The Celestial Court buzzed with tension.
News had spread — a high emissary from the Mortal Realm had arrived unannounced, bearing a sealed decree from the Elder Flame Sect, one of the few powers allowed to communicate directly with the Heavenly Realm.
Jin Xuan Yue stood at the head of the hall, silent as ever, but his eyes scanned the emissary sharply.
The man bowed low, his crimson robes scorched and weathered.
"My Lord Jin Xuan Yue," he said, voice steady. "The seal on this decree is to be broken only in your presence."
Jin Xuan Yue gave a nod, and the scroll was unbound.
Its contents made the entire hall still.
> A shadow rises from beneath the Southern Wastes. Old demons stir. The Flame Sect requests celestial aid, lest the mortal barrier fall…
Jin Xuan Yue handed the scroll to the scribe beside him and turned to his generals.
"We ride in three days."
---
Later that evening...
Li Hua overheard the news while carrying tea to the strategic chamber. The whispers of celestial generals, excited and fearful, filled the air.
"Demons in the Southern Wastes?"
"Has the seal begun to crack?"
"If even the Flame Sect is worried..."
Her heart thudded.
Could this be connected to what the Moon Goddess had said — the awakening of the Demon Star?
But why would demons rise now?
She returned to the servants' wing, thoughts spinning like a storm.
---
Meanwhile…
In a shadowed grove beyond the palace walls, cloaked figures met under a blood-red moon.
One of them — the Moon Goddess — stepped into the open.
Her beauty was flawless, her voice soft and sharp like ice.
"He has found the scroll," she whispered. "He knows the name Moonfall now."
The demon beside her grunted. "So what? He still doesn't know what happened that night."
"No… but he's beginning to doubt the story. And once he doubts enough—" she smiled, cruel and luminous, "—he'll try to reach her. And then she will break."
"What if she doesn't?"
"She will." Her eyes gleamed. "Because I will remind her what it felt like… to die believing she was betrayed."
---
In the quiet of her quarters…
Li Hua sat on the edge of her bed, the mirror still echoing that earlier vision.
She lifted a hand and summoned a small, quiet orb of silver light.
Not large.
Not bright.
But real.
She stared at it, trembling.
She was Qing Yue.
But... she didn't want to be.
Not if that meant living only for vengeance.