Chapter 245: Familiar Eyes (2)
"Your Greatness, this is Zhang Wangji, young master of the Zhang Family." One of the palace guards stepped forward respectfully. "He requested an audience with you, but we were trying to explain that you did not wish to receive visitors today."
Ningyan immediately felt a headache coming on.
So this was Zhang Wangji. The marriage prospect.
The fleeting sense of familiarity he had felt moments ago vanished instantly.
He sighed. "Never mind."
His gaze shifted to Wangji. "I am already here."
The guards relaxed slightly.
"You may let him through."
The palace guards bowed and withdrew.
At the same time, Zhang Wangji raised a hand toward the attendants behind him. "You may leave as well."
The attendants hesitated before bowing and retreating from the garden.
Soon, only the two of them remained.
Snow drifted quietly around them.
Ningyan folded his arms inside his cloak. "I was informed about the marriage alliance earlier."
His tone was calm but direct. "Is that why you’re here?"
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and began walking deeper into the garden.
After a brief pause, Zhang Wangji followed and the silence between them stretched.
Ningyan could feel the other beast’s unwavering gaze on him. Wangji couldn’t stop looking.
It was strange. Not uncomfortable. Just... strange.
Eventually, Zhang Wangji spoke. "I only learned about the alliance recently as well. I had no part in arranging it."
A faint smile appeared on his lips. "My mother did. Does it bother you?"
Ningyan stopped walking. "Yes."
The answer came immediately. "I have no interest in marriage."
Snowflakes settled against his white hair. "My focus is the phoenix clan."
His expression grew serious. "We have only recently regained our footing. There are countless things that still need to be rebuilt."
His gaze drifted toward the distant palace. "I don’t wish to spend my life tied to another beast. At least not now."
Then he looked back at Wangji. "You understand how important this period is for our kin, don’t you?"
Zhang Wangji stared at him. And stared. And continued staring.
Ningyan narrowed his eyes. For some reason, it felt as though Wangji wasn’t truly listening.
The words entered one ear and escaped through the other. His attention seemed fixed entirely on Ningyan himself.
"Are you listening to me?" Ningyan finally asked and that seemed to pull Wangji back to reality.
"Yes." His gaze softened. "Your awakening was a miracle for the phoenixes. For all of us."
Something about the way he said it made Ningyan frown.
Wangji lowered his eyes briefly before looking back at him. "So I understand."
Ningyan wasn’t convinced. Still, he let it go. "Then why are you here?"
This time, Wangji didn’t answer immediately. The cold wind stirred his black robes.
At last, he spoke. "I wanted to see you... In the flesh."
Ningyan raised a brow.
"I’ve seen you before." Wangji’s voice lowered. "Only from a distance."
He took a slow step closer. "I wanted to make sure."
Ningyan remained where he was. His hands tightened slightly beneath his sleeves. "Make sure of what?"
Wangji’s gaze traveled across Ningyan’s features. His white hair, his violet eyes as though committing every detail to memory.
"That it’s really you." The words came out almost like a whisper. "And not another illusion."
Ningyan blinked. For a moment, he simply stared at him.
Then he scoffed. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
Wangji laughed softly. "I suppose that must sound strange."
His smile turned bitter. "You were gone for three hundred years."
Ningyan stared at him intently. "I was."
Wangji took another step forward. This time, there was barely an arm’s length between them.
Snow settled across his dark hair.
"I needed to see you with my own eyes." His voice was almost painfully quiet.
The sincerity in Wangji’s eyes unsettled Ningyan.
Because it wasn’t admiration or political ambition or desire. It looked far too much like someone staring at a miracle they had already buried once before.
Suddenly, Zhang Wangji blinked rapidly, as though forcibly reining himself in and took a step back.
Ningyan found him increasingly strange. He knew he was attractive. He knew how the Three Realms spoke of him.
Some called him beautiful. Others called him terrifying. Many called him both.
So he was accustomed to admiration and fear.
But this felt entirely different.
Zhang Wangji looked as though he were restraining himself from saying something he desperately wanted to say. Or doing something he knew he shouldn’t. And strangely enough, Ningyan didn’t find it threatening.
He found it intense. Far too intense.
Ningyan finally tore his gaze away and looked up toward the snowy sky. "I will be leaving the Beast Realm soon."
The words seemed to pull Wangji from his thoughts.
"Perhaps when I return, I will have changed my mind about this marriage alliance." A small smile tugged at Ningyan’s lips. "But in the meantime, you really shouldn’t get your hopes up."
His violet eyes shifted toward Wangji. "Especially when it already seems as though you fancy me."
"I could come with you."
Ningyan blinked. "What?"
"Wherever you decide to go." Wangji’s answer was immediate.
Ningyan laughed. "Why in the Three Realms would you want to do that?"
He turned fully toward him and froze.
Because Zhang Wangji was smiling. And it was not the composed smile of a noble or the polite smile of a political ally. It was a mischievous smile. A familiar smile. One that didn’t suit the elegant phoenix standing before him.
Ningyan narrowed his eyes. "Why are you—"
"It really is you." The smile widened.
In that exact breath, Wangji’s eyes transformed. The midnight-black of his irises faded, giving way to a burning, red-gold light that narrowed into the unmistakable, sharp slits of a nine tailed fox.
Ningyan’s breath caught. His violet eyes widened. "It’s you. The nine-tailed fox."
The smile on Wangji’s face became positively unbearable. "I received your letter. You wanted to meet me."
Ningyan stared and for several heartbeats, he could only blink. Then outrage finally caught up with him. "How did you—"
Before Ningyan could finish speaking, a finger pressed lightly against his lips. "Calm down, Yan’er."
Ningyan froze.
The fox’s red-gold eyes glittered with amusement. "Do not concern yourself with how the letter reached me. Or why I am using this disguise."
His voice lowered slightly. "You just said you’re leaving the Beast Realm. We can leave together."
Ningyan immediately slapped his hand away. "How dare you—"
The nine tailed fox laughed. "If my presence truly offended you, you would have attacked me already."
Ningyan hated how correct that sounded.
The nine tailed fox tilted his head. "Meet me at the East Inn. We’ll travel together."
Those red-gold eyes seemed to glow brighter. "And perhaps both of us will finally get some answers."
Ningyan opened his mouth ready to object and demand explanations.
Instead, the fox stepped backward. The red-gold eyes vanished.
Once again, elegant, refined Zhang Wangji stood before him. Then he turned and walked away. Just like that. Leaving Ningyan standing alone in the snow.
Ningyan stared after him, blinking.
He had questions. Far too many questions.
Yet beneath all of that confusion was another realization. One he absolutely refused to examine too closely.
He was.... relieved.
Relieved that Zhang Wangji had never really been Zhang Wangji. Relieved that the persistent phoenix was actually the equally persistent nine-tailed fox.
Ningyan swallowed hard and immediately frowned at himself. "What exactly am I happy about?"
The question received no answer. Only the cold winter wind.
With an irritated huff, he turned and headed back toward the palace.