The cave Mei Lian dragged him to was narrow and half-collapsed, carved into the side of a steep cliff beyond the frozen lake. Hidden beneath layers of snow and silence, it had once served as a shrine to mountain spirits—now, only wind and frost whispered through its hollow bones.
Shen Liuxian lay on a bed of pine needles and fur. His breathing had steadied, but his skin remained pale, nearly translucent beneath the flickering firelight. The ancient sword rested beside him, wrapped in cloth soaked in melted snow to cool its surging energy.
Mei Lian sat across from him, her knees drawn to her chest, watching.
She still didn't understand what had pulled her toward him—not just the mark on her chest responding to his presence, but the quiet way he endured pain. Not a single groan. Not even when she'd stitched his wounds.
He had the bearing of someone who had seen too much death to flinch at pain.
"Eat," she said, tossing him a small bundle of steamed buns she'd warmed over the fire.
He opened his eyes, slow, calculating. "You risked yourself to bring food from the village."
"I'm not so easy to recognize in the dark," she replied. "Besides, I've lived in this mountain longer than most of them have been alive."
His gaze lingered on her a moment. "You're clever."
"No," she said softly, "just tired of running."
A silence passed between them. Not awkward, but heavy—like the stillness before a storm.
Then Shen Liuxian shifted and asked, "Do you know what the Crimson Star Hall was?"
She shook her head.
He turned his eyes toward the flames. "A sect older than most in this realm. Our founder discovered a celestial flame buried beneath the Western Sky Mountains, a divine spark from the shattered heavens. He sealed it inside the core of our ancestral sword—Xingxian."
His gaze flicked toward the blade beside him.
"That sword?" she asked.
He nodded. "It contains the essence of the Crimson Flame, a power that grants its wielder immense spiritual force. But it comes with a price. If the flame rejects you... it consumes you instead."
Mei Lian frowned. "Then why keep it?"
"Because power," he said bitterly, "is the only language the great sects speak."
He leaned forward, gripping his side with a wince. "Ten years ago, the Heavenly Sky Pavilion attacked us. They said we were growing too ambitious. That we dared to challenge the divine order."
Mei Lian's chest tightened. "They wiped out your sect?"
"Almost," he said. "I was the last to escape. I've spent the last decade hiding… training… waiting. And now, with the Ice Lotus blooming again, the seal on the flame's resting place will weaken."
He looked directly at her. "And somehow, you have the mark that links to it."
She touched her chest unconsciously. "My mother always said I was born under a blood moon. She hid the mark from everyone… said it would bring me trouble."
Shen Liuxian studied her. "She wasn't wrong."
Outside, snow began to fall again, thick and slow.
"You're not like most cultivators," she said suddenly.
His brow lifted.
"You're not cold," she added. "You're angry, yes. But not cruel."
A pause. Then a wry smile tugged at his lips. "Not yet."
She met his gaze evenly. "I don't trust you."
"You shouldn't."
"But I believe you."
Shen Liuxian closed his eyes, as if the weight of her words added another scar to his already heavy heart.
"You saved my life," he said. "And whether you believe it or not, that act has bound our fates. The Ice Lotus chose to bloom while we were both on the lake. That is no coincidence."
She looked at him uncertainly. "What does that mean?"
"It means," he said, "your mark isn't just a key—it's a seal-breaker. And when the Heavenly Sky Pavilion finds out you exist, they'll send every assassin and spirit hunter they have to destroy you."
Mei Lian stood slowly, heart pounding. "Then we don't give them time."
Shen Liuxian looked up, surprised.
"You'll train me," she said. "Teach me how to fight. How to control whatever this is," she gestured to the mark.
"You're not a cultivator."
"I don't care."
"You have no meridians."
"Then help me forge new ones."
He watched her, the firelight reflecting in her eyes like twin stars.
"You remind me of someone," he said after a long pause. "She was just as reckless."
"What happened to her?"
"She died."
Mei Lian didn't flinch. "Then teach me how to live long enough to avoid her fate."
A slow nod.
"Very well," Shen Liuxian said. "At dawn, we begin. But be warned—this path will hurt more than death. And the power you seek… it changes people."
She stepped into the firelight, shadows dancing across her face. "So has pain. So has loneliness. I've already changed."
Outside, thunder cracked in the distance.
And beneath the cave floor, far below the earth, the crimson flame stirred.