Chapter 9: The Star That Fell Twice
Yun'er settled in fast.
Too fast, maybe.
By the third day, she was rearrangin spirit herbs in the drying shed, tellin Alex that his qi alignment was "tragic at best."By the fourth, she'd taught three chickens how to levitate.
And by the fifth...
She'd accidentally blown up the outhouse.
Alex stood in the smolderin grass, holdin what remained of a wooden door. "System," he said slowly, "how much would it cost to install indoor plumbing?"
"Cost: zero. Labor: high. Mental damage: permanent if repeated."
"Right."
Turns out, Yun'er's cultivation was still stable. She hadn't lost much power—just all her memory from the last century or so.
"Names, sect alliances, that weird moon tournament I think I won once... all gone," she said cheerfully while eatin pickled turnips.
Jun leaned across the table. "Do you remember your techniques at least?"
"Oh yeah," she said, mouth full. "Especially the fun ones."
"Define fun."
She grinned. "The explodey kind."
Alex lowered his bowl. "...I will now bury all flammable crops."
But that night, something strange happened.
Alex woke up before dawn, the sky just barely pale.
He stepped outside and saw Yun'er, standin barefoot in the center of the memory field.
She wasn't doin anything—just starin straight up.
The wind didn't move her hair.
Even the bugs stayed quiet.
He walked over, slowly. "Yun'er?"
She didn't blink.
Then—real soft—she whispered: "It's callin again."
Alex stiffened. "What is?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she lifted her arm and pointed east—toward the old woods.
"The other star... the one that fell before me…"
Later, back at the porch, Alex brewed strong tea and poured her a mug.
Yun'er looked paler than usual.
"I remember somethin now," she said. "My sect… We weren't the only ones who tried to escape the war. There was another group."
"Another sky coffin?" Jun asked.
"No. Not a coffin." Her eyes were faraway. "A prison."
Meilin narrowed her eyes. "They locked somethin up and launched it into the sky?"
Yun'er nodded slowly. "The thing that shouldn't've ever been born. They called it the Starborn Maw."
Jun dropped his rice bun. "That name suuuucks."
Alex rubbed his face. "System?"
"Archived record found: 'Starborn Maw – celestial anomaly, devoured three sects in the Year of Silent Fire. Last known location: sky sector east, re-entry path unstable. Classified: Class Black Threat.'"
"Warning: resonance with local corruption signature detected. Entity likely fell nearby."
Alex groaned. "...So we're basically on top of Cultivation Chernobyl."
Yun'er sipped her tea. "Worse. We might be downwind."
That day, the chickens refused to leave the coop.
The goats formed a defensive circle around the turnip patch.
And the memory tree… leaned eastward.
Not bent by wind.
But by pressure.
Alex stood at the hilltop, watchin the forest.
He could feel it too—like the air was thicker, heavier, like breathin soup.
"Meilin," he said, "you still got that demon-sealing scroll?"
She nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"Make a few more."
That night, Alex couldn't sleep.
He sat outside, lookin at the stars.
Yun'er came and sat beside him.
"They say stars are spirits too," she said softly. "Burnin bright just so they don't get forgotten."
Alex nodded. "You feel like one?"
She shrugged. "Used to."
He glanced at her. "You're still shinin. Just... maybe sideways."
She laughed. "You give weird compliments, Farmer."
"You blew up my outhouse."
"...Fair."
Below them, in the deep stone under Still Wind Hill...
Something that wasn't quite asleep anymore opened its eyes.
And in the east, the forest pulsed.
The other star was stirrin.
And this time, it was hungry.