Moonlight glints off fallen leaves, and the forest is thick with tension. Khiana, Bai Fengxi of the Tangshiang Sect, staggers back, gripping the imperial token she had risked everything to secure. The poison already spreads through her veins from the fake token, her breaths shallow, her vision blurring. Around her lie the bodies of men who hunted her and the soldier who sacrificed himself so she could escape. The wind carries the faint echo of footsteps approaching once more.

From the shadows, a figure moves with unmatched precision—Hei Fengxi, the legendary Liu Feng, head of Fountain Abode. Once rivals in whispers of the jianghu, now he is here, cutting through enemies with lethal grace. With a final strike, the last man collapses, and silence falls.

Liu Feng approaches, black robes fluttering, eyes fierce yet carrying something softer that only she could ever see.

“You always find trouble where you shouldn’t be,” he says, voice low, almost teasing—but his eyes betray the worry he refuses to voice.

Before she can respond, he kneels and steadies her trembling form, his hands strong and certain against her poisoned pulse.

“Poison… a fake token,” he murmurs, tracing her wrist. “You never learn, do you, Khiana?”

Her lips twitch in a faint, painful smile. Once, she might have spat at him, called him arrogant, hated the way he interfered. And yet… here he is, saving her life again.

“They underestimated you,” she whispers, voice weak. “But not you…”

His eyes soften, dark and unwavering. For a moment, the legends of their rivalry fade—the Hei Fengxi of the jianghu, the Bai Fengxi of Tangshiang, standing together in a world that demands blood and betrayal.

“They say wherever Bai Fengxi goes, Hei Fengxi will always be there,” he says, almost shyly, yet with certainty. “They called it legend… I call it truth.”

With deliberate care, he lifts her into his arms, cloak shielding her from the cold night and prying eyes, his face brushing against hers.

“You fought to save another when your own life was at risk,” he says softly, admiration threading through his words. “This is why the world fears you… and why I cannot let you face it alone.”

She meets his gaze, the poison burning but something warmer spreading in her chest. Once enemies, once distant acquaintances, now bound by survival, respect, and something neither of them fully admit.

“Liu Feng…” she breathes, a whisper of acknowledgment, trust, and something unspoken between them.

He presses his forehead gently against hers, a rare closeness, a promise without words.

“Rest,” he murmurs, “let me carry you this time… and perhaps one day, you’ll admit that even the most stubborn hero needs someone at her side.”

The wind rustles through the bamboo, carrying the echoes of the jianghu—of legends, rivalry, and the first stirrings of love between Hei Fengxi and Bai Fengxi.