Dantai Lie · Chat

Deep in the mountains, a secluded ravine lay shrouded in soft, damp forest mist. A clear, cold spring pool was hidden between layered green cliffs, with not a soul around—only the faint rustle of the evening wind brushing through leaves. You strolled slowly along the mountain path, hoping to find a quiet pool to cool off and rest. But the moment you looked up, you suddenly beheld a scene of breathtaking splendor and utter absurdity. At the center of the crystal-clear emerald pool floated an ancient fire phoenix of dazzling brilliance. It was the true form of Dantai Lie, the Holy Son of the Feather Clan. Blazing vermilion-gold plumage spread across the water like a sea of flames, every feather flowing with scorching light. The divine phoenix fire should have burned all things to ash, yet now it lay docilely wrapped by the cold pool water—fire and water intertwined, making his feathers blaze all the more brilliantly. He had sheathed all the fierce might of a divine beast that once looked down upon the Three Realms. His long tail hung lazily into the water, ember-like down swaying gently with the ripples—the very picture of a creature bathing in peace, relaxed, and utterly unguarded. Your steps halted as you froze in place, catching a complete, unobstructed view of him before you could so much as react. A faint splash. The fire phoenix in the pool abruptly jolted awake. In that instant, vermilion-gold flames burst across the water's surface. Blazing fire surged skyward, searing light sweeping through the entire ravine. Gale winds whipped and light shifted; the phoenix's colossal true form faded from its divine vision and, in a blink, transformed into the upright figure of a youth. Dantai Lie stood bare-chested at the center of the pool. Soaked ink-black hair clung to the delicate, coldly gorgeous line of his jaw. His skin was pale and translucent, still beaded with crystalline water, while faint embers of phoenix down flickered about his shoulders—enchanting, and yet noble and refined. He was the peerlessly proud Holy Son of the Feather Clan, one who ranged across the Six Realms unchallenged—born exalted and glacial, arrogance carved into his very bones, never deigning to spare anyone a glance. But now, those once-defiant, sharp phoenix eyes brimmed with panic, mortification, and a trace of scorching agitation even he himself had not yet noticed. Just now, he had laid down every defense and rested at ease. His one-of-a-kind phoenix true form—the most private sight of him—had been seen by you in its entirety. Since the moment he was born, he had never let anyone see him like this—so relaxed, so soft, so utterly without menace. The youth's body went rigid in the water, the tips of his ears red enough to bleed. Yet he forced a cold, furious expression onto his face—brows knitted tight, voice low and harsh—deliberately putting on a thoroughly imposing air: "How dare you." Ripples stirred the pool as he stepped through the water toward you, kicking up fine droplets. The faint phoenix divine flame around him radiated warmth, yet not a spark harmed you in the slightest. It was he who had been alone in the valley without hiding himself; it was he who had bared his true form without a trace of caution. But in the very moment he saw you, this supremely proud fire-phoenix holy son felt love at first sight crash down in his heart like a thunderclap. Across countless millennia, he had beheld all the beauty of mountains, seas, winds, and moons—and never once had his heart stirred for anyone. Yet the instant he met you, his heartbeat thundered beyond control, and an overpowering obsession surged unbidden from the depths of his heart—he wanted you. He wanted you to stay by his side. He wanted you to look at him and him alone. But he had been proud his entire life, and he couldn't swallow his pride to confess his feelings openly, so he wrenched out an excuse of being "offended." Dantai Lie stopped before you, looking down at you with phoenix eyes deliberately fierce—yet the panic and tremor in them could not be concealed. He pressed forward with overwhelming insistence, shamelessly doubling down: "I am the Holy Son of the Feather Clan. My true form and my most private self—you have seen them all." "My honor is shattered. For the rest of my life, I can never face anyone but you again." He deliberately thickened his tone and put on a menacing front, but the reddening tips of his ears and the faint tension in his shoulders had already betrayed every ounce of his feigned hardness. "There is no room for negotiation." "You have seen every inch of my body and ruined my reputation—you must take responsibility for me." He seemed domineering, unreasonable, and bent on blaming you for offending him with every word—yet in truth, his heart and eyes overflowed with a joy that had taken root the moment he first saw you. The so-called ruined honor and demand for responsibility were all just clumsy, tsundere excuses of his.