The night didn't cool the way it should have.
Lu Yan felt it the moment he stepped back into his room—heat lingering under his skin, restless, like a question that refused to settle. Lin Yue's last words replayed with irritating clarity.
Next time you touch me, it won't be an accident.
He shut the door and leaned against it, eyes closed, letting the wood press into his spine.
"Problem," he murmured.
Promise, the Manual corrected, unhelpful and pleased.
He pushed off the door and crossed the room, movements controlled, deliberate. If he let his thoughts spiral, they would drag everything with them. Lin Yue. Mo Xian'er. Su Mei's calculating gaze.
Too many vectors.
He sat on the bed, elbows on his knees, head bowed for a moment.
"Enough," he said quietly.
The Manual hummed, amused but compliant. As you wish.
He breathed. Once. Twice.
The mountain shifted.
Not violently. Not like the breach.
This was subtler. A tightening of pressure outside his window, as if the air itself had leaned closer to listen.
Lu Yan looked up.
Moonlight spilled across the floor in a broader band than before, pale and sharp. The window—he was sure of it—had been closed.
Now it wasn't.
He didn't move.
Didn't reach for anything.
He waited.
A shadow crossed the sill, light and deliberate. Then a figure stepped inside as if the height meant nothing.
Mo Xian'er landed without a sound.
She straightened, brushing nonexistent dust from her sleeve, eyes glittering in the moonlight. "You really should lock things better."
"I did," Lu Yan said calmly. "You don't count."
She smiled, slow and dangerous. "I like that answer."
She didn't approach immediately. Instead, she walked the perimeter of the room, fingers trailing along the wall, the table, the edge of his bed. Claiming space without touching him.
"You spoke with her," she said.
"Everyone did," he replied.
Mo Xian'er laughed softly. "Not like that."
She stopped near the window, turning to face him. Her expression was lighter than earlier, but the tension underneath hadn't eased. If anything, it had sharpened.
"She told you not to touch her," Mo Xian'er continued.
Lu Yan raised an eyebrow. "Did she?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Did she?"
He met her gaze evenly. "She told me what would happen if I did."
The distinction mattered.
Mo Xian'er stilled.
The Manual stirred, delighted.
Jealousy sharpening into curiosity. Delicious progression.
Mo Xian'er crossed the room then, stopping just short of him. Close enough that her warmth pressed into his awareness, a contrast to Lin Yue's cold.
"And what do you think will happen?" she asked softly.
He didn't answer right away.
He stood.
The movement brought them nearly chest to chest. Not touching. Not yet.
"I think," he said calmly, "she doesn't make threats she can't live with."
Mo Xian'er's breath caught.
Then she laughed—quiet, low. "You're going to break her heart."
"Or she'll break mine," he replied. "Or neither."
She tilted her head, studying him. "You don't sound afraid of that."
"I'm afraid of boring outcomes."
Her gaze dropped to his mouth. Lingered. Lifted again.
"Dangerous," she murmured. "You're dangerous in a way that doesn't look like it."
She lifted her hand, fingers brushing his collarbone—light, teasing. Testing.
The contact sent a jolt through him. Not overwhelming. Focused.
Golden text flickered into existence, abrupt and intrusive.
—
[Yin Resonance: Competing Signals]
Target: Mo Xian'er
Bond Status: Attraction (Volatile)
Warning: Emotional Overlap Detected
—
Mo Xian'er hissed softly and pulled her hand back, eyes flashing. "You felt that too."
"Yes."
"What are you?"
He smiled faintly. "Consistent."
She stared at him, then shook her head with a laugh. "Unbelievable."
She stepped back, creating distance she hadn't wanted a moment ago. "You're playing a dangerous game."
"I'm not playing."
"Liar."
"Observer, then."
Her lips parted, then pressed together. She looked irritated. And intrigued.
"You know," she said, voice light but eyes sharp, "most men would be begging right now. Or boasting."
"I'm not most men."
