A reunion after a thousand years feels like a fleeting moment

The emotions that had accumulated like a thousand-fathom cliff in Yun Yao’s heart collapsed instantly at Mu Hanyuan’s low call.

Her logic was washed away into fragments.

Even though she knew he should be unable to hear or perceive her, Yun Yao couldn’t help but step into that tattered, blood-stained embrace.

In the midst of the Blood River and its vile ghosts, that blood-splattered, jade-cold face froze.

After a long time, as if unable to be certain, Mu Hanyuan raised his hands and made a tentative embrace into the boundless darkness before him. “…Master?!”

Yun Yao gripped his wrists with all her might.

“It’s me.”

Though she knew he couldn’t hear or respond, Yun Yao whispered like a soothing caress.

The greedy vile ghosts caught the scent of a living soul, their expressions becoming even more distorted with hunger. Ghostly energy swirled around the two as the vicious remnant souls lunged once more.

“BEGONE—!!!!”

In a burst of fury, Yun Yao’s sword-light flowed like silver. In an instant, countless vile ghosts were swallowed by the snow-white radiance before they could even let out a shriek.

The soul-candle glowed faintly.

Yun Yao dared not delay. With two more successive strikes, she cleared the ghosts closing in on them.

She turned and lifted Mu Hanyuan’s broken, blood-stained soul-body onto her back, then closed her eyes, touching her finger to her brow.

Her divine marks shone with brilliance.

Moments later, from within this dark, boundless Hell of Vile Ghosts, a thousand-foot cold sword-aura erupted.

Everywhere it passed, the ghosts screamed piteously, and the darkness dissipated like dawn breaking through the night.

Two silhouettes tore through the silent night, rising into the air.

“Mu Hanyuan,” Yun Yao looked back at his profile leaning against her shoulder, her eyes holding both tears and a smile, “I’ve come to take you home.”

On the day Mu Hanyuan’s soul returned to Qianyuan, rolling thunder echoed across the firmament throughout the night.

It was most intense near Tianshan Peak of Qianmen.

Ding Xiao, who had come to deliver the routine medicinal wine, along with several small disciples who had come to sweep, were trembling with fear outside Yun Yao’s grotto. They peered into the cave while cautiously glancing up at the sky.

The icy chill that had previously threatened to freeze the sect for a thousand miles had dissolved overnight.

This was how they knew Yun Yao had returned.

Until the grotto door swung open and a figure in red stepped out.

“Senior Grandmaster!”

“Senior Grandmaster is here…”

“Quick, move over there, don’t block me.”

There were nearly a dozen disciples outside—sweeping, arranging pavilions, planting grass, and tending to trees—making for a lively scene.

Normally, Yun Yao would have sent them all back, but today she had no such leisure.

Leaving the grotto, she walked straight toward Ding Xiao, who was crouching in a corner staring at the sky. “Are the things I asked for ready?”

“Still missing one ingredient; the Master said it will arrive this afternoon.”

Ding Xiao spoke while shrinking back toward the base of the grotto wall.

Yun Yao took the items and glanced at her, helpless yet amused. “Are you growing like a mushroom? Why are you hiding in the corner?”

“No, Senior Martial Aunt, didn’t you hear?” Ding Xiao pointed at the sky. “Since last night, this thunder has been so eerie. It sounds like it’s striking outside the sky, rumbling but not quite clear. What do you think is going on?”

Since returning to the sect, Yun Yao often visited the various peaks to guide the disciples. At first, they were intimidated by her seniority and title, but after a few interactions, they all understood her easygoing and indifferent temperament.

Even in her presence, there wasn’t much concern for the rigid etiquette of elders and juniors.

Thus, once Ding Xiao started the conversation, a disciple tending to the flora nearby immediately leaned in: “Yeah, Senior Martial Aunt, your cultivation is profound; can you hear where this thunder is coming from?”

“I heard the elders say it’s the wrath of heaven.”

“But the Qianyuan Realm is at peace now; even the Demon Realm is behaving itself. Why would heaven be angry?”

“Exactly! If heaven were truly angry, would it just be scaring us like this without doing anything?”

They said they were asking Yun Yao, but the conversation quickly drifted off-topic.

Yun Yao didn’t force it back.

—After all, regarding this issue, she and the one she was hiding in her grotto were the ones who should feel the guiltiest.

“Senior Martial Aunt?” Ding Xiao had been by her side for a long time and understood her behavior. Looking at her expression, she sensed something and leaned in. “I listened to the thunder from several spots in the sect today. No matter how I compare it, it seems closest to your Tianshan Peak. Could it be…”

Ding Xiao trailed off, her gaze shifting from the storage bag she had just handed Yun Yao to the dark interior of the grotto.

With no outsiders present, Yun Yao nodded righteously. “I did it.”

“…”

Ding Xiao’s face instantly lit up with joy. She stopped hiding and straightened her back. “You should have said so earlier, Senior Martial Aunt! You had me scared all night and morning.”

