"Ow," she hissed, shivering violently. "So cold. Why is it so cold?"
She turned to look at Wangchen.
He hadn't moved. He was staring at her. His eyes were wide, dark, and filled with an emotion so intense it was almost terrifying.
The red glow was gone. Xie Wangchen's Blackening Value had dropped from 90% to a safe 35% in seconds.
"You came, Young Master," Wangchen whispered.
"Of course I came," Ji'an chattered, hugging herself to preserve warmth. Her wet robes were starting to freeze in the ambient chill of his Ice Qi. "The System nearly gave me a heart attack. Do you know how much soap I ate? It tasted like poison! Poison, I say!"
Wangchen didn't laugh. He looked at her wet hair plastered to her neck. He looked at the way the wet gray fabric clung to her shoulders.
Even though the artifact hid her gender, the sight of her so vulnerable, so messy, and so fierce on his behalf... it broke something inside him.
"You are freezing," Wangchen said hoarsely.
