Feng Zhiwei turned back somewhat sluggishly. From her upward-gazing, blurred perspective, she saw a corner of white gauze curtain and a delicate jawline.

She blinked, thinking her tear-blurred eyes were creating hallucinations again, hardly daring to believe. Yet that person somewhat clumsily patted her shoulder. The warmth transmitted from the palm and that uniquely awkward gesture were familiar enough to startle the heart.

Feng Zhiwei blinked again. With this blink, the liquid brimming in her eyes finally fell. Then she silently turned around and embraced that person.

That person instantly raised their hands, as if instinctively about to throw her away. But Feng Zhiwei leaned against them so heedlessly that their just-raised hands quickly stopped moving, somewhat stiffly being held by Feng Zhiwei, standing rigidly straight.

Feng Zhiwei pressed her face against their exceptionally soft and comfortable fabric. Against that slightly damp cloth surface, she sighed, “Though I feel you shouldn’t have come, seeing you arrive at this moment, I’m truly so happy…”

“Nanding…” she murmured low, almost dreamlike, “I’m so happy, happy that you’re still here.”

Gu Nanyi lowered his face, looking at the woman embracing his waist. From his angle, he could only see her long lashes shrouded in misty vapor, which in the sunlight appeared to be adorned with countless crystal diamonds. That radiance stabbed him somewhat uncomfortably, as if his heart was also covered with countless sharply-angled crystal diamonds that continuously abraded his flesh and blood with each pulse, creating faint pain.

This was… Feng Zhiwei’s tears?

This feeling of heart-wrenching pain caused by those tears—he’d heard of it before. Was this heartache?

Gu Nanyi stared blankly at that fine scattered brilliance flowing in the daylight. In all the time since he and she had met, through separations and reunions, he had never personally witnessed her shed tears. And when he finally saw it, he suddenly understood the taste of heartache.

Following loneliness, confusion, budding feelings, longing… and other emotions he’d learned because of her, he now understood heartache.

Half a month ago, receiving news that Helian Zheng had died, he was stunned for a long while. Unease surged in his empty, vast heart. Without reason, he suddenly felt she needed him.

He believed she needed him, so he came. Even if mountains stood at heaven’s distant edge, he would rush to heaven’s edge.

Abandoning everything, half a month’s gallop—when on the vast grassland horizon he saw her black silhouette sitting alone in desolation, he felt heaven and earth were so lonely and cold, leaving only her alone.

No, that wouldn’t do.

Gu Nanyi forcefully gathered her into his embrace, wanting through such action to give her more and still more warmth. He somewhat resented not having a warm constitution that could instantly warm her cold body.

Yet that force made Feng Zhiwei suddenly aware their current posture was somewhat shocking to the world. She quickly struggled free gently. Gu Nanyi didn’t insist. Furrowing his brows, he turned her face to look, snorted with disgust, and immediately used his sleeve to haphazardly wipe her face. The movement was far from gentle, smearing the Grand Consort makeup on her face into a complete mess. When finished, he carefully felt his sleeve, looking very heartbroken that his clothing had been soiled.

Watching the germophobic Young Master Gu’s series of actions, Feng Zhiwei only felt familiarity and intimacy. She couldn’t help wanting to oppose him—grabbing his just-smoothed sleeve and fiercely wiping away her tears with it.

The young master threw up his hands, looking as if he wanted to snatch back his sleeve yet was gritting his teeth to endure. Feng Zhiwei estimated that behind his veil, his face must be crumpled into a ball just like his sleeve.

This embrace and wipe calmed her gloomy mood somewhat. She stood up, looked around in all directions, saying, “Where’s Zhixiao?”

Gu Nanyi remained silent. Feng Zhiwei sighed, knowing this question was also asked in vain. The Empress of Xi Liang was no longer that Miss Gu from the Gu family whom she could see whenever she wished.

Zhixiao was also the living Buddha worshipped by the Huozhuo tribe. Unfortunately, this fake living Buddha’s radiance could no longer shine over the grassland. Fortunately, the Huozhuo tribe wasn’t without such examples. The eleventh generation Huketu Living Buddha had been reincarnated into a court noble family, was that family’s only heir, later inherited the family’s noble rank, and also didn’t remain on the grassland permanently.

“I requested leave from her.” Gu Nanyi said dryly. Thinking a moment, he added, “When she grows a bit older, I won’t manage her anymore.”

“You mustn’t let her hear those words.” Feng Zhiwei smiled. Gu Nanyi suddenly tugged her hand, saying, “I once saw a place—quite nice. Let’s go look.”

Without allowing her to refuse, with a whoosh he grabbed her and ran, circling far around the crowd, sweeping like wind toward the distant snow mountains. Feng Zhiwei only had time to make a gesture to the rushing-over Grand Consort Mudan that everything was fine and she was leaving for a moment.

Originally thinking Gu Nanyi would just take her to a nearby place to relax her mind, unexpectedly Gu Nanyi ran for quite a while without any intention of stopping. Feng Zhiwei looked at Gedamu Snow Mountain drawing increasingly near in her vision, gasped in cold breath, saying, “Young Master, you don’t intend to run up the mountain—”

Before her words finished, Young Master Gu grabbed her up the mountain path. Upon climbing the mountain, the temperature immediately grew much colder. Wind like blades sliced toward them, forcing Feng Zhiwei’s questions back into her stomach.

