🌒----
The village woke before the sun.
Roosters cried, doors creaked open, and the smell of boiling rice drifted through the narrow streets. Lian Yue lay still for a while, listening to the unfamiliar sounds. In the Celestial Realm, mornings were announced by bells and light. Here, they were announced by life.
She sat up slowly.
Across the small room, Lian Feng was still asleep, curled slightly on the narrow bed. His breathing was steady, but his face was drawn, as if even rest could not fully chase away the pain inside him.
Li Yun stood by the window, already awake.
"You didn't sleep," she said.
He glanced at her. "A little."
She knew that meant almost not at all.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
He looked outside. "I feel… something. It might be nothing. But I don't like it."
Her heart tightened. "The Council?"
"Or their hounds," he said. "Or something else entirely."
She stood and joined him at the window. Outside, villagers were setting up stalls, children were running around, and everything looked painfully normal.
Too normal.
---
They went downstairs to eat.
The inn's common room was crowded and noisy. Lian Yue had never eaten in a place like this before—people talking loudly, laughing, arguing, complaining about the weather.
It felt strange. But also… real.
Lian Feng ate slowly, clearly tired, but his color was a little better than yesterday.
"This porridge is terrible," he muttered.
Lian Yue almost laughed. "You're alive and you're complaining about porridge?"
He gave her a weak smile. "Some things never change."
Li Yun, however, was not eating much. His eyes kept moving, scanning the room.
Then he froze.
Lian Yue noticed instantly. "What is it?"
He didn't answer immediately. His gaze was fixed on a man who had just walked in.
The man looked ordinary—brown clothes, dust on his boots, a sword at his waist. A traveler. Or so he seemed.
But the air around him felt… wrong.
Cold.
Tense.
The man sat at a table near the door and ordered food. His voice was calm. Too calm.
Li Yun's hand slowly tightened around his cup.
"Finish quickly," he said quietly.
Lian Yue felt a chill. "You recognize him?"
"No," Li Yun said. "But he's not human."
---
They left the inn as calmly as they could.
Outside, Li Yun didn't stop walking until they reached a narrow alley behind a row of houses.
"He's a scout," Li Yun said. "Not from the Council directly. But from one of their hunting groups."
Lian Feng's face went pale. "Already?"
"They're faster than I hoped," Li Yun admitted.
Lian Yue clenched her fists. "Did he see us?"
"I don't know," Li Yun said. "But we should assume yes."
"So what do we do?" Lian Feng asked.
Li Yun looked at the road leading out of the village. "We leave. Now."
---
They didn't make it far.
They had just reached the edge of the village when the air behind them suddenly shifted.
A pressure like a cold hand closed around the world.
"Too late," Li Yun said under his breath.
The man from the inn stood in the middle of the road, blocking their path.
He was smiling.
"You move fast," he said pleasantly. "But not fast enough."
Villagers nearby stopped, sensing something wrong, but not understanding what.
Li Yun stepped forward, placing himself slightly in front of Lian Yue and Lian Feng.
"Go back to your masters," Li Yun said. "Tell them you found nothing."
The man laughed softly. "You're not in a position to make requests, Sun God."
Lian Yue's heart skipped.
"So he does know," she whispered.
The man's eyes shifted to her.
And for a brief moment, his smile faded.
"…So this is the vessel."
Lian Yue felt something stir deep inside her chest.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Something colder.
Li Yun's voice dropped. "Do not look at her."
The man shrugged. "Orders are orders."
He raised his hand.
The air around him distorted.
In an instant, the village road seemed to stretch and twist, like a reflection in broken glass.
A barrier.
"We can't let this turn into a battlefield," Li Yun said sharply. "There are mortals here."
"Then surrender," the man replied calmly. "I only need the girl."
"No," Lian Yue said, her voice trembling but firm.
The man looked at her again. "You don't get a choice."
---
Li Yun moved.
Light exploded from his hand, but it was restrained, controlled—nothing like the full power of the Sun God. Still, it was enough to shatter the distorted air and send the man sliding backward.
The villagers screamed and ran.
The man straightened slowly, brushing dust from his clothes, his eyes now cold.
"So you will resist," he said. "As expected."
He drew his sword.
It was not a mortal blade.
It hummed with a pale, dangerous light.
Lian Feng grabbed Lian Yue's arm. "Sister, run!"
She shook her head. "I'm not leaving you."
Li Yun didn't look back. "Stay behind me. Both of you."
The man took a step forward.
Then another.
"This doesn't have to be ugly," he said. "But it will be."
---
They clashed.
The road cracked under their feet. Light and cold collided, shaking the air. Li Yun fought carefully, always keeping himself between the enemy and Lian Yue.
But he was restrained.
Too restrained.
Because this was the Mortal Realm.
And he couldn't afford to destroy it.
The man realized this quickly.
"You're holding back," he said with a thin smile. "That makes this easy."
He suddenly changed direction, moving not toward Li Yun—
But toward Lian Yue.
Everything happened too fast.
Lian Yue felt a sharp pull, like the world itself grabbing her.
She stumbled forward.
Li Yun turned.
"Yue!"
The man's hand almost touched her.
And in that instant—
Something inside her broke.
Not shattered.
Not escaped.
But…
Stirred.
Her eyes widened.
A wave of cold, ancient pressure burst outward.
The man was thrown back violently, crashing into a stone wall.
The world went silent.
Lian Yue stood frozen, her hands trembling.
"What… did I just do?" she whispered.
Li Yun stared at her, shock and fear mixing in his eyes.
"…That," he said slowly, "was not you."
High above, beyond the clouds, something unseen shifted its gaze.
And smiled.