The wind howled against the pillars of the Celestial Pavilion, dragging with it the scent of coming rain. Lanterns swayed, casting flickering shadows along the polished jade floors.
Inside the inner training hall, Jin Xuan Yue stood alone.
His blade, Moonbreaker, lay across the altar before him. Silent. Waiting.
But his hands weren't steady.
He gripped the hilt, knuckles white.
"Li Hua."
No.
"Qing Yue."
He'd whispered both names to the wind, and still neither answered him.
"Why do you haunt me...?" he murmured, voice strained. "Even in silence, you're louder than everything else."
He turned, slashing the blade once through the air. A crack of energy rang out. The wall trembled.
From behind a column, Rui Shen peered in with wide eyes. "Maybe try hitting a demon, not architecture, next time?"
Jin Xuan Yue lowered his sword, not turning.
"I told you to stop spying on me."
"I wasn't spying. I was… respectfully watching the breakdown of a legendary god. Completely different."
Jin shot him a glare over his shoulder.
Rui Shen stepped forward anyway, chewing a candied lotus root. "She really does remind you of her, doesn't she?"
Jin didn't answer.
"That maid. Li Hua."
"I didn't say her name."
"You didn't have to."
The silence between them grew thick, then Rui Shen softened.
"Maybe it's not her. Maybe she's just the kind of person you want her to be."
Jin Xuan Yue sheathed his sword with a sharp motion.
"No one else would ever dare to look at me the way she does. Like she's seen something no one else can."
---
Meanwhile, Li Hua — no, Qing Yue — walked along the moonlit corridor, fingering a silken ribbon in her hand.
It was the same ribbon he once tied in her hair during a festival, a thousand years ago. How had it survived?
She didn't know. But it had fallen from a scroll this morning. Placed there by… someone?
Her eyes narrowed. The palace whispered too many things.
In the distance, she heard the low clash of swords — Jin Xuan Yue training again.
"He's unraveling," she whispered.
She should be glad. This was her chance.
But her feet turned in the opposite direction. Away from him. Toward the forbidden archives.
Tonight, she'd find proof. Proof that he betrayed her. Proof that would justify the revenge burning in her heart.
Or… break it forever.Above the palace, on the edge of a crumbling mountain shrine, the Moon Goddess stood with her arms outstretched, eyes closed beneath the blood-streaked moon.
"It begins," she whispered.
And below, deep within the sealed abyss, something… moved.