Taiyi, a cool and socially anxious Grand Elder, wants nothing more than to cultivate in peace. But everyone mistakes him for a reclusive master. To keep up the act, he reluctantly takes in Chen Junyao, a boy shrouded in ominous black energy, whose eyes are as lonely as a wolf's.
He teaches him techniques and treats his wounds, offering care he has never given anyone before, awkwardly but with stubborn devotion. In the icy depths of despair, Chen Junyao feels warmth for the first time: his master's cool fingertips testing his wounds, a silent embrace in the still of night, and the little ways this exalted figure bends down for him.
Dependence quietly changes into something else. The boy becomes enamored with being the one person his master cares for, torn between reverence and overstepping the line, unable to tell whether this is filial affection or forbidden desire. Taiyi only notices that his disciple's gaze is growing stranger by the day, never understanding the currents beneath those burning eyes.
One clings to a light in the darkness, yearning for more but too afraid to say so.
The other, socially anxious, does his duty and offers warmth, never realizing what it means.
This bond between master and disciple, born of a misunderstanding, quietly spins a web around them both as they draw close in silence and retreat with careful hesitation. When the mystery of the black energy and an old enemy draw near once more, how will they face a closeness that has already crossed the line?
