Be Gentle, Immortal Master

Chapter 198 – Until Our Hair Turns White

I couldn't help it. He looked too seductive at that moment, too delicious. His lips were cool from the weather, and I warmed them with mine, mingling our breath and tasting him on the tip of my tongue. I hadn't kissed him properly for weeks … Not more than a mere peck, and not while the bitter flavor of medicine wasn't still lingering. I missed this, missed it madly.

He must have felt the same way, as a satisfied sigh escaped his throat the moment I delved into the warmth of his mouth. Only a brief moment of surprise, and he was quick to slide his hands over my cheeks, cupping my face to pull me closer. The icy touch made me squeal into his mouth, and I instinctively wanted to shrink back, but he didn't let go of me. Keeping our lips sealed, he leaned forward as I stumbled backward, until I lost my balance—

And fell.

I shrieked, but he still didn't break our kiss. Keeping himself on top of me, he plummeted me into the snow in the garden, burying us along with my scream.

"Bai Ye!" I clawed aimlessly in front of me as the deep snow swallowed our bodies. Cold droplets seeped down my neck, pressed against my face, and I thrashed to free myself from his clutch and climb out of the ice cage. Then I heard him laugh. Finally freeing my lips, he straightened and pulled me out of the big hole we had dug.

"You did this to me once." He met my round-eyed stare with a smirk. "I've been meaning to return the favor."

My words of rage froze in my throat. I must've really had my way with him in the past … But he was wrong to assume that he could turn the table on me now that I had forgotten all those memories. Raising an eyebrow, I gave him a smirk back. "Twice," I corrected his statement, and I threw myself on top of him to plummet us back into the snow once more.

The familiar coolness engulfed us, but this time, it didn't feel cold. With him in my arms and the earlier heat still throbbing in my chest, it felt refreshing, welcoming, more and more as we sank deeper. It didn't hurt either. The snow was fluffy like a cloud, comfortable like a fuzzy blanket. I was in no rush to climb out of it. Instead, I kept my lips sealed with his, savoring him beneath that quiet hush of whiteness.

It was him who pushed me away this time. "Q-Qing-er," he thrashed out of the snow and gasped, "you could at least let me brea—"

I gave him no such chance. With a satisfied laugh, I pinned him down again, flattening the thick accumulation behind him. He groaned. Not backing down from my attack, he rolled us around, tumbling me over. I did the same to him in return. We laughed and rolled and flattened more snow beneath us until finally, we hit a bush at the side of the walkway, stopping us from tumbling any further.

He was on top of me then. His hair was utterly disheveled from all the rolling, his robe soaked wet from melted snow. I laughed harder at this unbefitting image of him. "You are impossible for five hundred years old," I shook my head as I brushed a wet strand stuck to his forehead.

He smiled, pulling me out of the snow into his arms. "What should I be like for five hundred years old?" he asked. "With white hair, a hunched back, teeth all fallen out? Bedridden and scolding you like a grumpy grandfather all day long?"

I chuckled at the imagery. "You seem to have forgotten that such a day comes to all mortals, Bai Ye. You speak as if it's too terrible to bear." I twirled a lock of his hair between my fingers. "In the commoner's world, it is every couple's dream to be able to grow old together, to still love each other until their hair turns white. Such a pity that I can never ask for such a promise from you."

"Oh, but you can." His lips curled, and he nodded towards the sky. "The snow is heavy enough to coat us all white head to toe. Sit here with me for another hour, and your dream will come true."

I broke into another laughter. "Bai Ye, that's too cheap—"

Then I quieted as he picked up a lock of my hair as well, entwining it with his strand that I was clutching in my hand. "Is this still how they do it in the commoner's world?" He asked as he tied a knot with our hair. "To tie the couple together like this on their wedding night, so that they will never separate from each other? So that, like you say, their hair can turn white together as they spend the rest of their lives in happiness?"

I blinked, my heart suddenly thudding at his gesture. "Y-Yes," I stammered. "At least, that was what my parents told me …"

Lifting his eyes from our tied hair, he met my gaze. Something that I had never seen before danced in his dark pupils. "Qing-er," he said softly but solemnly. "I would ask you to be my daoist companion … but I know that isn't what either of us truly wishes for. I want to declare to the rest of the world how much you mean to me … but not at the price of your reputation or the risk of raising suspicions about your past."

I blinked again, uncertain why he decided to bring up such a topic at this time. "I understand," I reassured him. "We've talked about this before, and I know you don't mean to—"

"Then leave Mount Hua with me." He didn't let me finish. "I'm tired of hiding, tired of keeping everything behind this barrier spell that can't be lifted as long as I remain your master. Leave this troublesome place with me, so we can find somewhere that we won't be judged either for what we had done in the past, or for how we had met in this life. Somewhere that we can be accepted simply as us … as two people in love."

I felt my hand tremble as he lifted it to his lips, dropping a light kiss over my knuckles. "So I will ask you instead, Qing-er … Will you marry me, and lead a new life with me as husband and wife in a world where we truly belong?"