“Now that you know it’s me, you’re not afraid?”

“Of course!” Ding Xiao blurted out. “Since you’re the one causing the trouble, if the thunder strikes, it’ll definitely hit you first.”

Yun Yao: “…”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that!” Under Yun Yao’s sharp, narrowing eyes, Ding Xiao immediately corrected herself. “I meant, you are such a powerful figure, Senior Martial Aunt. If the thunder comes for you, you’ll surely take care of it with a wave of your hand, and it won’t harm us, right?”

“Rest assured.”

Yun Yao, both annoyed and amused, lifted the storage bag and turned back into the grotto. “It won’t strike down.”

“Eh? Why?”

“In this Forsaken Land, the rules haven’t changed, but the power of Heavenly Punishment cannot descend,” Yun Yao glanced at the sky mockingly. “It can’t reach us. Look how angry it is.”

“Power of Heavenly Punishment? What is that, and why would it fall on Tianshan Peak?”

This time there was no answer. Under Ding Xiao’s disappointed gaze, the door to the Tianshan Peak grotto closed.

Outside the grotto.

The disciples who had been pretending to work immediately huddled around Ding Xiao. “Senior Sister, what did Senior Grandmaster say?”

“Did she really bring back some incredible treasure from outside?”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Why did I hear the senior brother on night watch say that Senior Martial Aunt brought back a long-haired beauty last night?”

“?”

Ding Xiao was pondering with a frown when she heard that. She turned to them with a scowl: “No spreading rumors about Senior Martial Aunt! What beauty? Is our Senior Martial Aunt the kind of person who would be seduced by beauty?”

The moment Yun Yao stepped into the grotto, the first thing that caught her eye was a coffin that had replaced her original long couch.

To be precise, it was a coffin made of ice, as clear as crystal and intensely cold.

And currently, there indeed sat a beauty with long hair and snow-pale skin.

However, his head was tilted to the side, his long hair falling over frosted eyelashes. He looked icy and still, almost not appearing like a living person.

Yun Yao’s eyes tightened.

She placed the storage bag on a nearby table and hurried to the ice coffin. She leaned down, instinctively reaching for his neck to check his pulse and breath.

Just as her fingertips touched his neck, those white-frosted eyelashes fluttered and opened.

His pitch-black eyes were like obsidian in spring water, clearly reflecting her silhouette.

Yun Yao paused. Her hand on his neck was caught in limbo. “You… you’re awake? I just came in and saw you were unconscious again. I thought you were unwell and wanted to check…”

Before she could finish.

Mu Hanyuan slowly took her wrist and used the center of her wrist to brush lightly against his neck. “It’s alright. Master doesn’t need to explain.”

Perhaps because he had been sleeping for a long time, his voice held a low, husky quality. His tone was as icy as his body—light and timeless, yet exceptionally stirring to the heart.

At the end of his sentence, he raised his eyelashes, his dark eyes like a bewitching spell.

“Whatever Master wants to do is fine. I don’t mind.”

In contrast to his voice was the temperature from his neck.

It was no longer that desperate cold. Yun Yao felt a surge of longing; for a moment, she let him have his way, not wanting to withdraw her hand.

But her logic returned soon enough.

Yun Yao’s cheeks turned red as she tried to pull her hand back. “You don’t mind, but I do.” She coughed lightly, feeling awkward. “…And I’ll have to ask Lord Hanyuan to stop treating me like some beastly Master who would take advantage of you at a time like this.”

However, her hand only slipped half an inch from his palm before he gripped it again.

“Master is wrong.”

“Hmm?”

Yun Yao looked back in confusion, meeting Mu Hanyuan’s pitch-black eyes and the dappled smile within them.

He pressed her wrist down, brushing it against his neck once more.

“Clearly, I’m the one taking advantage of you.”

Yun Yao held her breath, suppressing the blood rushing to her face.

—How could someone come back from a calamity of the Heavenly Dao looking as if they had been completely reborn, becoming so bold she couldn’t suppress him?

“Alright, stop it,” Yun Yao struggled to rescue her hand from Mu Hanyuan’s “clutches.” “How do you feel? Have your five senses fully recovered?”

“Yes.”

“Eh? So fast?” Mu Hanyuan answered too easily, making Yun Yao narrow her eyes suspiciously. “No lying just to keep me from worrying.”

A hint of hesitation appeared in Mu Hanyuan’s expression.

Seeing this, Yun Yao felt more certain. She leaned closer to the ice coffin and threatened: “If you dare tell a lie, then I—I’ll…”

Mu Hanyuan waited patiently.

It wasn’t until Yun Yao grew more and more stuck that he raised his eyelashes, which seemed to be tinged with a smile, his eyes shining like碎星. “Then what?”

Eight hundred answers went through Yun Yao’s mind.

But she was afraid every single one was either too harsh or might actually come true.

He had just passed through a great calamity, barely managing to escape with a shred of his soul. Any harsh words she might say made her heart ache.

