[I apologize for leaving without a proper farewell — something came up, and I had to go.
There is a Breaking Calamity Pill in your storage ring. Take it, and the seal on your Dou Qi will dissolve instantly.
Also, I noticed your cultivation has been stagnating for the past two years or so — managing a sect takes its toll. That won't do. I've also left a Royal Extreme Pill inside; with a little luck, it should push your cultivation up by two stars directly.
As for the matter between the Xiao family and Nalan Yanran — I already know the full story. Who is in the right needs no deliberation. I don't hold anything against your disciple.
In fact, I hope Nalan Yanran wins.
I've never had much patience for arranged marriages. And Xiao Yan, that arrogant little brat — I've had my opinions about him since we were children.
That said, don't underestimate him.
The man in black you saw yesterday was Xiao Yan — though his body is currently being guided by a soul entity, a former Dou Zun who now serves as his teacher. Please urge Nalan Yanran not to grow complacent. Her cultivation matters, and so does her close-combat training especially.]
The two Purple Heart Breakthrough Pills, one Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill, one low-grade Earth-rank Battle Skill, one low-grade Xuan-rank Flight Technique, and the other cultivation aids in the storage ring — consider them my small act of revenge against the Xiao family, and my quiet support for the younger generation.
After all, I'm very much looking forward to hearing Nalan Yanran call me Grandmaster the next time we meet.
Yun'er — next time we see each other, I'll bring you a surprise.
— Xiao Se, the man who claimed your first night.
(Note: "first night" does not mean what you're thinking. I wouldn't do anything without your permission. You simply leaned into my arms in your sleep. I held you through the night — and I couldn't quite resist kissing your forehead. That's all.)
Yun Yun lowered the letter slowly.
Her free hand drifted to her cheek, where the warmth had already taken up permanent residence. She stood there for a long moment, caught somewhere between exasperation and a flustered, helpless kind of embarrassment that she had absolutely no precedent for managing.
This boy. At his age, where on earth did he learn to write like this?
She thought back to the night before — how she'd drifted off without quite meaning to, how she'd been aware, somewhere at the soft edges of sleep, that she was not alone. How she hadn't minded. How she had felt, for the first time in longer than she could easily recall, something that simply felt like safety.
After a long silence, she let out a slow breath.
"All these years cultivating on my own," she murmured softly, almost to herself, "and I never imagined it would be this little one who…" She trailed off. Another quiet sigh.
But the expression that settled on her face when the words ran out was not unhappy.
Her lips curved — faintly, privately, the way a smile surfaces when no one is watching and there's no reason to hold it back.
Perhaps… this isn't such a bad thing.
She folded the letter carefully and tucked it away alongside the black-and-gold robe. Then she reached into the storage ring on her left hand, found the Breaking Calamity Pill, and swallowed it without hesitation.
The effect was immediate. The seal that had been smothering her Dou Qi unraveled in an instant, and power rushed back through her meridians like a river reclaiming its banks. She exhaled as the familiar surge settled into place — whole and unimpeded, fully her own again.
Pale blue battle qi wings unfurled from her back, spreading wide. With a single clean stroke, she was airborne, rising swiftly into the open sky above the valley. She circled once — unhurried, almost reluctant — her gaze sweeping down over the wooden cabin, the broad black boulder below it, the quiet grass and the still morning light.
Then her wings beat again, and she shot forward, piercing through the low clouds and dissolving into the distant horizon in a streak of brilliant blue.
High above the valley, on a rocky peak that jutted above the tree line, two figures stood in silence.
One was solid, dressed in dark robes. The other was semi-transparent — luminous and graceful, her form carrying the faint shimmer of something between the living world and somewhere else entirely.
"Brother," Long Kui said quietly, watching the last trace of blue light fade from the sky. There was something in her beautiful eyes — a flicker she didn't entirely succeed in masking before it passed. "Was that alright?"
"It was." Xiao Se turned to her, and his expression was easy and warm. He reached up and rested his palm gently on the top of her head, just once. "She's safe, and she's on her way. That's all that matters."
The jealousy in Long Kui's eyes dissolved like morning frost. She tilted her head and smiled up at him, the corners of her mouth curving into something brighter. "Then where are we going next, Brother? Are we going to the Tagore Desert to find Sister Medusa?"
"Not yet." Xiao Se shook his head, a quiet smile settling on his face. "We're staying in the valley for a while longer. I need to prepare some proper gifts before we go — I won't show up and let Sasha be without anything. And besides..." His gaze softened. "I have a promise to keep. To you. Here."