Gedamu Snow Mountain was a branch of the Changqing Mountain Range of Great Yue. Year-round flying snow created cold climate. The mountain range’s undulating terrain was precipitous. Also, because divine marshes frequently appeared, in the hearts of Huozhuo people it was like a sacred mountain. Later the snow mountain was gradually occupied by some heretical sects. People climbing the mountain became fewer and fewer. The year-round snow-covered, shattered-ice-strewn mountain peak was even more rarely visited by humans.

Gu Nanyi led Feng Zhiwei upward along the path. Midway through the climb, he removed his own cloak to drape over Feng Zhiwei. But Feng Zhiwei shook her head refusing, her eyes shining brightly as she said, “Nanyi, arriving here I’m very comfortable. Inside my body isn’t so hot anymore. It’s like feeling a very familiar place. Strange—I’ve never come here before.”

She took a deep breath. The penetrating cool breath of ice, snow, and shattered jade across the ground rushed into her chest. With one circulation in her dantian, she only felt her body light and graceful as if dancing.

Watching Gu Nanyi head straight toward a certain direction, very familiar with the route, she couldn’t help being amazed. “Aren’t you directionally challenged? How do you remember the way?”

Gu Nanyi pointed at the roadside. Only then did Feng Zhiwei discover that only along this path’s edge, amid the ice and snow, still grew clusters of bright red small berries, glaringly conspicuous in the uniform whiteness, all along the way. Such vivid markers made forgetting difficult even if one wanted to.

“That year chasing Keli.” Gu Nanyi said simply. “Chased to here.”

Only then did Feng Zhiwei understand why Gu Nanyi, who had never left her to act independently, would know of such a place. Back then on the grassland, the only time he left her—wasn’t it after the royal court assembly when he went to chase Keli? Afterward when he returned, his expression was strange. At the time she thought he was annoyed at losing Keli, but now it seemed there was another mystery?

The two continued upward. The path ahead became increasingly difficult. Cliffs everywhere, ice and snow slippery—ordinary people absolutely couldn’t come up. Even with their martial skills, they walked for a good half hour. Turning past a cliff, leaping over a platform, Feng Zhiwei raised her head and gasped, “Ah—”

At the snow mountain’s peak, in a place as large as a great courtyard, was an entire surface of lake water. This was the clearest, most immaculate snow water atop the snow mountain—deep blue-green brilliance, clarity reaching the bottom. The water’s surface color was light green like jade, the middle deep green like jasper. At the lake bottom was deep, profound blue like lapis lazuli. The mirror-smooth water surface reflected the four-sided snow peaks like brush holders. The divine pool was vast, heaven’s mirror suspended in air. Mountain ranges and jade waters, atop vast towering mountains beneath vast expansive skies, silently faced each other for a thousand years.

Such magnificent, vast, yet extremely pure scenery made everyone standing before it feel as if facing fairyland, conscious of their own defilement.

Feng Zhiwei had traveled throughout the world and seen countless beautiful views. At this moment she also couldn’t help being entranced for a long while, softly saying, “If after death one could be buried here, this life would also not be lived in vain…”

Gu Nanyi suddenly said, “Look.”

He pulled Feng Zhiwei’s hand, indicating she should lower her head. Feng Zhiwei lowered her head and saw in the lake their paired reflections, every detail visible—precisely herself and Gu Nanyi.

“Very matching.” Gu Nanyi said seriously. “The two of us.”

Feng Zhiwei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, not knowing what to say. Gu Nanyi raised his arm pointing again, saying, “You and me.”

Feng Zhiwei followed his finger and looked up, again momentarily stunned. Only then did she see that opposite the lake water was a jade screen like a short mountain, the entire jade screen incomparably huge. Yet the middle was hollow—that hollowed shape seemed to be a… heart.

And her own and Gu Nanyi’s shadows, crossing the lake surface, were projected right in that heart’s center, reflected on the pure white mountain wall behind the hollowed jade screen.

“Truly ingenious workmanship…” Feng Zhiwei said almost in admiration. “Is this natural or man-made? If natural, creation can be called miraculous. If man-made, atop this absolute peak, who would have such grand means?”

Unlike Feng Zhiwei who always liked to first observe terrain wherever she went, Gu Nanyi only very simply appreciated this scene. He was very satisfied with the human figures in that giant stone heart, saying, “Last time coming, I always felt something was missing. Turns out you were missing.”

Last time coming he also saw this giant heart. At that time he also stood in this position, his shadow projecting over—he only felt it empty and bare. Now he finally understood that this required two people to fill properly—not more, not less.

He held a trace of smile he himself hadn’t detected, gazing entranced at those two shadows, suddenly extending his hand, drawing an empty half-circle behind Feng Zhiwei.

The shadow in the stone heart showed the man tightly embracing the woman.

He lifted his fingers upward in the air, stopping three inches from Feng Zhiwei’s temples.

