When Xie Bai came to his senses, he saw that the golden threads around Yin Wushu had dispersed and then resealed seamlessly around him and himself, leaving no gaps.

He had never seen Yin Wushu like this before, so for a moment, he didn't dare to move, adjusting his kneeling position on the bed and retracting his hand from Yin Wushu's body, making sure not to touch the golden threads.

But the space circled by the golden threads was too small. With him now added to the mix, any slight movement of his hand or foot could break the threads into dust.

Yin Wushu, however, seemed oblivious to this situation. He still squinted his eyes, and his ambiguous gaze swept down to Xie Bai's face.

This expression was very unfamiliar to Xie Bai, making him uncomfortable and uneasy. He couldn't help turning his face away, pretending to look at the gilded threads, and furrowed his brows, saying, "You first need to—"

But before he could finish speaking, Yin Wushu grabbed his chin and turned his face back.

His thumb and middle finger lightly pinched both sides of Xie Bai's cheek, while his index finger rested under his chin, inadvertently pressing against his throat. With a little more force, it would have been difficult for Xie Bai to breathe, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Xie Bai wasn't sure if Yin Wushu was possessed or if something else was happening, but he was certain that this version of Yin Wushu didn't have a good temper...

So he had no choice but to let him hold on obediently, while in his mind, he quickly calculated how to persuade Yin Wushu to release the golden threads and let him go.

However, instead of listening to his reasoning, Yin Wushu seemed to enjoy the situation. After gazing at Xie Bai's face for a while, he suddenly let out a short, deep laugh, which made Xie Bai even more uncomfortable. With that enigmatic smile still lingering on his lips, Yin Wushu pulled Xie Bai's face closer.

It was incredibly close; their noses were almost touching, and their breaths intertwined.

Xie Bai's heart skipped a beat.

His brain, which had been busy scheming moments ago, suddenly went blank, as if the water boiling on the stove was now boiling in his mind, steam rising and clouding his thoughts.

Normally, Yin Wushu's breath was so light that it was barely perceptible, but now it landed lightly on Xie Bai's lips, crystal clear.

The fingers pinching his chin weren't applying much pressure, Xie Bai could have easily broken free if he had been more determined. But he didn't want to move. It was as if his body had lost control of his consciousness and was frozen in place, a passive stalemate with unclear intentions.

At this moment, Xie Bai was absolutely certain that Yin Wushu didn't have even a trace of normal consciousness; otherwise, he would never have made such an ambiguous move.

But in that moment of stalemate, a faint hope arose within Xie Bai that Yin Wushu would truly wake up at this moment. He wanted to see how the awakened Yin Wushu would react. Would he hesitate and release his grip to push Xie Bai out of the circle, or...

As Xie Bai remained frozen, Yin Wushu seemed to find his attitude amusing, and the smile at the corner of his mouth deepened. His fingers exerted more force, pulling Xie Bai closer...

Their breaths intertwined even more, and Yin Wushu's cool nose lightly brushed against Xie Bai's, almost touching his face. His eyes were half-closed, leaving only two slender slits at the corners, casting enigmatic glances from beneath the shadows of his eyelashes.

The distance between their lips was no more than a few sheets of paper, ready to touch at any moment.

Xie Bai's feelings towards Yin Wushu had always been complex. Initially, there was fear and strangeness, but gradually, it turned into reliance and admiration. As they grew closer, those feelings slowly faded away... But when did this unique intimacy start to change? Xie Bai couldn't say for sure.

Whether it was the lantern festival they attended together in his twenties, or the days when he was taken care of by Yin Wushu after being injured at the age of ten... or maybe even earlier...

He was naturally reserved, accustomed to keeping his thoughts and emotions hidden, maintaining his cold demeanor even in the face of change.

Sometimes he even felt that the changes had no effect at all. After all, he lived with Yin Wushu day after day, and their life together stretched far longer than the usual "lifetime," longer than anyone could imagine. It was enough.

But when Yin Wushu, in his delirious state, pinched his chin and they were mere millimeters apart, Xie Bai felt it wasn't enough. If they could just be a little closer...

His eyelashes trembled slightly, and with Yin Wushu's clear and gentle breaths, he leaned in and lightly touched his lips.

He had no experience and didn't dare to be too bold, so he just lightly brushed them together before lowering his gaze and tilting his head back.

Unexpectedly, Yin Wushu's hand, which was pinching his chin, stiffened for a moment, as if this gentle touch had brought a hint of consciousness back to him.

Xie Bai didn't look up. All his rebellious thoughts from before disappeared with Yin Wushu's slight stiffness. His ears turned red, and he just wanted to break free from this circle of golden threads.

But just as he moved back slightly, Yin Wushu's fingers, which had twitched, picked him up again, and a warm kiss landed on his lips.

