No, the moon was getting closer and closer!

Clear, silver moonlight flowed like water, suppressing the myriad stars until they dimmed and faded.

A gentle, cool power permeated the air. Every cell in her body felt as if it were soaking in a clear lake. A tranquil force enveloped the area, easing Li Xiye’s sorrow. She looked up and saw a figure beneath the full moon.

The figure wore a sacred, silver, moonlit gown, with a bright, full moon hanging behind her. Her features were hazy and indistinct, possessing a serene beauty. Her tranquil and elegant aura put one at ease, compelling them to relax.

"You are..."

Li Xiye’s thoughts stalled. An incredible possibility occurred to her, but she subconsciously dismissed it as too fantastical. Yet, the dreamlike scene before her seemed to point to only one conclusion...

"The Silent Moon."

The graceful and gentle woman said softly, "You can also call me the Moon God."

Li Xiye was completely stunned.

—The living God of this age, the Silent Moon!

A Divine Descent had happened right before her eyes!

"I will erase the turmoil caused by the temporal overlap and make the world forget this incident," the Moon God said.

"W-why?"

"If the entire world knew what happened in Hong City, the course of the future would inevitably change," the Moon God said gently. "Only a few people, including you, will remember this."

With that, the tranquil moonlight erupted like a tide, surging out to engulf everything.

Under the power of a God, in that instant, all records of the Hong City disaster vanished from the world: news reports, videos, messages in chat groups, the memories in people’s minds... Only a handful of individuals and the highest echelons of the Star Association retained any memory of the event.

The girl peacefully fell asleep in the moonlight. She reappeared outside the collapsing Spirit Realm, where she was found by a Star Association medical team, placed in an ambulance, and taken away.

After erasing this segment of "history," the Moon God appeared in the highest-level conference room at the Star Association Headquarters. The true upper echelon of the Star Association, those who held the reins of the world, were gathered there.

Such a major mobilization.

All because, during the temporal overlap, they had received a warning from the future.

—A warning about the fall of the Sun.

·

·

Li Xiye awoke with a start to find herself in a hospital room. Beside her, the dog was resting on the floor.

And... Sister Lan, lying in the next bed, playing on her phone.

"Xiao Ye, you’re finally awake!" Xia Lan asked with concern. "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

Li Xiye opened her mouth, ran a hand through her messy short hair, and shook herself out of her daze. "How long was I asleep?"

"Three days. The doctor said you were exhausted."

"Three days..." Li Xiye grew anxious. "Then, Zhou Chen..."

Xia Lan sighed and shook her head. "No one has seen him since. The dog said those two Cursed Puppets have also disappeared. I don’t know what happened; you probably do.

I found this letter at your house."

She handed her a letter.

Li Xiye took the envelope, opened it, and found words written in a familiar hand.

[Parting is always sad, my friend, but please do not grieve.

All the elements that make up our bodies were forged in the core of a distant star billions of years ago. That star later exploded and died. The explosion scattered those elements across the barren depths of the cosmos.

Since then, over billions of years, these elements have come together again to form new stars and planets. And so, time and again, these elements have gathered and scattered, forming shoes and ships and sealing-wax and kings, until at last they came together to form you and me. (Note 1)

One day, we will return to our elemental essence and meet again among the vast, starry sky.

Beautiful things never truly fade away. I wish you all the best and a future more boundless than you can imagine.

Sincerely, your friend, Zhou Chen.]

"Liar..."

Li Xiye’s hand trembled as she clutched the letter, her voice choked with sobs. She knew they would never see each other again.

Outside the window, a shooting star streaked across the night sky.

Like the crystalline tear that fell from the girl’s eye.

·

「Three days later.」

Li Xiye was discharged from the hospital, just in time for the start of the new high school semester.

The September sun was warm and the air was fresh. White clouds, like an endless mountain range, drifted across the azure sky.

A crowd surged at the school gate. Classmates who hadn’t seen each other for a long time greeted one another enthusiastically. The boys threw their arms over each other’s shoulders, their faces bright with smiles. The girls waved to one another, vividly recounting the fun things they did over summer vacation.

A taxi driver on the side of the road looked at the vibrant, youthful students, a nostalgic expression on his face. It was as if he had returned to a summer from over twenty years ago.

Li Xiye stood lost in thought amidst the sea of people. The brutal, bloody battle from a few days ago, and indeed the experiences of the past two months, all felt like a hazy dream, leaving her in a daze, with a sense of unreality.

It wasn’t until her best friend, Guan Yao, hugged her arm from behind and started talking to her that her mind returned to the present. She answered with her usual smile.

The girls walked toward the school, talking and laughing.

The long summer vacation was over.

·

·

The sky was dark, the night gloomy.

The downpour showed no signs of stopping, a heavy curtain of rain blanketing the entire city.

The rain brought a chilling cold that seeped into his pores and spread throughout his body.

Zhou Chen cried out in pain as he awoke from a wave of intense dizziness. It felt as if he’d been thrown into a washing machine and spun ten thousand times until his brain had turned to mush.

He lay in the heavy rain for a moment to recover, made a wish to restore his condition, then climbed to his feet. Looking around, he found himself in a Tulip Garden.

Not far away was the back gate of Cyan Mountain, which he had visited with Yang before. The gate, which should have been heavily sealed, was now open.

As if it had been opened just for him.

Recalling his earlier wish to find the letter writer’s location—which was right here on Cyan Mountain—Zhou Chen’s heart stirred, and he quickened his pace.

The mountain was the private property of the Li Group. Logically, there should have been numerous security measures, yet Zhou Chen didn’t encounter a single person on his way up. Furthermore, all branching paths had been blocked off, leaving only one road leading to the summit.

It was as if something were guiding him to a specific place.

Finally, through the pouring rain, Zhou Chen reached the end of the mountain path.

A mountaintop cemetery.

Countless black tombstones stood in solemn silence. Just looking at them filled Zhou Chen with a sense of inexplicable fear and unease.

He walked over and stopped stiffly before an exquisitely carved tombstone. The inscription on it made him dizzy.

A name, a birth year, a death year, and an epitaph.

[Li Xiye, New Era Year 158 – New Era Year 234.]

[My hopes to the morrow, my love to the past.] (Note 2)

Zhou Chen closed his eyes in sorrow. He tilted his head back, letting the rain wash over his face as a crystalline arc slid down his cheek.

A long, long time later.

An open black umbrella shielded him from the wind and rain.

Beneath the umbrella, Jiang Che studied his appearance and said softly, "You’re looking pretty rough, Zhou Chen."

"Yeah..."

Zhou Chen answered drily. "Yeah."

·

·

PS: Both quotes are from my all-time favorite, Doctor Who. I modified the first one a bit.

You could say this whole Chapter was just an excuse to use those lines.