Raising the Villain in Wrong Way

He looked like an untouchable immortal, but the way he looked at her... it was so human, so raw, that it terrified her.

"Besides," Ji’an added, her voice dropping, losing the bravado entirely as a soft, genuine honesty broke through. She looked down at the jade tiles, suddenly unable to bear the intensity of his ruby eyes. "I missed my designated vegetable-chopper. The kitchen felt empty without you brooding in the corner."

The silence on the balcony stretched.

The wind howled through the peaks.

And then, Wangchen did something that completely broke her.

He reached into the wide sleeve of his pristine white robes.

He pulled out a small, delicately wrapped paper package.

He held it out to her.

"I broke through my bottleneck three days ago," Wangchen stated calmly. "The elders wished to hold a banquet in my honor. I declined the invitation and traveled to the mortal town at the base of the mountain instead."

Ji’an looked at the paper package, her brow furrowing in confusion.

She slowly reached out, taking it from his hand.

The paper was warm.

She unfolded it carefully.

Inside, resting on the parchment, were two perfectly shaped, golden-brown steamed buns, filled with sweet red bean paste.

They were still steaming, preserved perfectly by a thermal array he must have cast on the package.

"You bought me... street food?" Ji’an whispered, her eyes widening, looking back up at him.

The Ice Demon, the newly ascended, flawless immortal prodigy with silver hair and ruby eyes, who had just achieved a state of divine purity... had spent his first days of freedom hiking down a mountain to a dirty mortal town, specifically to buy cheap red bean buns for his best friend.

"You complained in your last transmission that the capital’s sweets were too artificial," Wangchen replied, his tone entirely casual, as if defying the entire orthodox sect’s expectations to go buy pastries was a perfectly normal Tuesday activity. "These are from the vendor near the southern gate. The ones you favor."

Ji’an stared at the buns.

She stared at Wangchen.

The dam broke.

The overwhelming, ridiculous sweetness of the gesture completely bypassed all of her transmigrator logic, her panic, and her tough-guy chef persona.

A choked, watery laugh escaped her lips.

Her eyes filled with sudden, bright tears, and a brilliant, completely unrestrained smile stretched across her face.

"You absolute, ridiculous, overpowered idiot," Ji’an laughed, sniffing loudly, clutching the paper package to her chest as if it were a priceless imperial treasure.

She didn’t hesitate.

She didn’t overthink the gender disguises, the sociopathic tendencies, or the tragic shipping dynamics.

Ji’an lunged forward.

She threw her free arm around his neck, burying her face into the soft, pristine silk of his robes, hugging him fiercely. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Wangchen froze for a fraction of a millisecond.

And then, his arms came up.

He didn’t just hug her back.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest, burying his face in the messy crown of her dark hair.

He held her with a desperate, crushing, terrifying possessiveness, as if terrified the mountain wind might blow her away.

He inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of garlic, swamp water, roasted pork, and the faint, sweet underlying scent of the person who owned his soul.

He didn’t care about the mud ruining his robes.

He didn’t care about the Dao.

He didn’t care about ascending to the Heavens.

Standing on the balcony of the dining pavilion, holding the center of his universe in his arms, Xie Wangchen closed his ruby eyes, the dark, obsessive monster beneath the ice purring in absolute, victorious contentment.

’You are back,’ Wangchen thought, a fierce, unbreakable vow solidifying in the core of his flawless ice. ’You are back in my domain. And I will never, ever let you leave my sight again.’

"Welcome home, Ji’an," Wangchen murmured into her hair, his voice a low, vibrating promise.

"It’s good to be back, Little Puddle," Ji’an whispered, closing her eyes, feeling entirely, utterly, and hopelessly safe.

The reunion of souls was complete.

But as they stood in the dying light of the sunset, completely lost in each other’s gravity, they were both entirely unaware that the rest of the continent’s apex predators were rapidly converging on the Celestial Sword Sect, and the true war for the Chef’s heart was only just beginning.

The Moon Lotus Pavilion was a masterpiece of ancient orthodox architecture, suspended precariously over the edge of a plunging, mist-shrouded abyss on the eastern flank of the Celestial Sword Sect.

It was a place designed for quiet contemplation, accessible only to those with the cultivation base necessary to withstand the freezing, high-altitude crosswinds that whipped through the jagged peaks.

Tonight, however, the pavilion was entirely insulated from the biting cold.

A flawless dome of pure, ambient spiritual energy encompassed the wooden structure.

It was not a visible barrier, but its effects were undeniable.

Within the perimeter of the pavilion, the air was comfortably warm, carrying the sweet, heavy fragrance of the bioluminescent moon-lotuses that floated lazily in the small, decorative koi pond at the center of the wooden deck.

Lin Ji’an sat cross-legged on a plush silk cushion beside the pond.

Her heavy, gray traveling cloak had been discarded hours ago, leaving her in the pristine, flowing white robes of a Sovereign Elder.

She held a delicate porcelain teacup between her palms, the warmth seeping into her calloused skin.

But she wasn’t looking at the tea.

She was looking at the guy sitting across the low, carved jade table from her.

Xie Wangchen poured the tea with grace.

The sleeves of his immaculate white Sovereign robes cascaded over his wrists, untouched by a single speck of dust or imperfection.

His newly transformed, cascading silver hair caught the ambient glow of the moon-lotuses, shimmering with an ethereal, inner light that made him look like a deity descended from the higher realms.

But it was his eyes that demanded and commanded all her attention.