I hate that you are not like the moon over the river tower

“Are you… certain you truly want to help me?”

The Immortal Court now looked as if an ocean of ink had been overturned. Walking past the front hall of the Fate Palace, a place once so familiar, Yun Yao found everything strange and sinister.

Stepping over a shard of porcelain from some shattered vessel, Yun Yao heard the voice of the man behind her ripple through the night-like mist.

“Since I promised Master, I will not go back on my word.”

“But if I truly regain my holy seat, though I am grateful for this favor, I will still fight you with everything I have.”

Yun Yao turned around, staring straight at the man behind her.

“Calamity wasn’t wrong about one thing: keeping the Immortal Court from falling is the duty of the Three Saints. I won’t stand by and watch the power of the End swallow the entire immortal realm.”

“I know.”

Yun Yao frowned. “Then why are you still—”

She didn’t get to finish.

the silhouette opposite her had already parted the night-mist, revealing his refined and handsome features. Mu Hanyuan walked over unhurriedly; as he passed her, he naturally took her wrist and led her toward the main hall of the Fate Palace not far away.

“Even if we truly are destined enemies, I told you, the end has not yet arrived.”

Mu Hanyuan crossed the threshold of the front hall with Yun Yao.

“Besides, if I do not help you return to your position, the power of the End will eventually submerge the Immortal Court. Would you not fight me then?”

Yun Yao followed him inside in silence.

She knew the answer, and Mu Hanyuan knew it too.

Thus, neither needed to say it.

“If that day truly comes, I do not wish for you to be a moth to a flame.”

Mu Hanyuan’s grip on Yun Yao’s fingers tightened slightly, then loosened with a soft scoff.

“Moreover, I have never seen Master in her form as the Saint Origin.”

“You needn’t say it. I will give my all to cleanse the three realms of this scourge.”

Yun Yao glanced at Mu Hanyuan with a complex expression, then composed herself and turned toward the hall.

“The priority now is to find the holy… seat… that I threw—cough, hid in this hall tens of thousands of years ago…”

Her voice trailed off and warped as she took in the scene inside the hall behind the black mist—

The front hall of the Fate Palace was the epicenter of the Endfire eruption. It had not been cleaned, and it still bore the scars of the tragic scene where Mu Hanyuan’s malevolent aspect sacrificed his soul to reverse the Wheel of Reincarnation. The demonic flames had scorched the heavens, and the black hole formed by the power of karma had swallowed everything.

Specifically, on the rows of shelves, all sorts of scrolls and records had been burned to cinders, leaving only scorched earth.

Fortunately, the three thousand star lamps remained untouched.

But as the master of the Fate Palace, seeing her home torn apart like this, even the prepared Yun Yao froze before this despairing “ruin.”

Mu Hanyuan’s voice held a low, embedded laugh. “Master?”

“…I suddenly remembered,” Yun Yao gritted her teeth, looking back resentfully.

“If that malevolent aspect hadn’t given me a ‘blow to the head’ at the critical moment when my soul returned from the Qianyuan Realm, how could the Fate Palace have ended up like this? And why would I need you to help me return to my seat?”

Mu Hanyuan gave a low, helpless laugh. “I hope the Saint Origin is magnanimous.”

“Magnanimous…?”

Yun Yao inhaled and exhaled three times, finally turning back with a calm heart. “True, serious business first. Find the holy throne.”

However, searching for a holy throne like the one in Calamity’s Imperial Decree Divine Palace—glittering gold and jade enough to blind one’s eyes—Yun Yao scoured the entire front hall but still found nothing.

The Saint Origin, who hadn’t touched her throne in tens of thousands of years, stood dazed in the scorched hall. “Where did I… put it back then?”

Mu Hanyuan watched the whole process. Currently standing elegantly by a shelf, he patted the dust off two scorched remnants he had retrieved from the ashes.

“Does Master remember the appearance of the holy throne? If you can describe it, I shall find it for you.”

Yun Yao thought about it sincerely, then opened her eyes. “I forgot.”

“…”

Mu Hanyuan: “…”

It was rare to see Mu Hanyuan—whose face usually betrayed little of his true emotions—look so visibly speechless.

Yun Yao couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“You can’t blame me. It was something Father God tossed to the three of us tens of thousands of years ago. Though it contains the Saint’s original immortal power, no one else can use it. Aside from the beginning when we had to sit and cultivate on it daily to stabilize our holy hearts, it was useless later on. It was no different from a rock… Why would I bother remembering where I put it?”