Xie Bai's fingers trembled against the armrest, and his half-closed eyes slowly closed...

After a long time, he spoke softly, "It's fake..."

From the moment he initiated that gentle kiss, the consciousness clouded by the enchantment of the merfolk slowly returned. Although the dream woven by the merfolk had not completely dissipated, Xie Bai was almost awake.

Because everything that happened afterward was fake, he couldn't be clearer about that...

Years ago, Xie Bai remained in a stalemate as Yin Wushu, who was delirious, pinched his chin for quite some time. Eventually, he stiffened his back and broke free from Yin Wushu's fingers. However, when he moved back, his fluctuating emotions caused him to forget about the golden threads surrounding him, and his right hand accidentally touched them, leaving behind two deep wounds.

It was unclear whether his muffled groan startled Yin Wushu or if the delirious Yin Wushu sensed something when the golden threads were touched, but in an instant, Yin Wushu stiffened and regained his clarity, fully awakening.

At that moment, he was still somewhat dazed. It took him a while before he grabbed Xie Bai's injured right hand and began to heal it, asking, "How did you end up trapped in this circle?"

Xie Bai mumbled an unclear explanation, and Yin Wushu paused before realizing, "You didn't manage to leave when I woke up?"

"Yeah..." Xie Bai hesitated for a moment, but eventually omitted the inconvenient details and nodded.

Yin Wushu, annoyed, said, "Next time, don't worry about your image, just run faster."

Xie Bai remained silent.

Yin Wushu had no idea about his actions during his delirium. Seeing Xie Bai's injury, he probably thought he was responsible and joked half-seriously, "When I'm delirious, I have a craving for human flesh, especially someone like you who looks so tender. Seriously, Xiaobai, next time, run faster. If I wake up for real, you'll be nothing but bones. I'm too old to handle such a scare."

Xie Bai remained speechless.

While joking, Yin Wushu treated his wounds. When the bleeding stopped, he said, "Alright, put your claws away and stand back. Let me get up and have some water."

After that incident, due to the emotional turmoil at the time, Xie Bai didn't pay much attention to what happened and soon forgot about it. He only remembered that because Yin Wushu was unaware of what had happened, they simply moved on without it affecting their lives.

However, later on, Xie Bai occasionally wondered whether Yin Wushu was truly unaware at the time, or perhaps there was still some residual consciousness...

Because afterwards, whether it was Xie Bai's own imagination or not, he always felt that Yin Wushu deliberately or unintentionally kept his distance, subtly avoiding him. It was a subtle avoidance that was almost imperceptible until much later when things slowly returned to normal.

As for his retreat that day, Xie Bai was actually grateful. If he had really kissed him in his confusion, their future interactions would have been extremely awkward. He would have felt embarrassed, and Yin Wushu would have been even more evasive, perhaps even finding an excuse to kick him out right then and there...

But gratitude was a rational state of mind. Subconsciously, there was still some regret. Otherwise, this merfolk wouldn't repeatedly dig up memories from deep within and weave them into seductive dreams.

Such dreams might have a significant effect on others, causing them to indulge in them and forget to wake up. But for Xie Bai, he had long become numb to them...

In the more than one hundred and thirty years since he left Tai Xuan Dao, he had experienced too many dreams about memories, both good and bad, complex and intricate. He had learned long ago how to distinguish between truth and falsehood in dreams and then free himself from them.

Dreams, no matter how pleasant, were just dreams. Indulging in them harmed both oneself and others.

In the dream, the warmth on Xie Bai's lips suddenly turned cold, and Yin Wushu's figure plunged into darkness, disappearing along with the familiar room and the faint scent of bamboo. With his eyes closed, Xie Bai calmly observed the movements of the merfolk in the Peacock Lake through the gradually dissipating dream.

At the moment when their singing gradually faded, Xie Bai raised his hand, protecting the little black cat in his arms, and delivered a heavy blow. The layer of ice formed on the surface of the lake instantly shattered, catching the unsuspecting merfolk off guard.

The merfolk closest to him swung its tail fiercely, hitting the shattered ice heading towards it. Then, using that recoil, it lunged straight at Xie Bai, opening its mouth to reveal sharp, shark-like teeth, viciously biting into Xie Bai's shoulder with enough force to tear off a chunk of flesh.

Having absorbed all the heat from the Peacock Lake earlier, Xie Bai concentrated it all in one place, swiftly summoning a black mist that transformed into a thin, blade-like shape, slashing directly through the merfolk's body.

With a flick of his wrist, he twisted the black mist into a yin gate standing in mid-air. Ignoring the intense pain in his shoulder, he decisively grabbed the merfolk's neck and dragged the half-dead creature into the yin gate.

 

Translator : DarNan