Yueyao froze; the words hit her harder than any blade. "Burn it?" she whispered beneath her breath, her voice trembling. "You'll destroy his body?"
She tried to rise, but one of the guards slammed her back down. Her vision darkened around the edges. She could only watch helplessly as they dragged the guardian toward the temple gates.
"Please…" Her voice was faint now. "Don't… please don't do this…"
But no one listened.
Huo Tingxuan stood a few paces away, his hands clenched into fists. His eyes stayed on her, the woman who had once smiled beside him under the same moon; now, she was covered in blood, trembling, broken, yet still defiant.
"Enough," he finally spoke up his voice cold, his tone low and firm. "Take her to the holding cell. Take care of her injuries."
" Yes, Alpha!"
As the guards began to drag her away, Yueyao turned her head toward him. Her eyes were glassy with tears, but her voice was steady. "Don't pretend to care, Tingxuan. You let them kill him."
He flinched, just barely, but enough for her to see it.
When the guards threw her into the cell, the iron bars glowed with sealing runes. Her wounds burned, and her shoulder dislocated from the struggle. She pressed her head against the cold wall, every breath shallow and sharp.
Moments later, the door opened.
Huo Tingxuan entered alone. He didn't speak at first, he simply looked at her, checking her up and down, the blood that was stained on her robe, the bruises on her face, the faint light of her sigil dimming on her wrist, and what had happened wasn't just a dream.
He sighed quietly and stepped closer.
"You shouldn't have interfered, you know, that was its end..." he said softly, trying to coax her.
Yueyao laughed bitterly while watching him, they could have gotten rid of him because of what he knew, "And what would you have done? Watched them kill him again?"
" I was trying to protect you."
" By letting them destroy everything I love?" she asked, her voice breaking, " how can you do this to me?"
He reached for her, trying to see the wound on her shoulder, but she slapped his hand away. "Don't you dare touch me."
His eyes darkened, not with anger, but jealousy and confusion, "Even now, you protect him more than me? He is already dead... You need to move on..."
She looked up, her tears falling silently, no one was gonna understand her grief, "Because he never betrayed me."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Outside, the bells tolled, the signal of judgment. The council had made its decision. Li Yueyao would face execution at dawn.
Huo Tingxuan didn't move as the guards came to take her away again. He just watched her, the woman he loved, the one the laws demanded he kill because of the rules she had broken.
They dragged her to the ritual platform under the blood-red sky. The air was cold, the world eerily quiet.
Yueyao knelt, chains binding her wrists. Her body was weak, but her eyes were clear. She wasn't afraid anymore.
"Li Yueyao," the elder openly declared, "You are guilty of treason against the Alpha and the sacred order. Do you have any last words before your soul is judged?"
She lifted her head slowly facing them, "I do."
And then she smiled faintly, broken but calm, "You've already taken everything from me, but the moon still listens... I know...."
Before they could stop her, Yueyao bit her thumb and began tracing runes on the ground with her blood. The markings glowed silver, forming a circle beneath her knees. The priests shouted, realizing too late what she was doing.
"She's summoning the forbidden magic!"
Her voice rose, weak but steady, carrying across the silent courtyard, "By the bond of blood and moon… by the vow between guardian and keeper… I offer my soul and body, that he may rise again."
The air trembled and wind roared through the temple grounds, swirling around her. Her hair lifted in the crimson light, her body shaking as power surged through her veins.
"Yueyao!" Huo Tingxuan shouted, stepping forward. "Stop! You'll destroy yourself!"
She turned toward him one last time. Tears fell freely down her face, but her smile was gentle.
"I already have," she whispered heartbroken.
The light consumed her and her body turned weightless, her soul unraveling into silver dust that rose toward the moon.
Huo Tingxuan's scream echoed through the night as the ritual circle shattered, leaving only ashes where she had knelt.
And far away, deep within the forest where the moon-beast's ashes had been scattered, a single golden light flickered to life.