“Calamity, however, keeps it enshrined on a high platform.”

Mentioning the Lord of Imperial Decree made Yun Yao’s smile fade.

“Yes. Since when did he start holding it so high, suspended above the Ninth Heaven, no longer touching the mortal world… I never even noticed.”

Mu Hanyuan, not wishing for Yun Yao to worry over Calamity, shifted the conversation.

“After your cultivation was complete, did Master change the appearance of the holy throne?”

“Hmm? It’s just a chair, what could it be changed in—”

Yun Yao’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“I remember now!”

Yun Yao turned and walked toward the back of the hall. Passing through the timber, stones, and flora devastated by the Endfire, she navigated several turns and stopped beside a celestial pond in the back garden.

The place had clearly been neglected for a long time. Being by the water, the grass had grown wild, nearly taller than a person.

Yun Yao stopped before this vast expanse of weeds.

“The holy throne is in there?” Mu Hanyuan asked, following behind her.

“It should be.”

“Good.”

Mu Hanyuan raised his hand, pulling Yun Yao behind him.

Yun Yao thought he was going to enter himself and poked her head out sheepishly.

“I’ll do it myself. These weeds were brought back by Transcendence when he was in the lower realm. They are very difficult to manage; one careless move and you’ll be covered in thorns. I shouldn’t let you—”

Before her words could fall.

A crisp shing rang out.

Yun Yao looked down as she poked her head out; Mu Hanyuan had slightly raised his hand, and between his long fingers, a line of eerie red demonic flame sparked. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed it down casually.

Whoosh!

The demonic flames instantly set the sprawling weeds ablaze.

Yun Yao: “…”

Given Mu Hanyuan’s previous temperament in the Qianyuan Realm, he would have never done such a thing as “committing arson.”

Indeed, the merging of the malevolent aspect’s memories had a significant impact on him.

In moments, the patch of weeds was burned to ash, and the holy throne hidden within was revealed.

It was an ancient, simple, majestic, and sacred thing…

A lounge chair.

Mu Hanyuan paused for a few breaths, looking down at Yun Yao. “This is… the holy throne?”

“In the beginning… for the first ten thousand years, sitting and cultivating day and night was truly too painful…”

Yun Yao’s voice unconsciously grew weaker.

“So I slightly changed its appearance.”

Mu Hanyuan smiled. “Outside the Imperial Decree Divine Palace, I heard you tell Calamity that you were once carefree and mischievous; I thought you were just being humble.”

Yun Yao coughed lightly, pretending not to hear, and walked toward the throne.

However, the man behind her stopped for a few breaths, his smile fading as he gave a light sigh.

“?”

Moving the throne, Yun Yao immediately became alert and looked back. “Why are you sighing?”

“Just a bit of regret.”

“Regret for what?”

Mu Hanyuan tucked his sleeves and walked over.

“Whether in Qianyuan or the immortal realm, I never lived in the same era as you, nor did I see you as you were then.”

“In my most young and ignorant days, not even the dogs in the Immortal Court or Qianmen liked me. What is there to see?”

Yun Yao’s cheeks felt inexplicably hot, and she turned her head away, not wanting Mu Hanyuan to notice.

Mu Hanyuan smiled even more. “Master must have been incredibly interesting in her youth. If I could have seen it, I could die with no regrets.”

Yun Yao’s lowered eyelashes trembled.

Her heart sank.

If perishing together was the final act to ensure the safety of the three realms and keep the Immortal Court from falling, she would die in her place with no regrets.

The only regret…

Yun Yao looked down at the hem of the robe beside her, her heart aching slightly.

…Was him.

Protecting the three realms was her divine duty as Origin, but what about him? What had he done wrong? Why did the Heavenly Dao want him to pay the price of certain destruction?

“Master?”

Beside her, Mu Hanyuan, having not heard her voice for a while, tilted his head. “What are you thinking about so intently?”

Yun Yao pulled her thoughts back. “Nothing. I was just thinking that since we are the Origin and the End ordained by the Heavenly Dao, you won’t have the chance to see me in my youth.”

Mu Hanyuan’s profile stiffened slightly.

