One year later.

After the ice and snow thawed, green grass sprouted everywhere.

The world was renewed. Snow foxes poked their heads out from their dens, spying on birds grooming their feathers in the distant grasslands. Ice and snow melted into flowing water, nourishing long-dried streams.

A snow fox quietly advanced toward the birds, but midway, they spread their wings and flew away. It could only sit in place, raising its head to watch them.

The daytime breeze still carried a hint of coolness. After nightfall, fires were lit near the stream, where a woman dressed in colorful clothes sat fishing by the water.

Everything was silent until the night wind arrived, making the grass leaves sway and brush against blooming white flowers.

Zhou Zixi reopened his eyes in the gentle night breeze. He thought his first sight would be a sky full of stars, but because his head was tilted, when his eyes opened, they reflected the firelight by the stream.

The woman sat beside the fire, her face propped on one hand. Her delicate features were softened by the firelight as she quietly gazed at the stars reflected in the water’s surface, not even noticing when her fishing line moved.

The starlight, flames, and that familiar silhouette became an eternally fixed painting in Zhou Zixi’s eyes, engraved in his heart.

Zhou Zixi stared at Ming Li in the distance, slowly rising from the grass, his eyes unblinking. Bits of grass silently slid off his clothes.

In the void of death, he couldn’t feel the passage of time. Everything remained at that moment when Resentment Tower Mountain disappeared.

Zhou Zixi stared fixedly at Ming Li, his gaze obsessive. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he was about to speak, when the person sitting by the stream seemed to sense something, her eyelashes quivering slightly as she turned to look over.

For Zhou Zixi, it was a dreamlike scene.

Ming Li’s originally calm eyes took on a brilliant hue when she saw him, her smile evident as she extended her hand toward the person lost and found, beckoning him to come over.

Zhou Zixi took a step forward, then stopped, as if confirming reality.

Ming Li stood up and walked toward him.

When Ming Li came close, Zhou Zixi stepped forward, reached out, and pulled her into a tight embrace as they fell to the ground.

The fragrance of green grass mingled with familiar scent of her hair brushed his nose. Zhou Zixi buried his face against Ming Li’s shoulder, experiencing long-missed peace of mind.

Ming Li reached out to gently stroke his hair, smiling as she said, “Hey, you’ve changed back, too.”

*

Zhou Zixi sat by the stream, expressionlessly looking at his reflection in the water.

He had returned to the age when he first joined Bei Dou.

The water reflected a cold-eyed youth with furrowed brows, his gaze revealing some displeasure.

Ming Li consoled him beside: “It thinks we’re most adorable at this age, so it lets us revive as youths.”

Zhou Zixi stared at his reflection and gave a cold laugh: “The age when I suffered most.”

Ming Li said, “By this time, you had already reached Bei Dou.”

Zhou Zixi maintained his cold expression: “That year, you didn’t pay attention to me.”

Ming Li raised her hand to gesture: “You were afraid of me first and didn’t dare come see me. Senior Brother and Qing Ying called you several times to have meals with me, but you said you wouldn’t come.”

Zhou Zixi turned his head to look at her. Ming Li smiled slightly: “Think of it this way—it wants you to make up for those five missing years. This time, no one can take you away.”

“I may never be able to recover my former appearance or former emotions,” Zhou Zixi stared at her as he spoke. “Even so, Senior Sister, are you still willing to keep me at Bei Dou?”

“No matter what you become, you can always return to Bei Dou,” Ming Li said. “Bei Dou is your home.”

Zhou Zixi raised his eyebrow slightly, with a half-smile: “Senior Sister spoils me as always.”

Ming Li: “What you said is correct, just a bit shameless.”

Zhou Zixi gave a light snort.

His humanity wasn’t stripped away by the Divine Oracle, so destroying the Divine Oracle didn’t help.

But Ming Li didn’t mind, nor would she force Zhou Zixi to find it. Instead, she taught him, trusting he could learn again.

After returning to Bei Dou, many people would be willing to teach him.

Zhou Zixi took the fishing rod to watch for her, listening as Ming Li told him about the changes during this year.

“There are no more earth ghosts in this world now. All sects are clarifying the relationship between the Life meridian and earth ghosts. The Great Qin Empire’s Star Fate Department and Martial Alliance have joined the effort,” Ming Li said. “Senior Brother, Aunt Qu, and others are handling these matters. I’m not good at such things. I only step in when someone causes trouble; otherwise, I’ve been waiting for you. When bored, I visit Shu Sheng and Long Yu Ye, who are imprisoned at Bei Dou. Watching Long Yu Ye die and revive helps pass the day.”

