Chapter 24: Promises Across Time
The sun had begun to set when Ying Yue returned to the camp. Orange light filtered through the trees, casting a warm glow across Bai Jiu's figure as he stood watch near the edge of the forest, his sword sheathed but his senses alert.
He turned the instant he felt her presence.
"You're back," he said, voice low.
"I am," she answered, stepping into the clearing. Her aura had changed—calmer, stronger. There was a new grace in her movements, a weight to her gaze that hadn't been there before.
Bai Jiu's brow furrowed. "You… You've remembered everything, haven't you?"
She nodded. "Fu Sheng. The temple. The mirror. It's all returned to me."
His jaw clenched slightly. "And do you still see me the same way now that you remember who I truly am?"
Ying Yue walked toward him, closing the space between them until they stood almost touching. "Yes," she said simply.
He blinked, surprised. "Even knowing I lied to you? That I hid what I was—what you were—from you?"
"You lied to protect me," she said. "Not to control me. Not to hurt me. And even if you hadn't, even if I'd known from the beginning… I would have still fallen in love with you."
His breath caught. "Even now, knowing all the pain we endured? Knowing I failed to save you once?"
She reached out, gently taking his hand in hers.
"We were torn apart by fate once. But this time, I choose to stay. And I trust you to fight beside me—not to save me, but to stand with me."
For a long moment, he just looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time again—not just the girl he had searched for, but the goddess, the warrior, the woman he had loved in every lifetime.
"You've changed," he murmured.
"So have you," she smiled. "But not where it matters."
They stood in silence as twilight deepened. Fireflies began to drift through the clearing like falling stars, and a breeze whispered through the leaves.
Bai Jiu's thumb brushed her knuckles. "What happens now?"
"We train," she said. "We prepare. The seal won't hold forever. And there are still pieces of me scattered across this world—memories, temples, relics of my former life. I need them to become whole again."
"I'll go with you," he said immediately. "Wherever you go."
She leaned her forehead against his chest. "I never doubted that."
Then, softer: "But there's something else. The priestess said the demon didn't act alone last time. There was a traitor… one of the immortals."
His body stiffened. "Then we may be fighting more than one enemy."
"Yes," she said. "And next time, I won't die again."
He gently tilted her chin up. "I won't let you."
Their lips met, not with the desperation of reunion, but with the promise of forever—quiet, certain, and unbreakable.
Far above, the moon rose over the mountains, silver and full, casting its light over two hearts bound by centuries, reborn into the same story with a different ending.