In a prosperous and affluent trading city, the Xue family resided. The city was flat and well-connected by waterways, making it a hub for travelers from the north and south. Outside the city, vast paddy fields stretched out, each piece of land like a mirror embedded in the earth.
As a red-crowned crane flew overhead, its beautiful shadow glided across the water. Farmers bent over in the fields planting rice seedlings looked up to watch it.
"Hurry, hurry! Catch up to it!" The clear, almost shrill laughter of children echoed from afar. A group of children, young and old, chased after the crane's shadow along the embankment, each one splattered with mud up to their waists.
The red-crowned crane flapped its wings, deliberately slowing down to entice the children to run wild across the fields.
While the crane entertained the children outside the city, Yu Yi and Xue Chenjing entered the city ahead of them. The streets were bustling with life, lined with vendors and teeming with pedestrians.
Xue Chenjing hadn't returned to this city in a long time. Since leaving home, he had traveled to many places, assumed many identities, but never set foot here again.
Occasionally, in his dreams, he would return.
But reality was different from his dreams. The mortal world changed the fastest, and this city was no longer as he remembered it.
Yu Yi noticed Xue Chenjing's distracted expression and gently squeezed his hand, saying, "Let's go."
Xue Chenjing snapped out of his reverie, gripping her hand in return, and led her toward the street where the Xue family residence was located.
The Xue family had been in trade for generations, accumulating wealth from their ancestors. Their mansion was grand and spacious, with a stone wall that occupied almost half the street.
Dengnan Street was home to many wealthy families like the Xues, with no shops or taverns, and no peddlers or laborers. The street was notably quieter.
When the gate of the Xue residence was opened, the gatekeeper peered out and, upon seeing Xue Chenjing, was momentarily stunned. He asked in confusion, "Young Master, when did you go out?"
Only after speaking did he notice the unusual attire and aura of the person before him, as well as the unfamiliar girl beside him. The gatekeeper became even more bewildered, unsure whether to go inside and report or let them in first.
Xue Chenjing's expression darkened instantly upon hearing the gatekeeper's question. He asked, "Has Xue Mingyuan also returned?"
The gatekeeper, wide-eyed with surprise, stammered, "Ah, yes, Young Master Mingyuan has returned."
The gatekeeper was only in his twenties and had never actually met the young master who had run away from home. However, as a mere gatekeeper, his personal experiences didn't matter much; he simply followed orders.
But Liu Hua, the steward, hadn't mentioned there were two young masters?
While the gatekeeper hesitated, a group of people quickly emerged from within. The first to step out was a man in white, his head adorned with a jade crown. Even his robes seemed more graceful as he walked.
Though they shared the same face and similar features, the two men inside and outside the gate exuded entirely different presences.
Xue Mingyuan was as gentle as a spring breeze. His eyes, when he looked at someone, were always warm and smiling, making people feel he was kind and easy to get along with just by looking at his face.
In contrast, the man outside the gate, Xue Chenjing, made the gatekeeper take a step back in fright as he saw his increasingly dark expression. He couldn't help but marvel at how two people with the same face could be so different.
The gate was opened wider, and Xue Mingyuan's gaze swept past the gatekeeper, first landing on Xue Chenjing, then moving to Yu Yi, carefully examining her as if to confirm her well-being.
He noticed their arms pressed together, their fingers intertwined beneath their sleeves.
On that day, under the might of the thunder, he and Xue Chenjing were finally separated. Xue Mingyuan also received his mission at that moment.
His form dissolved into pure energy, his consciousness rising into the sky. He could only watch helplessly as Yu Yi, without hesitation, jumped into the torrent of demons and followed them into the demon realm.
Yu Yi had always been steadfastly moving toward his brother, never looking back at him.
In that moment, Xue Mingyuan suddenly let go. In his previous life, she had offered him her heart, but he had been too timid to accept it, choosing to reject her. It was only natural that she had left him in this life. He couldn't blame anyone.
After repairing Heaven's Gate, Xue Mingyuan's essence settled in the Celestial Pool for days before regaining his physical form. With the restoration of the three realms' order, the spiritual energy of the Celestial Realm began to flow again, and the collapsed mountains and temples slowly reconstructed themselves. Xue Mingyuan, in the reversed flow of sand and broken walls, wandered aimlessly on the suspended bridges of the Celestial Realm, still unaware of his memories.
At that time, his memories had not yet returned. He knew nothing and was driven only by instinct to find something alive like himself. But he never found it.
He wandered aimlessly through the Celestial Realm, from crawling to learning to walk, and eventually understanding the basics of propriety and modesty, learning to use clouds to create clothing. But the place was vast and endless, yet also lonely beyond measure.
As his previous life's memories gradually resurfaced, Xue Mingyuan remembered who he was.
Since Xue Mingyuan's appearance, Xue Chenjing's nerves had become extremely sensitive. He bristled with hostility and vigilance, his every muscle tense as he glared at him.
