Chapter 582: This is the first kiss

Yuan Yao felt her heart skip; she quickly held her breath and focused, silently chanting the Purifying Heart Mantra in her mind, trying to suppress the tumultuous emotions, secretly admonishing herself: Stay calm, Yuan Yao! Absolutely cannot let him toy with her so easily again!

She steadied herself, feigned calm with a light cough, and tried to make her voice sound normal: "Let's go, back to camp!"

As she spoke, she reached out to pull him along toward the camp.

In the next instant, her body suddenly felt light.

Xie Yan directly hoisted her into a horizontal embrace!

Yuan Yao, caught off guard, had not even let out a gasp before she steadied into a broad, sturdy embrace, her nose filled with his clean, pleasant scent.

She lifted her eyes and met his smiling gaze; she saw the corners of his mouth slightly raised, hinting at mischief and playfulness as he looked deeply at her.

"A Yao, we're not going back to camp." His voice was low and pleasant, tinged with tenderness.

Yuan Yao froze for a moment: "Do you want to spar?"

Xie Yan tightened his hold on her arm, his chin lightly rubbing her hair: "I'd rather spar with you than return to camp."

He paused, then added: "Because once we're back at camp, it won't be our private time anymore."

She took a deep breath, suppressed her fluttering heart, her eyes sharpened, battle spirit rising: "Then let's go!"

Before her words faded, she tapped his chest with her toe, her body light as willow fluff, breaking free from his arms and landing steadily.

At the same moment, she raised her jade wrist; a streak of light flashed, the Phantom Spirit Sword already in her palm, its blade gleaming coldly in the snow's reflection.

Xie Yan watched her wary, earnest expression, slowly drew his life-bound sword, his tone somewhat nonchalant: "A Yao, if you lose, you must call me brother."

Upon hearing that, Yuan Yao raised her eyebrows, retaliating without weakness: "If you lose, you must call me sister, Xie Little Dog."

In the instant their eyes met, they both struck.

They did not hold back; they gave it their all.

Sword shadows crossed, their figures almost impossible to follow.

Explosive sounds continued!

Clang clang clang—

The surrounding trees split and fell.

Yuan Yao and Xie Yan fought back and forth.

An hour passed.

Both were wounded.

Yet they had not decided a winner.

Yuan Yao released her mental power to restrain his speed and strength, her movements extremely swift as she closed in, thrusting her sword at his chest.

Xie Yan quickly broke free of the mental power's restraint, blocking her Phantom Spirit Sword with his sword.

With a clang, sharp and piercing.

Xie Yan sidestepped and, with a backhand, swung his sword at Yuan Yao.

Boom!

Yuan Yao was shaken back a distance, traces of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

Meanwhile, Xie Yan closed in instantly and slashed at her with his sword.

Yuan Yao raised her sword to meet it.

Bang bang bang!

The tremendous impact from the clashing swords seemed ready to flatten all surrounding vegetation!

At that very moment, Yuan Yao swiftly gathered her mental power onto the Phantom Spirit Sword and swung, sending Xie Yan flying.

Xie Yan fell to the ground, blood also seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Before he could even get up, the girl lunged at him, slamming him back down, his chest feeling as if it might burst.

"Pfft—"

The sharp Phantom Spirit Sword grazed his ear, plunged deep into the snow, and the cold wind it stirred cut off a few strands of his black hair, which fluttered down.

"Xie Yan, you lost." Yuan Yao straddled his waist, her pale little face showing an undisguised triumphant smile, her eyes flashing with mischievous light.

"Call me sister!" she commanded, lifting her chin.

The boy lay in the ashen snow, disheveled, his complexion somewhat unsightly from the impact and his present embarrassment.

He simply could not utter that word "sister."

"What? You trying to welch?" Yuan Yao sheathed the Phantom Spirit Sword, her eyes narrowing, displeasure flickering within.

Xie Yan's lips moved a few times, his Adam's apple bobbing, but those two words remained stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.

Yuan Yao frowned, leaned in and grabbed his collar: "Master you can call, why can't you call sister?"

"Sis—" Xie Yan's already pallid, sickly face flushed with a barely perceptible pink, his thin lips parting, his voice a mosquito's whisper.

"Sister."

That soft utterance, tinged with a barely noticeable shyness, remained clear and melodious, like a feather lightly scratching her heart.

Yuan Yao felt her whole body go numb, a strange tingling spreading from her heart.

After Xie Yan shouted, he immediately turned his head away, his ears reddening, as if embarrassed to the extreme, even his ears taking on a crimson hue.

Yuan Yao, however, laughed until she bent forward and backward, her mood excellent.

She reached out, forcibly turning his face back toward her so he had to meet her gaze, her tone carrying a seriousness she herself didn't even notice: "Xie Yan, call me again."

Xie Yan furrowed his brows, clearly extremely unwilling to shout "sister" again.

When his eyes met Yuan Yao's clear, earnest gaze, his heart leapt, all resistance seeming to collapse in an instant.

After a few seconds of silence, the corner of his mouth eased into a relieved smile, and he softly called: "Sister."

This utterance was a bit clearer than before, and carried a few more layers of meaning.

But before he could react, she leaned in and lightly pressed her lips to his.

Xie Yan's whole body went rigid, as if struck by lightning, their mind a blank.

It was Xie Yan's first kiss.

It was also hers.

This kiss, with the chill of snow, also carried the faint, lingering scent of blood from their earlier sparring, and her unique, one‑of‑a‑kind aura.

Brief as a snowflake landing on the lips, it vanished in an instant.

When Yuan Yao's heart thudded like a deer colliding, her cheeks burning, wanting to shyly pull away, Xie Yan suddenly snapped back to their senses, tightened their arm, reached to hold the back of her head, not allowing her to escape, clumsy yet with a desperate courage, actively returned the kiss.

They kissed fresh and eager, with no technique, bearing the youth's long‑suppressed emotions, as if to fill the earlier blank and daze with this moment's tight closeness.

Yuan Yao's heart hammered wildly, drumming like a drum in her chest, almost leaping out of her throat.

She only felt his lips hot and soft, completely different from his usual cold, indifferent demeanor; that unfamiliar touch and aura made her whole body shiver with fine tremors.

She closed her eyes, eyelashes trembling slightly, tentatively, naively responding to his kiss.

Their breaths intertwined.

Snowflakes fell silently, landing on their hair tips and shoulders, as if covering this fresh and scorching kiss with a layer of gentle thin blanket.

…

After a moment.

Two white silhouettes walked side by side, gradually moving farther, their voices carried by the wind and snow.

"Ah Yao, you must take responsibility for me; my innocence is gone."

"I don't really want to take responsibility for you."

"Why?"

"Because you just bit me."