old, disabled Profound Vein and cultivate a new stronger one, Yun Che knew he required at least three crucial elements. The Seven Profound Gem Grass, a Purple Veined Heaven Crystal, and a beast core of the Earth Profound Realm.

Unable to bear the weight of the suffocating silence any longer, Yun Che broke the tension with a hesitant query, his voice tinged with desperation. "You will not... really make me stay here all night?"

Xia Qingyue's response was as subtle as it was unexpected. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and with a graceful movement, she reclined on the bed, allowing the scarlet curtain to fall and shroud her figure in shadow.

In a sudden, decisive gesture, she waved her hand, extinguishing the flickering flames of the two red candles that illuminated the room, plunging Yun Che into darkness.

Caught off guard by the abrupt change, Yun Che sat in the enveloping shadows, his senses heightened by the absence of light. 

Despite the chill that emanated from Xia Qingyue's demeanor, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of admiration for her unwavering resolve.

If circumstances were different, he mused to himself, he might have been compelled to pursue her, captivated by her icy beauty and unyielding spirit.

Sitting in the enveloping darkness, Yun Che's curiosity finally got the better of him, prompting him to inquire about the mysterious power Xia Qingyue had wielded earlier.

His voice, tinged with a mixture of awe and apprehension, pierced the silence. "The icy cold power you used earlier, what was that? I have never heard of anyone in Floating Cloud City with that skill. Your master is not a person from Floating Cloud City, am I right?"

For a moment, silence hung heavy in the air, Yun Che bracing himself for the possibility of Xia Qingyue's refusal to answer.

However, just as he began to resign himself to her silence, she calmly responded, "Frozen Cloud Arts."

"Frozen Cloud Arts?" Yun Che repeated the name with a sense of recognition dawning within him.

Xia Qingyue regarded Yun Che with a measured gaze, her surprise evident in the tilt of her head as she observed his reaction.

Though he appeared calm on the surface, she sensed the undercurrent of turmoil brewing within him.

In her eyes, however, his composure was a stark contrast to the typical reaction that accompanied the mere mention of Frozen Cloud Asgard.

She spoke with a quiet authority, revealing a piece of her closely guarded identity to him.

"My master is indeed from Frozen Cloud Asgard, and therefore, I can be considered a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard as well," Xia Qingyue explained calmly.

Xia Qingyue's family had chosen to keep her affiliation with Frozen Cloud Asgard a secret.

With her status, the Xia clan could wield immense power and influence within Floating Cloud City, securing their place among the elite. But if her affiliation with Frozen Cloud Asgard were to be revealed, it would cause an uproar within Floating Cloud City.

With a heavy heart, Yun Che released a weary sigh, his gaze meeting hers in a moment of shared understanding. "Then why did you marry me?" he asked, his voice tinged with a mixture of curiosity and resignation, yearning to understand the motivations behind their unconventional union.

"You know precisely why... My life was saved by Uncle Xiao Ying. I am the reason why he died during an assassination attempt soon after."

"Since I was born, my father arranged a marriage between us in order to repay Uncle Xiao Ying's kindness. Although it was my father's promise, I have no reason to disobey him and thus I have no reason to not marry you," Xia Qingyue's responded calmly and measured, her gaze steady as she explained the reasoning behind their clandestine marriage.

Xia Qingyue raised her glittering cold eyes: "The reason why I told you that I belonged to Frozen Cloud Asgard was to let you know that in order for me to continue to practice the Frozen Cloud arts, my heart must be like a frozen cloud. Frozen Cloud Asgard only accepts women, and they must be pure and uncontaminated for life. Although I did marry you, I cannot love anyone in this lifetime. You must understand my commitment."

Xia Qingyue emphasized the vast disparity in status between them, highlighting the inevitability of unpredictable consequences that would arise from their differing backgrounds.

"Even if you aren't a disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard, I don't think you would fall in love with me anyway," Yun Che said with a self-deprecating smile, his tone carrying a mixture of resignation and acceptance of their complex circumstances.

Floating Cloud City bragged about Xia Qingyue's beauty and talent, but perhaps nobody knew about the elegance in her state of mind that not even the countless number of middle-aged people in this world can achieve.

And she was really only sixteen... After a few years, one could not imagine how she would be.

No wonder she caught the fancy of those from Frozen Cloud Asgard!

This woman with such beauty, talent, and the mind of a fairy had really just become his wife not too long ago! It felt like that was only just a dream!

If he did not have two lives' worth of experience and memory, he would feel a sense of inferiority and could probably not even muster up the courage to look her in the eye.

Usually, he would sleep comfortably in his bed, but on this night, he had to sleep in a corner... There was no way he could fall asleep!

After holding in for a long time, Yun Che let out his voice again: "So, when are you going back to Frozen Cloud Asgard? Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow?"

Xia Qingyue listened in silence, her expression unreadable as Yun Che calmly explained his thoughts.

His words carried a weight of understanding and acceptance, acknowledging the uniqueness of her situation within the confines of Frozen Cloud Asgard's strict rules.

