Spring warmth in Yaochi spans a thousand years

The jade pendant in her palm was as cold as Yun Xi's last fading body heat, pressing against Mo Xiaoyu's hand as if silently reminding her of the irreversible ending. She knelt in the scorched earth of the battlefield between gods and demons, the crimson moonlight pouring down like blood, stretching her lonely figure long and thin, almost merging her into the desolate ruins.

The air was thick with the stench of burnt blood, and the lingering divine power and demonic energy intertwined into a suffocating web. Mo Xiaoyu's fingertips turned white from the force of her grip as she tightly clutched the jade pendant, as if it were her only connection to the past. Just as despair was about to overwhelm her consciousness like a tidal wave, a faint yet undeniable warmth emanated from deep within the jade pendant without warning.

Buzz...

The feeling was like a sleeping heart beating once, extremely slowly and heavily. Subtle, yet so clear that it sent a shiver down her spine.

It's not a hallucination!

Mo Xiaoyu clenched her fingers tightly, almost embedding the jade pendant into her palm. She pressed it against her cold cheek, as if trying to draw a sliver of warmth that had long since vanished. That faint warmth, intermittent yet like a spark, suddenly pierced her already sunk, boundless sea of ​​darkness—

In an instant, the world spun around.

The surrounding smells of burning, blood, and the chilling aura of demonic energy... everything quickly faded and blurred. Her soul was pulled by a gentle yet irresistible force, plummeting downwards, piercing through layers of time, falling towards that forgotten, warm past...

The Temple of Fate, which existed a thousand years ago, remains forever peaceful and serene.

The Jade Pool shimmered with a pure, ethereal aura, where several celestial carp frolicked leisurely among the verdant water plants. Lush, divine plants grew along the pool's edge, and occasionally, a spirit bird would skim across the surface, its clear, melodious song echoing. On the smoothest, warm jade-like surface of the pool's bottom, a dark-colored celestial carp lay lazily, idly blowing bubbles. Its scales were deep as ink, but its tail fin was adorned with speckled gold, shimmering delicately in the sunlight filtering through the water.

This is Mo Xiaoyu, who has recently developed intelligence from chaos.

Back then, her world was small, so small that it consisted only of this small pond and the reflections of the flowing clouds and palace eaves in its waters. Her greatest daily worries were simply deciding which patch of water plants would be the most comfortable for a nap, or where the spiritual energy was more abundant. She had not yet taken human form, her intelligence was just beginning to awaken, and her understanding of the Three Realms was vague and naive, yet she instinctively cherished the tranquility of this Jade Pool.

"Gurgle..."

A huge bubble emerged from her mouth, wobbling as it rose to the surface. The moment it touched the air, it burst with a soft "pop," creating a tiny ripple.

Almost simultaneously, a tall, slender figure appeared precisely at the edge of the pool.

The newcomer wore an immaculate white robe of a deity, embroidered with intricate cloud patterns in silver thread. The wide sleeves flowed down, further accentuating his tall and imposing figure and refined aura. His face was like jade, yet his brows seemed to hold the frost of a thousand years, unyielding and unchanging. He was none other than Yun Xi, the Deity who held the fate of all things in his hands. He naturally exuded an aura of aloofness and majesty that kept strangers at bay. Even the unawakened celestial carp in the pond instinctively swished their tails, avoiding the waters where his figure touched.

Only the black spirit carp, instead of dodging, perked up, its previous lazy posture vanished, its tail swayed happily a few times, creating a string of fine, sparkling water droplets, and it quickly swam towards the edge of the pond.

Yunxi bent down and sat down on the blue stone by the pool, his movements natural and practiced, as if he had repeated this scene countless times. He didn't speak, or even make a sound, but simply extended his long, slender, white index finger with distinct knuckles. A point of pure and soft golden divine light gathered at the tip of his finger, like the warmest star in the dark night, and slowly probed into the cool pool water.

The divine light was not dazzling; instead, it carried a reassuring aura.

Mo Xiaoyu immediately snuggled closer, first affectionately rubbing her little head against his fingertips, feeling the cool touch and the vast yet gentle life force, before greedily absorbing the pure divine power in small sips. That power was warm and boundless, like the finest current, slowly flowing into her limbs and bones, nourishing every scale and every strand of her soul. She felt completely comfortable, as if bathed in the warmest spring sunshine, even her mind becoming clearer.

This is their daily routine, which has lasted for thousands of years.

He would arrive on time every day, silently transferring his purest primordial divine power to her, helping her awaken her intelligence and stabilize her soul, without fail, rain or shine, without ever missing a single day.

Occasionally, a playful leaf would twirl and drift down from the branch, trying to disturb the tranquility. Yunxi didn't even need to look up; she simply raised her hand, and an invisible breeze swept by, precisely catching the leaf and gently carrying it far away from the pond, ensuring it wouldn't be disturbed in the slightest.

In the event of a severe thunderstorm, with deafening thunder echoing through the heavens and lightning flashing wildly, Mo Xiaoyu would cower in the deepest corner of the pool, too terrified to even utter a bubble. At that time, Yun Xi would silently conjure a pale golden barrier, intricately patterned with runes, like an inverted glass bowl, gently enveloping the entire Yaochi. No matter how dark the storm outside, how fierce the thunder, the water within the barrier remained calm and serene. He would sit quietly outside the barrier, letting the cold rain soak his white robes and the wind whip his black hair, until the clouds dispersed, the rain ceased, and the light returned.

