The Bright Moon Was My Former Self, Part 4

Within Mu Hanyuan’s consciousness, Yun Yao existed only as a wisp of spiritual sense. Even with his slumbering soul so close, she couldn’t touch him.

After several futile attempts, she gave up.
Sitting cross-legged in the dwindling patch of snow-white light, she hugged her knees and asked Little Golden Lotus, also a mere shadow beside her, “How long has he been like this?”

The question seemed to stump Little Golden Lotus.
It furrowed its brow, distressed, holding up one finger, then spreading both hands. Unable to settle on an answer, it shook its head dejectedly.

Yun Yao found it both amusing and heart-wrenching. “You can’t sense time outside anymore, can you?”

Little Golden Lotus nodded eagerly.

“What about this black-and-white light?” Yun Yao gestured to the shrinking white glow, now barely ten feet across. “Did it start shrinking when he fell asleep?”

Little Golden Lotus’s voice was urgent. “Yes! Father, danger!”

Yun Yao’s heart sank, but she forced a smile for Little Golden Lotus. “If this light vanishes completely, his soul will be devoured by the evil aspect’s soul outside, right?”

“Yes! Yes!” Little Golden Lotus nodded vigorously.

…As expected.
Yun Yao turned, her thoughts heavy, gazing at the motionless Mu Hanyuan lying in the snow, lifeless as if all vitality had drained from him. Resting her chin on her knees, she let out a trembling sigh.
“Mu Hanyuan, can you tell me what I need to do to help you?”

The figure on the ground remained silent.

Little Golden Lotus, crouching dejectedly nearby, suddenly perked up as if struck by an idea. Its shadowy form darted to Yun Yao’s side.
“Mother, give bad Father… drunk!”

Yun Yao froze, but Little Golden Lotus’s anxious expression stopped her from correcting its address. Clearly, it had thought of a solution, explaining its excited urgency.

“Drunk?” Yun Yao racked her brain, grasping a flicker of insight. “You mean the night I slipped Immortal’s Drunk into his cup?”

Little Golden Lotus, after struggling to process her words, nodded firmly. “Bad Father, drunk, black stops, soul weakens, Father wakes!”

Yun Yao’s heart raced—if she weren’t just a soul here, her breathing would’ve quickened. She fought to stay composed. “You’re saying if I get the evil aspect drunk again, the darkness will stop suppressing and eroding the light, and Father’s soul might wake up then?”

“Yes! Yes!” Little Golden Lotus’s shadow practically bounced with excitement.

Joy flashed across Yun Yao’s face, but hesitation followed. “Even if I find a way to get him drunk, I can’t keep him intoxicated forever. Father waking up isn’t enough—he needs to fight back.”

Little Golden Lotus’s face crumpled in distress.

As Yun Yao pondered, she noticed her form fading slightly compared to before.
She knew this was a sign her spiritual sense was about to dissipate.

This was Mu Hanyuan’s consciousness—she couldn’t linger long.

No time for hesitation, then.

Her gaze hardened with resolve. She leaned down to meet Little Golden Lotus’s eyes. “Little Golden Lotus, when Father wakes, tell him the message Mother left.”

“What message?” Little Golden Lotus blinked up at her.

“Don’t try to suppress the Endfire Seed anymore. If that’s the only way for him to live, let him take it back from the evil aspect.” Yun Yao’s voice softened. “He said, ‘Scales and claws don’t change the heart.’ I believe him. No matter the outcome, this time, I’ll stand with him.”

“…”

As Little Golden Lotus furrowed its brow, memorizing her words, Yun Yao turned to the slumbering Mu Hanyuan in the snow.
She reached to touch his cheek, but her fingertips were nearly transparent.
She gave a bitter smile.

Three breaths remained for her spiritual sense in this consciousness.

The red-robed woman knelt in the snow, slowly leaning down.
Her dark hair spilled over her shoulders.
She kissed his closed eyes softly, whispering, “I’ll wait for you to come back, Hanyuan.”

