Wu Jian could not quite still the irregular beating of his heart. It reverberated within his chest, a staccato rhythm that felt like it was beating against his ribcage--and the reason he felt this way was sitting close enough that their shoulders were touching. How long had it been since he had seen Hou Jingshu? How long had it been since he had touched her? The heat from her body radiated toward, beckoning him, comforting him, and arousing him all at the same time.

His mask sat discarded on the nightstand.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to talk, just the two of us,” Hou Jingshu said at last. He wondered if she felt as nervous as he did.

“It has. What have you been up to?” asked Wu Jian.

“Training, training, and--oh! More training.”

“Sounds like nothing but training.”

“Pretty much.” Hou Jingshu placed her hands on her knees and leaned back, lifting her feet off the ground before setting them back down with an audible thump. “I haven’t been doing anything worth talking about. Every day from dawn to dusk, all I’ve done is spar with Dàshī Loong Chen for the past year. To be honest, it’s been really boring.”

According to Hou Jingshu, the beginning had been a lot of fun, though Wu Jian didn’t think getting beaten up every day sounded like fun. It sounded painful. She told him some of what her training entailed and it honestly sounded like something out of a horror story parents told their children. At the very least, Wu Jian was suitably horrified by some of the gorier details.

“What about you? It sounds like your life since leaving the Shang Kingdom has been eventful.”

Since she had asked, Wu Jian told her about what he had been up to. They hadn’t been able to talk much on the way to this city since they’d had no privacy. Now that they were alone, Wu Jian could share all the details, like his time during the tournament in the Xia Dynasty.

Hou Jingshu’s smile as she listened to him was like the sun breaking through storm clouds. “Sounds like your life has been a lot more eventful than mine.”

“I guess it has at that.”

An awkward silence ensued. Wu Jian wondered if the reason it felt so awkward was because it had been so long. He felt like he should say more, but he wasn’t sure what to say. No. That wasn’t it. Wu Jian just wanted to be physically intimate, but it had been so long that he didn’t know if getting physical would be appropriate.

“Oh, for the love of--” Hou Jingshu muttered.

Wu Jian turned just as Hou Jingshu pounced. He was startled as he found his back pressed against the bed, Hou Jingshu straddling his waist as she leaned down and claimed his mouth in a voracious kiss that left him gasping. Her tongue was in his mouth before he had a chance to speak. She was already slipping her hands inside of his hanfu, both to pull it apart and to map out the contours of his torso.

“Jingshu, what--”

“I’m sick and tired of us walking on eggshells here,” Hou Jingshu interrupted him. Wu Jian might have said more anyway, but she leaned down and began nibbling on his neck. “We’ve been acting like fools. You want this. I want this. What’s stopping us?”

“Well…”

Wu Jian glanced at the still sleeping Youmei. She hadn’t woken up still. He was thankful for small miracles.

“What’s stopping us besides her?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“Nothing, I guess.”

“Then I’m not going to stop.”

Their kissing continued. It didn’t take long before Hou Jingshu had removed the upper half of his outfit. The cold night air left a slight chill on his skin, though he believed the goosebumps had more to do with what Hou Jingshu was doing than it did the temperature. She had already leaned down and was kissing and licking his chest. As she reached for his pants, he stopped her.

“Are you really stopping me here?” her eyes asked him.

He shook his head. “It’s not fair that I’m the only one getting naked.”

“Oh… I guess you’re right.”

Hou Jingshu sat up. Wu Jian stiffened when her butt came into contact with the proof of his arousal. She paused for a moment before, with a sly grin, she rocked her hips back and forth, dumping against him with every motion and making him squirm beneath her. Wu Jian realized what she was doing and grimaced as he reached out and undid the knot keeping her sash tied together. As the knot gave away, her outfit parted, and Wu Jian slipped his hands inside to push them further back.

Hou Jingshu’s chest was wrapped tightly in bindings, but it was only her chest; the rest of her was uncovered. Her pure white skin had several scars littering her figure. Most of them were on her torso and looked like claw marks. He stared at her rock hard abs for a moment. She did not have those the last time he saw her. Damn. Those were even more impressive than his own.

“Not quite what you were expecting, huh?” asked Hou Jingshu with a self-deprecating smile.

“It’s not… but by the nine heavens, you’re gorgeous.”

Hou Jingshu flushed, ears and cheeks turning red as she looked away. “Y-you really think so? I don’t know. I mean… I’m not really feminine anymore…”

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“Says who?”

“Says… who…?”

“I don’t know who’s told you that you’re not feminine, but I don’t think having muscles means you’re lacking in femininity. It just means you’re strong.”

Wu Jian sat up, until they were practically chest to chest. He reached out and tore away her breast bindings, allowing them to spring free. While her body had toned out a lot, her chest remained as large as he remembered. It was quite the dichotomy. Her stomach was free from any trace of fat, so lean that her abdominal muscles were starkly visible, but her chest was like two massive tangyuan.

Tanguyan were glutinous rice flour dumplings filled with sweet fillings like sesame paste, red bean paste, or sweetened meat. They were quite soft and delicious. Perhaps it was because of the comparison he thought up, but Hou Jingshu’s chest was looking quite delectable. Her perky breasts and pink peaks made his mouth water. The sensation as they pressed against him was spine-tingling.

“I like strong women,” Wu Jian said before he rolled them over.

It was not long before the sound of their love-making filled the room. Fortunately, Youmei slept through the entire event.

***

Everyone woke up the next morning and prepared to depart. They did not wish to remain within the city for long, so they bought what supplies they needed, including clothing specifically made to whether the cold, and left the city, traveling north-east along the Xue River.

