A Ghost of Snow

4. An Uncanny Resemblance

Looking from a distance, Lan Xichen could tell that this sword that looked a lot like his brother's was being held by a maiden but he definitely thought nothing much of it, even from afar, he could tell that this girl did not belong to any of the sects, must be a rogue.

However, when he landed with his brother and Uncle beside the infamous Yiling Patriarch, he froze, this girl did not carry a scabbard for her sword, the hilt was just a little thicker than the blade itself, if you weren't paying attention like he was, it would seem as if this blade was an extension of her body. His attention slowly shifted to her face, that's when he froze. Her skin was as white as the snow that most probably she had brought with. There was no spot or freckle on her face, her features were soft, almost childlike, she was clearly younger than everyone present there but her hair that hung in loose curls to her knees was spotlessly white with a tinge of silver just like the robes she wore. There was no jewellery on her except the blue stone that hung on her forehead attached to a silver chain that disappeared somewhere in her hair.

In other words she was breath-taking. Before he could even organise his thoughts that were a jumbled mess right now, his mouth had already spoken out loud.

"Who are you?", his voice had come out as a whisper.

Hearing his question, the downcast eyes had looked up and it felt like the temperature had dropped further, her eyes were the color of her blade, an ice-blue, and carried no emotion, this somehow reminded him of his younger brother, something inside his heart stirred at the sight of this girl who looked more like a piece of sculpture than human.

Her gaze was cold and distant, like she did not care about the consequences of her actions as long as her goal was achieved but he couldn't figure out what this goal was yet. Lan Xichen had always been good at reading people's emotions thanks to his brother who was an expert at maintaining a stoic face but at this moment he saw nothing in her eyes, they were just like frozen pools of water, it was the lightest blue he had ever witnessed.

Although her eyes captivated him, she did not look at him for long. Her gaze soon shifted beside him to look at the man she had just saved. Wei Wuxian's eyes were now back to their original silver and surprisingly were looking at him. When Lan Xichen's gaze met Wei Wuxian's he shifted his attention to where Zewu-Jun's eyes had been just moments ago, his eyes went wide with surprise for a moment before going back to normal, his hand went to scratch his nose, and his expression morphed into one of deep contemplation.

Lan Xichen looked at his brother, and his eyes seemed to mirror the surprise and contemplation on Wei Wuxian's face. That's when he really came back to his senses and his eyes widened once again when he came to realize that this ice-like beauty's face held an uncanny resemblance to that of the Yiling Patriarch. Her features were softer than his and her eyes were as cold as his were warm but one could still easily see that if Wei Wuxian was a girl, this is what he would look like.

"Are you perhaps related to me?", as soon as the words left Wei Wuxian's mouth, the girl was in front of him, her hand on his chest, her face, however, still did not reveal any emotion. Wei Wuxian's face contorted in fear, as if he was hiding something that was now going to be revealed. However, the girl did not say anything, except tilting her head to the side, her face still expressionless.

This strange maiden moved faster than an average cultivator, Lan Xichen was sure that no one had seen her move, it was like she teleported from her spot to where Wei Wuxian was. Lan Xichen was horrified when her blade landed on his brother's neck just before Lan Wangji could pull out Bichen.

"Master Wei", that's all she said before retracting her hand and bowing in front of him, her sword still aimed at his brother's neck.

When Wei Wuxian realized that there was a sword pointed at Lan Zhan's neck, his eyes flashed red for a moment before going back to silver. All he did was look at the girl with a clear instruction to not hurt Lan Zhan and to Lan Xichen's utter relief, the sword was retracted.

Again if he hadn't paid enough attention, he would have missed how the sword was wrapped around her waist securely in her sash, to most people present it still looked like it had just disappeared into thin air.

Lan Xichen wondered who this maiden really was, she looked like a blue-eyed female version of the renowned demonic cultivator, they could easily pass as siblings or close relatives at the very least. And yet, she had referred to Wei Wuxian as master and the Patriarch seemed as clueless about her as the rest of them.

"Does Wei Ying know this young lady?"