✨ ----
The words fell like silent thunder.
Lian Yue stood frozen, her mind refusing to accept what she had just heard.
A vessel.
An ancient celestial.
Feared even by the Council.
The forest felt too small, too fragile to contain those meanings. The air pressed against her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"That's…" Her lips parted, but no sound came out at first. When she finally spoke, her voice was thin. "That's not possible."
Kezhong didn't look away.
"It is."
Li Yun turned sharply to him, sunlight flickering in unstable waves around his body.
"You expect us to believe something like that without proof?"
Kezhong's gaze was steady, but pain lived behind it.
"I don't need you to believe. I need you to understand why the Council is afraid."
Lian Yue shook her head slowly.
"I've lived for thousands of years. I rule the night. I control the tides of the sky. If there was something else inside me, I would have known."
"Not if it was sealed before you were born," Kezhong replied.
Those words struck deeper than any blade.
"Before… I was born?" she whispered.
Lian Feng stirred weakly beside her, his breathing uneven.
"Yue…" he murmured. "It's… true."
She turned to him, eyes wide.
"You knew?"
His fingers tightened weakly in the dirt.
"I found out… before I fell into the rift. That's why they wanted me gone."
Her heart clenched painfully.
"They?"
He swallowed, struggling to speak.
"Not all of them. But some in the Council… they feared what you would become if you awakened completely."
Li Yun's fists slowly tightened.
"So instead of protecting her, they decided to use her."
Kezhong closed his eyes briefly.
"Or to destroy her. There were debates. Endless ones."
Lian Yue felt cold spread through her chest.
"Destroy me…?" she repeated quietly.
The word felt unreal.
She had watched stars die.
She had watched worlds fade.
But she had never imagined herself as something that needed to be erased.
Li Yun stepped closer to her, his presence warm and solid.
"They won't touch you," he said firmly. "I don't care what you're supposed to be. You're you."
Her fingers trembled slightly.
"Li Yun…"
Kezhong looked at him with something like sorrow.
"You think this is about what she is now. It isn't."
"Then explain," Li Yun said coldly.
Kezhong took a slow breath.
"Long before the current heavens were formed, there existed a being called Taiyin Devourer."
The name alone made the air feel heavier.
"It was not evil," Kezhong continued. "Not in the way you understand. It was… balance itself. It consumed dying stars and collapsing realms so new ones could be born. But over time, it grew too powerful. It no longer waited for things to end."
Lian Yue's chest tightened.
"It began deciding what should end," Kezhong said quietly.
Li Yun's eyes narrowed.
"And you're saying…?"
Kezhong's gaze returned to Lian Yue.
"When the ancient gods finally destroyed it, they couldn't truly erase its essence. So they sealed it… inside a newborn soul."
Silence.
Pure, crushing silence.
Lian Yue felt like the ground had disappeared beneath her feet.
"…Inside me?" she whispered.
Kezhong nodded.
"You were created as both a goddess and a prison."
Her vision blurred.
Memories rushed through her mind—
The strange dreams.
The moments when her power felt too deep, too vast.
The times the night seemed to listen to her in a way it shouldn't.
Li Yun's voice was low and dangerous.
"And the Council just… kept this from her?"
"They sealed your memories," Kezhong said. "They limited your growth. They made sure you would never awaken it."
Lian Yue laughed softly.
It came out broken.
"So my entire life…" she said slowly, "…was a lie?"
"No," Kezhong said quickly. "Your feelings, your choices, your heart—those are yours. Always."
She looked at him, eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Then why does it feel like I was born as a weapon?"
Li Yun turned to Kezhong, fury blazing.
"You said if she knew, she would break. Now look at her."
Kezhong's jaw tightened.
"I didn't want this to happen like this."
Lian Feng coughed weakly.
"They were afraid you'd awaken if you were pushed too far. That's why they… monitor you. That's why I was exiled when I found out."
Lian Yue knelt beside him, gripping his hand.
"You should have told me."
He smiled faintly.
"I wanted you to live without fear."
Her tears finally fell.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I couldn't protect you."
Li Yun watched the siblings, something aching deep in his chest.
He suddenly realized something terrifying.
If this power inside her ever awakened fully…
The Council wouldn't hesitate.
They wouldn't imprison her.
They would erase her.
He stepped closer to her, his hand hovering near her shoulder before gently resting there.
"You're not a monster," he said softly. "You're not a prison. You're Lian Yue."
She looked up at him, eyes full of pain and doubt.
"What if I lose control?"
"Then I'll be there," he answered without hesitation. "I'll stop you. Or I'll stand with you. Or I'll fall with you. But you won't face it alone."
Her breath caught.
Kezhong watched them quietly.
"You see?" he said softly. "This is exactly why this is dangerous."
Li Yun met his gaze.
"No. This is exactly why you're wrong."
Kezhong turned to Lian Yue.
"Come with me. Voluntarily. The Council can reinforce the seals. They can keep you safe."
"Safe?" she repeated bitterly. "Or locked away?"
"…Both," he admitted.
She closed her eyes.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then she opened them again—clearer, steadier.
"I won't run. But I won't be caged either."
Kezhong's expression tightened.
"You're choosing rebellion."
"I'm choosing myself."
Li Yun felt something fierce and proud rise in his chest.
Lian Feng exhaled weakly, smiling.
"That's… my sister."
Kezhong looked at her for a long time.
Then he said quietly, "If the Council learns your seal is weakening… they will send more than me."
Li Yun's aura flared.
"Let them come."
Lian Yue stood slowly, wiping her tears.
Her voice was calm.
"But first… we save my brother."
Kezhong hesitated.
Then, after a long silence, he said,
"I can stabilize him. Temporarily."
She looked at him, surprised.
"But after that," he continued, "I can't pretend I didn't find you."
Li Yun nodded.
"We're not asking you to."
The wind moved through the broken forest.
The heavens felt closer.
And for the first time, Lian Yue understood something terrifying and beautiful at the same time—
Her life was no longer just her own.
And her fate… had finally begun to move.