Yao Yue walked down the ninety-nine white jade palace steps one by one, her sleeves flying in the evening breeze, her hair blowing back as she faced the endless setting sun in the sky.

There was no one around the Demon Palace's bedroom. She walked for a while and came around to the front hall, where she ran into the black-robed Demon Realm guardian.

Ye Lian's expression was as if he had seen a ghost, and even the seal in his hand fell to the ground. There was only one thought left in his mind: Could it be that Baili Yaoyue really has such great ability that he can break the Nine Palace Soul Locking Formation from the inside?

But the celestial being in front of him was at the Jindan realm, and even her disciples could easily defeat her. There was no way she could escape from the Demon Emperor. It could only be that... the Demon Emperor voluntarily let her go.

"I need a teleportation array to Paradise." Yao Yue's expression was very calm when she spoke, but at this moment, that calmness was like deep water with dangerous undercurrents inside, which made people feel fearful.

Ye Lian's heart was beating wildly. Her intuition told her that this queen must have used some extraordinary method to get out. When she came to her senses, she saw the girl smiling at her:

"If you are worried about Jiang Mi, go to the bedroom and take a look yourself."

She could only smile awkwardly: "That's not what I meant." Then she ordered the attendant beside her, "Go find a sorcerer."

Ye Lian always felt that something was wrong: No one in the Demon Realm knew better than her how deeply the Demon Emperor loved this girl Baili. For three hundred years, her true disciples took turns guarding the Flower Forest Cave, and His Majesty went there every day when he was in the Demon Palace. How could he be willing to let her go?

She hesitated for a moment, then took out the magic weapon, the Water Moon Mirror, and handed it over: "I know your Highness has made up his mind, but I think you should take a look at this..."

Yao Yue took the silver mirror, and the mirror surface rippled like waves but did not reflect her face. Instead, a man's figure gradually appeared.

"After you ascended to heaven, you are the only one left in the world who can take your Majesty's life. For a long time, your Majesty was absent-minded, so I used the Water Moon Mirror to observe what he was doing from time to time to prevent him from committing suicide."

——The Water Moon Mirror will detect strong emotional fluctuations and record the image at that time, while transmitting it to the viewer.

The mirror showed the scene of Hualin Cave. The warm stone cave was filled with candlelight and light smoke. The bluestone floor was warm and shiny due to the friction of long-term kneeling. Sandalwood floated in the air, and all the magnificent atmosphere in the cave was instantly settled. A lonely figure knelt beside the cold jade bed, wearing a snow-white outer robe, with long hair tied up at the side of the body, and the tail was slightly curled and hung on the hem.

Whether it was the phantom in the mirror or the real body, Wuqingdao's innate coldness was expressed from the bottom of his heart. He should be the type who is very self-contained and doesn't bother to pay attention to the things around him. Even if the admirer kneels at his feet to worship him, he shouldn't pay any attention to it.

But Jiang Mi in the mirror closed his eyes slightly, clasped his hands together like a devout believer, and talked to himself in front of her body: "Yao Yue... I was obedient and didn't kill anyone... Can you come to see me tonight..."

The mirror rippled and the scene suddenly came to the study. Jiang Mi sat at the desk and added a stroke to one of the "正" characters on the gold and jade scroll in front of him. In the shadow of the candlelight, only his focused profile could be seen, and his nose cast a deep shadow on his thin cheeks. After a long time, he finally seemed to think of something and sighed hoarsely: "...Yao Yue is very busy."

Day by day, the number of correct characters increases, but the frequency of adding them decreases.

The mirror-like water rippled again, the courtyard was clear and bright, and the moonlight cast a pale blue light on the stone pillars. Jiang Mizui leaned against the bluestone table under the crabapple tree, his outer robe draped over his shoulders, and blood was faintly visible in the bandage under his left shoulder. He had just been punished by lightning for building a ladder to heaven, and the blood on his body had not yet faded, and his face was still tired. Most of the wine in the cup had been spilled diagonally, and his slender fingers were soaked in wine, reflecting the faint and cold moonlight.

"What should I do..." The person in the mirror sighed deeply, and just as he spoke, he disappeared into the flying crabapple petals, "I can see you again..."

There was a deep loneliness in the young man's eyes, like the howling snow and wind of the glacier that had been lingering in the depths of his soul for thousands of years, and would never stop.

