Chapter 312: Clingy Koala
"It is time for you to initiate your spatial fold and glide back to your custom-built freezer on the Eternal Cloud Peak."
Wangchen did not move.
He didn’t offer a polite nod.
He didn’t reach for his discarded sash either.
He just sat there on the silk cushion, looking down at her.
A faint, soft, devastatingly handsome smile touched the corners of his stained, spice-reddened lips.
"The Eternal Cloud Peak is... exceedingly cold tonight, Brother Ji’an," Wangchen murmured.
His voice was not the freezing rasp he used for the sect elders.
It was a low, rich, heavy, vibrating hum that felt like warm honey being poured directly over her raw nerve endings.
He slowly uncrossed his legs, shifting his fully matured frame to sit on the edge of the wooden deck, letting his boots hang down right in front of her.
"And the Flawless Ice Root," Wangchen continued, leaning slightly forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his ruby eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that completely paralyzed her motor functions, "requires... a stable anchor during the post-ascension consolidation phase. If I return to the ice caverns alone... the ambient zero will likely agitate my newly formed meridians."
Ji’an blinked, her brain struggling to translate the complex, ancient orthodox medical terminology.
’Wait,’ her transmigrator lie-detector beeped weakly. ’Is he... is he claiming he has spiritual separation anxiety?! The guy who literally freezes dungeons for fun is saying he’s too fragile to sleep alone in his own house?!’
She tried the domestic, gentle approach.
She stepped up onto the first step of the deck, reaching out to gently, comfortably pat the crown of his shimmering silver hair, treating him exactly like a tired teenager who had stayed up past his bedtime.
"I know, buddy," Ji’an coaxed softly, offering a warm, older-sibling smile. "It’s been a long and exhausting week. You broke through your bottleneck, purged your impurities, ate extremely spicy pork belly, and hiked down a mountain to buy me red bean buns. You are, without a doubt, the best bro in the history of the mortal realm!"
She gently patted his cheek, attempting to project platonic, comrade-in-arms reassurance.
"But bros sleep in their own beds, Wangchen," she instructed gently. "If you stay here, the conservative elders will see your silver hair on my drying racks, and they will accuse us of violating the inner sect housing codes. Go home. I’ll make you a big, non-spicy breakfast before the tournament starts tomorrow. Okay?"
Wangchen didn’t pull away from her hand.
In fact, the moment her calloused palm touched his cheek, the silver-haired immortal let out a low, deeply ragged, heavy sigh.
He closed his ruby eyes, deliberately tilting his head to lean his full weight into her touch, pressing his face firmly against her palm.
And then, he executed his counter-strategy.
He didn’t argue or threaten to execute anyone.
He weaponised the deeply lethal softness that Ji’an was weak to.
Wangchen reached out with both of his long, pale, powerful arms.
He didn’t grab her wrists.
He smoothly wrapped his arms entirely around her waist, pulling her forward until her thighs were pressed flat against the edge of the wooden deck between his boots.
He brought his head forward, resting his chin directly upon the soft fabric of her white inner tunic, right over her sternum.
He opened his ruby eyes, looking up at her through his long silver lashes from mere inches away.
"Your bed is softer, Brother Ji’an," Wangchen whispered.
The words hung in the spicy, humid courtyard air, dripping with unambiguous, deeply romantic intent that Ji’an felt her soul attempt to exit through her ear canals.
’IT’S OVER!!! I REPEAT IT’S OVER!!! AT THIS RATE, HE IS GOING TO CLIMB INTO MY BED!’ Ji’an’s internal supercomputer completely detonated into a shower of sparks and blinding error codes. ’HE IS NOT JOKING! THE GUY IS NOT BRO-ING! HE HAS ACTIVELY DECIDED TO TUCK HIMSELF INTO MY SILK QUILTS LIKE A MASSIVE, SILVER-HAIRED BURRITO AND REFUSE TO LEAVE!’
The physical proximity was an exquisite, mind-shredding torture.
Because his robes were completely open, her stomach was pressed directly against the corded, dense, scorching-hot muscle of his exposed chest.
She could feel the steady, powerful, heavy thrum of his heartbeat vibrating against her own skin.
The scent of dark lotus and freezing rain was so concentrated that it completely erased her ability to think rationally.
"Wangchen... stop it," Ji’an choked out, her voice cracking into a high-pitched, completely flustered squeak.
She brought her trembling hands up to his broad, flawless shoulders, desperately trying to push his immense body away. "You... you can’t sleep in my bed! The mattress is only sized for one person! And... and I am a chaotic sleeper! I kick down anything in my sleep! I will literally launch you through the canopy window!"
"I am unbothered by your sleeping position, Brother Ji’an," Wangchen purred against her chest, his arms tightening around her waist, completely locking her in his grip.
He rubbed his cheek affectionately against her tunic, his breath fanning hot across her collarbones. "The ice does not shatter easily. I will... hold you securely until you find your rest."
He was calculating the physical mechanics of cuddling her into submission.
He looked up at her flushed, brilliantly red face, his ruby eyes glowing with dark, triumphant euphoria.
He had finally isolated Ji’an.
The other men were behind six inches of solid iron.
Ji’an was in his domain, standing in his grip, entirely unable to escape his devotion.
"Wangchen, seriously, let go!" Ji’an panicked, colliding with her ingrained transmigrator paranoia. "If Master walks out of his cottage right now and catches the newly ascended Sovereign clinging to my waist like an oversized koala, he is going to have a stroke! He already thinks I am a degenerate pervert because of my nosebleed earlier! Please, preserve my workplace reputation!"
Wangchen’s smile deepened, a look of supreme, untouchable arrogance crossing his flawless features.
"The Sovereign of the Drunken Peak is entirely irrelevant to my Dao, Brother Ji’an."
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