Chapter 41: The Secrets Between Smiles
Mei Xiao had always considered herself good at pretending. Pretending to be okay. Pretending to have a clue. Pretending to fit into a world that still used hairpins as deadly weapons and called their exorcists "spiritual cultivators."
But pretending not to fall harder for Murong Jing He each day? That was a whole different level of pain.
Especially now that he was being… nice.
Polite Murong was already unsettling. Respectful Murong was mildly terrifying. But this version? The one who helped her into her seat at dinner, who silently refilled her tea without making a comment, and who even—dare she say it—listened when she spoke?
That version made her insides tie themselves into a flaming origami crane.
"So… your cousin," Mei said cautiously, sipping her soup as she leaned closer to Murong at the long dinner table, "is he always like that? Or did he inhale too much incense as a child?"
Murong didn't even glance up. "That was the calm version."
A loud crash echoed from the inner courtyard. Xie Lan's voice followed quickly.
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I SWEAR ON MY LAST BOWL OF NOODLES!"
Murong sighed and put down his chopsticks. "And now you've met the rest of my curse."
Mei giggled.
It felt strange, laughing so easily. Even stranger, the way Murong's eyes softened whenever she smiled. She could feel something shifting between them. Slowly. Gently. Like a river carving its way through stone.
After dinner, they walked side by side through the gardens, moonlight casting a silver hue over everything. Neither spoke at first, until Mei blurted—
"Can I ask you something?"
Murong glanced sideways. "You usually do."
"If… if someone was hiding something big. Like, big-big—something that could change everything… would you want them to tell you?"
He stopped walking. For a second, she thought he already knew.
"I suppose it depends," he said quietly. "On whether that truth would change how I feel about them."
She swallowed. "And if it did?"
Murong turned to face her fully. "Then I would want to know anyway. Because lies change everything even more."
Mei's heart twisted.
She nodded, biting her lip. "Right. Yeah. Makes sense."
He looked at her for a long moment, like he wanted to say more. But instead, he stepped back.
"Rest tonight. We leave for the Western Peaks at dawn."
"Why?"
"To visit a flame priestess," he said simply. "She may know more about the Phoenix fragments… and about you."
Her stomach flipped. Again.
Cool, cool, totally fine. It's not like her existential crisis was accelerating or anything.
As Murong turned to leave, she called after him.
"Hey—!"
He paused.
"Thanks for… not being as scary as usual."
He didn't turn around, but she caught the smirk in his voice as he answered:
"Don't get used to it."