Yun Che continued with a reassuring smile, "Although I know very little about the ways of Frozen Cloud Asgard, I do know that they only accept women. Emotions of love are forbidden, and they all have to be chaste. There are countless beautiful women in Frozen Cloud Asgard, and I have never heard of anyone there getting married. But you married me. Looks like even among the people of Frozen Cloud Asgard, your talent and gifts are a rarity. You are perhaps a talent that they have only seen once in hundreds of years. Otherwise, why else would they break such a precedent in your favor?"

Xia Qingyue remained silent, her thoughts veiled behind a mask of composure as she processed Yun Che's words, contemplating the implications of her unique position within the esteemed ranks of Frozen Cloud Asgard.

Yun Che raised his head and looked up at the darkness of his ceiling, his thoughts drifting as he contemplated Xia Qingyue's imminent departure to Frozen Cloud Asgard.

"For someone like you, they would do all they can to recruit you into their Frozen Cloud Asgard in the shortest time possible. You are probably going to leave soon, am I right?" Yun Che voiced his assumptions, his tone a mix of curiosity and acceptance.

Xia Qingyue remained silent for a long time, her silence filling the room with a weighty tension. After a while, she answered in a vague voice, "In a month."

"A month?" Yun Che's surprised expression softened into a smile, a glimmer of anticipation shining in his eyes at the unexpected extension of their time together.

"You must have asked them for this month. I doubt that Frozen Cloud Asgard would willingly let you delay your recruitment and let you stay with a useless person like me against your wishes. One month is quite a long time, and you are their treasured talent. In the future, you may even reach the same level and even be on par with the Mistress of Frozen Cloud Asgard. Others may laugh at me, mock me, and never put me in their eyes, but someone like you who would improve to unimaginable lengths in the future was willing to marry me. You tried to protect and maintain the pride of a laughable man like me..."

Xia Qingyue's master told her that talents like her were as rare as can be even in Frozen Cloud Asgard.

Her master even said that once Xia Qingyue entered Frozen Cloud Asgard, she was confident that she could break through the Profound Spirit Realm, a level that others in Floating Cloud City, could not reach.

Xia Qingyue remained silent, her expression unreadable as she absorbed his words.

"Well, since you are so kind, you certainly won't let your husband sleep in the corner on your wedding night, right? My bed is quite large, and it definitely would not be crowded if two people slept on it...." Yun Che playfully suggested, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Before Yun Che could even finish his sentence, a cold and murderous aura swept across the room, causing him to shiver involuntarily. "If you keep talking rubbish, I'll throw you out!" Xia Qingyue's voice was laced with icy determination, her threat leaving no room for argument.

Yun Che crooked his mouth and obediently shut up, sensing the seriousness in her tone as he awkwardly retreated to his previous position, his stiff bottom settling back onto the floor with a bitter realization of his boundaries.

Yun Che, remained awake in the middle of the night.

"Wife, are you asleep yet?" Yun Che's voice broke the silence of the night.

After a prolonged pause, he was met with silence.

"Cough cough, wife, are you truly asleep?" Yun Che persisted.

"My name is Xia Qingyue," came the cold, soft reply.

"I know your name is Xia Qingyue," Yun Che acknowledged, scratching his eyebrows. "Wife, I have something to ask you."

"Call me Xia Qingyue!" she snapped, her tone laced with irritation.

Then, in a softer tone, he continued, "Xia Qingyue, after you return to Frozen Cloud Asgard, will we ever meet again?"

"Do not call me wife again! My name is Xia Qingyue!" Xia Qingyue's voice rose in both pitch and chill.

"We exchanged vows before the heavens and earth, witnessed by countless people. We went through the entire wedding ceremony. I am your husband, and you are my wife. If I don't call you wife, what else would I call you?" Yun Che said.

Xia Qingyue fell silent, momentarily at a loss for words. After a pause, she responded indifferently, "Suit yourself."

"Wife, when you return to Frozen Cloud Asgard, will we meet again?" Yun Che's inquiry pierced the silence once more, his tone laced with a hint of anticipation.

"No," came Xia Qingyue's curt reply, her voice devoid of emotion.

He leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes briefly. "Then you should return to Frozen Cloud Asgard as early as possible and not have to worry about me. For someone as talented as you are, you should not stay in this little Floating Cloud City and also not be tied down by me. When you leave, your status as a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard would become public. At least in this Floating Cloud City, no one would dare to hurt me, and I would live more comfortably."

"Mmm, this is more like it, since you would never see me again. If you do not let me get a concubine, I might really divorce you."

Xia Qingyue's response was as impassive as ever, her expression revealing nothing. "....As you wish," she uttered, her tone flat and devoid of emotion. Yet, behind her stoic facade, turmoil brewed, the weight of their conversation lingering in the air like an unspoken promise.

Xia Qingyue's forgiving heart remained as calm as water, but she couldn't help feeling the urge to kick him out of the room in that moment.

As if sensing her silent frustration, Yun Che rose from his seat and made his way towards the door. Xia Qingyue's voice halted him in his tracks. "Where are you going?"

"Can't sleep, I'm going out to watch the stars," Yun Che replied casually, though inwardly he groaned at her obliviousness. "This woman," he thought, "how about you squat down here in the middle of the night. Let's see if you can sleep that way!"