In the Water Moon Mirror, the Demon Emperor from a hundred years ago drank the cold wine in one gulp, staggered to his feet, his robe sleeves brushing across the red residue on the ground, and gradually disappeared into the depths of the corridor.

Seeing this, Yao Yue suddenly raised her head towards the sky, closed her eyes and said nothing.

——The fleeting three hundred days in the fairy world are the endless three hundred years in the human world.

She originally thought that Jiang Mi would be like her, using other things to numb himself and divert his attention... But he just waited for her response wholeheartedly, day after day without interruption. He was born ruthless and had an extremely closed personality, but his heart opened a crack for her. After she left, it became a scar that would never heal, and would only let in the whistling cold wind.

She only felt the intense pain and despair, the long and inescapable torment, in this mirror for less than a quarter of an hour, and she felt it was more painful than the pain in her heart and death. If it lasted a little longer, she didn't know if she would collapse...

But Jiang Mi... survived for three hundred years.

If he cannot overcome this hurdle, he will always live in anxiety, anger, sorrow and resentment.

“…I’ll give it back to you.”

Before the sound faded, the wind blew by, and Ye Lian felt a flash before her eyes, and the mirror returned to her hand. The girl's back was like a flying crimson cloud, and in a flash she was several feet away. The bells on the tassels around her waist jingled with her hurried footsteps, and she disappeared at the end of the long and winding corridor.

***

The courtyard was as clear as a pool of water, and the shadows of the crabapple blossoms swayed slightly. The moonlight covered the silver-white bricks and tiles of the palace like a green veil, and the corridors were deep and endless. The past prosperity and laughter were like falling flowers and flowing water, fading from the void in an instant and returning to silence.

The man was still kneeling there motionless, as if he had become a still statue that would not move even if the sky collapsed and the earth collapsed. He lowered his head and his expression could not be seen clearly, but the blood and tears flowing from his scarlet eyes had already formed a small pool of blood in front of him.

——That crazy young man who lives a life of drunkenness and dreams is still living under this cold mask.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind.

Jiang Mi's body trembled slightly, and surprise and shock flashed in his eyes. He looked down at the pair of hands that were so familiar to him in disbelief. Something was like a tide, slowly flowing up from the bottom of his heart, beating with layers of sour and astringent bubbles, gently but sadly embracing him until it overflowed into his eyes——

"Invite the moon..."

Who else except her would dare to hold him like this?

"It's me."

Jiang Mi's heart, which had been almost numb with pain, suddenly felt relieved, just like a warm current suddenly poured over him on a cold winter night. The feeling was a mixture of joy and sorrow, as if he suddenly welcomed a glimmer of hope when he knew he was in a desperate situation.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"I'm not leaving."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man suddenly turned around and pulled her into his arms. His arms were stronger and stronger, as if he wanted to merge her into his flesh and blood. Yao Yue was almost suffocated by his embrace. She stretched out her hands and wrapped them around his strong back. He trembled slightly and suddenly pulled her away.

Those blood-red pupils were fixed on her tightly, as if they didn't want to miss any expression or change, as if they wanted to see through her eyes and see the thoughts in her mind.

"You're really not leaving?"

The girl could no longer look him in the eye, so she closed her eyes and turned her head away. The confusion and fascination in that moment were like the sunset between the waves of the deep sea, transforming into a myriad of splendors in the deepest darkness.

"--real."

The next second, his hot lips suddenly pressed against her eyes, and through the thin eyelids, he gently kissed her eyeballs. Jiang Mi's body was as hot as steel forged in a furnace, and even she was about to melt through the heavy clothes. He seemed to be trying his best to endure something, because his body was shaking all the time, and even his joints were creaking. It seemed as long as a lifetime with him, but also as short as being called by him.

"If you knew... how much I love you..." Warm drops of water dripped into her cochlea. His voice was intermittent and broken, which made people's heart palpitate. "You wouldn't... make me... sad..."

Yao Yue's heart seemed to be tightened in an instant. She wanted to wipe his tears, but his hands covered her eyes, not allowing her to see his embarrassed struggle. He covered her eyes tightly and said nothing, but she could clearly feel his pain, so intense, so forbearing, roaring in her ears, boiling in her blood, shaking her heart and chest numb -

"Now... I know..."