“…”

As her voice faded, her shadowy form dissolved in the interplay of black and white light.

At the snow’s edge, where light and dark met, the “snow” being slowly devoured trembled faintly.
As if an illusion, the white light subtly pushed back against the darkness, expanding by a barely noticeable ring.

—

Yun Yao awoke in the dim cave.
Before her, layers of red gauze curtains veiled a familiar figure in the lamplight.

Instinctively, she propped herself up.

*Clang.*
The black iron chains echoed crisply against the cave walls.

Startled, before she could fully react, a breeze swept the gauze curtains aside. In the flickering candlelight, a figure in a dark robe with snow-white hair appeared at the edge of her stone bed.

“…”

Beside his cascading white hair, Mu Hanyuan’s lips curved in a dark smile. “Aren’t you afraid that while you were asleep, I already—”

Yun Yao’s mouth opened, but her head throbbed, and her brow ached fiercely.

One Mu Hanyuan was exhausting enough.
Now there were two… What sins had she committed in her past life?

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Mu Hanyuan, who had just been sneering, now holding a teacup from a nearby table.
He sat on the bed’s edge, offering it to her.

His dark eyes were as cold and sharp as ever, but that didn’t stop him from patiently extending the cup closer when she didn’t respond.

“…”

Yun Yao didn’t fight herself, taking the cup and drinking the sweet tea in one gulp.
The burning in her throat eased slightly.

Before she could return the cup, he scoffed lightly. “Master’s not afraid I poisoned the tea?”

“What poison?” Yun Yao didn’t buy it, shaking the clanging chains on her wrist and eyeing him coldly. “I’m already trapped here. Does the Lord need to go to such lengths?”

“Who knows.”
Mu Hanyuan leaned back lazily, setting the cup aside before returning.
With a flick of his sleeve, he effortlessly pinned the weakened Yun Yao—her immortal seal damaged, her spiritual core shaken, her energy locked—back onto the bed.

“Maybe,” he whispered maliciously in her ear, “an aphrodisiac?”

Yun Yao: “…”
“?”

She wavered between *No way, even as his evil aspect, Mu Hanyuan wouldn’t stoop so low* and *He’s a ruthless demon who’d destroy the world without blinking—what wouldn’t he do?*

Mu Hanyuan’s smile faded, his expression tired as he sat up.
His sleeve brushed her, his long, cool fingers pressing against her temples.

“What are you—mm…”

His hands massaged her temples with deliberate force.
As cool energy flowed in, her burning, restless consciousness felt soothed by an invisible, calming force. The tormenting pain gradually faded with his touch.

As her physical discomfort eased, her thoughts cleared, but her emotions grew more complex.
She knew what she had to do, what she would do. But knowing and acting didn’t mean she felt no pity or reluctance.

He had once been that moonlit Mu Hanyuan, who had called her Master with all his heart.

But he had gone too far, made too many mistakes…

“…”

Yun Yao closed her eyes, hiding the tears in her lashes.

*Clang.*

Lit by the candlelight against the cave walls, shadows swayed, robes intertwining.

The black iron chains binding her wrists tautened, striking the rock wall beside the stone bed with a crisp sound.

“Forced” against the bed’s railing, Mu Hanyuan slowly raised his eyes, his gaze tracing the slender hand gripping his collar before settling on the red-robed woman pinning him down.
A deep, fragmented light flickered in his eyes.
“Master?”

Yun Yao loosened her grip but didn’t pull away. Instead, she lifted her hand, brushing his chin lightly.

“I suddenly want some of Eldest Senior Brother’s Immortal’s Drunk.”

Her red gauze sleeve lifted slightly, her jade-like fingers grazing his brow, eyes, nose, and lips.
He caught a heady fragrance from her sleeve, but it paled against the drowning sea in her eyes—

“Lord, will you join me for a drink?”