Chapter 36: Ashes of Heaven
The world was quiet.
After the battle, the heavens no longer loomed above with their cruel brilliance. The sky felt open—raw, vulnerable, as if it, too, was healing. The divine pressure that had once suffocated the mortal realm had vanished with the Gate's collapse.
Ying Yue stood on the cliffs overlooking the valley, the same valley where the First God had vanished in a blaze of sacrifice. The wind tangled in her hair, bringing the scent of rain and scorched stone. Behind her, Bai Jiu approached in silence, his steps light, as if afraid to break the stillness.
"He's really gone," she murmured.
"Yes," Bai Jiu answered, stopping beside her. "But not forgotten."
She closed her eyes. "There's still a part of him inside me. A light… not mine. Not Fu Sheng's. Something older."
"He passed it to you," Bai Jiu said. "His will. Maybe even his hope."
Ying Yue turned, looking into his eyes. "And what of us?"
Bai Jiu blinked, startled by the question. "What do you mean?"
"Now that the gods are gone… the balance is broken. The mortals will feel it. The world will shift."
"And we'll guide it," he said, reaching for her hand. "Together."
For a moment, she hesitated. But then her fingers closed around his. "Together."
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