After a long pause, she simply pursed her lips and stopped talking.

Mu Hanyuan looked at her with a smile. He couldn’t help but lean forward slightly, pressing a light kiss to Yun Yao’s chin before pulling back with restraint.

“My senses are still a bit sluggish, but it’s no longer an issue. The rest will recover slowly.”

Mu Hanyuan leaned against the side of the coffin, smiling peacefully with his eyes lowered.

That kiss was far too quick, and the culprit’s reaction was far too casual and natural, leaving Yun Yao without even a reason to take offense.

She could only accept the “loss,” her cheeks flushed as she spoke seriously: “Don’t be careless then. Until you are fully recovered, don’t even think about taking a single step out of this grotto.”

Mu Hanyuan gave a light smile. “Is Master planning to lock me up here for a lifetime?”

“What?” Yun Yao took the opportunity to lean in, looking at him with a half-smile. “If I say yes, are you unwilling?”

“As long as Master isn’t afraid of gossip in the sect…” Mu Hanyuan gave a low, husky laugh. “Then I shall find it as sweet as honey.”

“Gossip?”

Yun Yao recalled the one or two phrases she had heard outside and joked, “Oh, about me keeping a beauty? If you aren’t afraid of being seen as a fragile beauty who serves others with his looks, then what do I have to be afraid of?”

Mu Hanyuan suddenly went silent. He simply looked at her, his gaze running deep.

Yun Yao blinked, wondering if that kind of talk had made him unhappy.

Then she heard Mu Hanyuan suddenly speak with a smile: “Then I’ll take that as Master’s promise.”

Yun Yao was momentarily dazed by the beauty before her. “Eh… what?”

“On this Tianshan Peak, the position of the ‘fragile beauty who serves with his looks’ is reserved only for me.” Mu Hanyuan leaned forward, gripping Yun Yao’s wrist. The sharpness in his gaze was hidden within soft silk as he pulled her toward him slowly but with intense desire.

“……Master must not promise it to anyone else.”

Yun Yao was nearly unable to handle it.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the ice coffin saved her—

A jade pendant hanging from her sleeve happened to snag on a corner of the ice coffin.

The two of them looked down together.

Mu Hanyuan’s gaze turned slightly cool. “?”

Yun Yao: “…Pfft.”

Mu Hanyuan’s gaze returned to Yun Yao.

Yun Yao laughed as she pulled away. “See, even the coffin can’t stand it—if you want to do bad things, wait until you’re better and don’t have to sleep in a coffin.”

A rare look of dejection appeared between Mu Hanyuan’s brows, making Yun Yao laugh even more.

But serious business came first.

Yun Yao stood up and went to the storage bag to deal with the various spiritual items Mu Jiutian had sent, all meant to help Mu Hanyuan regulate his foundation.

Now that the power of the End was gone, his cultivation almost had to start from scratch.

Fortunately, the spiritual meridians and sea in his body were like a pre-established channel, as vast as the celestial ocean. All that was needed was for time to pour new living springs into them.

As she worked, Yun Yao suddenly remembered something.

She leaned against the desk and looked at Mu Hanyuan. “In the Netherworld, when your soul hadn’t returned to your body and your senses were gone, how did you recognize me?”

Mu Hanyuan was still regulating his breath in the ice coffin made of Heavenly Cold Jade. Hearing this, he didn’t need to think. “Because it was Master.”

“Hmm?”

“Back in the Demon Realm, when Master tested the Face-Revealing Pill on me, I said it already. It seems Master has forgotten.”

Mu Hanyuan opened his eyes, looking at her with a calm, fixed gaze.

“Even if my five senses are completely gone, as long as Master appears, I will surely recognize you.”

Yun Yao was submerged in Mu Hanyuan’s gaze. She felt as if something had jumped in her chest—a heavy thump.

It was likely a rabbit.

It even gave her heart a secret little kick.

Yun Yao hid her flushed face, turning back as if nothing had happened. “I see.”

She accidentally plucked two leaves off an innocent spiritual herb. In the silence, she learned to speak: “I’ve remembered it this time… I won’t ever forget again.”

“As long as you don’t suddenly disappear again, I’ll remember everything.”

Mu Hanyuan’s eyes wavered.

The grotto fell into a dead silence for a while.

Just as Yun Yao was feeling strange, she suddenly heard the sound of robes rustling against the ground behind her.

She turned back blankly. “Mu Hanyuan…?”

The candlelight in the grotto cast the man’s gaunt figure over her, covering her entire body.

Snow-white hair flowed before her eyes.

Mu Hanyuan knelt, his long body leaning against the soft mat where she sat, then he leaned down and enveloped her.

Black and white strands of hair intertwined.

They were slightly damp in the shared breath, until Yun Yao’s lips were brushed by his moist eyelashes. He leaned in to kiss her neck, feeling the leap of her pulse.

“Master,”

he whispered, giving her the most tender comfort, “Yun Yao.”

“I’m back.”