Outside the cave, the snowfall grew heavier and heavier, shrouding the night sky in an almost endless white vortex. The winter wind howled through the cracks in the rocks, lashing against the curtain of the waterfall that was slowly freezing bit by bit. Thin ice crept along the edges of the current, spreading like veins of cold glass, trapping splashes of water inside dimly glimmering crystals. The sound of the water could still be heard, but now it was heavy and muffled, as though nature itself was suppressing something wild beneath the frost.
Inside the cave, Yun Wu lit a campfire.
Orange flames quickly rose and danced over the dry wood, casting warm light across the damp stone walls. The air around them slowly changed; the cold was still there, but now it was mixed with a faint heat that teased the skin. With calm movements, Yun Wu spread a thin mattress near the fire, in the warmest place, then helped Xue Yunxue lie down. He pulled the thick blanket snugly up to the girl's shoulders, almost as if the urge to protect her had become instinct.
"Thank you," Xue Yunxue whispered.
She had just taken cold medicine, and drowsiness was slowly drawing her consciousness away. Yet beneath that exhaustion, another sensation was spreading through her body—an odd heat, faint in her lower abdomen, making her breathing slightly uneven. She did not truly understand what was happening to her. She could only close her eyes and allow her body to sink into restless sleep.
"A-Wu… do you think the others will be alright?" she asked softly.
"I think they'll be fine," Yun Wu replied in a low, steady voice. "They're all powerful beasts."
Hearing that, Xue Yunxue looked a little relieved. At last, her heavy eyelids closed fully.
Yun Wu remained seated beside her.
His gaze slowly lowered to the girl's face. The fever was becoming more obvious now, leaving a soft flush on her cheeks and at the corners of her eyes. In the trembling firelight, Xue Yunxue's face looked incredibly delicate, almost too soft for a world as cruel as this one. Her almond-shaped eyes, slightly lifted at the ends, were now shut, yet their shape still carried a subtle allure, as though even in sleep she possessed an unconscious charm.
Yun Wu's amber eyes trembled.
Behind him, the tail of the black wolf emerged without permission, shifting restlessly before stiffening. He himself only realized it when his body had already reacted first. All he could feel was that the silence of the cave had suddenly become too narrow, that Xue Yunxue's breathing sounded a little warmer, and that the girl's face looked far too close to the fire—and to him.
Slowly, Yun Wu reached out a hand.
The rough tips of his fingers touched Xue Yunxue's cheek with a gentleness almost at odds with his large frame. He brushed a damp strand of hair away from her temple, then let his palm cradle the side of her face for a few moments. Xue Yunxue's skin felt warm. Too warm. Soft. It made even such a simple touch feel far more intimate than it should have.
Xue Yunxue slept deeply, yet her breathing changed slightly beneath his caress, as though her body recognized Yun Wu's presence even in unconsciousness.
Then Yun Wu caught her scent.
Not her lips.
Her fragrance.
At first it was very faint—hidden beneath the smell of wet stone, fire, blankets, and a body just beginning to burn with fever. But with the next breath, the scent surged forth more clearly. Sweet. Soft. Irresistibly alluring. It was no ordinary fragrance, but something that felt alive, warm, and dangerous; something that pierced straight into the deepest instincts within him.
Yun Wu's body stiffened instantly.
His amber eyes narrowed. His breathing halted for a moment before turning heavier. The scent slipped into his blood like heated liquid, burning slowly from within. His heart pounded against his chest in an increasingly frantic rhythm. Every muscle in his body tensed, as though his entire being had just been awakened by a desire too sudden, too powerful, too intoxicating to resist.
He immediately stepped back several paces.
His hands clenched tightly. The lines of his jaw and neck drew taut beneath the firelight. He stared at Xue Yunxue from a distance, like a man struggling to make sure he had not just lost his sanity.
But the fragrance was still there.
Strong. Sweet. Tempting like forbidden wine left uncorked before a thirsty man.
Growing clearer still. Like an overwhelmingly potent aphrodisiac.
Still gnawing away at his reason little by little.
And then the realization struck him without mercy.
Xue Yunxue was entering heat.
Yun Wu's throat bobbed heavily.
He froze where he stood. For a moment, even his thoughts seemed blank. He knew of such periods. He knew the theory, the danger, the way a female beast's body scent could transform into something almost like an aphrodisiac to a mature male. But knowing it from stories and inhaling it for himself were two entirely different things.
Especially when his own body reacted with such brutal honesty.
He could feel the heat spreading through every muscle. His wolf instincts raged, urging him to draw closer, to breathe in more of that scent, to press his body against the source of that sweet fragrance and erase the distance between them. His reason tried to resist, but his body welcomed the desire he did not dare admit.
He wanted to touch Xue Yunxue again.
The thought rose raw, wild, and burning.
And precisely because of that, Yun Wu was horrified by himself.
Just as the battle between instinct and reason was about to reach its breaking point, a voice suddenly cut through the silence of the cave.
"Yunxue!"
Yun Wu's senses snapped back into place as if cold water had been poured over him.