[…Immortal Court Year 76,372, Era of Records: The Saint Origin, to protect the sentient beings of the three realms, perishes together with the power of the End…]

[…The End is the new Origin…]

[…The way of Heaven is a cycle, endless and ever-renewing…]

Beneath his sleeve, his long fingers slowly clenched. The veins on the back of his hand rose in sharp, tense arcs.

Yun Yao moved the holy throne over to Mu Hanyuan’s side and was about to say something when she saw the Green Wood Divine Lord, shrouded in black mist, rushing over from the ruins of the front hall.

He was clearly looking for Mu Hanyuan.

The other party saw her too. After an exchange of looks, the Green Wood Divine Lord turned expressionlessly toward Mu Hanyuan’s back.

“Demon Lord.”

“Demon Lord?”

The air was silent.

Originally, Yun Yao held an attitude of “if you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you” toward these fallen immortals, but she had to stop.

She looked back in confusion at the man standing by the pond with his back turned. “Mu Hanyuan?”

The invisible Soul Pact chain in the void rattled slightly.

Mu Hanyuan seemed to suddenly snap back to his senses. He turned around to face Yun Yao. “Hmm?”

Only then did he seem to notice the Green Wood Divine Lord’s presence. The emotions on his handsome face stiffened for a moment, then vanished like clouds blown by the wind.

“What is it?”

The Green Wood Divine Lord hesitated, looking at Yun Yao.

“Oh,” Yun Yao realized, “I’ll go back to the Fate Palace and wait for you.”

“Good.”

Yun Yao walked outward. As she entered the front hall, she couldn’t help but stop and look back at the man by the pond with a strange expression.

Was Mu Hanyuan just lost in thought? Why did it seem as if… he couldn’t hear?

“Ah, that’s impossible.”

Yun Yao immediately rejected her own thought. She snapped her head back, as if afraid of being caught by something, and stepped through the hall door without hesitation. Her steps were heavy, as if trying to crush that thought.

“He clearly heard my voice just now. He must have just been lost in thought.”

“Yes, lost in thought.”

That night.

The Origin Divine Palace.

When Mu Hanyuan returned, Yun Yao was still by the open window overlooking the river, facing the distant mountains and moonlight.

The only difference was that this time she wasn’t sitting on the floor, but on the lounge chair that had recently been moved back to the main palace.

“You’re back?”

Yun Yao seemed to be in high spirits. Hearing his movement, she got up from the lounge chair and walked over to greet him.

“I tried cultivating on the holy throne today. As expected, the things Father God left for us are still useful. By my count, in about ten days, I can perform the soul-return ceremony. I’ll need your full assistance then.”

Hearing her cheerful voice, Mu Hanyuan couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. “You’re in a good mood. Just because of that?”

“No, not just that.”

Yun Yao stood before him with a beaming smile, looking up, but her hands were hidden behind her back.

“I also happened to find a treasure in the small drawer next to the holy throne.”

“What treasure? Can you tell me?” Mu Hanyuan leaned down slightly, instinctively supporting her waist, and asked with a warm smile.

“Of course.”

Yun Yao suddenly pulled her hand from behind her back, rubbing her wrist—its sleeve rolled up—in front of him.

“Smell this. This is incense made from the heartwood of that ten-thousand-year-old Southern Sandalwood tree at the peak of the Ninth Heaven!”

Mu Hanyuan naturally caught her wrist, supporting the layered, heavy sleeve, and took a light sniff at the center of her wrist.

“How is it? Do you like it?” Yun Yao stood on her tiptoes, her voice rising slightly, as if she were full of anticipation.

Mu Hanyuan paused for a few breaths, then smiled faintly. “Yes, it smells good.”

Yun Yao suddenly went silent.

The smile faded from her eyes and the corners of her mouth.

Mu Hanyuan seemed to sense something and tilted his head slightly. “Master?”

After a long silence.

Yun Yao brushed his hand away and let out a light, self-mocking scoff. Her voice trembled inexplicably.

“I lied to you.”

“What?”

“I didn’t find any Southern Sandalwood incense, nor did I put any on my wrist.”

Mu Hanyuan’s grip on Yun Yao’s fingers tightened slightly, then loosened. He lowered his hand as if to step aside.

But Yun Yao grabbed his sleeve firmly.

“Mu. Han. Yuan.”

It felt as if her heart had been stabbed, blood gushing out.

She heard her own pathetic, trembling voice, yet she couldn’t suppress it no matter how she tried—

“When did you start losing your five senses?”