Xin Wu stared at the mother-child mirror in his hand for a long time.

Three hundred years had passed. Heaven and earth had taken on a new appearance. He no longer shouldered the responsibilities of the Lower Xin Palace, nor did he have many concerns. He had originally planned to save her, then find an immortal dwelling where they could live together, just the two of them. Who would have thought that after three hundred years of preparation, what awaited him was her single word: “Unwilling.”

If she was unwilling, so be it. Did he need to beg her?

With a somewhat violent gesture, Xin Wu brushed aside the mother-child mirror and sat alone in the courtyard, fuming.

With great resolve, he hadn’t wiped the mirror’s surface clear even once.

Half a month later, faint rumors spread about a marriage alliance between the Dragon Clan and the Netherworld.

Li Ye, carrying his pearl, passed by his door, suddenly stepping back two paces to ask: “The Queen Mother of the West is hosting a banquet. Are you going?”

“No.” The room was dark and gloomy, with Xin Wu’s voice drifting eerily from the darkness. “With my level of cultivation, I do not need her immortal fruits.”

Li Ye nodded in understanding, turning to continue walking: “Long Xu and Zhong Su will both be there. I thought you might be interested.”

…

…

His voice carried a sigh and a hint of schadenfreude.

Xin Wu ground his teeth.

Li Ye’s aura quickly disappeared. Xin Wu dispersed the black mist in the room and sat restlessly at the desk.

The mother-child mirror was placed on the desk, its surface blurry.

“Let me be clear, I truly don’t care,” he said sullenly. “I just have nothing to do and am taking a casual look.”

The mother-child mirror stood in silence, reflecting his hazy figure. Xin Wu pinched his sleeve, extending his hand with feigned indifference to wipe the mirror’s surface clear.

The child mirror seemed to be following Zhong Su. As soon as the mother mirror was activated, he could see the two people walking one after another toward the Heavenly Gate.

Long Xu walked in front, Zhong Su behind. Neither looked particularly happy, and they weren’t conversing.

His brow relaxed. Xin Wu leaned back against the chair, snorting with laughter: “I knew it. Even if she doesn’t remember me, she doesn’t like Zhong Su that much either.”

How single-minded Long Xu was—daring to defy the world just to be with him. When she liked someone, she liked them; when she didn’t, she didn’t. Even if her mind now only contained Zhong Su, it didn’t necessarily mean…

In the mirror, Zhong Su suddenly quickened his pace to catch up with Long Xu.

“You don’t need to be this angry,” he sighed, reaching out to take her hand.

Her purple eyes cold and clear, Long Xu allowed him to hold her hand but didn’t turn her head: “I’m not angry.”

“That ghost slipped into my arms without my notice. I was busy with official matters and didn’t detect it. It was meant to anger you. How could someone as intelligent as you fall for such a trick?”

Her footsteps paused. Long Xu finally turned to look at him: “As the dignified ruler of the Netherworld, you didn’t notice something entering your embrace? Are you the fool, or do you think I am?”

She shook off his hand and continued walking with large strides.

Zhong Su turned his head slightly in annoyance, glaring at the attendant beside him. The attendant lowered his head guiltily. Immediately after, Zhong Su pursued Long Xu again.

Lovers’ quarrel.

Xin Wu watched quietly, his lips turning pale.

He had forgotten that Long Xu was single-minded only when she remembered him. Without those memories, her heart was gone too. Who she was with, who she favored—all were beyond his control.

In the mirror, Zhong Su caught up with Long Xu, reaching for her hand only to be shaken off, then reaching again to be rejected again. After this was repeated ten times, Long Xu finally reddened her eyes.

“You said you wouldn’t lie to me,” she said coldly.

Zhong Su stood straight, smiling with a sigh: “I truly haven’t lied to you.”

As if finally believing him, Long Xu lowered her guard, allowing him to embrace her. Her purple eyes welled with tears, looking exceedingly beautiful.

The two stood together in the Ten Directions Cloud Sea.

Li Ye watched the scene from a distance. The pearl in his hand also seemed quite happy, rolling joyfully in his palm.

“Don’t move around,” he looked down at it. “If you fall from the highest heavens and shatter, what will you do?”

As if frightened by him, the eastern pearl obediently stopped in his palm.

Closing his hand, Li Ye turned to continue walking, but his peripheral vision caught the lightning-avoidance altar in the Ten Directions Cloud Sea.

Many things in heaven had been rebuilt, but this place alone remained perfectly preserved, still in its original state.

He could almost see her crying beneath the heavenly lightning, standing at the foot of the altar, pleading for help from Qian Tian and Zhen Huan Gong above.

Thinking back now, Er’er’s heavenly tribulation had been so severe because of her foresight heavenly aperture. He should have let her hide from it.

Unfortunately, what he had said then was: “My Li sect doesn’t accept useless trash who can’t pass their tribulations.”

His chest felt strangely blocked. Li Ye asked the pearl sullenly: “Are you holding these old grudges against me? Is that why you won’t properly form a soul?”

The pearl didn’t answer him, lying still and obedient.

Darkness swirled in the depths of his eyes as Li Ye pressed his lips together.

Suddenly, a small beast flew through the air.

Li Ye tilted his head to avoid it, watching as a purplish-red fluff ball with wings charged toward the embracing couple on the other side.

Zhong Su reacted extremely quickly. Sensing danger, he reached out to strike it down, but Long Xu took one look and immediately stopped his hand.

The purplish-red fluff ball thumped into her arms, separating the two.

“Pajji?” Long Xu looked at it in confusion.

The Pajji beast raised its head, revealing a pitifully large eye, and whimpered at her.

Zhong Su raised an eyebrow: “You know it?”

“This is a small beast born in Mount Buzhou. It can absorb Netherworld energy for cultivation,” Long Xu reached out to stroke its head, yet there was a moment of bewilderment in her eyes. “Where did I meet it?”

The Pajji beast was sentient and most perceptive of its master’s emotions. Seeing her bewildered expression, tears immediately welled up in its single eye.

“Hey, my soul was restored by someone else, so I can’t remember many things clearly. Don’t cry,” Long Xu kneaded it gently. “At least I remember you.”

Breaking into a smile through its tears, the Pajji beast clung tightly to her embrace.

Seeing this, Zhong Su also wanted to extend his hand in friendship. However, just as he was about to speak, the Pajji beast turned its head toward him, revealing an extremely fierce expression.

This appearance was vastly different from its previous docility. Zhong Su froze, and before he could puzzle over it, he saw it turn back to Long Xu, continuing to shed pitiful tears.

“…”

Zhong Su inexplicably sensed a crisis.

Li Ye watched from afar, unable to help but laugh.

The Pajji beast was something he had given to Xin Wu. It had accompanied him for hundreds of years and was instrumental in his successfully breaking through bottlenecks to complete his divine-demonic dual cultivation. Usually, Xin Wu wouldn’t bear to let it out, but now it was good—he wasn’t willing to come himself, yet he sent a divine beast to disrupt the scene.

So many twists and turns, so much hesitation—it would have been more gallant to simply snatch the bride in public.

Shaking his head, Li Ye continued toward the Heavenly Gate with a sweep of his sleeve. Behind him, the morning sun slowly rose, bathing the world in light.