Zhou Zixi asked: “Those two aren’t dead?”

Ming Li replied: “Before I die, they won’t die.”

As long as she lived a day, those two would struggle in the abyss of pain for a day.

The truth about Earth ghosts and the Life meridian had thrown the world into chaos, but many people were maintaining order, and the chaos would gradually subside.

Ming Li said, “Senior Brother broke through two months ago and went traveling with Wen Su and Gu San.”

Zhou Zixi wasn’t surprised at all.

Ming Li continued: “My brother regenerated his star meridians with Xing Sui, and with Shi Fei’s help, he’s recovering well.”

Zhou Zixi: “Isn’t he mute now?”

“Xiang An’ge used techniques to help him speak again. His voice is hoarser than before.” Ming Li propped her chin on one hand, tilting her head to look at him. “He’s settled at Bei Dou quite well. Thanks to him, Bei Dou is now filled with all sorts of strange spirit clones. Qing Ying has to count all the spirit clones every night before she can sleep.”

“Black Fox Mask Senior Brother and his little sister-in-law opened a shop in Seven Star City…”

Before Ming Li could finish, Zhou Zixi turned his head with furrowed brows: “What little sister-in-law?”

Zhou Zixi: “You want me to call Wu Liangli ‘little sister-in-law’? Why should she be a generation above me?”

Ming Li: “They got married.”

Zhou Zixi with a cold face: “I won’t call her that.”

“Alright.” Ming Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his words. Then she heard Zhou Zixi say, “I just want to know how Senior Sister has been.”

Ming Li said, “I’ve been very well.”

Zhou Zixi asked: “How well?”

Ming Li answered: “Waiting for you every day.”

Zhou Zixi lowered his eyes slightly, concealing the smile that flashed in them.

Ming Li asked: “Do you still have your Life meridian?”

“Yes,” Zhou Zixi said softly. “But it said no one will be able to awaken the Life meridian anymore. After I die, the Life meridian will completely disappear from the Tong Gu continent.”

Zhou Zixi glanced at his shadow from the corner of his eye: “It won’t die, but it will leave this continent.”

“Tong Gu said the same,” Ming Li laughed softly. “Perhaps it’s tired too.”

What the Life meridian thinks, people will never know.

These powers—never manipulated by humans, originating from this land, distant and ancient—are the true masters of this continent.

The storm had subsided, and the dust had settled. There were no more urgent places to go or people struggling in pain waiting for rescue.

Ming Li chattered with Zhou Zixi about all the events of the past year, large and small. Zhou Zixi’s occasional caustic responses made Ming Li laugh several times.

Birds and beasts passing by at night would quietly watch the two by the stream for a while, then silently leave.

The fishing line on the water’s surface remained motionless.

Ming Li yawned and asked him, “Can you catch anything?”

Zhou Zixi glanced at her, raising his right hand toward Ming Li: “If you want to eat fish, I can catch it.”

“I want to eat,” Ming Li leaned closer, and Zhou Zixi drew back his arm to embrace her.

Ming Li fell asleep in Zhou Zixi’s arms. Zhou Zixi kept looking down at her, his mind completely off the fishing line.

He held her this way all night.

At dawn, Zhou Zixi looked up at the motionless fishing line, then bent down to place a kiss on Ming Li’s forehead: “Senior Sister, there are no fish in this water.”

*

The next day, Ming Li sent a sound transmission talisman to everyone at Bei Dou, informing them she had found Zhou Zixi, and also mentioning that her junior brother’s emotions had not yet fully recovered.

The ice wilderness was some distance from Bei Dou. After Zhou Zixi arrived there, he never returned to Bei Dou. Now that Ming Li had come to bring him back personally, no one dared block their way.

Upon entering Seven Star City, the first thing Zhou Zixi did was buy fish.

Ming Li looked up at the sky: “Senior Brother and the others have surely prepared food already.”

Zhou Zixi said, “Then we’ll keep these alive for a night and eat them tomorrow.”

Carrying two fish, he walked with Ming Li toward the mountains of Bei Dou. By the time they entered the mountains, night had fallen. Lamps along the mountain path lit up, illuminating the path ahead, not too long, with stone steps just as they had always been.

The two walked at a leisurely pace. When still far down the stone steps, they saw a group of people standing at the mountain gate.