Long Kui went still.
Her heart gave a small, sudden lurch. "What promise?"
"To marry you." He said it simply, with no ceremony at all — and then, before she could respond, he had already stepped forward and swept her up into his arms, carrying her the way one carries something precious and irreplaceable. He leaped from the peak without a moment's hesitation, and the wind rushed up around them as they plunged down together into the valley below.
That same day, Xiao Se made his way to Qingshan Town.
He found the people he needed, arranged everything with the quiet efficiency of someone who had decided a thing and intended to see it done properly, and used his Sharingan to ensure their cooperation. The wooden cabin was transformed — decorated with all the warmth and color of a proper bridal chamber. New wedding garments were commissioned for both of them, sewn and delivered within the day.
By the third morning, everything was ready.
In that small, secluded valley — with no guests, no banquet, no elaborate ceremony — Xiao Se and Long Kui were wed. They drank the nuptial wine together, standing across from each other in the soft morning light, and then stepped together through the door of the bridal chamber.
Inside, Long Kui nestled against his chest, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Brother… from today, Long Kui is your bride." She paused, letting the words settle. "Your sorrow is my sorrow. Your joy is my joy."
"You are in me," Xiao Se murmured, holding her close, "and I am in you."
But the moment that followed brought with it a quiet, painful reminder of reality.
Perhaps it was the instability of her soul state. Perhaps it was the sheer level of Xiao Se's power creating an imbalance she couldn't bridge. Whatever the cause, it failed — gently, without drama, but unmistakably. They could not cross that threshold.
Long Kui pulled back slightly, her expression crumpling. Her voice, when it came, was thick with self-reproach.
"Brother… Long Kui is useless, isn't she? Because I don't have a real body, I can't be like Sister Medusa or Xian'er. I can't—"
"Stop." Xiao Se's voice was quiet and firm. He drew her back in, wrapping both arms around her, holding her as though he could shield her from even the things she said about herself. "It's not your fault. Not even close. The one who's fallen short is me — I'm not strong enough yet. But I will be. I'll get stronger, and then I'll find the finest materials there are, and I'll forge you a body. A real one. I promise you that."
A soft red light rose from within Long Kui's form before he had finished speaking.
It drifted downward, settled on the floor — and slowly, it resolved into a figure. Nearly fully transparent, built from red light that held itself in the graceful shape of a young woman. Red Kui tilted her head and smiled, warm and a little mischievous.
"Little Blue." Her voice was fond. "Do you really want to be with Brother tonight?"
Blue Kui — Long Kui — looked at her counterpart, cheeks flushed faintly. She nodded. "Today is our wedding day. Long Kui doesn't want Brother to be sad."
"Then listen." Red Kui's smile shifted into something quieter, more thoughtful. "All these years cultivating the Returning Origin Soul Technique that Brother gave us — our souls have grown far stronger than they were. The ghost energy we carried over from that world has served its purpose. It's not needed anymore." She paused. "We can use it. Channel all of it, together, to condense a temporary physical form."
Blue Kui stared at her. "…Really?"
"Really." Red Kui held up a finger in gentle warning. "But only for three days. After that, it will fade and you'll return to your soul state. So—" her expression softened into something genuinely tender— "make every moment count. Be with Brother. In person. The way you deserve."
She made a small, exaggerated face at Xiao Se — equal parts teasing and affectionate — and then dissolved back into a ribbon of red light that streamed into Long Kui's body and vanished.
The moment they merged, the room changed.
Red and blue light erupted from Long Kui's form simultaneously, blazing outward in twin spirals that wound around each other and grew brighter and brighter until they swallowed her completely. Within that radiance, the translucent outline of her figure began to shift — the transparency retreating, the light thickening, solidifying, until the last of it faded—
And Long Kui stood there.
Solid. Present. Real.
She raised her hands slowly and pressed her palms to her own cheeks. She felt warmth. She pressed a hand to her chest and felt the beat of a heart she had not felt in nearly a thousand years.
"Brother—" Her voice broke on the word. Her eyes filled. "Brother, Long Kui really has a body again—!"
She crossed the distance between them in the next breath and threw herself into his arms, laughing and crying at once, her face buried against his chest.
Xiao Se held her — held her properly, with both arms, feeling her warmth and the reality of her — and smiled. He cupped her tear-streaked face in both hands, tilted it gently upward, and kissed her.
Then the two of them fell together onto the bed, and the bridal chamber filled with all the warmth of a long-awaited spring.
(End of Chapter)
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