It was Lin Yuan's voice. Though somewhat distant, Yun Wu's sharp ears caught the faint sound clearly.
Without waiting any longer, Yun Wu immediately sent out a signal. A short while later, the merman truly broke through the half-frozen curtain of water and entered the cave. Lin Yuan's body was terribly cold, nearly frozen after swimming through the river that had half turned to ice. His hair and body were wet, yet the moment he stepped onto land and shifted into human form, he was fully dressed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yuan immediately sat down near the campfire. Faint cold vapor still rose from his body.
Yun Wu stood stiffly a few steps away from them, as though Lin Yuan's presence was the only reason he had not completely lost control.
"I… am going to find food," Yun Wu said in a low voice. It sounded rougher than usual. "Stay here with Xue'er. She's asleep, so don't disturb her."
He did not give Lin Yuan the chance to ask any questions. The moment he finished speaking, Yun Wu immediately turned and left, his steps quick, almost rough, disappearing into the stone passage like someone fleeing from something.
Lin Yuan frowned faintly, but did not think much of the change. His nose was still dulled by the freezing chill of the river; his senses had not fully recovered yet. He simply assumed Yun Wu had truly gone to look for something to eat.
But slowly, as the heat of the campfire began to sink into his skin, Lin Yuan's body started to warm.
And that was when he smelled it.
A scent.
Sweet.
Soft.
Utterly alluring.
Lin Yuan fell silent at once.
His originally calm gaze slowly lowered toward Xue Yunxue. The girl lay beneath the blanket, her cheeks flushed, her breath warm, her lashes trembling slightly. In the gently shifting firelight, she looked so soft, so warm, so defenseless—and precisely because of that, the fragrance coming from her body felt even more dangerous.
Lin Yuan's body, still half-cold, suddenly tensed.
He crouched beside Xue Yunxue. Very slowly, he lowered his head and inhaled her scent more deeply. That fragrance struck him like wedding wine—too sweet, too rich, too intoxicating. His throat bobbed. His own heat had not completely passed, and to encounter the scent of a female at the height of such a phase felt like a cruel trial.
No wonder that damned wolf had fled so quickly.
Perhaps even Yun Wu had nearly lost his mind while standing this close.
Lin Yuan slowly retreated, though his gaze still lingered on Xue Yunxue's face. He touched the girl's forehead with the tip of his finger. Warm. Slightly too warm.
Was this a fever?
Or the heat of her cycle?
He was not sure which was more dangerous.
Because whatever the cause, Xue Yunxue's body now seemed to radiate a suffocating temptation. That sweet fragrance gradually filled the cave, clinging to the air, slipping into the lungs, then crawling downward to ignite something he did not want to acknowledge.
Xue Yunxue felt as though someone was watching her.
Her eyelids moved, then slowly opened.
"Yuan...?" Her voice was soft, slightly hoarse with drowsiness and body heat. "So you're already here..."
Her still-blurred eyes swept around the cave. "Where is A-Wu?"
Lin Yuan tried to control his body. Cold sweat began to dampen his forehead even though the air outside was freezing. Strangely enough, it was precisely now that his body felt hot. Very hot. As if his blood were slowly boiling beneath his skin.
"He went to look for food," Lin Yuan answered. His voice remained calm, but his hand trembled slightly when he drew it back behind him. "He'll probably be back soon."
"Yuan, you don't look very well." Xue Yunxue looked at him vaguely, her face still touched by a red flush. "Are you sick too?"
Yes. He was indeed sick.
Sick from having to sit this close to a girl whose scent was intoxicating, while his instincts kept urging him to move even closer.
Yet Lin Yuan only gave a faint smile.
"No. I'm fine."
Unfortunately, his eyes betrayed him.
That blue gaze dropped involuntarily to Xue Yunxue's lips—red, soft, full, faintly damp with warm breath. Those lips looked as red as freshly ripened cherries, and the thought that came next was so sudden that he hated himself for it.
What would it feel like if those lips were touched?
What would it feel like if—
Smack.
Lin Yuan slapped himself across the face.
The sound was loud enough that Xue Yunxue gave a small start.
"Yuan..." Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Why did you slap yourself?"
Lin Yuan let out a heavy breath, trying to force his reason back into place. But beneath the warm firelight, with the snowstorm raging outside and Xue Yunxue's increasingly rich scent filling the cave, even keeping a single step of distance felt like a form of torture.
"There seems to be a mosquito around here," Lin Yuan said coldly.
Xue Yunxue looked confused. A mosquito in winter? Had it mutated?
Lin Yuan's gaze once again met Xue Yunxue's puzzled eyes.
============================
For now, this chapter is still rather short.
At the moment, I am also working on another draft for this book, and not long ago I accepted a new manuscript project as well, so my schedule has been quite packed lately. Even so, I will still do my best to update this story every day, because I truly enjoy writing this fantasy tale.
Their journey is still long, and there are still many things that have yet to be revealed.
So, thank you to everyone who is still faithfully reading, continuing to support this story, and looking forward to what comes next.