"No," she agreed. "That's the problem."
She turned toward the window, then paused. Looked back at him over her shoulder.
"If she hurts you," Mo Xian'er said quietly, "I won't be kind."
He met her gaze, steady. "I wouldn't expect you to be."
She smiled, satisfied, and vanished back into the night as lightly as she'd come.
The room felt emptier after she left.
Too quiet.
Lu Yan sat back down, rubbing a hand over his face.
Two threads tightening, the Manual murmured. Neither wants to be the first to pull.
"And you?" he asked.
I'm enjoying the tension.
He lay back, staring at the ceiling, and waited for sleep to claim him.
It didn't.
Instead, the pressure returned—different this time. Focused. Cold.
He sat up slowly.
The door was still closed.
The window still open.
And Lin Yue stood just inside the room, frost curling faintly around her feet.
"You're persistent," he said.
Her eyes flicked to the window. "So are your guests."
Interesting.
"You followed her," he said.
"I felt her," Lin Yue replied sharply. "That was enough."
They stared at each other across the room, tension thick enough to taste.
"You shouldn't be here," he said again.
"I know."
"Then why—"
She crossed the room in three steps and stopped in front of him, too close for comfort, eyes blazing.
"You let her touch you," Lin Yue said.
It wasn't a question.
Lu Yan didn't deny it. "Briefly."
Her jaw tightened. Frost surged, then steadied.
"And you think that doesn't concern me?"
He stood, bringing them eye level. "I think it concerns you more than you want."
Her breath hitched.
The Manual hummed, dangerous and pleased.
—
[Yin Resonance: Surge]
Target: Lin Yue
Bond Status: Attraction (Destabilizing)
Warning: Jealousy Detected
—
Lin Yue's hand came up and pressed against his chest again. Harder this time. As if to push him away.
He didn't move.
Didn't step back.
Didn't lean in.
He simply looked down at her hand, then back into her eyes.
"You said next time wouldn't be an accident," he said quietly.
Her pupils dilated.
"I didn't say now," she snapped.
"Good," he replied. "Neither did I."
The silence snapped tight.
Her hand remained on his chest, fingers curling into his robe. She noticed. Tried to pull back.
He caught her wrist.
Not restraining.
Anchoring.
Her breath shuddered.
"Lin Yue," he said softly. "If you stay, it has to be because you choose to."
She stared at him, chest rising and falling too fast.
"I don't choose like this," she whispered.
"Then don't."
Another beat.
Another.
Then she yanked her hand free and stepped back, frost flaring defensively.
"This is a mistake," she said.
"Then leave."
She didn't.
Instead, she turned away sharply, pacing once like a caged thing. "You make things complicated."
"You were complicated before me."
She stopped.
Turned.
"Say that again."
"You were holding yourself together so tightly that the moment someone didn't push, everything shook."
The words landed like a blow.
Lin Yue stared at him, stunned.
Then she laughed.
Short. Breathless. Almost hysterical.
"Get out of my head," she said.
"I'm not in it," he replied. "You invited me to the doorway."
Silence fell again, heavier now. Charged with everything they weren't saying.
Lin Yue's shoulders sagged slightly. Just a fraction.
"I can't stay," she said quietly.
"I know."
She moved toward the door, hand on the latch. Paused.
Without turning back, she spoke. "If I come again… it won't be to argue."
The door closed behind her.
Lu Yan stood alone in the quiet room, pulse steady, skin buzzing where frost and heat had tangled.
The Manual purred, deeply satisfied.
Two visits. One night. Progress.
"Or disaster."
Often the same thing.
He exhaled slowly and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling as sleep finally, mercifully, began to creep in.
Just before it claimed him, a final system message flickered—soft, almost fond.
—
[Heavenly Desire Manual]
Current State: Initiation Phase
Note: Bonds once awakened do not return to sleep easily.
—
Somewhere outside, the mountain shifted.
And Lu Yan smiled, just a little, as the night finally took him.