Qing Ying squatted at the edge of the stone steps, yawning. A spirit clone beside her held out a sign: Eat meal?

“Wait,” Qing Ying said. “They haven’t arrived yet.”

The spirit clone flipped the sign: Take medicine.

Qing Ying said, “Already took it.”

Dong Yeyun also squatted beside her, pointing at the spirit clone: “It understands?”

Qing Ying: “Of course it understands.”

Fu Yuan, standing with his sword, frowned: “Why doesn’t it respond when I speak to it?”

Black Fox Mask glanced over: “Same for me.”

Dong Yeyun pointed at the spirit clone’s hand emphatically: “That’s why I’m asking you, it understands?”

Qing Ying touched her face in confusion, “It really does understand, always has.”

“I see,” Dong Yeyun withdrew his hand sullenly. “This isn’t a spirit clone.”

Chen Zhou laughed coldly from the side: “It’s Xiang An’ge.”

Others nodded in agreement.

Qing Ying listened with black lines over her head. The spirit clone, seemingly thinking they had told a funny joke, clapped its twig-like hands.

“Just look at how silly it is, how could it possibly be Xiang—” Before Qing Ying could finish, she caught sight of people below from the corner of her eye and quickly stood up: “Senior Sister!”

Dong Yeyun slowly rose, watching the two approaching in the moonlight.

Ming Li smiled at Qing Ying, her eyes curving. Beside her, Zhou Zixi walked at a measured pace, casting a lazy glance at the people by the mountain gate. The memories in his mind were vivid; every person’s appearance was deeply familiar.

They had waited at the mountain gate for a long time, finally seeing the long-absent person return home.

“Well,” Chen Zhou lifted his chin at Zhou Zixi as he walked up. “Why did you bring back two fish?”

Zhou Zixi said, “Because I couldn’t catch any.”

Fu Yuan asked: “Why were you fishing?”

Zhou Zixi answered: “Because Senior Sister wanted to eat fish.”

Ming Li: “…”

The others looked at Ming Li, who smiled slightly: “I was hungry.”

Everyone knew Zhou Zixi hadn’t yet recovered all his emotions, so they were very tolerant of him, caring for and protecting him on the way to the Shake Light Courtyard.

Chen Zhou had experienced Zhou Zixi’s unpleasantness before but said nothing, watching from the side. Sure enough, after Zhou Zixi grew annoyed with their questions, he could no longer hide his increasingly arrogant expression.

Fu Yuan said, “Before, I was the senior brother you admired most.”

Zhou Zixi glanced at him and sneered.

Fu Yuan magnanimously didn’t take offense. Dong Yeyun patted Zhou Zixi’s shoulder: “It’s true, I can vouch for it. I heard with my ears that you sought out my sister to practice specifically against the Eight-Eye Demon Gaze to defeat Fu Yuan.”

Just as Ming Li was about to intervene, Zhou Zixi said leisurely, “That was a lie to trick you. I just wanted to spend more time with Senior Sister. I could already break his Eight-Eye Demon Gaze long ago.”

Fu Yuan: “?”

Dong Yeyun: “?”

Black Fox Mask looked over in confusion: “Didn’t you bring persimmons for Fu Yuan every day during the Star Pointing Assembly?”

“Did he ever eat any persimmons I brought?” Zhou Zixi said.

Fu Yuan’s pupils dilated in shock: “Could it be…”

Those missing persimmons were all taken back by you!

Every time Zhou Zixi resolved to give Fu Yuan persimmons, he would take them back after hearing rumors about him and Ming Li.

During that period, Fu Yuan was utterly bewildered about who kept stealing the persimmons his kind, studious junior brother brought for him.

Chen Zhou struggled to hold back laughter from behind. He stepped forward, putting his arm around Zhou Zixi’s shoulders, smiling with narrowed eyes: “It’s just persimmons. We can pick some from Tian Xuan Court later. It seems the senior brother Zhou Zixi admires most is indeed—”

Zhou Zixi said expressionlessly: “Not you.”

Chen Zhou: “…”

Zhou Zixi completely failed to notice the dangerous atmosphere: “In cultivation, I only admire Senior Sister.”

Chen Zhou sneered: “I’ve also achieved all eight meridians now!”

“Haha!” Qing Ying looked eagerly at Zhou Zixi. “Don’t tell me when you praised me as the most powerful Thunderous Roar meridian cultivator, that was also a lie?”

Zhou Zixi looked at her without speaking, but his eyes answered.