The shadow in the stone heart showed the man tenderly stroking the woman’s hair at her temples.

Feng Zhiwei was observing the lake bottom and hadn’t discovered Young Master Gu’s self-entertaining little movements. Suddenly she shifted sideways.

The woman’s shadow in the stone heart, due to this shift, became half-turned, revealing her slender half-silhouette—a wonderful curve at the chest area.

Gu Nanyi’s hand reaching emptily toward her shoulder—as the shadow moved, the reflection of his fingertip on the stone heart suddenly fell on the highest point of that curve, lightly covering it—

Gu Nanyi snatched back his hand as if burned.

He cried out, “Lotus flower—”

The moment words left his mouth, his face already reddened.

Feng Zhiwei turned her head bewildered. “Lotus flower?” She looked left and right. “Where’s there a lotus flower?”

Young Master Gu: “…”

But Feng Zhiwei’s mind wasn’t on this. Suddenly spoiling the mood, she crouched down.

Gu Nanyi lowered his head somewhat annoyed and saw Feng Zhiwei half-crouching down, looking at the lake bottom.

“This is an artificial lake.” She suddenly said, pointing at the lake bottom. “Not fine sand, but flat large stones. Indeed built in later period.”

Then she straightened up, looked around in all directions, saying, “Here the cold air is extremely heavy. Ordinary people cannot come. On all sides there aren’t any mechanism trap passages either. Only that stone heart is particularly special, yet also doesn’t resemble any kind of altar. I feel…” She smiled, herself somewhat disbelieving as she said, “…I feel this is like some pair of lovers who, loving the scenery here, split mountains and opened the lake, creating a secret scenic splendor for themselves. For nothing else—only to stroll hand in hand.”

After speaking, she herself shook her head, feeling that only for two people’s amusement and scenery-viewing, having such grand means, and also choosing such a location—these two people would probably need nation-toppling abilities, and also need free and easy-going temperaments. But those in high positions—who could have such open expansiveness?

Gu Nanyi listened indifferently. What kind of place this was, who the owners were—he didn’t care one bit. He only felt that with such beautiful scenery and her beside him, why stand dryly speaking these unrelated words? Here, now—it should be him embracing her, slowly sitting down together, pointing at lake light and mountain colors, smiling meaningfully.

So he did exactly that.

He put his arm around Feng Zhiwei’s shoulders, gently pulling her to sit back. Behind them was precisely a square stone like a backrest. Feng Zhiwei, unprepared for him suddenly pulling her to sit down, her body tilted. Sit she did sit, but her back heavily struck the mountain stone.

Immediately came a creaking sound from the lake center!

The two had weathered countless storms together. Hearing this sound, they knew a mechanism had been triggered. In an instant, conditioned reflex—they simultaneously threw themselves toward each other.

“Bang.”

Their foreheads heavily collided.

“Ow!” Feng Zhiwei was struck seeing stars before her eyes, yet didn’t forget to extend her hands desperately pressing Gu Nanyi beneath her.

She exerted force to press down, but her shoulders couldn’t rise—both shoulders had already been pressed down first by Gu Nanyi. He was also desperately stuffing her into his embrace.

For a moment before the mountain stone, the two formed an awkward posture—tightly embracing, each trying to press down the other.

After pressing for a good while, both felt something was wrong. Why was there no sound of concealed weapons? The two, arms touching, slowly raised their heads. Again they simultaneously gasped, “Ah.”

In the originally empty lake water, suddenly rose lotus flowers of pure gold, one every zhang apart, extending all the way to the opposite shore’s jade wall stone heart.

Jade waves rippling, lotus flowers growing with each step.

Jade lake, golden lotuses, jade wall, stone heart—magnificent radiance and ice-snow brilliance woven together, misty vapor rising like Penglai.

Feng Zhiwei forgot even to admire, only murmuring, “Nation-toppling craftsmanship…”

But Gu Nanyi had already taken her hand and leaped onto the lotus flowers.

His sky-water blue robes and her white clothing pure as feathered wings danced wildly in the wind. Crossing the waves flying, lotus flowers at each step, jade water like mirrors on all four sides—like the Heavenly River inverted, people dancing in empty space, stepping on cloud edges.

The divine pool water, serene and still for hundreds of years, reflected the immortal-like forms of the plainly-dressed man and woman.

The wind blowing toward them lifted long hair. Feng Zhiwei gently closed her eyes. In her heart suddenly flashed a vague shadow. As if hundreds of years ago, someone had also flown across like this, scattering silver-bell-like laughter across the lake surface.

Opening her eyes again, they had already reached before the jade wall stone heart. Arriving close, she realized that jade wall was surprisingly large. And on the ice-snow mountain wall behind that hollowed heart shape, faintly carved into door-like appearance, yet there was simply no place to open it.

Everything here was very neat and tidy. But not far behind the jade wall was a messy area. The ground had many scrape marks, like traces of a person struggling past. At the end of the traces piled broken stones and ice-snow. Feng Zhiwei puzzled went over, brushing aside that pile of broken stones.

She suddenly froze.