They say gods do not weep. But he did.

In the heart of the Celestial Realm, beneath silver skies and crimson moonlight, he held her broken body in his arms—her white robes stained with blood, her nine golden tails dimming with every breath.

“Who did this?” he had whispered, voice shaking for the first time in centuries.

But her lips trembled with more than pain. Her gaze—those eyes that once held mischief and moonlight—now shimmered only with betrayal.

“I trusted you,” she murmured.
And then... she was gone.

That night, thunder cracked across the heavens. But no justice followed.

The Moon Goddess watched from her palace, veil unshaken.
The Celestial Court declared it fate.

The Fox Clan mourned their Lady in silence, retreating deep into the realm of spirits. They never found her body.

And the War God—once proud heir to the Celestial Throne—locked his heart behind walls no one could breach.

He never stopped searching for the soul who once called him beloved.

A thousand years passed.
The realms forgot. But he never did.

Now, a servant girl enters his palace—eyes like wildfire, voice like a memory.

Something stirs.

And fate, it seems, is not finished with them yet.

That night, Jin Xuan Yue slept for the first time in three days — and was immediately dragged into memory.


In it, Qing Yue stood at the edge of a cliff, her white robes soaked in blood, her nine tails dimming like dying flames.


"Why…?" she whispered, voice breaking.


Behind her, the sky burned red — not the golden glow of heaven but a cursed crimson.


And he… he stood there, sword in hand, but his blade was clean.


"I never—" he tried to speak, but no words came.


The world split open beneath her. She fell — and he couldn't move.


He woke with a jolt, sweat beading on his temples.


Elsewhere, Li Hua sat alone in the forbidden section of the palace archives.


She had bribed her way past two sleepy record keepers with mooncakes.


Now, her fingers ran over a scroll bound in faded silk — one she hadn't seen in the official collection.


It detailed the events before the fall of the Fox Clan.


There was a record of a secret meeting — between the Moon Goddess, a high-ranking demon, and a celestial messenger — days before the battle began.


Why would Jin Xuan Yue need a demon to kill her? He wouldn't trust them… not even then.


For the first time in centuries, the certainty in her heart wavered.


In a hidden shrine under the mountains, the Moon Goddess stood before a mirror of obsidian. It did not reflect her face — but her past.


"I saw doubt in her eyes," whispered the demon beside her. "She will break."


"She must not," the Moon Goddess said coolly. "Or all of this—" she gestured to the celestial map etched across the floor "—will be for nothing."


Back at the palace, Jin Mei entered her brother's chambers without knocking — a habit she had since they were children.


He sat at the window again, staring into the courtyard where Li Hua often walked.


"You dreamt of her again," she said softly.


"No," Jin Mei said. "But she reminds you of what you lost. And I think… that scares you."


She tilted her head. "No. I think you're afraid you let her die."


Chapter 20 - Chapter 19 – Secrets Beneath the Surface