The already biting cold temperature became even more pronounced the further north they traveled, the air becoming so cold that every exhale created tiny particles of frost. Shuchang had spit out of curiosity and was shocked when his spit froze over almost before leaving his mouth. The girls were not very happy with his lack of manners. It also told Wu Jian not to attempt the same thing, which he had been admittedly curious about. He was very glad Shuchang had decided to join them. Very glad indeed.

For a time, the geothermal heat from underground hot springs had kept the group from freezing to death, but those eventually vanished, and the bone-chilling cold became a serious problem. Shuchang practically froze over once even dressed in an outfit specifically designed for the cold.

Even cultivators had to be careful in below-freezing environments like this. Their outfits consisted of a base layer made from insulating materials that helped wick moisture away from their bodies and provide warmth, a thick overcoat worn over a specially designed hanfu made from cold-resistant magical beast hide, gloves, headgear lined with fur and ear flaps to protect their head and ears from the cold, and insulated boots with sturdy soles essential for traversing snow and ice. Each article was lined with sealing arrays. They were fairly basic and only offered minimal protection from the cold, but they were better than nothing.

The only person who didn’t need to wear clothing like this was Mei Xilan, who wore the same outfit she always had. Her cultivation method not only protected her from the cold, but she could absorb the cold into her body and use it to bolster her cultivation. It was enough to make Wu Jian slightly envious.

Once the geothermal springs disappeared, the river froze over. It was an almost shocking change. There was a clear line to delineate where the geothermal heating began and ended. They crossed and then journeyed alongside the frozen river, which, according to Mei Xilan, would lead them to the underground caverns they were to take to reach the Sui Kingdom. Several days worth of travel eventually led them to a massive frozen waterfall.

It was called the Frozen Xue Falls, a waterfall that remained frozen year round. Wu Jian had seen several waterfalls before, but never one this massive. It rose into the sky and reminded him of Pangu. Often depicted as a giant, Pangu was, according to their mythology, a colossal being responsible for creating the world by separating the sky and the earth. Just like Pangu in the legend, this waterfall was so large that it looked like it rose into the heavens.

In order to reach the underground caverns, they needed to climb this frozen waterfall. They would have flown, but there were numerous powerful flying magical beasts who made this area their home. None of them were at the Seeker Realm, which meant they normally wouldn’t be a problem. However, the biting cold sapped the strength from most of them. Even Wu Jian couldn’t bring out his full strength in this extreme cold. The only one who would be able to fight properly was Mei Xilan, and many of the magical beasts here were resistant if not outright immune to ice techniques.

The journey up was harrowing. Since they couldn’t just fly up, they had to climb the old-fashioned way. They hammered wooden pets into crevices and cracks, drove iron hooks into the surface to serve as hand and footholds, and used ropes to secure themselves. It was very dangerous. It might not have been so bad if the walls weren’t covered in a thick layer of ice. The ice was slippery. Several times one of them almost fell to their deaths when a wooden peg or iron hook slipped out of the ice, catching them unawares. It was only thanks to their combined efforts that they managed to ascend the waterfall after several days of nonstop travel.

However, even cultivators could not last forever without food and water. Once they had ascended the waterfall, they were forced to rest and replenish their reserves. Shuchang melted the frozen water inside their animal skin flasks and they used it to create a thick, warm soup made from various root vegetables and meat. It was a hearty if tasteless meal. Wu Jian had brought seasonings with him, but even those had frozen over and lost their flavor.

The night was so cold this high up that all of them were forced to huddle together for warmth, even Shuchang, who fortunately was too cold to get grabby with one of them. Wu Jian would have broken his hand if he had attempted to touch Zhou Lihua or Hou Jingshu. Oh. But he didn’t care if Shuchang tried to touch Mei Xilan or Zhou Wen. That was why he had specifically had those two on either side of his friend.

Once they had rested for a full day, their journey continued.

There was very little past the waterfall save for a massive frozen lake. Many magical beasts ran across the surface. This area was home to a variety of magical beasts like frostwyrm glacial drakes, aurora snow wolves, blizzardbound frostbears. They were all Human Limit and Deva Realm magical beasts, which meant their party could defeat them even if they were limited by the cold.

Perhaps the most dangerous of those creatures was the snowstorm behemoths. They were gigantic creatures quite unlike anything Wu Jian had ever seen. Their party never got close to one, but he had seen them in the distance, massive creatures so big they could have been mistaken for a mountain. They had a hulking frame covered in thick, shaggy fur that varied in shades of frosty white, ice blue, and silver. Just the head alone was massive, adorned with long, curved, and razor-sharp ivory tusks that jutted downard from their upper jaws. Each of their four colossal legs was sturdy and heavily muscled, ending in enormous, fur-covered paws equipped with massive, clawed toes. Making it appear even larger was the long tail that extended from its hind quarters. It waved back and forth as the creature walked, creating snow storms with every sweep.

Behemoths were fortunately docile despite their terrifying size and appearance. They never attacked unless someone attacked them first. The biggest thing someone would have to worry about was being accidentally killed when it stepped on them or frozen to death from the snow storms it created, but so long as Wu Jian and his companions kept their distance, they need not worry.

It was hard to tell how much time they spent walking through that frozen tundra, but they eventually reached the base of a massive mountain range. The ice covered mountains rose into the sky. They were all shiny blue as though made of crystals, but it was in fact a several meter thick layer of ice that covered them. Located within this range were several gaping maws that looked like the mouths of giant magical beasts. These caves littered much of the area. According to Mei Xilan, one of these caves would lead to an exit that would get them past most of the Siwang Mountains and allow them to reach the Sui Kingdom.