At this moment, while absorbing the incredibly delicious spiritual energy, Mo Xiaoyu secretly raised her round fish eyes and stole glances at the aloof figure by the pond.

"This owner," she thought to herself with a smug smile, her fishtail swaying gently involuntarily, "although he always has a stern face, like a block of eternal ice that will never melt, and he speaks very little, you can't get a word out of him even if you hit him three times... well, as those celestial servants gossip about in private, he's a 'silent gourd'... but the spiritual energy he gives is truly the most delicious thing in the Three Realms! Much better than those floating algae and the essence of the sun and moon!"

She could feel that under his care, her intelligence was growing rapidly, and her body was becoming stronger and stronger. The legendary day of her transformation seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Soon, the day's divine power was completely absorbed. Mo Xiaoyu, still wanting more and feeling a little reluctant, gently patted his fingertips, which were submerged in water, with her beautiful tail fin, splashing up a few small, transparent droplets of water—as if urging him on, or perhaps expressing her dissatisfaction—why was it all gone so quickly? Give me a little more!

Yun Xi slowly withdrew his hand, his fingertips still retaining the slightly damp touch of her scales and that unique spiritual essence. He watched the little fish swimming back and forth around his shadow in the water, seemingly throwing a tantrum. In his eyes, which were as cold as a snowy pool, a fleeting, almost imperceptible tenderness and indulgence flashed across them.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew." He spoke in a low voice, clear and crisp, like jade striking each other. His tone remained calm and even, but there was no real reprimand in it. Instead, it sounded like... a helpless reminder.

Just then, a celestial lord dressed in a crimson robe and wearing a jade crown passed by on a cloud. He happened to see this scene and couldn't help but slow down his cloud and jokingly said, "Divine Lord Yunxi, you're in such a good mood again today. You come to feed these little things in the pond every day, which is more punctual than dealing with those thousands of fate books."

Upon hearing this, Yun Xi raised his eyes to look at the immortal lord, his gaze instantly regaining its usual coldness and aloofness, and the gentle aura around him vanished without a trace. He was not angry, not even his brows twitched, but he simply replied calmly, yet with exceptional clarity:

"She's no good."

His gaze then fell upon the unique blackness in the water, focused and serene, as if he were looking at some unparalleled treasure, oblivious to the noise of the outside world.

The immortal's smile froze slightly, seemingly not expecting such a direct and cold response. He awkwardly touched his nose, said, "What the divine lord says is true," and then wisely rode away on a cloud.

At that time, Mo Xiaoyu was still quite naive and didn't fully understand the protection and cherishing behind the words "not a toy." She only vaguely felt that after the immortal lord left, the aura around her master seemed colder than before, which puzzled her. She wagged her tail in confusion, spitting out a string of tiny bubbles, deciding not to think about this complicated question, and instead happily swam to the surface to peck at the specially made spirit-infused fish food that Yun Xi had prepared for her, which was floating on the water.

Back then, she was innocent and happy, taking all his meticulous care for granted, regarding his silent and steadfast protection, which had remained unchanged for a thousand years, as natural as sunrise and sunset, breathing and drinking water. She relied on him innocently, like vines relying on a giant tree, or fish and shrimp relying on flowing water, but she never pondered what kind of profound, unspoken emotions lay hidden behind this daily silence.

The icy touch, mixed with the smell of scorched earth, enveloped Mo Xiaoyu once again.

The warm, clear Jade Pool, the misty spiritual energy, the cool yet gentle figure by the pool... everything vanished from her senses like the receding tide. Before her remained the desolate ruins, the blood moon hanging ominously in the sky, and the desolate battlefield of gods and demons that had been created because of her.

The sudden plunge from the ultimate warmth and tranquility back into the cruel and cold reality caused her a sharp, tearing pain in her heart, so intense that she could barely breathe and could only curl up and let out suppressed sobs.

She slowly and tremblingly opened her palm. The ancient jade pendant still lay quietly in her hand. Apart from the faint warmth that lingered after the brief disturbance, it remained as cold as ever, as if the brief and vivid warm memory just now was merely a distant and unattainable dream born from her excessive grief.

Tears welled up again, silently surging down, dripping onto the jade pendant, splashing into tiny droplets, and then meandering down the cold jade surface.

So... from the very beginning, you treated me differently.

It turns out that all those little things she had overlooked and taken for granted—the divine power that arrived on time every day, the gentle breeze that swept away the fallen leaves, the steadfast protection on stormy nights, the unwavering defense when faced with doubts from outsiders—had already silently woven into such an impenetrable and tender net of affection, firmly protecting her at the center.

But she was like a blind man with his eyes open, a heartless fool, immersed in her own fabricated dream of so-called "love," and with her own stupidity, blindness, and betrayal, she tore the net woven by his heart and soul to shreds!

She pressed the jade pendant tightly, so tightly, against her empty heart, where it felt as if a gaping hole had been torn open, and a chilling, piercing wind of regret howled through it.

"Yunxi..." She choked back tears, speaking to the empty space, to the jade pendant that seemed to still retain his presence, her voice a broken whisper from the depths of her soul, "I...I understand..."

I know how good you are.

I now know what a turbulent and scorching deep sea lies hidden beneath your silence.

Knowing that in this vast Three Realms, through countless ages, there will never be anyone like you, silently and steadfastly... treating me like a treasure.

But it was too late.

This very perception becomes the cruelest punishment in the world.