Yun Wushuang looked at her son, his face pale and peaceful in his enchanted sleep, and a single tear traced a path down her cheek. She reached out a hand, her fingers trembling slightly as she gently brushed a strand of hair from his forehead.
"You did so well, my child," she whispered, her voice a soft melody that resonated with the birth of new stars. "I am so... so proud of you."
A bittersweet smile touched her lips. "You have carried this burden for far too long. Let Mother take care of things from now on."
She waved her hand, and the space in front of her twisted. A figure coalesced from the lingering strands of temporal energy—it was Nian Shi. But this was not the powerful, arrogant God of Time. This was a weaker, spectral version, his form translucent and flickering.
This was the fragment of Nian Shi that Yun Wushuang had managed to trap and hide within the profound mysteries of life itself, a failsafe against total victory for the traitor.