Black Fox Mask looked left and right at his frozen fellow disciples, touching his chin. It seemed he was the only one Zhou Zixi hadn’t victimized.

Ming Li silently took Zhou Zixi’s hand and ran with him.

That night’s meal was fraught with danger. People witnessed Zhou Zixi’s nastiness and realized how many tricks he had played for Ming Li’s sake in the past, finding his current “straightforward” temperament quite amusing.

Ming Li sat at the table watching them argue noisily, smiling as she saw Zhou Zixi complaining while hiding behind Chen Zhou to sneak drinks.

The others got drunk, intent on drinking until dawn. Zhou Zixi tasted the delicacies and retreated, leaving with Ming Li once she had eaten her fill.

The two returned to the courtyard house to rest. Ming Li had just lain down in Zhou Zixi’s arms when she suddenly sat up.

Zhou Zixi opened his eyes to look at her.

Ming Li stared back with profound eyes: “I just remembered, when we went to Bei Jing Gui Yuan, I told Aunt Qu we would bring everyone back within three days, but you made me break my word.”

Zhou Zixi: “…”

He hadn’t expected Senior Sister to still carry the burden of a Pilgrim.

Zhou Zixi said with a straight face, “Senior Sister, you’re mistaken. It wasn’t three days, it was three years.”

Ming Li: “I never said such a thing.”

Zhou Zixi pulled her back into his arms: “I did.”

Ming Li remained melancholy in his embrace for a long time before falling asleep.

*

The next day, Dong Yeyun, the first to sober up, helped clean up the mess, made sobering soup for those still drunk, woke up Fu Yuan and others, then took the remaining bowl to Ming Li.

Dong Yeyun saw Zhou Zixi coming out of Ming Li’s room and was momentarily speechless, finally letting out an annoyed laugh.

Right in front of him, Zhou Zixi gulped down the soup, then turned and went back inside, closing the door.

Dong Yeyun: “…”

Zhou Zixi, having just returned to Bei Dou, had already offended all his fellow disciples and senior brothers and sisters.

Qing Ying drew the scene of Zhou Zixi and Ming Li returning to the mountain gate at night, titling it “Senior Sister and Her Dog.” Passing by, Xiang An’ge glanced at the lifelike figures in the drawing but didn’t see a dog, so he asked: “Where’s the dog?”

Qing Ying pointed at Zhou Zixi, who stood beside Ming Li, carrying two fish.

After a moment of silence, Xiang An’ge thought to himself: That’s a big dog.

*

This big dog stayed in Ming Li’s courtyard without leaving.

Today, the sky was bright and clear, perfect for lying on the bamboo mat in the courtyard to sunbathe. Ming Li stood barefoot under the eaves, sunlight falling on half the corridor. Standing in the light, she raised her hand to shield herself from the brightness.

Zhou Zixi was moving flowers and plants in the courtyard. With Ming Li away for a month or two, the untended flower vines had grown wild.

Ming Li found it amusing to watch him walking back and forth in the courtyard, so she sat down to quietly observe, her eyes narrowing in the warm sunlight. Eventually, she lay down like a lazy cat sunbathing.

Zhou Zixi carried a flower box to the eaves, standing in front of Ming Li to block the sun.

Ming Li guessed what he was about to say and preempted him: “I’m not exactly sleeping outside.”

Zhou Zixi: “Not much difference.”

Ming Li moved back a bit and reached out to him. Zhou Zixi smiled, took Ming Li’s hand, and lay down beside her.

Their foreheads touched as they closed their eyes to sleep, half in shadow, half in sunlight.

This was the long, peaceful time they had earned after enduring hardships.

When Qing Ying came, she was about to call out, but fell silent when she saw the scene under the eaves. She gently placed her scroll painting not far from the corridor and left.

Soon after, Dong Yeyun arrived carrying a pot of exotic flowers to find his sister. Seeing the two embracing under the eaves, he shook his head resignedly, gently put down the flower pot, and left.

Chen Zhou, coming to discuss matters with Ming Li, saw them from outside the courtyard. He clicked his tongue and placed the Shake Light Courtyard scrolls that needed her review next to the painting.

As the sun set, the warm golden fragments of light turned into cool orange-red twilight. Zhou Zixi opened his eyes, looked at Ming Li still beside him, and after a moment, closed his eyes again, only holding her tighter.

From now on, their days would be this long and peaceful, undisturbed by anyone.

Author’s Note: The main story ends here. The couple’s romance will continue in extras. Until we meet again!