Ice skates forward, regardless of east or west.

1

The cold raindrops, like countless tiny whips, lashed against the concrete surface of the abandoned seaside plaza.

Without warning or preparation, there was only the deathly silence of this forgotten corner on the edge of the city, and the sudden downpour that seemed to wash away all sins.

Ling Wuwen stood at the warehouse entrance, looking at the white rain curtain in front of him.

The warehouse had just experienced a power outage, and the faint light from the backup power supply could only illuminate a corner of the equipment area. The cold metal instruments gleamed eerily in the darkness, like lurking giant beasts.

Training was forced to stop, and the air was filled with a damp, musty smell and the lingering anxiety of the two.

Gu Xidong stood behind him, still holding a piece of training protective gear that he hadn't had time to put down.

In the darkness, his voice sounded somewhat muffled: "Wait until the rain subsides a bit before going back."

"No." Ling Wuwen suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but exceptionally clear.

He turned around, and his peach blossom eyes, which always carried a hint of aloofness and scrutiny, shone surprisingly brightly in the dim light.

"I don't want to wait."

He didn't give Gu Xidong a chance to refute him and pushed open the rusty iron door.

"Ling Wuwen!"

Gu Xidong's low shout was drowned out by the roaring rain.

He watched that resolute figure walk away and rushed into the rain without hesitation, the icy rain instantly soaking him through.

The abandoned seaside plaza is not far away. It may have once been the facade of a real estate project, but now only an empty concrete plaza and a few lonely lampposts flickering with dilapidated neon lights remain.

Rainwater quickly accumulated, forming a huge, swaying mirror on the ground, reflecting fragmented light and shadow and the leaden sky.

Ling Wuwen stood in the center of the square, letting the torrential rain wash over him. He slowly raised his right hand, which was in a cast, and then, with his left hand, grabbed the hem of his sports jacket and yanked it up, taking it off.

His soaked black vest clung to his smooth muscle lines, rainwater trickling down his deep jawline, down his neck, and into his collar.

He casually tossed his soaked coat into a puddle, turned around, and looked at Gu Xidong, who was chasing after him, through the curtain of rain.

His eyes shone brightly in the rain, with an almost insane defiance and solitary courage.

"Gu Xidong," his voice, broken by the sound of rain, carried a strange, penetrating power, "Dare you?"

dare?

These three words, like a bolt of lightning, cleaved through the stalemate and probing between the two of them over the past few days, tearing away all reason and pretense.

It hung in mid-air, carrying electricity, sparks, and an irresistible allure.

Gu Xidong was soaked to the bone, and icy water dripped from his hair, obscuring his vision.

But he could see Ling Wuwen's eyes clearly. There, flames burned, burning away hesitation and resistance.

He did not answer.

His response was to bend down and untie his ice skate laces. His fingers were a little stiff, but he did it quickly.

Then, he raised his ice skate and slashed across the slippery water with a short, sharp screech.

This was his answer.

2

coming!

A wild smile crept onto Ling Wuwen's lips.

He moved his left shoulder. Despite the inconvenience of his right hand, his body had instantly entered a state of readiness with the whistling of the ice blade.

There is no music.

Only the torrential rain, like a thousand horses galloping; only the heavy breathing of the two people, intertwining in the vast天地; only the hissing sound of ice blades cutting through the water, like tearing cloth.

This is their stage, unique and breathtaking.

Gu Xidong began to glide. The resistance of gliding on water is much greater than on ice, and with each push-off, his calves had to bear several times the pressure.

But he ignored it and increased his speed very quickly.

His gaze locked onto Ling Wuwen, a complex look like that of a hunter locking onto its prey, or a guardian deity locking onto a treasure.

Ling Wuwen went to greet him.

It wasn't a test, it wasn't a trial-and-error process, it was a clash.

Just as the two were about to cross paths, Gu Xidong reached out his hand.

That hand, through countless days and nights, precisely performed every lift and every twist.

At this moment, it resolutely pierced through the rain and mist, reaching out towards Ling Wuwen.

Ling Wuwen did not hesitate at all.

He braced himself against the ground with his left hand, using the momentum to propel himself into the air. It was an almost instinctive trust in his partner.

His body stretched out in the air, like an eagle whose wings were soaked by a storm, yet still determined to fight the sky.

The weight of the plaster cast dragged him down, but he didn't care; he had given away all his weight and all his trust.

Gu Xidong's hand steadily supported him.

Without the support of the ice surface, it relies entirely on the explosive power of the legs and the control of the core.

Gu Xidong's legs sank slightly underwater, his calf muscles tensed to the extreme, veins bulging, yet he stubbornly withstood the downward force.

Successful lift!

Next comes synchronization.

Ice at the outer edge.

Jump!

The two bodies traced two similar, graceful arcs in the air.

Raindrops pelted their faces, blurring their vision, but they could clearly sense each other's presence, feel every contraction of the other's muscles, and every shift in the other's center of gravity.

Three weeks.

It spun around in the air for a full three times.

Time stretched out infinitely in this moment. Raindrops hung suspended in mid-air, and the reflections of neon lights were distorted and deformed on the water's surface.

The world was left with only the two of them, one above and one below, one calling out to the other, like two lonely souls searching for each other in a storm.

Ice falling.

"Bang!"

Two muffled thuds struck the water almost simultaneously.

Without the grip provided by the friction between their skates and the ice, the slippery concrete surface simply couldn't withstand the force of their descent.

The two of them fell into the puddle.

The icy rainwater mixed with the mud on the ground instantly filled my collar and filled my mouth. It tasted of rust and dust.

However, the expected embarrassment and pain did not come.

There was a moment of silence.

Immediately afterwards—

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Ling Wuwen laughed first.

