Chapter 7: Beneath the First Snow ✦
Snow fell gently over the rooftops, covering the village in a quiet shroud of white. Fu Sheng sat outside the hut, a warm shawl around her shoulders, watching the flakes melt on her fingertips.
Bai Jiu approached, holding a small cup of herbal tea.
— "It's cold," he said softly. "You should stay inside."
— "I like the cold," she replied with a faint smile. "It feels honest. Like it doesn't try to hide what it is."
He watched her silently for a moment, his gaze intense, unreadable.
— "You've changed since that night with the seer."
Fu Sheng looked down.
— "I keep seeing things... pieces of a life that doesn't belong to me. A palace. A war. Fire. Your face."
Bai Jiu tensed. But he said nothing.
— "What does it mean?" she whispered.
He turned away, voice low.
— "It means you're starting to remember who you truly are."
—
That night, she dreamed again. She stood in a golden temple, wearing white robes with flowing sleeves. Before her knelt Bai Jiu—no longer wounded and quiet, but fierce, regal, divine.
He spoke only one word:
"Ying Yue."
She woke up breathless. And for the first time, she remembered her own name.