When Xue Mingyuan's gaze shifted to Yu Yi, Xue Chenjing's muscles tensed even more, his foot shifting slightly, almost instinctively wanting to shield Yu Yi completely behind him, not allowing Xue Mingyuan to see even a glimpse of her.
Yu Yi, standing so close to him, naturally noticed his intention. She frowned slightly and glanced at Xue Chenjing.
That single look stopped Xue Chenjing's instinctual action. He immediately realized that Yu Yi didn't like him doing that, and he needed to learn to control his possessiveness.
Unable to shield Yu Yi, Xue Chenjing could only turn his gaze back to Xue Mingyuan, glaring at him coldly.
The atmosphere between the gate and the entrance became eerily silent. This was the first time Xue Chenjing and Xue Mingyuan had met since their separation, and just the first glance between them conveyed the tension and hostility.
Beneath their sleeves, Yu Yi gently stroked Xue Chenjing's fingers, soothing and comforting him, like smoothing out the wild, raging emotions within him. She whispered, "Ah Qiu, do you remember your parents' wishes?"
Their parents had always hoped for their safe return, and they certainly wouldn't want to see the brothers fighting after their passing.
Xue Chenjing's body stiffened slightly, and his mind gradually calmed down. He took a deep, controlled breath, slowly retracting the magic breath that had been seeping out and sealing it back within him.
Ignoring Xue Mingyuan, he turned his gaze to the middle-aged man behind him and said, "Liu Hua, arrange for the mourning hall to be set up."
The middle-aged man, Liu Hua, was jolted awake by his words. Only now did he dare to believe that what he was seeing wasn't a bizarre dream. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, stepping forward in disbelief and choking with emotion, "Young Master? You've really separated, I thought it was a dream."
Liu Hua had grown up with them, and privately, he liked the younger master more than the elder one.
After the young master left, he had always felt guilty. The Xue couple's prayer tablets were personally selected by him, cut into the shape of wooden tablets, and contained a fragment of his own thoughts.
So in the realm created by the prayer tablets, Liu Hua's presence was much more vivid than the other servants, infused with a bit of his own obsession and unresolved feelings.
Xue Chenjing had experienced his intentions in that realm and understood his inner conflict. The loss of his parents had been a harsh lesson, and he had finally learned to behave. He relaxed his facial expression, nodding at Liu Hua in a manner almost friendly, "Yes, I've come back."
Liu Hua, receiving his response, couldn't hold back his tears. Xue Mingyuan gently patted his shoulder, soothing his agitated emotions, and then naturally turned to Xue Chenjing, saying, "Come in, the mourning hall has already been prepared. We just haven't put up the white banners yet, as the parents' bodies haven't been returned."
Xue Chenjing's hand trembled violently upon hearing these words. Yu Yi felt her grip suddenly loosen as the figure beside her dissipated, leaving only a blur that shot toward Xue Mingyuan. In an instant, Xue Chenjing had Xue Mingyuan by the throat, slamming him against the shadow wall with a resounding crash.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the shadow wall, and flakes of plaster cascaded down. Amidst the startled cries of those around them, Xue Chenjing roared, his voice filled with fury and accusation, "You knew! So you knew all along?! Did you know your sister would use our parents to set that illusion trap to kill me? Did you know they would die?!"
His form had not yet fully solidified, and his aura of demonic energy surged violently around him. Veins bulged on the back of his hand as he squeezed Xue Mingyuan's throat, the sound of crushed cartilage echoing ominously.
Yu Yi hurried to the scene but hesitated, stopping in her tracks upon hearing his accusations.
Xue Mingyuan clutched at Xue Chenjing's wrist, not using his divine powers to resist. Instead, he managed to force out a broken explanation, both for Xue Chenjing and for the person behind him. "If... if I had known... I would have done everything... to stop her..."
The servants nearby were too frightened to approach, and Liu Hua, in a panic, tried to intervene. But Yu Yi raised a hand to stop her. "Don't go near them; you'll get hurt."
Liu Hua was at a loss, stammering, "But... but they..."
The animosity between these two brothers was something outsiders could hardly meddle in. However, Yu Yi believed that Xue Chenjing would know when to rein himself in.
At the base of the shadow wall, Xue Chenjing's demonic energy surged, his sleeves fluttering wildly. His eyes, piercing through the swirling energy, locked onto Xue Mingyuan's, as if trying to discern the truth from his words.
After a long pause, his fluttering sleeves finally settled, and his demonic energy receded. He released Xue Mingyuan, sensing something unusual about the person he had just held. With a sneer, he said, "This is just a fragment of your spirit, isn't it, brother? You only sent a sliver of your essence to the mortal world to see them off?"
Xue Mingyuan slid down the shadow wall, coughing as he rubbed his throat. His voice hoarse, he replied, "The laws of the Celestial Realm dictate that deities cannot descend to the mortal world at will."
"The laws of the Celestial Realm?" Xue Chenjing scoffed. "That crumbling realm of yours—what's left of it? Besides you, are there even any other gods? And you talk about the laws of the Celestial Realm? How laughable."
Xue Mingyuan did not find this amusing. "Even if I am the only one left, I will still abide by them."