He lay face up in the water, ignoring the mud and water that smeared his face and the plaster that was soaked in water, laughing unrestrainedly, laughing heartily, laughing until tears were about to flow.

The laughter pierced through the rain, carrying a wild joy of breaking free from all constraints.

2

Gu Xidong smiled too. He turned to the side, propped himself up on his arm, and looked at the man beside him who was smiling like a child.

Rainwater slid down his deep-set eyebrows and eyes. He reached out and gently wiped the mud and rainwater off Ling Wuwen's face with the back of his hand, which was covered in cool rainwater.

"Crazy," he said with a laugh, his voice full of doting affection and a gentle sense of relief.

Ling Wuwen's laughter gradually subsided.

He lay there quietly, breathing heavily, his chest heaving. He turned his head and looked at Gu Xidong, who was standing right in front of him.

The two were so close that they could see their own reflections in each other's pupils.

Rainwater dripped down Gu Xidong's chin, onto Ling Wuwen's face, along his brow bone, down his high nose bridge, and finally stopped on his lips.

In that instant, the world fell silent once more.

The sounds of rain, wind, and heartbeats have all faded away.

All that remained was that drop of water and those eyes.

Ling Wuwen suddenly propped himself up and, to Gu Xidong's astonishment, kissed him.

It was not a test, not an impulse, but a confirmation, a declaration, a direct collision of souls.

His lips were cold, damp with rain, yet unusually soft.

He kissed her forcefully, as if trying to transfer the flame of "freedom" that had just ignited in his chest to her.

Gu Xidong's body froze instantly.

He could feel Ling Wuwen trembling, not from the cold, but from an unprecedented, surging emotion. That emotion, like a flood bursting its banks, overwhelmed all his defenses.

He neither pushed me away nor responded.

She simply endured it stiffly, letting that cold yet passionate kiss burn on his lips.

3

For a long time, the lips are divided.

Both of them were slightly out of breath.

Ling Wuwen's forehead pressed against Gu Xidong's forehead, their noses rubbing against each other, their breaths mingling.

He looked into Gu Xidong's eyes, which were so close yet filled with shock and bewilderment, and suddenly smiled.

That smile, reflected in the rain, was as radiant as the rising sun.

He raised his intact left hand and gently stroked Gu Xidong's wet cheek, his fingertips caressing his cold lips.

"Look," Ling Wuwen's voice was soft, yet it reached Gu Xidong's ears clearly, carrying a strange magic.

"No lights, no audience, no judges... yet we still dance."

Gu Xidong's heart was struck hard by those words.

Yes. There were no lights, no audience, and no referees.

They are still dancing.

Why? Because of passion? Because of dreams? Or because of... the overwhelming emotion welling up in his chest right now, leaving him at a loss?

He looked at Ling Wuwen, at the pure, unadulterated light in his eyes.

The light felt both strange and incredibly familiar to him.

"Because..." Gu Xidong opened his mouth, his voice a little hoarse.

He wanted to say that dance is never performed for others to see, but for oneself.

But the words were cut off by Ling Wuwen's next sentence.

Ling Wuwen looked at him, the smile on his lips gradually fading, replaced by a cold and sharp look that Ling Wuwen had never seen before.

Those eyes, which had just been brimming with flames and laughter, now resembled two bottomless pools of icy water.

"Gu Xidong," he said softly, each word like a knife chilled to the bone, "have you ever considered that perhaps I'm not sliding for my own sake?"

Gu Xidong's pupils suddenly contracted.

"I'll slide for you." Ling Wuwen's thumb remained on his lips, gently and slowly caressing them, but his eyes looked like he was looking at prey, a... pawn.

"So that you can stand on that highest podium again. So that you can take back everything that belongs to you with your own hands."

He leaned even closer, his lips almost touching Gu Xidong's ear, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, he uttered the last half of the sentence, which was also the most fatal half.

"And also so that... you can become the most perfect and sharpest knife in my revenge plan."

"revenge……"

These two words, like a thunderclap, exploded in Gu Xidong's mind.

All his expectations, all his emotions, all his beautiful fantasies about "trust," "love," and "skating for oneself" were shattered at this moment by these two words.

He looked at Ling Wuwen.

Looking at his face so close to mine, at the undisguised, cold hatred and scheming in his eyes.

The torrential rain was still falling, and the cold was biting.

But Gu Xidong felt as if his blood had completely frozen at that moment.

He always thought that Ling Wuwen was skating for his own sake.

He thought he had witnessed a shift in his attitude from "resistance" to "trust".

He believed that the kiss was an expression of emotion, a resonance of souls.

He thought they had finally found their rhythm and could begin a pair skating journey that truly belonged to them.

It turns out it was all fake.

Or rather, not entirely true.

4

Ling Wuwen was indeed slipping, indeed trusting, and indeed... using him.

He saw himself as a knife. A knife for revenge.

Gu Xidong felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly, the pain almost suffocating him. It was a pain more bone-chilling than the one he had suffered years ago when his knee was shattered, more intense than the pain of being stripped of all his glory.

He always believed that he was saving a lost soul.

Little did he know, he had only fallen into a deeper and colder trap.

The person who set this up was now lying in his arms, speaking the cruelest words with the very lips that had just kissed him.

As Ling Wuwen watched Gu Xidong's face drain of color, and saw the shock and pain in his eyes, a triumphant yet subtly bitter smile slowly crept onto his lips.

He didn't say anything more.

I just watched him quietly.

The rain is still falling.

The puddles reflected the shattered neon lights, and also two equally pale faces, both etched with complex emotions.

The warmth left by that kiss is being quickly washed away by the rain.

All that remained was a bone-chilling cold and a bloody truth that could no longer be avoided, standing between the two of them.

Gu Xidong, are you ready?

Are you ready to become the blade of vengeance in my hands?